Samsung Backs Away From Smart Speakers; Microsoft Reveals Cortana Controlled Thermostat; Sears Rolls Out Alexa Powered Appliances on Amazon
Posted: July 20, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alexa, Amazon, Bixby, Cortana, GLAS, IoT, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, Samsung, Sears, Smart speakers, Thermostat Leave a commentWe had reported, along with numerous others, that Samsung was working on a Bixby powered smart speaker to compete with Amazon’s, Google’s, and the upcoming Apple one. Now, thenextweb.com reports that Samsung has suddenly decided they are not marketable, with the dominance of Amazon, and Apple waiting in the Wings. Meanwhile, Global Market Insights predicts that the smart speaker market will grow to $13 billion by 2024. Almost half of smart speaker owners buy an additional one for their homes.
Microsoft has rolled out a great looking IOT thermostat today called GLAS. It’s made for them by Johnson Controls. According to theverge.com, it runs Windows 10 IoT Core, and has Cortana built in. Microsoft says it will detect if you are in the room or not, and also continuously monitor air quality inside and outside. Microsoft plans to add other appliances that will run their system and use Cortana.
Meanwhile, struggling retail giant Sears, which for decades had huge market share in appliances with its Kenmore brand, has started selling Alexa powered appliances via Amazon. Techcrunch.com says the retailer will bake in Alexa to air conditioners in addition to the expected refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers. You will e able to yell at Alexa to turn the AC up or down from your couch!
Analyst-No, iPhone 8 Won’t Be $1200; Bixby is Launched in US; Facebook to Let Publishers Charge Readers to View Stories
Posted: July 19, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Bixby, Facebook, Galaxy S8, iPhone 8, Paywall, Publishers, Samsung, Voice Assistant Leave a commentThere have been several rumors that Apple’s iPhone 8 will start at over $1000, and go as high as $1200, to set it up as a ‘niche’ product. In a report picked up by apple insider.com, an analyst from UBS says they see the iPhone 8 shipping in November, and starting at $900 for the 64 gig model, and a $256 gig model for $1000. UBS thinks iPhone sales will be up 15% in Apple’s 2018 year. [Update: Analysts at JC Morgan believe it will ship in September, but with very tight availability.]
It wasn’t ready for the launch of the Galaxy S8 this spring, and Samsung promised voice assistant Bixby by the end of May in the US. Well, that didn’t happen either, but according to engadget.com, it’s out now. Bixby’s draw, according to Samsung, is that it understands natural language expressions better than other voice assistants. So far, the English release works in the US and South Korea. No word on if it is out in other English speaking countries yet. As we’ve reported, Samsung is working on a voice activated speaker like Amazon and Google have, and Apple is rolling out in December.
Facebook is preparing to let media outlets charge readers for access to their stories, starting in October. Businessinsider.com says they will be able to show 10 free articles per month before a paywall kicks in. No info on how much Facebook will skim from publishers on this, or if anyone there has calculated what percentage of people will simply click away, rather than pay…I predict that will be a huge majority of Facebook users. It’s tough to find people who don’t despise paywalls.
Galaxy S8 BOGO; $99 AR Headset for iPhone 7 Coming; Amazon-Made Meal Kits to Your Door
Posted: July 18, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Apple, AR, Augmented reality, Blue Apron, BOGO, FREE, Galaxy S8, Google Cardboard, iPhone, Meal kits, Mira Prism, Samsung Leave a commentHave I got a deal for you! Well, actually, I don’t, but Samsung sure does. Starting today, on their website, and in the Shop Samsung app, you can buy a new Galaxy S8 and trade in your old phone, and get a 2nd S8 for FREE! Want an S8+? No problem, you can get that one with your qualifying trade in and $100! Bgr.com says it’s good on every major carrier, and they have a 24 month payment plan..better than the carrier plans, because it’s no money down.
