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Last month, Google confirmed that it was developing an experimental podcasting app called "Shortwave". Now, we have a clearer idea of what this project developed by Area 120 and a great vision of an application that only provides custom applications. relevant extracts from podcasts.
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The design experiences that we found on the website of a Google designer recently disappeared (whose identity we do not recognize since these documents are almost not intended to be public) explain in detail the principle General Shortwave with an application mockup. mark and other guidelines.
The "Brand Statement" for Shortwave reflects the abundance of shows and episodes due to the current golden age of podcasting. This upcoming product developed by the Google Area 120 Incubator believes that this translates into two problems.
UpdateAccording to a Google spokesperson, the approach described in this concept paper was an "early exploratory concept" for short waves. It is "not representative" of the current product Area 120 is still developing.
"The language used here is an obsolete artifact of the first exploratory and unrepresentative concept of the product now. In the real 120 zone, the teams are constantly experimenting and itering, so unfortunately the Shortwave team has long "welcomed" this approach. "
First, the question of curation and the search for content to listen to, and second, the time to listen to it. Short waves solve this by "serv[ing] to you in little moments, "with Google considering this as the" next wave of podcasting. "
The document describes this "next wave" as taking "a million things to listen to" (probably the many podcasts available on platforms now), as well as "all fascinating, captivating and indiscreet content" (probably the same content) . ), and bring it to "people who have a real life to lead".
This would apparently hint at Google's search of existing podcasts, redistributing their most relevant portions and distributing them to users. Of course, this could be achieved through manual management and optimized human workflows, but the "imminent" nature of Area 120 products – and Google itself – might suggest a more ambitious and automated approach.
With the artificial intelligence in vogue at Google, Shortwave as a project could aim to take advantage of machine learning to cut out full podcasts in these "tiny portions" called "shortwave". From 1 to 10 minutes, users could select and read them throughout their day.
A model of the Android Shortwave client reveals a simple home screen that begins by welcoming you in a manner similar to the Google Assistant visual snapshot or the Google Home app.
Users are then asked what they want to listen to, with suggestions grouped around:
- Laughter: Comedy, Stand-up, Banter, Interview
- Learn: Science, Psychology, Space, Nature
- Listen: Editor's Choice
The last section – and how it is apparently organized by the publishers – gives some credence to the idea that the other categories are do not human curated. Meanwhile, the concise and personalized nature is reaffirmed by slogans for the application, such as "long story short" and "on your wavelength".
Shortwave should be considered in the context of the current Google Podcasts initiative, because the main objective of Area 120 is to take crazy ideas and, if possible, bring them one day on the main products of Google.
The current iteration of podcasts is very simple and apparent in the iTunes podcast directory. However, Google has repeatedly said that AI features like the text will one day be used to automatically subtitle podcasts, while Google will Translate could make episodes available in other languages.
Meanwhile, Google's podcast publisher talked about audio appearing one day in the search results, as well as direct text clips and parts of YouTube videos. What Shortwave does to reduce the content to relevant "answers" could be part of that future.
Google Podcasts provides recommendations to users, but Shortwave seems to aim to provide a more personalized and accurate experience. Last month, Google PR pointed out in a statement to The Verge that Shortwave was not tied to the company's existing Podcasts product.
But no matter, Shortwave could in the future be one of the features of Google Podcasts. Or again, it might be deemed too ambitious or impractical in other ways and be completely eliminated before it is too close. Anyway, at least we now have a pretty good idea of this project in development.
9to5Google's Take
Regardless of how Shortwave reaches the shortest clips, this could be a controversial product where Google itself takes shows, with or without permission, and organizes them into parts. Presumably, podcasts should opt to be organized with the benefit of being exposed to a wider audience and new listeners.
But hosts do not want to sign up to cut content without proper context. Then there is the question of what happens to advertising in the salons. Many questions to solve.
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