Jan 14
Voice control has been the trend in phones for a while now, but it’s not content to just stay there. The newest Chrome Beta is introducing a Web Speech API, which means a talk-y future is on the horizon, hopefully. More »
Dec 23
Keypads are quickly becoming a legacy techonology thanks to a collaboration between LG and Google TV. The company announced today that it is expanding Google TV functionality to seven of its 2013 models. More »
Dec 08
Of course we spend a lot of time talking into our phones, but more and more we’re also spending a lot of time talking to them. For the most part they tend to be pretty good at simply retrieving data that way, but soon they might be able to figure out your mood as well. More »
Oct 15
Is it Fall again already? Must be time for another Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Every year Microsoft Drops the console a little bit of code to match the descending leaves, delivering new features, interface tweaks and additional content to hide behind the Xbox Live Gold paywall. Redmond’s latest update isn’t quite the overhaul it gave the gaming rig last year, but minor changes can have big effects. Join us after the break to see the machine’s latest update, and what it means for you.
Continue reading Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012)
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Microsoft
Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 20
Chrome experiment explores new types of navigation, degrees of embarrassment
Posted in: Today's Chili 
What you’re about to see, should you choose to click the source link below, is far from perfect. On the other hand, it’s clearly had a lot of effort and expertise put into it — not only by HTML5-savvy coders, but also by a troupe of performers from the Cirque du Soleil. It’s called Movi.Kanti.Revo, which is a fancy way of saying Move.Sing.Dream, and it involves navigating through an ethereal and slightly laggy landscape using only swaying gestures, your singing voice (mournful sobbing sounds also worked for us) and a bunch of APIs that conveniently fail to work on FireFox, Safari or Internet Explorer. It’s well-suited to those with a mic and webcam, preferably sitting in a open-plan and bully-ridden workplace, and if you don’t like it there’s always Bastion.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Alt
Chrome experiment explores new types of navigation, degrees of embarrassment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sep 13
Apple confirms iPhone 5 won’t do simultaneous voice and LTE data on CDMA networks
Posted in: Today's Chili 
If you’re still struggling to decide which carrier to use for your iPhone 5, you may have had some of the decision made for you. Following statements by Verizon that hinted simultaneous voice and data still wouldn’t be an option despite the inclusion of LTE, which theoretically frees up CDMA for calls, we’ve confirmed with Apple spokesperson Natalie Harrison that this is indeed the case. It’s “not yet possible” to do side-by-side CDMA voice and LTE data on a “single-radio” design like the iPhone 5, she says. That’s technically true, although it may be a case of Apple wanting to keep hardware differences to a minimum between CDMA and GSM users. AnandTech founder Anand Lal Shimpi tells the New York Times that Verizon phones like the Galaxy S III, which don’t have this limit, follow a different approach: where Apple uses a second antenna to improve overall reception for a single connection, Samsung and other phone makers use theirs to keep both data and voice flowing in harmony. While it’s a tradeoff with its own benefits, the choice means that iPhone 5 units for Verizon, Sprint, and every other CDMA carrier still won’t let you check your e-mail in mid-call without WiFi. If that’s an issue, you’ll have to turn to AT&T (or T-Mobile with an unlocked phone) to get your fix.
Filed under: Cellphones
Apple confirms iPhone 5 won’t do simultaneous voice and LTE data on CDMA networks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aug 17
Even though it’s also on iOS now, Android is still the first love for Google’s Voice Search and the company announced today it’s adding support for an additional 13 languages on the platform, bringing the total to 42 languages and accents understood in 46 countries. The list includes Basque, Bulgarian. Catalan, European Portuguese, Finnish, Galician, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak and Swedish. Just like it has since at least 2010 when Voice Actions were introduced it will require Android 2.2 or higher, and is easily accessible either from the search box on your home screen or in the Voice Search app. We should note that it still only understands one language at a time and you may need to change some settings, also the new languages weren’t showing up yet on every device we tried — just some of them. Hit the source link for a few more details on how machine learning was used to extrapolate the pronunciation of all Swedish words based on thousands of samples from native speakers, or just grab a nearby phone or tablet and have Pau Gasol speak some Catalan to it — although obviously Salvador Dali would be preferred, were he available.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
Google’s Voice Search on Android adds support for 13 additional languages originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Aug 2012 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aug 10
Even Apple’s Siri, arguably the cutting-edge of synthesized computer voices, sounds incredibly fake. To the point where you’d think that field of research has only been around for about 10 years. But shockingly it dates back to the 1930s—80+ years ago! More »
Aug 06
Voice assistant ‘Nina’ lets any app obey commands, makes speech your password
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Voice recognition technology from Nuance is all over the place — in everything from Smart TVs to Beemers. But today, in response to the growth of device-specific voice assistants like Siri and S-Voice, the company wants to take things down a different route: launching a mobile SDK for iOS and Android that any third-party app can employ. Baptized “Nina,” the voice assistant won’t only be able to understand instructions, but will also identify the speaker using vocal biometrics. That means Nina could potentially pay a bill, arrange a bank transfer, book a vacation or even interact with government services without ever requiring you to enter a password. The video after the break shows just how intimate things could get — assuming you’re able to find a spot where the two of you won’t be overheard.
Continue reading Voice assistant ‘Nina’ lets any app obey commands, makes speech your password
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software
Voice assistant ‘Nina’ lets any app obey commands, makes speech your password originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 04
People who have great singing voices either worked hard to get there or were born with it. Then there are the others who trained themselves using the Beauty Voice Trainer.
It’s another one of Japan’s nifty self-improvement contraptions that promises to “give you the dulcet voice you know you’ve always wanted.” It’s different from the rest because it, for once, doesn’t promise to tone your facial muscles or get rid of wrinkles like the Rhythm Slim Chin Exerciser or the Smile Lines Face Belt.
Instead, the Beauty Voice Trainer sets out to loosen up your throat so that your voice passage opens to allow stronger sounds to pass through. At least, this is what they claim it does on their website.
It also comes with a tuning fork so you can reach the notes you want to reach and identify proper intervals between pitches. Use it for five minutes a day and you might see your singing voice improve (or not.)
The Beauty Voice Trainer retails for $59(USD). That’s a couple of hundred bucks less than what you’d have to pay if you hired a voice coach, but again, no guarantees that it’ll make it any more likely you’ll get picked on The Voice.
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