You’ve been able to get Google Cardboard and get your feet wet with augmented reality for some time now…but if you have an iPhone, you’ve been out of luck. That is changing. 9to5mac.com reports that an LA based startup is getting ready to release the Mira Prism. It’s a $99 headset with a slot for an iPhone 7. Instead of popping the phone in a slot in front of you, the phone goes in a slot above, and you see the AR elements along with the rest of the world through a plastic visor in front of your eyes. It’s cheap and simple.just slide the phone into the Prism headset, fire up the app, and away you go! There’s even a spectator mode, to allow a friend to watch your AR experience on their own phone or tablet. You can preorder on the Mira website.
Amazon continues to eat the world…and this time, you can join in the eating! Amazon made meal kits could be on the way to your doorstep soon! According to arstechnica.com, the online giant has filed a trademark for a meal kit service with the tag line ‘We do the prep. You be the chef.’ They look to sell the kits through Amazon Fresh, their online grocery ordering and delivery service. Amazon Fresh already has meal kits from Tyson Foods and Martha Stewart. Blue Apron stock dropped 10% when the news came out, even though no start date has been announced by Amazon.
Not Charmin, But You’ll Want to Squeeze Google Pixel 2; Amazon Partners Sell 40 Million Items Prime Day; Apple Teases New Emoji for iOS and macOS
Posted: July 17, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, emoji, Google, iOS, macOS, Pixel 2, Prime Day, Small Businesses, Squeezable sides, WatchOS Leave a comment
Mr. Whipple might not buy one, but you may want to buy and squeeze a Google Pixel 2. Cnet.com says it will have a squeezable frame. Frame squeezes activate a feature or launch a specific app. The HTC U11— out now—already has this feature. You can configure it to launch the app or shortcut of your choice. One potential issue…how will the feature respond with a very protective case like an Otterbox? Some folks have saved at least hundreds in phone damage with such cases, and may not be ready to give up that protection for a cool new feature.
Amazon has announced that small businesses sold 40 million items this Prime Day. That’s up from 20 million last year. According to geekwire.com, this Prime Day was Amazon’s biggest shopping event of all time…well, maybe until next Prime Day!
Apple is teasing new emoji that will be released with iOS, macOS, and WatchOs later this year. Macrumors.com reports we can expect them with the public launch of the updated systems later this fall. All of the new Apple emoji are in the new Unicode 10 standard that bowed in June. I particularly look forward to the new barfing emoji and the head exploding one!
iPhone 8-Rear Facing 3D Laser; Cheaper, Wireless Oculus VR Headset Coming
Posted: July 13, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D lasers, Apple, AR, Facebook, iPhone 8, Oculus VR headset, Pacific, VR Leave a commentThe iPhone 8 is to have a rear facing 3D laser sensor to aid with augmented reality and photography. 9to5mac.com reports that it will make for a more accurate autofocus when shooting pictures. It’s possible the AR features may be activated in a later software update. The story from Fast Company also claims it will have sealed buttons that use haptic feedback, and are completely waterproof.
Facebook is planning to reveal a Wireless Oculus VR Headset next year, and it will run around $200. Unlike most cheaper headsets, it won’t require a phone to be popped into it, nor will it need to be hooked up to a PC or phone. Bloomberg says it’s aimed at immersive gaming, watching video, and social networking. It’s code named ‘Pacific,’ and looks like a pared down version of the Rift.
Galaxy Note 8 Unveil Date; Google Pixel 2; Apple Races to Fix Fingerprint Sensor for iPhone 8, Amazon’s Biggest Prime Day
Posted: July 12, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Facial recognition, Fingerprint sensor, Galaxy Note 8, Google. Pixel 2, iPhone 8, Prime Day, Samsung Leave a commentDespite the tendency to flame out, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was so loved that it seemed the company was going to have to pry recalled models from the smoldering fingers of owners. The replacement Note 8 is supposed to be a hot seller, but not hot in the way the 7 was, thankfully! 9to5google.com says we can expect to see it revealed August 23rd in New York City. Samsung is wanting to push the early launch date to take advantage of a rumored delay for the Apple iPhone 8.
The latest leak and renders show a great looking Google Pixel 2 phone, with a big camera lens and slimmer bezels. Arstechinica.com reports that it is being built by LG, and is code named Taimen. It has a 6 inch AMOLED screen, up from the present model’s 5.7 incher. The back is now mostly metal, with just a small glass window, which should make it less prone to shattering when dropped. The phone has squeezable sides, which may activate the Google Assistant and launch apps.
