Microsoft Translator turns your words into spoken Japanese

You may want to install Microsoft Translator if you’re going to Japan and your vocabulary is limited to “Konnichiwa,” “Ohayou” and “Notice me senpai.” The app can now turn your spoken words into Nihongo to help you get around the country. Translator can recognize a bevy of languages, but Japanese is only the 10th language its speech translation feature supports. That’s right — it now reads the resulting Japanese words or phrases out loud to make it possible to hold almost real-time conversations with native speakers. The other nine languages in the list are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The technology’s end-to-end speech translation capability works by using two neural-network based AIs. Its Automatic Speech Recognition AI detects your words, then its natural language processing technology gets rid of all the fillers like “um” and “uh.” After the machine translation AI is done conjuring up a result, the app’s speech synthesizer reads it out loud on the fly.

Microsoft’s Translator app is available for Android, iOS and Amazon Fire devices, though that’s not the only way you can access the tech’s Japanese speech translation feature. It’s now live on the translation solution’s website, as well as on Skype’s real-time translation tool.

Source: Microsoft

A second TV show about video games is coming to Dave

The glory days of GamesMaster might be long gone, but finally it seems there’s renewed interest in video game-focused programming. Broadcaster UKTV has announced the second series of Go 8 Bit will begin airing on Dave on May 15th, and what’s more, it’ll be joined by a new spin-off show that takes a slightly more serious approach to games coverage. Go 8 Bit, hosted by Dara Ó Briain and games journo Ellie Gibson, pits button-bashing comedians and other celebs against each other in various video game challenges. The appropriately titled Go 8 Bit DLC, on the other hand, will complement that with “lively debates and reviews.”

The half-hour show will air immediately after Go 8 Bit on Dave and will be presented by Ellie Gibson, who’ll be flanked by the familiar faces of Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon. Celebrities will also join the discussions and Dara Ó Briain will make cameos to talk about his all-time favourite titles. “After the great success of Go 8 Bit, it’s a logical move for us to further engage with the gaming audience,” UKTV’s senior commissioning editor Iain Coyle said of the spin-off.

Video games are a extremely popular form of entertainment, but one mainstream broadcasters are traditionally lukewarm on, possibly because there’s so much competing content online. That’s slowly changing, however. BBC Radio 1 started airing a monthly gaming show last year and Sky/Virgin Media now have the 24-hour GINX eSports TV channel. Competitive gaming is proving particularly attractive to linear sports channels, and BT Sport will be showing coverage of the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship Series later this month.

Via: gamesindustry.biz

Source: UKTV, British Comedy Guide

Twitter sues U.S. government to block unmasking of anonymous account

Why it matters to you

Twitter believes that users who are critical of the government should be able to voice that criticism anonymously.

Twitter filed suit against the U.S. government on Thursday in an effort to block the unmasking of an anonymous Twitter user who has been posting messages criticizing the government and current administration.

According to Twitter, it received a notice from the government requiring it to reveal the identity of a Twitter user going under the handle @ALT_uscis. The account is allegedly one of several set up by people claiming to be ex-government employees or current employees, and is particularly critical of recent immigration policies.

More: Twitter launches a lightweight version of itself with Twitter Lite

So why the lawsuit? Twitter argues that it was not compelled to reveal the identity of the account holder, and that the request was both unreasonable and unlawful. On top of that, Twitter suggests that unveiling the identity of the user would set a dangerous precedent for the freedom of speech of many so-called “alt-accounts” that have popped up over the past few months in resistance to U.S. government practices.

“A time-honored tradition of pseudonymous free speech on matters of public moment runs deep in the political life of America,” said Twitter in the filing. “These First Amendment interests are at their zenith when, as here, the speech at issue touches on matters of public political life.”

The lawsuit sets the government and Twitter up for a clash over digital privacy — which is an issue that has come up against the current administration and U.S. government before. The issue could eventually even rival the Apple vs FBI case from last year, in which the FBI asked Apple to unlock an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter. After Apple refused, arguing that it set a dangerous precedent for future cases, the FBI found another way to hack into the phone without Apple’s help.

The anonymous user behind the account at issue will be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

We’ll update this story as we hear more on the case.

Microsoft releases April driver update for Surface Book, Surface Pro 4

Why it matters to you

Your Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 should be a bit more stable with the release of April’s firmware and driver update.

