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 Personal Assistant Systems


Amazon's Echo Link is its answer to high-end audio

Engadget

While the Echo Dot's ability to plug into existing speakers is nice, it's not something fans of high-end audio would hook up to their home theatre. Amazon is hoping to win over those audiophiles with two new devices: The Echo Link Amp and Echo Link. The Echo Link Amp will start shipping early next year for $299. It will ship with a built-in 60W two-channel amplifier with digital and analog inputs and outputs. The Echo Link -- while not an amplifier -- is made to connect to an existing high-end stereo system via the amplifier or power speakers and deliver quality audio.


Amazon's Echo Input offers Alexa for your existing speakers

Engadget

The latest gadget Amazon is shoehorning Alexa into is an audio dongle called the Echo Input. The $34.99 media bridge has line inputs, Bluetooth and a far field mic. Think of it like a combo Chromecast Audio and Google Home Mini, but without the speaker and sold by Amazon versus Google and you've got the basic gist. Clearly, the company wants its digital assistant in more places, and has heard people griping about how poor the sound quality is on its Echo devices, or, those who use the line-out connection to connect them to their pre-existing, more powerful dumb speakers. It's available for pre-order right now, and will ship later this year.


Amazon's smart plugs put Alexa in every power socket

Engadget

As if having access to Alexa on your phone and in your speakers or even car weren't enough, Amazon now has a way to put its digital assistant in literally every room of your house. At its press conference in Seattle on Thursday, Amazon unveiled its latest connected home product, Smart Plugs. These devices don't technically have Alexa on-board, but you can control them with Alexa through Echo speakers or your smartphone. These devices work in much the same way as other smart power supplies, enabling users to activate the appliances connected to them remotely, either through the Alexa App or via voice control, as well as set and set on/off timers. What's more, since the Smart Plugs operate entirely through the Alexa App, you won't have to connect yet another hub to your beleaguered router.


Amazon's Echo Auto puts Alexa in any car

Engadget

A growing number of cars have Alexa built-in, but what if yours don't? Amazon has its own solution: Echo Auto. The new peripheral uses your phone's cellular connection (through a Bluetooth link) to provide Alexa voice commands in vehicles where they normally wouldn't be an option. The device is ready as soon as you start your vehicle, and it now uses location-based routines to trigger events based on where you are. The lights can come on at home when you're about to pull into the driveway, as an example.


Amazon announces Echo Sub, Echo Link Amp, Echo Link, and Amazon Smart Plug

#artificialintelligence

At an event today in Seattle, Amazon significantly broadened its Echo device lineup -- and that's understating it. It took the wraps off the Echo Sub, its answer to voice-enabled premium audio products like Apple's HomePod, Sonos One, and Google Home Max; the Echo Input, a wireless accessory that connects to legacy speakers; the Echo Link Amp and Echo Link, amplifiers with multiple audio inputs and outputs; and Amazon Smart Plug, a connected outlet. They round out Amazon's existing and refreshed selection of smart speakers (the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus), smart displays (the Echo Show and Echo Spot), and smart cameras (the Echo Look). The $130 Echo Sub, which ships today, features a mesh cloth that comes in several colors, and a 6-inch, 100W down-firing speaker that can be configured in stereo. Two paired Echo Sub speakers can act as a single 2.1 system, with distinct left and right audio channels.


How Artificial Intelligence is Driving Mobile App Personalization

#artificialintelligence

Apple's dispatch of Siri in October 2011 is viewed as the start of utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in versatile applications, and the AI aide ended up accessible to the general population when the iPhone 4s came to showcase. From that point forward numerous application developer and in addition organizations behind them as of now, accessible applications are taking AI as the following level of mobile computing. The latest case is of Google right hand which is like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa yet deserted them as far as knowledge. Presently AI has turned into the most basic piece of mobile application development and here are the means by which AI can customize the mobile applications. The mobile world is the correct stage for AI applications in light of its entrance to a client's area, buy history, and standards of conduct.


Tinder is addictive as it's inspired by a psychological experiment

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Tinder is addictive because it was inspired by a 1940's psychological experiment that turned pigeons into'gambling fanatics'. Tinder executive Jonathan Badeen has admitted basing the dating app's famous'swipe' mechanic on a classic experiment he studied at university. In the experiment, American psychologist B.F. Skinner conditioned hungry pigeons to believe that food delivered randomly into a tray was prompted by their pecking. The pigeons began pecking more in the hopes of earning extra food, essentially turning them into'gamblers'. When users swipe right (signalling an interest in the dating app profile) or left (no interest at all) it reinforces a similar behaviour to the psychological experiment.


Facebook Dating testing in Colombia

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Dating apps and online websites are plagued with fraudulent profiles, known as'catfishes'. 'Catfishing' originated as a term for the process of luring people into false relationships, however, it has also come to encompass people giving out false information about themselves more generally. These profiles often use images of another person to allow users to pretend to be someone else in order to get a date, or scam money from a lonelyheart. This is probably the most valuable tool for catching out a catfish and can be done via Google. To kickstart the process, people need only right-click the photos that are arousing their suspcions, copy the URL and paste it into images.google.com.


Apple iOS 12 review: Less mess

Engadget

The wait is over: After a splashy announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in June, iOS 12 is finally ready. While it's far from the flashiest iPhone update ever -- there's no visual overhaul here or many hyped-up new features -- iOS 12 might be the most pleasant Apple software update I've ever used. As reported many, many times even before the announcement, Apple's developers focused on sanding down the software's rougher edges and making iOS as a whole faster and easier to use. That was no small feat, especially when you consider the number of issues that wound up plaguing last year's big software release. For once, Apple crafted a software update that feels just as valuable on old hardware as it does on the shiny new stuff.


Google Home Mini was the top selling smart speaker in Q2

Engadget

Alexa had better watch out: Google, not Amazon, had the bestselling smart speaker worldwide in Q2 of 2018. The Google Home Mini had a 20 percent market share during that quarter, selling 2.3 million units. It was followed closely by the Amazon Echo Dot, at 2.2 million. Rounding out the top five were the Amazon Echo, Alibaba Tmail Genie and Google Home. One notable name that's missing from the list is Apple's HomePod.