9 ms·

Unfortunately I think it's pretty obvious why they were acquired, so 99% skeptical of their future. They were probably acquired because: 1. They realized just

Unfortunately I think it's pretty obvious why they were acquired, so 99% skeptical of their future. They were probably acquired because: 1. They realized just owning the software platform is very limiting (For example they can't compete with Apple no matter how good they are. Just look at Google maps. Thousand times better than the default Apple maps but will never be #1 map app on iOS because people always choose the default). Also, now even Google is moving towards owning their own hardware platform. As a VC funded company I think this is the best timing to exit. Otherwise it's all downhill from here. 2. Samsung wants to fight with Google/Apple/Amazon/MS and needed a weapon (because, you know, people say AI is the future nowadays). So at best these guys will be integrated into Samsung phones to differentiate Samsung's hardware. I don't see them becoming the "open platform" that they envisioned at all.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago
 won't let another map be the default. It doesn't matter if you have google maps installed, if you click an address apples maps open.
- ovao 10y ago
  That depends on the application (and website) in which you're tapping the address. In some cases that will be Google Maps, if installed, in others you'll be presented with open-with options, in others still it will be Apple Maps.
  - curt15 10y ago
    Apps on iOS have to hardcode every other third-party handler that they want to work with besides Apple Maps. If an app presents you with open-with options for maps, that's because the developer took the trouble to add extra codepaths for Google Maps, HERE Maps, etc.
    - ovao 10y ago
      That's good clarification, thank you.
JumpCrisscross 10y ago
> Thousand times better than the default Apple maps "Better" is subjective. I used Google Maps since it was released on iOS. I recently switched to Apple for a perceived privacy benefit.
Steko 10y ago
> Just look at Google maps. Thousand times better than the default Apple maps No it isn't, they are basically the same for 90% of users.
- davidcgl 10y ago
  Map data and quality varies depending on your location.
- the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
  I wish apple gave me a fair choice. I do prefer Google maps but i keep also using stupid apple maps because it keeps coming up.
  - notyourwork 10y ago
    I agree but but worry at this point that it would be viewed as conceding to Google. My problem with iOS has always been the forced integrations you cannot decouple.
  - Razengan 10y ago
    As pointed out by another comment here [1], Google doesn't give you a "fair choice" in these things (beyond the ability to install competitors' offerings as separate apps) either: > Google's MADA agreement forbids OEMs from making anything but Google Now/Voice Search the default digital assistant on Android devices with Google Play. > Google is telling it's hardware partners for Google Home and Google Cast they're forbidden from supporting competing digital assistants. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12649533 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12649533
    - tf2manu994 10y ago
      Yes, but at least on Android you can change your defaults. On iOS, you cannot.
      - Razengan 10y ago
lowglow 10y ago
1. Agreed. It's literally the reason we're building our own hardware. You can't build the future on the current hardware platforms produced by the major players. We're working on the shift.
chipotle_coyote 10y ago
Ironically, I got a contact from a recruiter at Viv recently, and my main concern was that I didn't see how they could succeed unless they were bought by someone else. Either "intelligent assistants" are going to be a fad, or they're going to be a built-in feature: in the first case, the point is moot; in the second, standalone assistants like Viv was will go the way of standalone grammar checkers, i.e., either get bought and integrated or wither away. I agree that the open platform idea just wouldn't be viable; Viv would have to be so much better than Siri or Google Now that users would be willing to not just download it but use it in preference to the fully-integrated AI that came with their device. Samsung doesn't strike me as a great place to end up, but I suspect they were the only place to end up, practically speaking. It'll be interesting to see if they can really compete against Google Now, though.
mandeepj 10y ago
> Also, now even Google is moving towards owning their own hardware platform Microsoft is also taking the same approach with Surface tablets, Surface books and upcoming Surface phones
- B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
  Sadly, Microsoft threw in the towel in the consumer space, and is now in enterprise-milking mode. Just look at the wording on the products. They've been actively chasing away customers. Google is giving unlimited photo storage to Pixel phone buyers. Last year Microsoft took back the 15 GB it had given to Lumia phone buyers.
kabes 10y ago
> because people always choose the default Tell me about how everyone uses IE on windows.
- antsar 10y ago
  You can tell Windows you want to use a different browser, and that choice will typically be respected (when opening links from other apps, etc). On iOS, you cannot do that for maps. If an app implements a "View this on a map" feature, I don't believe you have any way of changing which app that link opens in. Sure, you have the freedom to install whatever app you want. And that freedom begins and ends with manually launching the app; third-party links will still open with Apple Maps.
  - wodenokoto 10y ago
    In Facebook I can open addresses in Google maps.
    - antsar 10y ago
      Presumably because FB went out of their way to implement that. I wonder if they can detect that G Maps is installed, or if that option is always offered. Either way, I can say that many other apps (eg. Yelp) do not have this option.
      - Klathmon 10y ago
        IIRC both Google and Facebook have to work together for that to happen.
oldmanjay 10y ago
I hate that this comment turned an article about Samsung into an Apple maps bitchfest. Why do people feel the need to whine about barely related things in these articles? Does no one listen to you outside of here?
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
> Samsung wants to fight with Google/Apple/Amazon/MS and needed a weapon More likely, Samsung doesn't have the internal chops to build a Cortana/GNow/Siri but has a corporate mandate to have a Samsung version of anything Google does on Android. If you have ever used a Samsung phone, you'll see there's both a bundled (by contract) Google suite of apps and a matching Samsung suite of apps. I don't think this is a sign of them moving to Tizen or picking a bigger fight with Google or Apple, but a continuation of what they've been doing for several years and something of a non-issue and non-news. I imaigne, like most Samsung apps, it'll be ignored for the superior Google equivalent. Personally, I'd like to see them leave Android for Tizen. We really need more competition in the mobile space. Shame Samsung isn't serious about leaving Android. The few times I've helped someone with a Samsung phone have been frustrating and confusing. There's just too much Samsung junk on there fighting for your attention.
Tloewald 10y ago
Surely their business model always involved something like this. If they were as good as claimed, Google, Amazon, or Apple would buy them, if only defensively. Samsung, with its wannabe status in software platforms seems to me like the best you can do if you're not quite as good as you hope (I'm giving Samsung credit they may not deserve, perhaps they have been utterly hoodwinked).
- elmigranto 10y ago
  > If they were as good as claimed, Google, Amazon, or Apple would buy them Or maybe they needed money, but going with those companies would mean acquihire with 100% certainty, and Samsung offered more "free" terms.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago

