New Voice Assistant Shames Siri and Google Now; PS4 Game Play Coming to PCs and Macs
Posted: March 1, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Google Now, Hound, Mac, PC, PlayStation, Plug and play, PS4, Remote Play, Siri, Sony, Soundhound, Voice Assistant Leave a commentSoundhound has rolled out what they’re calling their original concept, which has been 9 years in the making. Businessinsider.com says their new assistant app…Hound…blows both Siri and Google Now into the weeds with both speed and accuracy. SoundHound has been around a while. It recognizes and identifies music that’s playing around you. Instead of converting your voice to text, then trying to decipher what you are inquiring about, Hound’s proprietary engine does it all at once…like a human brain. Hound can replace Google Now as default voice assistant on Android, but Apple doesn’t allow replacing Siri on iOS. Hound has 110 data partners, while Siri started with 12 5 years ago, and even now only have 25.
The next system software update for Sony’s PS4 will be out in beta this week. Bgr.com reports that Sony has announced Remote Play. Remote Play won’t work in the beta, but by late this year, the final version of update 3.50 will be released to the public, and with it, and everyone with a PS4 will be able to stream games directly to their PC or Mac. Best of all, the PS4 controller is basically plug-and-play on computers, so gamers won’t have to fiddle around with the controls to make everything work.
Macs Will Get Siri in Next OS X Update; Google’s Next Gen Atlas Robot
Posted: February 24, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Atlas, Google, Mac, OS X, Robot, Siri Leave a commentApple’s assistant Siri is coming to the Mac in OS X 10.12. 9to5mac.com reports that the feature will live in the Menu Bar like the Spotlight icon…click it, and a little translucent Siri window will pop up below, and voice control will switch on. A keyboard shortcut is also planned, and the ‘Hey, Siri’ feature too, if the Mac is plugged in to power.
Google’s Boston Dynamics company, has shared a peek at what it is calling the “next generation” of its Atlas robot. The new Atlas is designed to can work both indoors and outdoors, the company says, and weighs a solid 180 pounds, according to 9to5google.com. The ‘bot is 5 feet 9 inches tall and has sensors in its legs and body to help it balance, as well as LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, survey surrounding terrain, and aide in seamless navigation.
Thoughts On The Coming Apple Electric Car
Posted: September 22, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Electric Car, EPA, Foxconn, Google, Mac, Microsoft, Office, Office 365, Self Driving, Windows 10 Leave a commentIt was all over the tech news yesterday, and first reported by the Wall St. Journal, that Apple had put it’s Project Titan…their car project…on the front burner, and want an Apple car on the road by 2019. Google has spoken out couple times, underscoring that they are NOT planning to actually build a Google self-driving car, but will partner with car makers. Apple’s electric car project, by the way, will apparently not be self-driving. Apple will not be building their own car. As bgr.com snarked, who is going to build it…it won’t be Foxconn! I predict that Apple will have to partner with one or more actual car maker. Right now, it takes a car maker a minimum of 4 years to get a model out, and they have the actual plants and equipment to build cars at scale. Apple doesn’t, and can’t possibly be ready to produce them by 2019. Even an electric with no EPA emission requirements will still have to meet federal standards in various countries for safety. Which manufacturer or manufacturers will they partner with, and will it be sold from present dealerships or out of Apple branded car stores, like Tesla is doing? Stay tuned.
From Microsoft’s Office blog, comes something that’s NOT vaporware…Office 2016 for Windows and Office 2016 for Mac are available now to everyone. The Windows version is more tightly integrated with both Windows 10 and Office 365, and subscribers can get more frequent updates with new features and improvements. Microsoft says the Mac version had been out since July for 365 subscribers, but now is a one-time purchase option open to all with several new and enhanced Office 365 services. As is typical for Office and Microsoft products, the features and even pricing are beyond the time constraints we have here.