Rumors are all over the place on the iPhone 8…it won’t have a fingerprint sensor at all, it will, but on the back, it’s under the screen. Apparently, Apple is having issues with the under screen sensor, and if they don’t get things resolved it may delay release of the new hero handset. Although KGI Securities and Bloomberg say Apple may phase out the sensor in favor of facial recognition, this seems unlikely, as it would rattle financial institutions. They will probably have to stick with the fingerprint reader until they can assure all that the facial scanner is secure. If Apple can’t get the sensor to work well by August, the iPhone 8 won’t be in volume production until late October or November.
Amazon’s Prime Day is in the history books, and the 30 hour ‘day’ is the biggest shopping day they have ever had, blowing past the last Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. According to businessinsider.com, Amazon said sales were up 60% in preliminary figures. No word on how many new signups they got for Prime as yet. Best selling deal was the reduced price Echo Dot with Alexa. Besides Amazon gadgets, most popular items in the US were an Instant Pot pressure cooker and an 23andMe DNA test.
Prime Day-Best Deals Are Amazon’s Own-Natch; Galaxy S8 Sales Trail S7’s; Audi A8 First Level 3 Semi-Autonomous Car
Posted: July 11, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2019 A8 sedan, 4K TV, Alexa, Amazon, Audi, Echo, Galaxy S8, Level 3 autonomous driving, Prime Day, Samsung Leave a commentPrime Day is in full swing, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that some of the primo deals are on Amazon’s own stuff. If you want to get your feet wet with Alexa, bgr.com says to check out the Amazon Echo in black for $89.99, or the 2nd Gen Echo Dot…also in black for $34.99. As for TVs, a Sony 65 inch 4K Smart TV is $1498, and a Samsung 55 inch Smart TV with 4K is $700.99!
According to 9to5google.com, brokerage analysts estimate that Samsung Galaxy S8 sales are trailing the S7 by about 20% for the 1st two months….9.8 million for the S8, where the S7 hit 12 million. They believe the sales hit may be due to stronger competition from Chinese brands, plus customer anticipation of the highly hyped iPhone 8.
Audi has revealed that their 2019 A8 sedan will have level 3 autonomous features. Engadget.com reports that the ‘AI Traffic Jam Pilot’ will move the car in gridlock situations on the highway without driver input. The system handles acceleration, steering, braking, and starting from dead stop. Drivers will be able to take their hands off the wheel at speeds up to 37 mph. As with all of these systems, it depends on local laws, and the car will nag you if you need to take over…no napping! It is a mild hybrid…not hybrid to the level of their e-tron plug in or a Prius, but should save on fuel.
iPhone 8 Color Rumor; 3 OLED iPhone 9 Models; Amazon Prime Poised to Pass Up Cable TV; Alexa Can Tell When Your Stuff is Out for Delivery; Future 3D Printing-Star Trek Replicator?
Posted: July 10, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2018 iPhone, 3D printing, Alexa, Amazon Prime, Cable TV, Echo, iPhone 8, Mirror color, OLED, Out for delivery, Prime Day, Replicator, Satellite TV, Star Trek Leave a commentThe latest iPhone 8 rumor is that there will be 4 colors, and one will be mirror like. 9to5mac.com says it will be either sliver or black…which is confusing, since there is already the pretty mirror-like Jet Black. Perhaps with the glass back, it will be even more mirror-like. You can admire it before you stuff it in an Otterbox so you don’t break your precious thousand buck toy! In other future iPhone news, 2018 reportedly will bring 3 new iPhone models, and all will have OLED displays. It’s over a year away, but Nikkei sees Apple suppliers preparing to meet the expected demand.
Amazon Prime is nipping at cable TV’s numbers. According to recode.net, there are 79 million US homes that have Amazon Prime, including Prime Video. That compares to 90 million who are paying for cable or satellite this year. Amazon’s numbers grew from 66 million to the 79 million year over year, to they may pass up pay TV by next year! It’s a desirable market, too…over 80% of America’s wealthiest households have Amazon Prime.
