This Week: Into the Apple-Verse ????

News in apps delivered weekly on ?? Tuesdays.

???TLDR:

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover a little snippet of Apple’s new ‘reality’. The company has made trademark filings for names like Reality One and Reality Pro: Could this be the branding for the eagerly-anticipated Apple AR glasses and headwear? We reckon so. We also bring you news of Starlink Internet (Elon has been busy of late), Twitter podcasts, Instagram borrowing more ideas from rivals, Netflix gaming handles, and more. Be sure to check out What’s dAppening, too, as we take a look at Drife, a web3 ride-hailing startup that is aiming to take on Uber in India.

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???? Apple – Trademark Filings Suggest Headsets are Imminent

Apple and the Metaverse: the relationship is complicated. The company certainly hasn’t gone ‘full Zuckerberg’ when it comes to VR, and it was a notable absentee from the Metaverse Standards Forum. But Apple does seem to have big plans for VR/AR/MR hardware and experiences, even if they are a closely guarded secret. Yet, after some detective work by Bloomberg, we now have an insight into Apple’s VR branding. The company filed new patents for ‘Reality One’, ‘Reality Pro’, and ‘Reality Processor’, leading to a consensus that this would be the brand name for Apple mixed-reality headsets or glasses. What else do we know? Not enough, unfortunately. It matches up with an earlier trademark for realityOS, which is presumably going to be the operating system for Apple’s AR hardware. Most commentators seem to expect a fall 2023 release date, but with Apple’s so-called “Far Out” event happening this week could we be on the verge of the next major tech revolution? We’ll be tuning in Wednesday (7th at 10am PST) to find out. Revolution unlikely, but evolution, no doubt. Expect to see the latest iPhone at least. #IntoTheAppleVerse Read more here.

Other Appenings This Week ???????

• Direct-to-Phone Satellite Internet: SpaceX and T-Mobile announced a partnership to deliver wireless internet coverage from space using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites. The death of dead zones! Read all about it here.
• Podcasts coming to Twitter: Twitter is officially going in for podcasts, announcing that they would be integrated into its newly-designed Spaces tab. Get more details here.
• Instagram Testing BeReal Core Feature: Instagram BeStealin’ ideas. Fresh off from copying TikTok, Insta is now trialing features that mimic the authenticity-first app, BeReal. Check it out here.
• Netflix Gaming Social Gaming: Netflix is trying out game handles for its suite of games (that nobody plays). The idea is for gamers to connect and play against each other by ranking scores, etc. More on that here.
• User-Driven Post-Game Interviews: Currently in beta, FanView is a sports app that allows fans to pose questions and get direct access to athletes post-game. Details here.
• Trading Card Acquisitions by eBay: Auction Powerhouse eBay just agreed a $295 million deal for the trading card marketplace TCGplayer. Apparently, eBay sells a sports card every 2 seconds. Cool. Read about the deal here.
• MoviePass is Really Back: A story we covered a while back in What’s Appening: The theater-subscription startup will have its official launch on Labor Day. Yay! Back to the future over here.
• Hot Off the Press: Meta NFTs are LIVE! Well, they did it. Facebook and Instagram just launched their crypto wallet integrations so NFTs can now show up as profile pics. Get the latest here.

?? Stat of the Week – BTC Passes $100 Trillion TTV

Bitcoin reached a bit of a milestone this summer, hitting $100 trillion in total transacted value (TTV) according to Ark Investments’ analysis. That means $100T has pinged back and forth across the Bitcoin Network since the token launched in 2009. For perspective, the entire global economy is said to be worth around $104 trillion. #ProbablyNothing Read more here.

??? What’s dAppening?

A dApp is a decentralized app. Here’s the latest in web3, NFTs and blockchain apps.

????? Drife - Web3 Ride-Hailing App Looks to Take on Uber in India

Possibly our favorite story this week: Drife is a decentralized ride-hailing platform with grand designs on disrupting the market in India. The Drife app launched in Bangalore last November, but it now has around 10K drivers and over 100K riders. The idea is to give a fairer deal to drivers, and better service to customers. How? By cutting out the middleman. Drivers pay a subscription, rather than commissions, allowing them to keep the whole fare. This is decentralization - the key mantra of web3 - in action, taking away the profit motive of the central authority (?? Uber) to offer a better deal for all. The app, which is built on the popular Ethereum-scaling solution, Polygon, is in its infancy, but there’s a lot to like about this model. #DrifeCarefully Read more here.

Meanwhile at 3Advance...

It’s Back to School time, and it’s a big week not only for the kiddos of the 3A crew, but also for some of those apps we be makin’. Two of our long term clients are releasing new versions of apps we’ve been working hard on all year. First up, we’re launching AARP Foundation’s Volunteer Hub. The hub provides scheduling and in-screen tutoring sessions for the 30,000+ kids that take part in the Experience Corps program. We’re all so proud to be part of something this impactful. Next ip, Curbside Kitchen is launching in more universities on the East Coast - the app allows students to buy meals using their ‘campus cash’. Parents can be sure they’re only funding meals for their kids, and students can be sure they’ll have delicious options from the best food trucks on the CK platform.

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Don’t forget, this week’s video episode will be released shortly on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn. There’s also the mini-recap on TikTok and Instagram. As always, we appreciate y’all following along on any of these social platforms and we’d love to hear your feedback. Just hit ‘Reply’!

Please note: the image from this week’s meme comes from the brilliant Art Attack Master Works YouTube Series. Check out the full video (it rocks) here.