Mercedes to Bring Home Storage Batteries to US; Digital Assistants to Outnumber People by 2021

Posted: May 18, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In more of a broadside than a shot across the bow to Tesla, Mercedes-Benz Energy has partnered with Vivint Solar to sell home storage batteries in the US. Techcrunch.com says homeowners who hire Vivint Solar to install an array on their roof can add up to 8 2.5 kWh Mercedes batteries for a whopping 20 kWh of storage! This is a major direct competitor to Tesla with their Solar City, solar shingles, and PowerWall. As the move to greener and more self-sustaining power systems picks up speed, expect more big players in this area.

Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft all have them, and are aggressively pushing them into our lives….digital assistants, that is. According to research by Ovum picked up by cnet.com, the number of devices with digital assistants will be over 7.5 billion by 2021, which will then exceed the population of the world! By the way, there are already 3.5 billion of the sometimes helpful little devils active in the world right now! Ovum projects that Google Assistant will command the market, followed by Chinese assistants, Siri and then Bixby form Samsung…mainly due to the count of cell phones and tablets. Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are primarily in devices other than smartphones.

Google Stand Alone VR Headsets; Google Indoor Location VPS; Google Home gets Hands Free Calling, More; Galaxy Note 8 Will Sport Dual Cams

Posted: May 17, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Google is working on a standalone VR headset with HTC and Lenovo. 9to5google.com says the new system will be much easier to use, and will heighten the feeling of presence. Headsets should be out in the world and available later this year.

At I/O, Google has also revealed it is working on detailed indoor location positioning using its Tango 3D sensing computer vision tech. According to techcrunch.com, they call this Visual Positioning Service, or VPS. As an example, it could lead you directly to a certain item in a big box home improvement store. No word on when the system will be rolled out, but it will be a cool addition to the AR and VR systems Google and others are working on.

Speaking of indoors, Google Home is getting hands-free calling, proactive assistance, and Bluetooth streaming. Proactive assistance will be timely info like traffic alerts. The hands free calling can call any land line or mobile in the US or Canada with just a ‘Hey, Google call X. No setup is required, and it will default to private number, unless you want to have your number display. You can stream music from your Android of iPhone over Bluetooth, or use SoundCloud.

The Galaxy S8 and Plus didn’t get it, but it looks like the Note 8 will have dual rear cams. Bgr.com reports that there will be a 12Mp wide angle lens and a 13 Mp telephoto with a 3x optical zoom, leapfrogging Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus with the 2x optical zoom.

Lyft & Waymo Partner on Self-Drivers; EV Battery That Charges in 5 Min; 10.5 Inch iPad Pro at WWDC, Google Asst Coming to iOS

Posted: May 15, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lyft and Google’s Waymo will team up on self-driving cars, according to a report from the New York Times. The plan is to introduce a wide swath of people to them using fleet services. Waymo had already started a public pilot in Arizona where they will pick up people and families on demand. The Lyft deal will quickly help them to expand that, and explore not only demand modeling, but efficient routing as well. Meanwhile, a judge has banned a Uber employee, who was a former Google manager and is the subject of a lawsuit, from working with Lidar at all for the time being.

If this pans out to any degree, it will be a game changer for electric vehicles. StoreDot, and Israeli startup, has shown its new battery model for EVs at the CUBE Tech Fair in Berlin. Engadget.com reports that the battery can reach full charge in FIVE minutes, and run the car for 300 miles! Compare that to Tesla’s Supercharger, which takes two hours to fully charge a Tesla EV. StoreDot also claims their batteries are safer than litihum-ion. They use layers of nano materials and proprietary organic compounds not used in batteries before.

Apple will probably show a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro at WWDC next month. Theverge.com says KGI Securities, generally one of the most reliable sources, is reporting this. Ming-Chi Kuo, of KGI also says it’s 50-50 that Apple will launch their Siri powered speaker at WWDC.

Siri could be in for some ‘Siri-ous’ competition soon. Google may be rolling out Google Assistant on iOS, and could show it at I/O this week! It will debut first in the US, and apparently will be slightly different than the Android version. The voice controls will be the same, but it will used the chat style fro Allo. This is probably necessary since it will be a free standing app, and not a baked in extension that’s part of the Google platform.

More Cortana Driven Smart Speakers; Waymo Logs Millions of Miles; Apple Buys Sleep Tracker; iPhone 8 Leaked CAD Drawings

Posted: May 10, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Earlier this week, Harman Kardon unveiled Invoke, their Cortana powered Amazon Echo competitor. Now, techcrunch.com says HP is also jumping into the smart speaker market. Instead of following their rather successful Surface marketing effort of rolling their own, Microsoft seems to be using the formerly wildly successful PC model of licensing to numerous makers. The speakers will reportedly use Skype for calling. The Amazon Alexa device can take and make calls, and Apple’s is expected to as well.