After working hard to resolve some serious firmware and driver issues with its Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book machines, Microsoft has established a fairly regular routine lately. It’s been pushing out new updates for both machines on a monthly basis, give or take, even when the number of fixes is relatively small.

Such is the case with April’s firmware update, which isn’t the most significant that Microsoft has released. However, while the update only offers a few fixes for each machine, those might just be the ones many users are looking for.

More: March updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 offer better stability

First up is the Surface Pro 4, which is following up on display, storage, and other updates in March with a few that are aimed at improving overall stability. Here are the details for the April 2017 Surface Pro 4 update:

• Surface driver update for Surface System Aggregator (103.1610.256.0): Resolves screen brightness issue when devices come out of sleep.
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel Precise Touch Device (1.2.0.83): Improves system stability.
• Surface driver update for Surface Integration (1.0.121.0): Adjusts system Hibernation defaults.

At the risk of sounding redundant, the Surface Book’s April 2017 update is quite similar and follows a much more significant update from last month. The details are as follows:

• Surface driver update for Surface System Aggregator (90.1610.256.0): Resolves screen brightness issue when devices come out of sleep.
• Intel Corporation driver update for Intel Precise Touch Device (1.2.0.83): Improves system stability.
• Surface driver update for Surface Integration (1.1.328.0): Adjusts system Hibernation defaults.

As usual, you can grab these updates by clicking on the Action Center icon, selecting All Settings, then Update & Security, then Windows Update, and then hitting the Check for updates button. The firmware will download and then install, and your machine might need to be rebooted. Note that the update might already have automatically downloaded and installed by the time you read this.

There’s still no word on if or when Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 hardware might arrive. In the meantime, Microsoft apparently remains committed to ensuring that the hardware you have continues to provide stable performance.

Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro lands in India with 16MP front and rear cameras

Samsung is going after OPPO and Vivo with the Galaxy C7 Pro.

To create more of a differentiation between its Galaxy A series — which sits one tier below the flagship Galaxy S lineup — and the budget Galaxy J series, Samsung is rolling out the Galaxy C lineup. First unveiled in China earlier this year, the Galaxy C7 Pro has made its debut in India, and there’s a lot to talk about.

Like the Galaxy A series, the focus with the Galaxy C7 Pro is a younger audience, and as such the phone comes with 16MP front and rear cameras with f/1.9 lenses. The phone features a 5.7-inch Full HD panel strengthened by Gorilla Glass 4, 2.2GHz Snapdragon 625 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage, microSD slot, USB-C, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, and a 3300mAh battery.

All of that is crammed into a device that’s 7mm thick, and crucially for Samsung, the Galaxy C7 Pro supports Samsung Pay in India. The main downside is that the phone runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, although it comes with the March 1, 2017 security patch.

The Galaxy C7 Pro will be sold exclusively on Amazon India for ₹27,990. If that number sounds familiar, that’s because it is just ₹9 shy of what the OnePlus 3 sells for on the same website.

Although the C7 Pro will be sold online and has essentially the same specs as the Moto G5 Plus, Samsung is targeting the likes of OPPO and Vivo with the device. Over the last year and a half, both Chinese brands have managed to make decent inroads into the Indian market by rolling out devices with great cameras and attractive designs. The phones themselves had lacklustre software, but they sold amazingly well on the back of a robust offline network.

Samsung has an unrivaled distribution network in India, but it is counting on its brand cachet to drive sales of the Galaxy C7 Pro on Amazon. The South Korean manufacturer is focusing on marquee features like the design, camera, and Samsung Pay over sheer prowess when it comes to the specs. And it just may work out in its favor.

See at Amazon

Limited edition Galaxy S8 Asiana Airlines version can be bought with miles

Koreans can use airline miles to bag a cheaper GS8 — as long as they don’t mind a bit of extra branding.

For a limited time, Asiana Airlines passengers will be able to purchase a limited edition Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ using airline miles. The promotion, which follows a similar deal for last year’s Galaxy S7 series, offers Samsung’s new phones at a discount with 30,000 mileage points.

ZDNet reports that it’ll be offered for a ten-day promotional period, with the phones themselves shipping in the same timeframe as regular GS8 pre-orders. Naturally, you can expect some Asiana-specific theming atop Samsung’s new sci-fi interface when you power the device on.