If you are like most of us, you probably go to Amazon’s website and obsess over when your loot is going to be delivered. Theverge.com says you can ask Alexa ‘where’s my stuff,’ and your Echo will track deliveries. Now, just in time for prime day, your Echo will also light up a different color on delivery day. Alexa will ask you if you want to be notified when your package is out for delivery. For some of us, the Echo’s LED ring will probably actually stay that ‘out for delivery’ color all the time!
3D printing just gets more amazing all the time. They are building everything from toys to food to cars to houses right now…some admittedly pretty crude. Zdnet.com says the logical extension will be the Star Trek replicator making our food …or ‘Tea…Earl Grey….hot!’ They point out that there is a difference between printing materials at the molecular level and the micron level, but it’s really not that much. We may not see this right away, but it’s definitely on the horizon. With improving printers to work at the molecular level and better voice assistants, we could all be Captain Picard in this lifetime!
ALL Volvos Will Be Electrified by 2019; Twitter Predicts Situations Before Police Reports Come in
Posted: July 5, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Electric cars, Events, Hybrids, Prediction, Twitter, Volvo Leave a commentVolvo has announced they will offer electrified versions of every model starting in 2019. Cnet.com reports that by that model year, there won’t be any Volvo without some degree of electrification. Some will be hybrids, with gas engine plus electric, some will be total e-vehicles. Volvo says this is in response to customer demand. They would be the only company besides Tesla to offer electrification across their entire line.
New research from Cardiff University, which examined 1.6 million tweets from the London 2011 riots, has noticed that Twitter can be used to detect dangerous situations up to an hour faster than police reports. According to mashable.com, researchers wrote event detection algorithms that use various features of Twitter data — like sentiment, frequency of tweets containing certain words, and geolocation and timing of the tweets. They discovered they were able to map out real-time disruptive events from five minutes to an hour before the Met Police were aware of them. They believe this prediction element could be used to help first responders and emergency services before the threat escalates. The down side? An argument that “predicting” some kind of activity before it escalates could lead to a Minority Report-kind of scenario, in which law enforcement intervenes to curb freedoms of assembly or interfere with freedom of speech. [There was a big outcry a couple years ago in San Fransisco where WiFi was killed to underground BART stations so moving protesters couldn’t use social media to communicate.] The scientists claim their research works at an aggregate level so really only flags events once there is sufficient ‘noise’ around a certain event, avoiding identifying individuals in a effort to retain privacy.
Samsung Working on Smart Speaker With Bixby; Valve Founder Raises $$ for New Startup; Texting Makes You Walk Funny
Posted: July 4, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alexa, Amazon, Apple, Bixby, Google, Rick Ellis, Samsung, Sharkbite Games, Siri, Smart phone zombies, Smart speakers, Smombies, Steam, Texting, Valve, Walking Leave a commentWith Apple now getting ready to enter the smart speaker sweepstakes along with Amazon and Google, Samsung appears poised to join the party. The Wall St. Journal says it will use Bixby, the voice assistant that has been late rolling out on the Galaxy S8 due to issues with English! It will be a touch market, with Amazon’s Alexa presently holding 70% of the US market, and Apple not even in the market until the end of the year. Microsoft also has a voice controlled speaker using Cortana called Invoke, which hits this fall. If Samsung can get Bixby working in English like they plan, they could have a edge in the Internet of Things, since they actually produce some appliances like TVs and fridges.
Rick Ellis, who founded Valve’s Steam gaming platform is on to another startup…he’s raised $1.25 million for Sharkbite Games. According to geekwire.com, the new company is already working on two games…the first is a casual mobile game that will be out later this year. The other will bow in 2019, and is an ambitious multiplayer game that will run on PC and mobile, and which Ellis says is aimed at the ‘mid-core’ space. He has hinted that they were looking at virtual reality in the future.
Quick— call the Ministry of Silly Walks! A study from Anglia Ruskin University indicates that people walk funny while texting, reading text, or chatting on phones! Cnet.com reports that phone users spend 61% less time watching out for obstacles, and lift feet ‘higher and slower’ over them while walking…adapting a ‘cautious and exaggerated stepping strategy.’ Or…as most of us call them….smartphone zombies, often shortened to smombies!
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