📡 Do NOT forget about your...
Welcome to the 85th Pulse — the 4th one from the lockdown!
Hope you’re all well, healthy, and active.
Is it just me? Or you’re getting used to the lockdown as well? The new normal?! Do you think you’ll miss it? What’s the best thing that has come out of a horrible crisis? Have you thought about that?
As someone who tries to be both a realist and an optimist, I often think that I should remind myself of the little positives among all this ugliness of the current pandemic. I believe we must not lose sight of the fact that there’s gonna be a post-pandemic world that we should be ready to live in. I think we should be preparing for that, instead of bitching about the lockdown or the whole COVID19 situation… What do you think?
Ok! Rant over! Now, let’s dive into this issue!
Oh, and here’s an irrelevant quick poll for you!
— 𝕭𝖊𝖓 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 [ 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖎𝖝 ]
🗞 NEWS
Apple announced a new iPhone SE with a 4.7" display, A13, Touch ID, 12MP camera with portrait mode, shipping April 24 [Apple].
basically, an iPhone 8 with up-to-date specs; and btw, they stopped selling iPhone 8.
OnePlus debuts $699 OnePlus 8, $899 OnePlus 8 Pro with high-refresh 6.55" and 6.78" AMOLED hole-punch screens, WiFi 6, on-screen fingerprint readers [AnandTech]
the OnePlus 8 display is 6.55", slightly larger than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Google is working on a “Google card”, a debit card co-branded with banks including Citi [TechCrunch].
setting themselves apart from other payment services and competition!? Apple Card is a credit card though, not a debit card!
Apple Music on the web exits beta and is available to all subscribers worldwide [MacRumors].
look out, Spotify!
Verizon says it will buy videoconferencing company Blue Jeans Network, source says for less than $500M [WSJ/paywalled].
videoconferencing is way too hot to let go!
Apple is developing at least two over-ear wireless headphone variants, with swappable magnetic ear cups and headbands [Bloomberg].
augmenting their AirPods business… makes sense.
TikTok lets parents set restrictions on their kids’ accounts like limiting screen time, disabling DMs, and restricting content, and disables DMs for under-16s [TheVerge].
it’s called ‘family pairing’ and seems pretty useful, but what if the whole “finsta” phenomena happened again?
Google has made progress toward developing its own processor that will power Pixel smartphones future Chromebooks as soon as next year [Axios]
will they be able to compete with Apple & Qualcomm in upper tiers? there’s a gap of over a decade…
Meg Whitman says Quibi had 1.7M downloads in its first week and is accelerating plans to let the app cast to TVs due to the lockdown [CNBC]
have you tried it yet?
for some users.
The French airforce gave a retiring contractor a joyride in a fighter. He accidentally ejected [Aerotime].
it gets better!
🧠 INSIGHTS
Don't forget your mental health - Credit: Ian Espinosa on Unsplash
Surviving the Looming Mental Health Crisis
This morning I stayed in bed until nearly 11:30AM. Last night, I stayed up until 3 AM watching that mullet trainwreck of a documentary, “Tiger King”, on Netflix, allowing myself to be shocked and bamboozled into another episode, just one more episode…
For the past two weeks, my sense of time and agency has completely gone out the window. Work usually gets done… later rather than sooner, and sometimes never. My life now possesses a background ambiance of anxiety, whispering that somewhere, something important needs doing, yet when I open my calendar, almost everything is canceled, abandoned, or indefinitely postponed.
Read more [or listen to the article] on Mark Manson’s Blog.
📊 STATISTICS
App Store Growth following COVID19 - Credit: SensorTower
Exploring COVID-19’s Impact on the Global App Ecosystem
Sensor Tower’s latest quarterly Data Digest explores the top mobile apps, publishers, categories, and stories of Q1 2020, with an in-depth look at the impact of COVID-19 on the global app ecosystem.
Piper Jaffray's Fall 2019 Survey of US Teens [PDF]
there’s a lot to learn.
Spotify tops ranking of brand intimacy during the Coronavirus pandemic
Spotify, the audio streaming app with 73 million users in North America, was ranked No. 1 in a study of brand intimacy as apps strengthened their emotional bonds with consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pinterest and Apple Music came in second and third place.
Interesting study; more here.
Mary Meeker's Coronavirus Trends Report - Axios Exclusive
Mary Meeker’s venture capital firm, Bond, sends a 28-page report to its investors.
Meeker is well known for her annual internet trends reports.
📱 TOOLS & APPS
Remote Tourism: go for a tour on the Faroe Islands — virtually, of course.
it’s very lockdown/quarantine friendly!
YourStack: the place to share your favourite products and discover what your friends use and ❤️
it’s like the social version of my toolbox
Pearlii: Free, fast dental check-ups using AI image processing [Android | iOS coming soon]
i don’t have an android device; let me know how it was.
Adidas Runtastic: Adidas Running [iOS | Android] & Training Apps [iOS | Andorid]
giving away 90-day premium membership for free with access to all workouts. i’ve been using it for over two weeks; it’s fantastic.
Background Generator: Simple & friendly background generator
it’s super simple and useful. give it a try.
🔍 SPOTTED
LinkedIn is working on a poll feature [link]
Instagram is rolling ability to watch and comment on Live videos on desktop [link]
Instagram is working on the ability to pin comments [link]
Pinterest for Android is working on Business hub [link]
Instagram is working on “Challenge” Sticker [link]
LinkedIn is working on hashtag presentation mode [link]
🎧 AUDIO STIMULATION
Sweetgreen: Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman - How I Built This with Guy Raz
Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman met at Georgetown University in 2003 and quickly bonded over their frustration at the lack of healthy food on campus. So during their senior year, along with a third friend, Nathaniel Ru, they decided to open a 500 square-foot restaurant serving fresh salads made with organic produce…
it’s such a relatable story!
🐦 TWEETS of the WEEK
Start, because continuing is so much easier.
can’t wait til they legalize outside
Me the night before they say we can go outside https://t.co/d1gjSNfVdW
me: can i have fun
2020: no
me: ok
😂 FUN STUFF
click through; there’s also a GIF! 👇
this might be the best scientist photograph i have ever seen 😭 https://t.co/r0p8DOriOE
You Have One Job, Stay Indoors
Schrödinger's Plates:
The plates are both broken and not broken until you open the door. https://t.co/lA0CQXy8xa
see you next week
ciao!
see you next week
How singers stub their toes...
it’s gooooood 😂
meanwhile in Maryland... some👖are missing...
That's all for this week...
but, here’s a little something that might be interesting to you:
Join CashApp and get £5; then if you felt like it, support Pulse!
also, Cash App does free money giveaways on Twitter and Instagram… I’ve already won $100 once! it’s worth giving it a try! (don’t fall for scammers though! make sure it’s the verified CashApp profile with the blue checkmark)
you just have to have a CashApp account and then leave your $cashtag or £cashtag under the tweet/instagram post.
just in case you decided to support Pulse: £perspectiveix
see you next week!
ciao