An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Several residential builders have stopped buying and installing Google’s Nest devices after the internet giant overhauled how Nest technology works with other gadgets. The Alphabet Inc. unit bought Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion to enter the so-called smart-home market. Nest has become one of the largest makers of internet-connected thermostats, smoke alarms…
Tag: voice
Lebanon Withdraws Plan To Charge a Fee on WhatsApp Calls as the Country Faces Its Biggest Protests
Demonstrators and police clashed in Lebanon this week as thousands of people rallied against the government’s handling of an economic crisis, in one of the biggest protests the country has seen in years. From a report: The government-backed down from plans, announced hours earlier, to tax voice calls made through the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging software as people vented their anger at…
DoNotPay App Waits On Hold For You
DoNotPay, a free chatbot that offers AI-powered legal counsel, is launching a new feature that will call you when it’s your turn in a customer service phone queue. TechCrunch reports: The app today is launching “Skip Waiting On Hold.” Just type in the company you need to talk to, and DoNotPay calls for you using tricks to get a human on…
Google Chief: I’d Disclose Smart Speakers Before Guests Enter My Home
After being challenged as to whether homeowners should tell guests smart devices — such as a Google Nest speaker or Amazon Echo display — are in use before they enter the building, Google senior vice president of devices and services, Rick Osterloh, concludes that the answer is indeed yes. The BBC reports: “Gosh, I haven’t thought about this before in quite…
Google’s New Voice Recorder App Transcribes in Real Time, Even When Offline
At Google’s hardware event this morning, the company introduced a new voice recorder app for Android devices, which will tap into advances in real-time speech processing, speech recognition and AI to automatically transcribe recordings in real time as the person is speaking. From a report: The improvements will allow users to take better advantage of the phone’s voice recording functionality, as…
Activision Blizzard Cuts Ban of Pro-Hong Kong Gamer From One Year To Six Months
“Activision Blizzard Inc., facing the threat of a boycott, reduced the punishment it meted out to a tournament player who voiced support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators,” reports Bloomberg: The company’s Blizzard Entertainment division originally barred the player from events for a year and stripped him of some $10,000 in prize money. But it said at the end of the week…
Essential Reveals Project Gem Smartphone With Very Long, Unusual Design
Andy Rubin, the controversial mobile industry executive who co-founded Android, left Google amid allegations of sexual misconduct while retaining a huge severance package, and went on to create the Essential Phone, has tweeted photos teasing an upcoming device with an elongated design and very tall UI composed of card-like apps. The Verge reports: It look extremely small in his hands, too….
Google Makes It Easier To Move Music and Video Streams Between Devices
Google is finally introducing a way for users of its smart speakers and streaming adapters to move media between those devices. From a report: The company introduced a new feature called Stream Transfer Tuesday that makes it possible to move an ongoing music stream, podcast or YouTube video from one compatible device to the next. At launch, these devices include Google…
Slashdot Asks: What Did You Like/Dislike About iTunes?
iTunes is officially dead with the release of macOS Catalina today. Apple decided to break apart the app into separate Apple Music, Podcasts and TV apps. “Each is better at its individuals task than it was as a section within iTunes, which was teetering on collapse like the Jenga tower of various functions it supports,” writes Dieter Bohn via The Verge….
‘If Disney World’s Star Wars Land Is a Flop, Why Is It So Crowded?’
An anonymous reader quotes an analyst for the Motley Fool: With so many industry worrywarts and Star Wars purists taking a dim view of Disney’s bicoastal Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge expansion, I figured I’d check out Florida’s version on Saturday afternoon. Would I get pelted by drifting tumbleweed while slurping down some blue milk? Would my voice echo in a barren…