Tech Bytes – Week of April 25

📰 Recent Top Tech News

1. Automation company UiPath has 3rd largest US software IPO in history

2. Two people die in a Tesla car with no one in the driver’s seat

3. Apple launches AirTags to never lose your bags and keys

The Takeaways

1. UiPath went public at the New York Stock Exchange, valuing it at $40Bn. UiPath builds software that helps businesses automate repetitive tasks, such as filling forms, moving files, inputting data and scraping documents, all without learning any coding. 

🔎 Our Take

• UiPath solved a critical problem of being able to write automation but using screen recording and training. This represents one of the early players in no-code/low-code programming, a segment that will continue to grow in the next few years. 

🧁 Your Takeaway

• There are a lot of tools these days that can help you save significant time in things that you do. Set up automation, and invest in tools to keep your business going. If it saves you an hour or two a week, it’s probably worth it.

2. A Tesla car in Texas, US, crashed into a tree and caught on fire, killing its 2 passengers. Police confirm that “there was nobody in driver’s seat”, implying that Autopilot (Tesla’s drivers assistant system) was on.

🔎 Our Take

• Tesla Autopilot is one of the most advanced drivers assistant systems on the market, with an upcoming “Full Self Driving” functionality coming up. However, the system is still a ‘drivers assistance’ tool. Tesla does showcase that even at the present state, Autopilot is 10 times safer than without it, and getting better. In this case, however, there should have been additional systems checks to avoid drivers from turning on Autopilot and then leaving the driver’s seat.

🧁 Your Takeaway

• Whenever you create a product, there is always an opportunity for users to misuse it. Never be unsurprised though, that some customers will find a way to abuse your product, harming themselves or others. Provide safety instructions, and where possible, block or disable any dangerous usage.

3. Apple recently launched several new hardware products, including a 24” Desktop all in one Mac, an upgraded iPad, and new AirTags. AirTags are a new product category for Apple, which are mini trackers for your bags and keys. 

🔎 Our Take

• Apple is known for products that work very well with one another, drawing users into the Apple ecosystem. AirTags make use of the vast network of over 1 billion iPhones globally to locate any lost AirTag quickly.  This gives it an advantage over its biggest competition, Tile, which requires users to have a Tile app installed. We expect Tile to suffer significantly, as both Apple (AirTags) and Samsung (SmartThings) now offer a similar capability, and work better with their ecosystems.

🧁 Your Takeaway

• If you are already selling products or services, see what are some complimentary products or services you can add that make use of the network effort – the more people using the system, the more value it adds to everyone else. Think communities, information sharing sessions, or referrals.

Jargon Buster

• BLE, or Bluetooth Low Energy, is the latest in Bluetooth technology, which started to get into devices like phones in the past few years. This is designed to use 1% of the energy normal Bluetooth used to take, so turning off Bluetooth to save power is not really applicable anymore