Google insists Hangouts for consumers isn’t going away

After announcing their new AI-powered chat platforms Allo and Duo last September, Google seems to be sunsetting the old and busted Hangouts in favor of their new hotness. Several other announcements seemed to confirm that strategy, including a Hangouts app specially tooled for enterprise the search giant introduced yesterday. What that means for the consumer version in the long run is unclear, but head of product for Allo and Duo Amit Fulay assured that it’s not going anywhere, at least for now.

@amitfulay What will happen to current consumer Hangouts users?

— Andrew King (@andrewkingmusic) March 10, 2017

Which came hours after he identified the product focuses for Google’s messaging apps:

This further crystallizes our efforts around Allo and Duo for consumers and Hangouts for productivity/business users

— Amit Fulay (@amitfulay) March 9, 2017

Obviously, “not going anywhere” has no time frame, but at least that means consumer Hangouts probably won’t be replaced tomorrow. It will almost certainly be at some point, as consumer apps relying on the old platform won’t work after April 25th. In Google’s long obsession with churning out chat platforms, it’s never quite certain which of last year’s promises the company will keep.

Source: 9to5 Google

IBM inches toward human-like accuracy for speech recognition

The tech world has spent years trying to create speech recognition software that listens as well as humans. Now, IBM says it’s achieved a 5.5 percent word error rate, down from its previous record of 6.9 percent — an industry milestone that could eventually lead to improvements in voice assistants like Siri and Alexa.

Microsoft claimed to reach a 5.9 percent word error rate last October using neural language models resembling associative word clouds. At the time, the company believed 5.9 percent was equivalent to human parity. But, IBM says it’s not popping the champagne yet. “As part of our process in reaching today’s milestone, we determined human parity is actually lower than what anyone has yet achieved — at 5.1 percent,” George Saon, IBM principal research scientist, wrote in a blog post this week.

IBM reached the 5.5 percent milestone by combining so-called Long Short-Term Memory, an artificial neural network, and WaveNet language models with three strong acoustic models. It was then measured using the “SWITCHBOARD” corpus, a collection of telephone conversations that’s been used as a benchmark for speech recognition software for decades. SWITCHBOARD is not the industry standard for measuring human parity, however, which makes breakthroughs harder to achieve.

“The ability to recognize speech as well as humans do is a continuing challenge, since human speech, especially during spontaneous conversation, is extremely complex,” said Julia Hirschberg, a professor and Chair at the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University, in a statement to IBM. “It’s also difficult to define human performance, since humans also vary in their ability to understand the speech of others.”

Source: IBM

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Complete Desk Accessory Set From Grovemade

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Grovemade to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an enormous desktop accessory package that features Grovemade’s entire lineup of quality-crafted desk products.

A Laptop Stand ($139) and a Monitor Stand ($119) are the centerpieces of Grovemade’s desktop setup, with the former able to hold any Mac notebook and the latter able to hold an iMac, LG 5K UltraFine Display, or any other monitor.

Grovemade also makes a Keyboard Tray ($99) that’s appropriate for the iMac keyboard, a Trackpad Tray ($59), a Wrist Pad with leather accents ($49), and a matching leather Mouse Pad ($99), all of which can be used with Apple accessories.

To go along with the Apple-related accessories, Grovemade makes additional desktop products that include a Pen Cup ($39), a Dish for small odds and ends ($29), a Planter that holds a succulent or other small plant ($29), and even a little Desk Lamp ($99).

All of Grovemade’s products are made from a dark walnut wood or a light maple wood, so everything matches and can be ordered in a color that best matches existing decor. The entire set includes everything you might need for the perfect organized desk setup, and the whole shebang looks great on a desk or table.

For our giveaway, Grovemade is including a Laptop Stand or Monitor Stand, Mouse Pad, Pen Cup, Trackpad Tray, Keyboard Tray, Wrist Pad, Lamp, and Dish.

To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (March 10) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 17. The winners will be chosen randomly on March 17 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tags: giveaway, Grovemade
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German Company WeberHaus Becomes First Homebuilder to Support HomeKit in Europe

WeberHaus, a German company that specializes in pre-fabricated connected homes, today announced plans to support HomeKit in its SmartHomes starting in 2017, making it the first homebuilder in Europe to officially support Apple’s home automation system.

WeberHaus does not name which products will be included in its HomeKit packages, but underfloor heating, blinds, light systems, smart plugs, radiator valves, sensors, and more, are mentioned as possibilities. With HomeKit, customers who purchase a SmartHome from WeberHaus will also be able to add new accessories over time.

WeberHaus already has experience with intelligent homes, having previously used WeberLogic 2.0 and the MyHomeControl app from BootUp for home control, but will pivot to Apple’s HomeKit, introducing features like Siri control and Apple TV support for controlling devices when away from home.

“Apple HomeKit is the control solution of choice for home manufacturers around the world, delivering a simple and secure smart home solution for new home buyers,” says Klaus-Dieter Schwendemann, marketing manager at WeberHaus. “We are excited to work with Apple to bring these turnkey smart home packages to home buyers this year.”

The first WeberHaus homes with Apple HomeKit integration will be available later this year, but an official timeline and pricing information is not yet listed. WeberHaus has a demo home that shows off how HomeKit will be integrated into its SmartHomes, which can be viewed at the “World of Living” exhibition at WeberGaus in Rheinau-Linx, Germany.

Several homebuilders in the United States have already announced support for HomeKit, including Lennar, KB Home, and Brookfield Residential. R&F Properties has also begun incorporating HomeKit devices into homes it builds in China.

Tag: HomeKit
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