Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has gradually been adding features to its Fire tablets that are present on its Echo smart devices. The company today announced a new firmware update for the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 which essentially transforms these tablets into portable Echo Shows. The update will add Show Mode to the tablets which brings the same title card user interface that’s present on the Echo Show, Amazon’s smart speaker with a display.

The company has confirmed that this software update will be released for the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets on July 2nd. The Show Mode won’t be available on older Fire tablets or the Fire 7 tablet for that matter.

Amazon has also launched a Show Mode Charging Dock which will transform the tablets into a makeshift Echo Show. Once the tablet is placed into the dock it starts charging and automatically enables Show Mode. It then enables users to access all of the Echo features even if they’re across the room. The docks are priced at $40 and $55 for the 8 inch and 10 inch versions.

The docking station doesn’t have an external microphone or speaker so only the tablet’s internals will be used to power this experience. Obviously, it won’t be an experience similar to the actual Echo devices which have a seven-mic array compared to the tablet’s singular built-in microphone.

Amazon Transforms Fire Tablets Into Portable Echo Shows , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Facebook has long been accused of tapping into users’ smartphone to deliver targeted advertising but it has always denied the accusation. However, the company has now filed for a patent which details technology which can trigger a smartphone’s microphone when it picks up secret messages hidden in TV advertisements. The technology will signal the devices to start recording when the signal is picked up.

A dive into the patent reveals that Facebook may embed high-pitched audio signals into TV ads which our ears won’t be able to register but smartphone mics would. This would trigger them to record “ambient audio” and send that back to Facebook.

What this essentially does is provide Facebook a recording of your response when a particular ad comes on the TV. If you have no audible response to the ad it will also be evident from the ambient audio recorded. Many are obviously concerned about the privacy implications of this patent but Facebook says that it doesn’t ever intend to use the technology that it wants to patent.

Facebook VP and Deputy General Counsel Allen Lo tells Engadget that Facebook has just filed the patent to “prevent aggression from other companies,” adding that “patents tend to focus on future-looking technology that is often speculative in nature and could be commercialized by other companies.”

To completely drive the point home, Lo says that the technology Facebook wants to patent isn’t in any of its existing products “and never will be.”

Facebook Patent Details Tech That Triggers Your Smartphone’s Mic , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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