 won't let another map be the default. It doesn't matter if you have google maps installed, if you click an address apples maps open.

ovao 10y ago
That depends on the application (and website) in which you're tapping the address. In some cases that will be Google Maps, if installed, in others you'll be presented with open-with options, in others still it will be Apple Maps.
- curt15 10y ago
  Apps on iOS have to hardcode every other third-party handler that they want to work with besides Apple Maps. If an app presents you with open-with options for maps, that's because the developer took the trouble to add extra codepaths for Google Maps, HERE Maps, etc.
  - ovao 10y ago
    That's good clarification, thank you.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago

> Thousand times better than the default Apple maps "Better" is subjective. I used Google Maps since it was released on iOS. I recently switched to Apple for a perceived privacy benefit.

Steko 10y ago

> Just look at Google maps. Thousand times better than the default Apple maps No it isn't, they are basically the same for 90% of users.

davidcgl 10y ago
Map data and quality varies depending on your location.
the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
I wish apple gave me a fair choice. I do prefer Google maps but i keep also using stupid apple maps because it keeps coming up.
- notyourwork 10y ago
  I agree but but worry at this point that it would be viewed as conceding to Google. My problem with iOS has always been the forced integrations you cannot decouple.
- Razengan 10y ago
  As pointed out by another comment here [1], Google doesn't give you a "fair choice" in these things (beyond the ability to install competitors' offerings as separate apps) either: > Google's MADA agreement forbids OEMs from making anything but Google Now/Voice Search the default digital assistant on Android devices with Google Play. > Google is telling it's hardware partners for Google Home and Google Cast they're forbidden from supporting competing digital assistants. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12649533 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12649533
  - tf2manu994 10y ago
    Yes, but at least on Android you can change your defaults. On iOS, you cannot.
    - Razengan 10y ago

lowglow 10y ago

1. Agreed. It's literally the reason we're building our own hardware. You can't build the future on the current hardware platforms produced by the major players. We're working on the shift.

