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that will provide original content optimized for mo-
bile phones when it launches in April. Its signature
technology feature is “Turnstyle,” which automati-
cally switches from full-screen portrait to full-screen
landscape, eliminating those annoying black bars on
either side or on the top or the bottom of the screen.
Led by Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg
and former HP and eBay CEO Meg Whitman, the com-
pany is working with Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del
Toro, Catherine Hardwicke, Kevin Hart, Chrissy Teigen
and Bill Murray, among others, to develop content for
these “quibis.” Recent mobile-only efforts such as Ver-
izon’s Go90, despite debuting Oscar-winning originalcontent, did not last long, and it remains to be seen just
how ubiquitous a new video format on which the con-
tent creation is being commissioned and distributed
by just one company can be. But the alignment of Sili-
con Valley technology and Hollywood entertainment
to develop a completely new format is noteworthy.
“We started out thinking that if we could take every-
thing that the mobile phone has to offer and create an
entirely new technology platform that made content
look great on it, then there was an opportunity to bring
Hollywood caliber storytelling to the mobile phone,”
says Whitman. “Many companies have been content
companies that tried to become tech companies or
tech companies that try to become content companies.
We’re trying to do a tech media company from day one.”$OH[D:LOO+HOS<RX:LWK(YHU\WKLQJ
five years ago, most people had never heard
of Alexa, which in early 2015 wasn’t available yet
for retail purchase. Now the voice assistant appears
in more than 100,000 smart home products from
9,500 different brands (vs. 30,000 from 3,500
brands for rival Google Assistant). Not surprising-
ly, Alexa compatibility was ubiquitous at CES 2020,
integrated into everything from lightbulbs and se-
curity systems to smart grills and cars.
As befits a capability that’s increasingly mainstream,
the majority of the new devices shown at the giant
expo were for relatively mundane, everyday uses. Take
Kohler’s Moxie AI speaker. The showerhead speaker
has been around since 2015, but the addition of Alexa
this year transforms the product into a super-usable
must-have for anyone who likes to listen to news or
take calls while performing their morning ablutions.
No more fumbling with a cell phone with wet hands
to change what’s playing or adjust the volume.
Even more significant were advancements around
Alexa integration into cars. Without a mobile oper-
ating system like iOS and Android, Alexa’s in-car ca-
pabilities so far have been fairly informational and
basic, such as setting reminders, playing music and
launching navigation apps. While Android Auto and
Apple CarPlay, which are fairly standard in cars these
days, allow you to bypass a car’s factory-installed in-
fotainment system and use your phone for naviga-
tion, music and news from the dashboard, neither
offering lets you control your car’s AC or heat, light-
ing or sound settings without toggling out of the
system—a clunky experience for drivers.TOMORROWLAND
Where and how we
consume digital media
is changing. (Below left)
crowds at CES in Las
Vegas; (above) an attendee
views home devices from
Google; a woman watches
a movie on a tablet at night;
Quibi founder Jeffrey
Katzenberg talks about the
new streaming service.)^5
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