Amazon announced today that Amazon Music listeners will now be able to ask Alexa to make a playlist through their Alexa-enabled devices. Commands like “Alexa, add this to my playlist” and “Alexa, create a new playlist” can be used and users can ask the assistant to add songs to a specific playlist or to create […]
Category: Technology
Facebook Tests ‘Downvote’ Button For Some Users: Report
Facebook has begun testing a “downvote” button with some users, available only in a limited number of post types, the Daily Beast reports. The deployment of downvotes, even on a limited scale, comes after years of rumors of a “dislike” button, which the company itself has helped fuel through mixed messages. Reddit, the website best […]
Google is being sued for the 2016 Pixel’s microphone problems
Hot on the heels of the Project Fi news, it appears that Google is being sued for another problem. Last year we reported that many original Pixel and Pixel XLs were having microphone-related issues caused by a physical defect in the device. Now the same group of attorneys that put together the LG bootloop lawsuit […]
Apple downplays iBoot source code leak, says updated iPhones are secure ‘by design’
Apple has shot down the significance of an apparent source code leak for the iPhone’s iBoot bootloader which loads the operating system. The original report flagged the source code leak as the ‘biggest leak in history’ based on one researcher’s description, but Apple has significantly downplayed any risks associated with the leak while seemingly confirming […]
Here’s every single new emoji coming to iPhone and Android this year
Emoji 11.0, the latest and greatest list of tiny characters that will define your online communications for the next year, has been finalized. Internet arbiter of teen cool The Unicode Consortium has published the new list, which contains superheroes, red-headed people, and a brand-new party face. Judging by the regular release schedule, you’ll see the […]
New Study Suggests Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor Can Detect Early Signs of Diabetes
Cardiogram, a company that offers an app able to break down heart rate data collected by the Apple Watch, today shared the results of a new study that suggests the Apple Watch can be used to detect the signs of diabetes. Cardiogram researchers teamed up with the University of California, San Francisco and used the […]
Your smart TV may be prey for hackers and collecting more info than you realize, ‘Consumer Reports’ warns
Buyer beware. If you’ve snapped up a smart TV, with built-in Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and other Web connections, heads up on this warning — your smart TV could make you vulnerable to hackers and is probably monitoring more of your viewing than you realize. Consumer Reports just analyzed smart TVs from five big U.S. TV […]
Nest is rejoining Google to better compete with Amazon and Apple
Smart home appliance maker Nest, which for three years has operated as an Alphabet subsidiary, is rejoining Google to work alongside the search giant’s hardware group. The decision, which back in November was rumored to be in the works, means that Nest CEO Marwan Fawaz will now report directly to Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh, […]
Artificial intelligence is growing up fast—what’s next for thinking machines?
Our lives are already enhanced by AI – or at least an AI in its infancy – with technologies using algorithms that help them to learn from our behaviour. As AI grows up and starts to think, not just to learn, we ask how human-like do we want their intelligence to be and what impact […]
Snap paid publishers more than $100 million last year
Snapchat paid its publishing partners “more than $100 million” in revenue-sharing advertising deals last year, up from $58 million in 2016 and just $10 million in 2015, the company reported on Tuesday. Some of Snapchat’s advertising revenue comes from ads that it shows alongside videos and stories created by its publishing partners — media companies […]
Google video app brings AR stickers to the Android masses
Want to plop a 3D T. rex into a video of your hand? The Motion Stills app for Android phones now lets you do that with a rough-and-ready technique. If you have a Google Pixel or Pixel 2 phone, you’ve been able to try Google’s AR stickers to plop 3D objects like Star Wars characters […]
How to check battery health and disable battery performance throttling in iOS 11.3 beta
As promised, Apple has included a new screen in the iOS 11.3 beta 2 settings called Battery Health (Beta) available on all iPhones since iPhone 6. This view includes information about the maximum capacity of the battery in the device, and describes whether the battery has degraded to the point where it can no longer […]