Big companies make big moves this week in tech… and beyond

3 min readNov 18, 2022

Emerging Tech Roundup — November 18

The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.

This week in tech: Apple Plans its Mixed-Reality Headset, Musk says orgs will soon verify affiliated accounts, Google simplifies color themes on desktop Chrome, Airbnb Introduces Mentorship Program for New Hosts, New DuckDuckGo Tool Provides Privacy to Android, Volkswagen’s all electric office chair, Moderna to develop mRNA vaccines for Ebola.

Emerging Tech Roundup — November 18

The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.

Apple Plans a 3D World and Video Service for Its Mixed-Reality Headset

(Bloomberg, November 13)

Apple’s next major product isn’t set to arrive until next year, but job listings and personnel changes at the company provide a preview into the capacities of their mixed-reality headset

Musk says orgs will soon verify affiliated accounts; Blue sign-ups and name changes will be reinstated end of this week

(Tech Crunch, November 14)

Twitter Blue, Twitter’s paid tier, appears to be on pause as the company navigates new territory and new ownership. New owner and CEO Elon Musk announced soon the company would allow organizations to better manage their affiliations and affiliated accounts.

Google is bringing Material You-style color themes to desktop Chrome

(The Verge, November 14)

The latest Canary build of Google Chrome includes a fun personalization feature that automatically selects a color scheme for the browser based on the wallpaper in your new tab window. The feature simplifies the process of manually changing the browser’s color scheme and is expected to get a widespread release in a few months.

Airbnb Is Adding a Mentorship Program to Help Hesitant Hosts List Their Homes

(Gizmodo, November 16)

Starting this week, Airbnb will begin their host mentor program allowing aspiring hosts to connect with experienced Airbnb veterans in their relative geographical region. Once connected, the pair can communicate via an Airbnb text chat, audio or Zoom video call, where the “Superhosts” will provide step-by-step instructions on how to set up their new Airbnb listing. The release is aimed at encouraging more users to take the plunge into becoming hosts on the platform.

New DuckDuckGo Tool Brings Apple-Style Privacy to Android

(Gizmodo, November 16)

DuckDuckGo released a new privacy tool for Android that helps protect users from companies harvesting personal data through apps. Now available in beta in the DuckDuckGo for Android app, the new App Tracking Protection feature expands access to privacy protections enjoyed by iPhone users. It also provides a look into what information apps are trying to harvest and where they are trying to send it.

A Volkswagen’s all electric office chair can cruise at 12.4 mph

(Interesting Engineering, November 16)

Volkswagen built a high-tech office chair to show off the features of the brand’s commercial vehicles. The chair, which can cruise up to 12.4mph, is complete with an electric motor, headlights, a horn, an entertainment system and a trailer hitch.

Moderna to develop mRNA vaccines for Ebola

(Freethink, November 15)

The biotech company Moderna may be preparing to put its mRNA vaccine technology to the test against a range of biological threats, including the deadly Ebola virus. The company reportedly is nearing a deal with the Department of Defense for research and development of the vaccines.