Waymo, the self-driving car people from Alphabet/Google, says they have now logged 3 million miles on public roads. According to 9to5google.com, a million of those self-driven miles have been in the last 7 months! In March, Waymo greatly expanded their fleet with 500 Chrysler Pacifica minivans.

Apple has bought Beddit, a company that tracks sleep. According to business insider.com, they make a $150 sleep monitoring pad that goes between the sheets. The monitor tracks a person’s heart rate, awake time, and snoring, then the companion app calculates a ‘sleep score’ and can wake users at an ‘optimal’ time with a smart alarm. The page linked to the Watch App Store is gone from their website, but the app is still live there as of today.

Some CAD drawings have leaked out from a manufacturer of the upcoming iPhone 8. 9to5mac.com says that these show no fingerprint sensor on the back, but do depict the all glass front and back with stainless steel edges and the vertical dual cams on the back. The phone appears to be thicker than the current iPhone 7 and Plus. It’s still possible the 8 will have an ugly and clumsy fingerprint sensor on the back like the Samsung Galaxy S8, but we probably won’t know that until Fall.

Amazon Touchscreen Echo Leak; Smart Speaker Market Set to Double; Spray On Touchpads

Posted: May 8, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As with all tech companies, Amazon plays with different versions of products. Thenextweb.com got its hands on a pic of one version for the upcoming Alexa powered touchscreen Echo, and the tech media collectively threw up. The wedge shaped gadget with a 7 inch screen has been universally panned. A prior leak had a short round tower with a smaller touchscreen angled on top. Let’s hope the previous leak is closer to what actually drops…probably later this month. It is said to be equipped to make video calls, and may have visual recognition, like the hapless Fire phone.

With a touchscreen Echo in the pipeline, the Google speaker finding homes, and Apple reported to be working on a high end smart speaker, 9to5mac.com has picked up a report from Reuters that says smart speaker use will double in the US this year. They are looking at 35.6 million. Amazon is expected to hold a little over 70% of the market.

Want a touchpad somewhere? Just spray it on! That’s the concept behind Electrick (with a ‘k’), a design from some brainy folks at Carnegie Mellon University. Techcrunch.com says it is mainly the brainchild of a PhD student named Yang Zhang, and it uses small electrodes attached to the edges of a painted surface. You can put a touchpad on wood, plastic, dry wall…reportedly even Play Doh and Jell-O. The tech is set to be demonstrated at a conference in Denver.

Apple Echo-Type Smart Speaker Coming; Galaxy S8 Random Reboots; Samsung Approved for Testing Self-Driving Cars in Korea

Posted: May 1, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There are now two sources saying Apple will make a smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or Google’s speaker. Bgr.com reports that now KGI Securities says they will launch a ‘Siri Speaker’ at WWDC in June. No word on the cost (don’t think cheap), but it’s expected to hit stores and the web in the second half of the year. It will reportedly have 7 tweeters and a subwoofer, which should give it great sound. It will use some type of Beats tech and run a version of iOS.

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 had record preorders, but as it gets to peoples’ hands, there’s word that some are having random reboots. 9to5google.com reports there’s quite a thread about this on Samsung’s forums. It can happen when in use, or just sitting around. The phone does fully reboot, and it appears it may be related to an SD card issue, as removing the SD card seems to fix the problem until Samsung rolls out a software patch.

Speaking of Samsung…for those of you who thought they only made phones and TVs, etc, the Korean giant is now approved to test self-driving cars on roads in Korea. According to techcrunch.com, Hyundai has been at it for about a year now, so Samsung will be playing catch up to an extent. Samsung started as a trading company, and has interests in shipping, insurance, and more. The Korean approval allows for operating without steering wheels or pedals, which is also part of proposed new regulations in California and which Michigan already allows.

Waymo Offers Free Rides in Self-Driving Vans; Galaxy S8 Grabs Big Preorders; Google Tweaks Search to Tamp Down Fake News

Posted: April 25, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you live in the Phoenix area, and intrigued by self-driving cars, has Waymo got a deal for you. According to theverge.com, you can sign up for a free ride in a Waymo minivan…in fact, you can sign up as often as you like on their website. They will select riders based on the types of trips they want to take and agreeableness to using the self-driving service as their primary mode of transportation. All the test cars will have a safety driver along to grab the controls if needed. Besides Phoenix, the service will be available in Gilbert, Tempe, and Chandler. Waymo says the service area there is about twice the area of San Francisco, to give you an idea of the covered territory. They have 100 minivans there, and will add 500 more for this free project, which they are calling “Easy Rider.”

