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ExtraBITS for 14 August 2017

In ExtraBITS this week, an augmented reality expert explains why we may not see AR glasses from Apple for several years, Google adds phishing warnings to the Gmail app for iOS, and Disney has announced that it will halt its deal with Netflix to launch its own streaming services.

AR Glasses from Apple May Not Appear for Several Years — Apple’s impressive ARKit developer framework has sparked speculation about the company developing a pair of smart glasses along the lines of Google Glass. In a post on Medium, augmented reality expert Matt Miesnieks explains why Apple-branded smart glasses are likely still several years away. There are numerous technical challenges to overcome, but the biggest obstacle is miniaturizing all the necessary technology into a pair of glasses people would want to wear all day. Miesnieks thinks Apple could introduce
the first limited pair of smart glasses with a heads-up display (think of them as an Apple Watch on your face) as soon as late 2018, though he doesn’t see full ARKit-capable glasses appearing before 2021.

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Google Adds Phishing Warnings to Gmail for iOS — If you use the Gmail app for iOS, Google has added a new feature that warns you about phishing attempts. If you’re reading an email message and tap a link that Google thinks leads to a phishing site, a dialog pops up to alert you to the danger. You can still open the link if you wish. Google is rolling the feature out over the next 15 days, and you don’t need to update the app to get it.

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Disney Cutting off Netflix to Launch Streaming Service in 2019 — Disney currently has an exclusive agreement with Netflix to stream its content, a deal that was made in 2012 but didn’t take full effect until last year. Now Disney is withdrawing. In 2019, its content will disappear from Netflix when Disney’s own streaming service joins another planned streaming service from Disney subsidiary ESPN. The announcement raises a few questions: How many of these streaming services are people willing to pay for? Will Netflix’s original TV shows
and movies be sufficient to make up for the content it’s losing from competitors with ties to the major studios and networks?

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