Mar 16
Jacob Zuma, who was forced to resign last month, was charged with corruption over a $2.5 billion state arms deal.
Mar 16
Alexa is rolling out an optional “Brief Mode” that lets users configure their Echo devices to use chimes and sounds for confirmations, instead of having Alexa respond with her voice. For example, if you ask Alexa to turn on your lights today, she will respond “okay” as she does so. But with Brief Mode enabled, Alexa will instead emit a small chime as she performs the task.
The mode would be beneficial to someone who appreciates being able to control their smart home via voice, but doesn’t necessarily need to have Alexa verbally confirming that she took action with each command. This is especially helpful for those who have voice-enabled a range of smart home accessories, and have gotten a little tired of hearing Alexa answer back.
The addition of Brief Mode comes at a time when voice assistants are finding their way into ever more smart home devices, beyond the doorbells, camera, lightbulbs, thermostats, and others we’ve grown used to. At CES 2018 this January, for example, Alexa was found in a number of new devices, like smart faucets, light switches, car dashboard cameras, projectors, and several more home appliances like dishwashers, washers, dryers, and fridges.
The launch of Brief Mode was first spotted by users on Reddit (via AFTVNews), with many saying they had received the option just a few days ago. Others in the thread noted they had it as well, but then it went away – something that seems to indicate a test on Amazon’s part, or perhaps bugs with a phased rollout. In some cases, users also noticed a new toggle switch in the Alexa app, which allows you to turn Brief Mode on or off.
The explanation provided here doesn’t seem like Brief Mode would be limited to smart home commands, but anytime when Alexa could play a sound instead of a verbal confirmation. It also seems like it may cut down on Alexa’s overall chattiness in other ways, though we haven’t yet noticed any changes on other fronts.
I received the option to enable Brief Mode yesterday. When giving Alexa a command to turn off the bedroom light, she responded by explaining what Brief Mode does and giving me the option to enable it. (I said yes.)
Now when Alexa is commanded to do things with smart home devices, she just chimes.
We asked Amazon yesterday to confirm if Brief Mode is rolling out to all users, or if it’s still considered a limited test. We’ll update if the company chooses to respond.
Mar 16
Today is a big day for Samsung and Android fans in general, as the Galaxy S9 is being launched in 70 different regions around the world. This kicks off a worldwide launch that will see the Galaxy S9 and its big brother, the Galaxy S9+, available in more than 110 countries by month’s end. Unfortunately, whatever hope Samsung had for … Continue reading
Mar 16
The folks at Massdrop announced that they’d be coming correct, officially, with a Hasbro collaboration to make a Scrabble Keyboard. This keyboard is mechanical, which is neat, but it’s mostly made because the keys look slick. This Scrabble-themed keyboard doesn’t just make its user appear smart, it makes its user feel like they know all sorts of words and such, … Continue reading
Mar 16
Apple has announced an unexpected event on March 27, focusing on education and to be held at a high school in Chicago. Rather than bring media to Cupertino and Apple Park, as the company did last year for the unveil of the iPhone X, this new event will take place in the midwest. “Let’s take a field trip,” Apple’s tagline … Continue reading
Mar 16
Well, can’t say we saw this one coming. We were expecting Apple to take some time this month to talk about a sequel to its popular, low-cost iPad, and maybe even share some more information about its long-awaited wireless charging mat. Instead, Apple…
Mar 16
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the ideal business laptop. But it’s also strictly a traditional notebook. If you’re looking for something a bit more flexible, the X1 Yoga might be a better option. Just like Lenovo’s other Yoga machines, it has a hinge…
Mar 16
As cryptocurrency becomes a more important force in the world market, more companies are cropping up to mine it. And that, in turn, is becoming a problem for places where these miners are setting up. The town of Plattsburgh, New York, has become the…
Mar 16
Wow, that title must be a first for humanity. Normally it’s the human losing jobs because of robots. Remember Flippy? He’s an industrial robotic arm capable of grilling and flipping up to 2,000 burgers a day. The bot was poised to start taking jobs from our pimply faced youth.
Well, it actually began working at Pasadena, California based CaliBurger restaurant, but here’s the thing: It was put on indefinite leave two days later because its human coworkers couldn’t keep up with the breakneck speed of its burger making. Cue Nelson from The Simpsons: HA HA!
Take that robots! How does it feel for you to lose your job to us for a change? I mean, granted, it’s because of our inferior skills and inability to keep up, but still. Our robot overlords can suck it. Leave the burger making to us.
Basically, the company paid like $100,000 for a robot that only worked for two days. In the automotive world, that’s what’s known as a lemon. Now our acne-ridden youths can get back to making burgers, the way God intended. Slowly. This also means that the spit in your burger is back because you were a rude jerk. God bless America!
[via USA Today via Geekologie]
Mar 16
Might & Magic is back, but not in the way you were probably hoping for. Ubisoft has revived the beloved RPG series as a mobile battler called Might & Magic: Elemental Guardians, chock-full of colorful and chibi-esque creatures to collect. The…
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