New Force Touch Macbook Pro and iMac Out This Week
Posted: May 18, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android Auto, Apple, Car Play, DEC, Force Touch, Google, IBM, iMac, Mac, Macbook Pro, Self Driving Cars, Windows Leave a commentWednesday looks to be the day that Apple drops new 15 inch Macbook Pros and 27 inch iMacs with Force Touch baked in to the track pads. 9to5mac.com says that otherwise, the update will be a minor one, with upgrades to the CPU and graphics processors.
In a story from tech crunch.com penned by the CEO of Zuora, the present car industry is compared to the early PC industry of the mid 80’s. The auto makers are cast as being as clueless as giant IBM was at that time, and Digital Equipment…remember them…even more out of touch. IBM went on to be clobbered as the platform…like Windows or Mac…became much more important to consumers than the brand itself. With Gartner predicting that there will be 250 million connected cars on the road by 2020, the platform makers, like Google with Android Auto and Apple with Car Play, may become far more important that the actual brand of cars…causing a gigantic shakeup in the auto industry.
Galaxy S6 Presales Are Encouraging to Samsung
Posted: April 11, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Galaxy S6, Mac, PC, Samsung, Windows 10 Leave a commentIt’s no secret that the Galaxy S5 has been disappointing to Samsung. Bgr.com says early signs show the S6 may be the smash hit they badly need. The reviews are good, but more importantly, preorders are already almost double those of the S5 on T-Mobile. The other carriers haven’t weighed in yet on sales of the upcoming Samsung hero phone.
Overall PC shipments have dropped 5.2 percent worldwide first quarter of 2015, but Apple’s Mac has handily bucked that trend. Appleinsider.com reports that Mac sales were up 9% in the US, based on figures from Gartner. That gives Apple 12 % of the US market.
With the upcoming Windows 10 system from Microsoft, Redmond will be merging apps, movies, TV shows, and music into a single location. According to the verge.com, Microsoft will introduce a unified store, and will ensure apps and content can work across PCs, tablets, phones, and the Xbox One. They plan to reveal more about the store at their Build developer conference later this month.
A ‘Sinister’ Version of the Galaxy Edge
Posted: February 9, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, ControlAir, Edge, EyeSight Camera, Finger Control, Galaxy S6, Mac, Microsoft, Playstation 4, Samsung, Xbox One Leave a commentMore pictures have leaked out of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6, and they show 3 different models. 9to5google.com reports that besides the ‘regular’ S6, there appear to be two Galaxy Edge models. Earlier reports had an Edge with two side screens, but it appears that actually there will be both right and left handed models. Using the edge screen by leftys would otherwise require using the phone upside down! Of course, we won’t really know until Samsung releases them. The phones are still expected to roll out March 1st at Mobile World Congress.
Microsoft just dropped the first big update of the year to the Xbox One. Geekwire.com says it includes a Game Hubs feature, that pulls together game clips, playing tips, leaderboards, and info about friends. Redmond’s idea is to basically create a social network around individual games on the Xbox, with the hope that adding this plus their price cut will help them catch up to the Playstation 4 in sales.
While the venerable keyboard and mouse still rule computer inputs, and voice control is still not ready for prime time, there’s a new app at the Apple App Store that lets you use fingers in thin air. Engadget.com reports that ControlAir works with media apps like iTunes, Spotify, and more. You still have to open the app and start the music or video, but you can stop, start, and mute from across the room. The app uses your EyeSight camera.
Microsoft’s New Wearable
Posted: October 30, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android Wear, Google, iOS, Mac, Microsoft, Microsoft Band, Microsoft Health, Skype, Wearables Leave a commentMicrosoft Band is a new fitness focused wearable. Thenextweb.com says its $199, and tracks users’ heart rate, steps taken, sun exposure, stress levels, calories burned and sleep quality, relaying the data to Microsoft Health.
As for Android Wear devices…don’t look for them to be iOS or Mac compatable this year. 9to5mac.com reports a Google project manager, speaking at a media event, confirmed no Android wearables will talk to iOS or Macs by this Christmas.
Skype for iPhone has been updated. It now saves and deletes photos, and according to venturebeat.com has improved chat load times, and has easier to use filter options. It’s available at the App store now.
clarkreid 
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