What you should know
- Studies recommend Look is getting ready to debut within the U.S. “later this 12 months” following its pilot program with Motorola and Verizon.
- Sources state Look won’t seize knowledge, however will as a substitute leverage a consumer’s “patterns” to supply suggestions.
- Look states it won’t present advertisements within the U.S., choosing information tales, and it’ll look to supply a subscription service for “premium information.”
Google-backed Indian startup Look is getting ready to lastly make its U.S. debut, bringing a novel lock display screen expertise to Android.
Unnamed sources reportedly advised TechCrunch that Look has began a “pilot program” with Motorola and Verizon within the U.S. Look works to ship suggestions to customers like advertisements, information articles, and extra on the lock display screen. Sources state the corporate’s platform doesn’t gather or use consumer knowledge.
As a substitute, Look operates off a consumer’s “patterns” to ensure that the software program to function.
Furthermore, the platform is supposedly discussing methods to construct an AI-backed lock display screen expertise with Qualcomm. Such a transfer would assist Look scale back the quantity of knowledge it requires to operate whereas additionally transferring to on-device processing.
With Look transferring into the U.S. from India, there are plans to collaborate with telecom operators, CNN, and the NBA. The lock display screen expertise will reportedly arrive “later this 12 months.”
A press release from Look to Android Authority says the corporate “doesn’t intend” to advertisements on client units within the U.S. Look will facet with providing a subscription service the place customers will pay for “premium information” on their lock screens each month.
It is price noting that customers can have the power to disable Look on their gadget as soon as it formally arrives.
Android Central has reached out to Look concerning extra data surrounding its subscription service. We didn’t hear again in time for publication however will replace this text as soon as we hear again.
The pilot program supply alluded to for Look within the U.S. has already arrived on some units, together with the Moto G Energy 5G. In our Moto G Energy 5G 2024 overview, Look’s look on the gadget was questionable at finest, and it felt somewhat intrusive. What’s extra, the platform tosses information suggestions at you, which appears somewhat redundant, contemplating Google’s Discovery web page is a swipe away from your house display screen.
Thankfully, you’ll be able to disable Look on the cellphone, however we discovered that the service would often produce a full-screen immediate on the lock display screen, encouraging you to re-enable the characteristic.
We first heard about Look in 2022, and it isn’t fully clear what’s taken the corporate so lengthy to reach within the U.S. It was acknowledged two years in the past that the corporate amassed 400 million customers earlier than it set eyes on the U.S. market.
Look will search to make a revenue via the aforementioned subscription and if customers work together with its “product of the day.”