chipotle_coyote 10y ago

Ironically, I got a contact from a recruiter at Viv recently, and my main concern was that I didn't see how they could succeed unless they were bought by someone else. Either "intelligent assistants" are going to be a fad, or they're going to be a built-in feature: in the first case, the point is moot; in the second, standalone assistants like Viv was will go the way of standalone grammar checkers, i.e., either get bought and integrated or wither away. I agree that the open platform idea just wouldn't be viable; Viv would have to be so much better than Siri or Google Now that users would be willing to not just download it but use it in preference to the fully-integrated AI that came with their device. Samsung doesn't strike me as a great place to end up, but I suspect they were the only place to end up, practically speaking. It'll be interesting to see if they can really compete against Google Now, though.

mandeepj 10y ago

> Also, now even Google is moving towards owning their own hardware platform Microsoft is also taking the same approach with Surface tablets, Surface books and upcoming Surface phones

B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
Sadly, Microsoft threw in the towel in the consumer space, and is now in enterprise-milking mode. Just look at the wording on the products. They've been actively chasing away customers. Google is giving unlimited photo storage to Pixel phone buyers. Last year Microsoft took back the 15 GB it had given to Lumia phone buyers.

kabes 10y ago

> because people always choose the default Tell me about how everyone uses IE on windows.

antsar 10y ago
You can tell Windows you want to use a different browser, and that choice will typically be respected (when opening links from other apps, etc). On iOS, you cannot do that for maps. If an app implements a "View this on a map" feature, I don't believe you have any way of changing which app that link opens in. Sure, you have the freedom to install whatever app you want. And that freedom begins and ends with manually launching the app; third-party links will still open with Apple Maps.
- wodenokoto 10y ago
  In Facebook I can open addresses in Google maps.
  - antsar 10y ago
    Presumably because FB went out of their way to implement that. I wonder if they can detect that G Maps is installed, or if that option is always offered. Either way, I can say that many other apps (eg. Yelp) do not have this option.
    - Klathmon 10y ago
      IIRC both Google and Facebook have to work together for that to happen.

oldmanjay 10y ago

I hate that this comment turned an article about Samsung into an Apple maps bitchfest. Why do people feel the need to whine about barely related things in these articles? Does no one listen to you outside of here?

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

> Samsung wants to fight with Google/Apple/Amazon/MS and needed a weapon More likely, Samsung doesn't have the internal chops to build a Cortana/GNow/Siri but has a corporate mandate to have a Samsung version of anything Google does on Android. If you have ever used a Samsung phone, you'll see there's both a bundled (by contract) Google suite of apps and a matching Samsung suite of apps. I don't think this is a sign of them moving to Tizen or picking a bigger fight with Google or Apple, but a continuation of what they've been doing for several years and something of a non-issue and non-news. I imaigne, like most Samsung apps, it'll be ignored for the superior Google equivalent. Personally, I'd like to see them leave Android for Tizen. We really need more competition in the mobile space. Shame Samsung isn't serious about leaving Android. The few times I've helped someone with a Samsung phone have been frustrating and confusing. There's just too much Samsung junk on there fighting for your attention.

Tloewald 10y ago

Surely their business model always involved something like this. If they were as good as claimed, Google, Amazon, or Apple would buy them, if only defensively. Samsung, with its wannabe status in software platforms seems to me like the best you can do if you're not quite as good as you hope (I'm giving Samsung credit they may not deserve, perhaps they have been utterly hoodwinked).

elmigranto 10y ago
> If they were as good as claimed, Google, Amazon, or Apple would buy them Or maybe they needed money, but going with those companies would mean acquihire with 100% certainty, and Samsung offered more "free" terms.