What we’re tracking on 6 December 2016
Otherwise, how slow a news day is it? Slow enough that we’re going to indulge our love of year-end content once more this morning:
iSheep, take a walk on the Android side: We iSheep still think we get the best of both worlds (amazing hardware + Google’s services) on our iPhones, but it’s still interesting to have a look at the Google Blog’s lists of “the most popular apps, games, music, movies, TV shows and books globally in 2016” in the Google Play Store. There’s a top five for each, headed by: Face Changer 2 (app), Pokemon Go (game), Stressed Out, by Twenty One Pilots (song), Deadpool (movie), Game of Thrones (TV show), and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (book — and yes, we’re taking that last one as a comment on the state of humanity).
If the words “Sears Christmas Wish Book” give you chills (of the right sort), know this: The Verge’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide is the new Sears Wish Book (it was never the “Christmas” Wish Book, so far as we can tell — contrary to our failing memory). As good children of the 1970s and 1980s, we can tell you: The best part about a digital wish book is that there’s no fighting over who gets to look at it, and when. The worst part about a digital wish book: We’re too old to fight with our (similarly elderly) siblings over who gets to read the print edition, and when.
Also worth a look this morning: The Financial Times’ ranking of top European business schools is now out. London Business School tops the ranking for the third year in a row, followed by HEC Paris, Insead (France), IE Business School (Spain) and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The FT’s overview of the package is here, while the full rankings are here — both are behind paywalls, as usual.
Add to the list of jobs that could disappear in the future: Shopkeeper. There will never be a substitute for high-end service from a human being, but the future of shopkeepers looks a little grimmer this morning after Amazon announced the launch of “Amazon Go,” a service that lets you pull stuff off the shelf and walk out of the store — without checking out. Apparently, a bunch of sensors, cameras (they call it “computer vision” not “creepy spycams”) and “deep learning” will figure out what you took off the shelf and charge your account accordingly. Have a look at Amazon’s landing page explaining the program, or check out coverage (pun only slightly intended) at the Financial Times (paywall) or Business Insider, which has wall-to-wall coverage of the launch (here and here) and what it could mean for America’s job market.
Closer to home: Slovenian President Borut Pahor and a business delegation conclude their two-day visit to Egypt, and the even Building a Sustainable Future for Solar in Egypt takes place today at the Sonesta Hotel, Cairo.