Despite the disastrous Galaxy Note 7 with the fires and recall, Samsung says the Galaxy S8 preorders are their best ever, with 30% year over year growth compared to the S7. Macrumors.com reports that this is despite launching without one of the signature features, the personal assistant Bixby in English language countries. Samsung says that should be available by the end of May…maybe they hooked up the software with a Berlitz course.

Google has announced that it has altered its search engine to ‘surface more high quality content from the web,’ or in English, tamp down fake news, offensive, or clearly misleading content. Cnet.com says Google is also allowing users to flag results that are offensive or unhelpful.

Another Day, Another iPhone 8 Design; MasterCard Testing Fingerprint Secured Cards; Google May Bake Ad Blocker into Chrome

Posted: April 20, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yet another iPhone 8 design has showed up, and it’s getting lots of hate from the tech media community. Macrumors.com says this one has an aluminum back with the apple cutout and vertical double camera, but also has a round cutout about halfway down. Some reports are that Apple is having problems with its under screen Touch ID sensor (as we reported Samsung has), and they may use this plan B metal back to put the Touch ID on the back…as the Galaxy S8 has. Actually, at this point, Apple has always had multiple designs going, then chooses the final one, so it’s probably not time to freak out yet. When orders for the sensors are placed, we’ll know more which way Apple will go.

Speaking of fingerprint sensors, here’s an interesting idea….MasterCard is testing them on payment cards in South Africa. Engadget.com reports that if they pan out, MasterCard could start rolling them out worldwide by the end of the year. After that, it will be up to your bank to decide to use it. Like photos on cards, you would have to go into the bank to have your prints scanned to be stored on the card. It’s all card based, so merchants wouldn’t have to replace terminals to use the newer print-secured cards.

Google…which makes bags of money from ads…is apparently working on an ad blocker for Chrome. According to recode.net, it would either filter certain types of ads out, or entirely block ones from sites that carry ‘bad ads.’ Filtering would be based on standards from the Coalition for Better Ads, which both Google and Facebook belong. Note: they also both help fund said coalition! Does anyone see Google filtering out IT’S OWN ads with the Chrome ad blocker? This seems like a real unfair competition issue!

Pixel 2 To Get OLED Screen; Twitter Users Want to Buy Twitter; TaskRabbit For Sale

Posted: April 10, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has one, the iPhone 8 is supposed to be getting a curved OLED screen, now it appears that Google may up their game….literally, with a larger, edge to edge curved screen. Bgr.com notes that the Pixel already features an OLED screen, but they have been buying them from Samsung…which will be pretty tapped out with their own phones and Apple’s. Google may drop almost a billion into LG Display, and will likely try to step up to the more technically advanced type like Samsung has built into the Galaxy S8.

Last fall, a group of Twitter users got a petition together to get the social net to sell itself to its users, and turn into a co-op. Now, recode.net reports that Twitter has actually put the idea on the agenda for their shareholder meeting next month. It doesn’t appear like the board is too keen to do it, but just the fact that they are considering it is interesting. A hybrid ownership model is also a possibility, which would give users a portion of voting shares and a few board seats. The Associated Press operates this way as a non-profit cooperative.

One of the pioneers of the so-called ‘gig’ economy, TaskRabbit, is thinking about selling itself. As startups for more specialized areas of pick up work have crowded the marketplace, continued capital has dried up. Techcrunch.com says tthere is still plenty of demand for handyman services, light home renovation, and the like…which are predicted to become a billion dollar business. Time will tell if TaskRabbit will outrun them all or become rabbit stew.

Another Strong Hint that iPhone 8 Will Feature AR; Google Working on 3 Successors to Present Pixel Phone

Posted: March 16, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

While the tech world pours over rumors that the iPhone 8 will have an OLED screen…perhaps curved….and wireless charging, another strong hint has dropped that the real game changer may be AR. Bgr.com reports that advanced 3D sensor maker Lumentum put out guidance that it has booked revenue into what it calls ‘a high-volume mobile-device application.’ iPhones already have 3D sensors, but they are used as range finders and proximity detectors. Highly advanced 3D sensors like Lumentum makes could be used for gesture control or mapping the surrounding 3D environment. This truly could be Apple’s ‘next big thing.’

The folks at Google are apparently working on 3 models to update the Pixel phone. According to thenextweb.com, the three are code named for freshwater fish, and one will have a larger screen than the other two. There may be a cheaper version, as well as a feature packed waterproof high-end successor. As Apple and Samsung, the updated phones will likely have a slimmer bezel, too.

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