Amazon’s race to make Alexa smarter

Amazon bosses are now pushing themselves to the limit to make the Alexa speaker smarter. 

Dave Limp – the man behind Alexa is not satisfied with the the function of the speaker as it is.

He now has thousands of  engineers inside Amazon adding to its capability every day and then another tens of thousands of developers adding to the skills, this means in the coming years Alexa will be significantly smarter that she is now.

Alexa will understand 15000 commands compared to it’s nearest rival which is Google home and that only understands under 400 questions/commands, Alexa will also be able to understand context.

iOS 11 HOT POINTS

 

Here are some of the features that iOS 11 will be bringing this September/October:

  • Apple Music gets user profiles and playlist sharing – Apple Music subscribers can now create a social profile and advertise what they are listening to and share the playlists that they have made. 
  • Screenshot sharing tools – When you take a screenshot now it shows you a preview in the bottom left of the screen, once you click it you can go ahead and “mark it up” save and/or share it. 
  • Know when an app is sharing your location – At all times! When an app uses your location in the background, in iOS 11 it is more transparent, with a blue bar highlighting so. 
  • Volume Indicator – Is now smaller and located in top right hand of the screen
  • WIFI Sharing – If an iOS device running iOS11 is nearby you can now share your WiFi signal without having to share wifi passwords. 
  • Do not disturb when driving – Your phone (if you set it to) will go completely blank when it registers that you are driving, no on screen notifications, no screen at all in fact, you can also set it to auto-reply to messages to let others know you’re driving.
  • Facebook/Twitter login support removed.  – No one knows why
  • Pay people within iMessage – Working via an iMessage app (much like gifs) you can send money to loved ones, the money will appear in Apple Pay as a cash card and this can be used like any other form of payment in your Apple Pay Wallet. 
  • Control Center  – Is now one page, bigger and a lot lot cleaner! With the ability to add setting/remove various settings too!
  • App store gets a makeover – BIG PHOTOS! 

Please see above the Top 11 features that the guys over at EverythingApplePro found!

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Hyperloop Completes First Test

Hyperloop, the futuristic tube travel method thought up by Elon Musk, that would get travellers from London to Edinburgh in 45 mins, has completed it’s first test, paving the way for a fully fledged release of the futuristic tech in the near future, making a vehicle travel at 70mph for 5 seconds using magnetic levitation.

The company has a goal for it’s next speed to be 250mph before aiming for the full speed of 750mph before we presume launching not long after barring safety licenses and being approved by the relevant travel boards. However it is believed that the Hyperloop will be used at first to transport cargo before moving onto people transportation.

Hyperloop also showed off a prototype pod design:

 

Hyperloop have said that it’s design is safer than passenger jets, has lower build and maintenance costs than high speed trains and it’s energy usage is incredibly low, equivalent to that of a person on a bicycle.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Pornhub supporting interactive toys!

Pornhub have stepped up their game and have announced compatibility with interactive sex toys like the Kiiroo Onyx and Fleshlight Launch. Certain “smart” videos will allow what you see on screen be re-created via the sex toy – and no this isn’t a smart advertising ploy that PornHub sometimes do.

After bringing VR content to the masses, Pornhub feel that interactivity is the next step in porn. Corey Price, VP, Pornhub:

“We expect this to be extremely popular amongst our fans…..considering the popularity of our VR category, which we launched to immense success last year and currently receives one million plus views each day, it’s quite apparent that fans are constantly looking to immerse themselves in the content they are watching. They want to feel as though they are actually there, engaging with the actors as though it were real-life. Our interactive category goes a long way towards providing them with a complete virtual experience…..we want to democratize interactive technology/content, making it readily available for everyone to use and enjoy,”

To experience this for yourself you can click……well you got to find your own way around this time!

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here! 

Google Glass got an update?

This week, for the first time in 3 years, the Google Glass companion app called “MyGlass” received an update. It killed some bugs and added bluetooth functionality meaning that the new “XE23” firmware version of Google Glass (which is also an update) can added a plethora of bluetooth devices such as a mouse and keyboard.

Despite Google shutting down the website and removing them from sale to consumers, the Google Glass is now available to buy as a business on enterprise, so it’s kinda still alive.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

Fake Obama created using AI tool to make phoney speeches

Faking it with Obama

The University of Washington researchers have developed new technology that once paired up with AI can create some serious output.

Firstly they produced a photorealistic former US President Barack Obama, then then Artificial intelligence was used to precisely model how Mr Obama moves his mouth when he speaks.

Their technique allows them to put any words into their synthetic Barack Obama’s mouth.

Robots could transform healthcare and emergency response

AI could be the way forward for emergency response teams

The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (ECR) has received new funding and a health care revelation has been predicted.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the researchers to create robots that will learn from their environment, each other and us.

The £8 Million funding is awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK. Thanks to the funding the centre will also be able to open a Robotarium.

The EPSRC have now also promised an extra £1 Million more, to develop four new robots that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform healthcare and emergency response.

Ori’s robotic furniture zooms across apartment

Furniture future?

A start-up company that specialises in robotics has created furniture that you can speak to and move on demand.

The furniture re-arranges itself to create maximum space in small apartments.

The working name of this tech is Ori for now, it has been developed in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and they’re currently pitching the project to major companies.

Let’s hope the technology develops far enough for you to not lose your keys or your phone down the side of a sofa.

DJI Spark!

We recently got to play with an amazing cool new drone called the DJI Spark, complete with HD 1080p camera, a mechanical gimbal and intelligent flight controls, this is a new affordable drone, designed to get everyone involved in the world of drones!

The DJI Spark has the ability to recognize your face with tech known as FaceAware and will take off and hover as soon as it turns on, not only that you can take photo’s, which are shareable with the DJI Go 4 app, with hand gestures! Plus all these features, which we were very impressed with!

  • Active tracking
  • 16min flight time,
  • 2km HD video transmission,
  • Return home capability

To buy a DJI Spark please click here!

 

Texts, Emails, Voice Recordings could be used as Wills

Texts, Emails and Voicemails could soon be considered as a valid will by the courts after a radical overhaul of the inheritance laws, if approved by a judge.

Believing that the current laws around wills are outdated and need to be brought into the modern world as the previous laws are “Failing to protect the vulnerable” regarding conditions around older people who suffer from dementia.

The Law Commission (who oversee the laws) are well aware that this proposal may cause arguments, stating that the current rules are unclear and too formal, (40% of people die without making a will) the law would need to be softened to encourage others to make a will.

This would open the door for those who have not left a will, the family can apply to have the intentions that they expressed in a message, email or voice recording be recognised as a form of a last testament. Plus it would allow those who are unable to write a will, either by pen or digitally on a keyboard, will be able to leave one as a voice recording.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!