The offer is only open to Korean customers right now, since only the SK Telecom version fo the GS8 (4GB/64GB) and GS8+ (4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB models) are offered. It’s a unique promotion that we wouldn’t expect to see imitated in any other part of the world — regardless, be sure to let us know in the comments if you’d consider parting with a few extra miles to save some cash on a shiny new Galaxy S8.

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Samsung says that Q1 2017 was its second-most profitable quarter ever

Samsung forecasts record-breaking profits in Q1 2017.

As the largest Android manufacturer, Samsung records more profits than the rest of the field put together. And it now looks like the company is set to post its highest-ever profits in the first quarter of a year, culminating in its second-best quarter ever.

In its Q1 2017 earnings guidance, Samsung forecast an operating profit of $8.8 billion (9.9 trillion won) over revenues of $44 billion (50 trillion won), falling short of the $9.56 billion it recorded in Q3 2013.

For a company dealing with the aftereffects of a global recall and the indictment of its leader, it did incredibly well.

Samsung managed to achieve significantly higher profits even though overall revenue was relatively unchanged from a year prior. The increase in profits is attributed to the manufacturer’s semiconductor business as well as increased sales of its low- and mid-range devices. Samsung will detail its earnings later this month.

With the manufacturer having to delay the launch of the Galaxy S8, revenue from initial sales of this year’s flagship will count toward next quarter’s earnings, which is already predicted to be Samsung’s most profitable yet.

Nougat rises to 4.9% share in March Android platform numbers

Big gains for Nougat and small drops for all other Android versions in latest figures from Google.

Google has published the latest Android platform distribution numbers, showing the share of each OS version across all devices accessing the Play Store last month. Just like the previous month, we’re seeing big gains for Nougat, which goes from 2.8% to 4.9%.

The jump comes as more devices sold in the past year or so, including phones in Samsung’s popular Galaxy S7 and S6 series, receive upgrades to Android 7.0.

All Android versions older than Nougat lost small amounts of market share in March, including the ever-dominant Lollipop, and Marshmallow, which trails a close second.

At the other end of the spectrum, both Gingerbread (Android 2.3.x) and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x) dropped below a single percentage point, both coming in at a 0.9% share. (Google doesn’t include versions with less than a 0.1% share.) KitKat (Android 4.4.x) continues to be oldest version with significant market share at 20%, down slightly from 20.8% in February.

Overall, Nougat still represents a small fraction of the enormous Android ecosystem, but one that’s rapidly growing. Expect more big gains for Android 7.x in April on the back of the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 launches. And look for both Gingerbread and ICS to drop off the charts entirely in the coming months.

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How to share your location in Google Maps

Google Maps lets you easily share your location with friends and family.

Google uncoupled location sharing from Google+ and brought it back to Maps last month. There were a few missteps along the way as the company phased out the service in Google+ before reintegrating it into Maps, but as of today, the feature is available to all Maps users.

With the feature enabled, you can easily share your location with friends and family. You can broadcast your location for a set duration of time, pick approved contacts, or just create and share a link with your real-time location information.

How to share your location in Google Maps

Open Google Maps from the app drawer or the home screen.
Tap the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines) on the top left corner of the screen.

Select Share location.

Tap Get Started.
Use the + icon to select a time period or select the Until you turn this off setting to share your location indefinitely.

Tap Select People.

You’ll see a list of your frequent contacts at the top, along with a full list of contacts. Pick the contacts by tapping their name.
Once you’ve selected the contacts you want to share your location to, tap Share.

You’ll see a message saying that the selected contact can view your location.

How to create a shareable link

You can also create a link and use it to share your location easily. Here’s how to do it:

Tap the hamburger menu on the top left corner of the screen.
Select Share location.

Tap Get Started.

Select the amount of time you want to share your location.
Tap More.

Select your app of choice to create and send a unique URL that broadcasts your current location. You can email it, send the link via Messenger, or even tweet it to the intended recipient.

Are you excited that location sharing is back in Google Maps? How often do you use the feature? Let us know in the comments below.

Facebook’s AI assistant ‘M’ is finally available for Messenger

Facebook Messenger users in the U.S. will now get contextual suggestions from M.

Facebook started testing its AI assistant for Messenger — simply called M — back in 2015, and the company is finally rolling out the service to everyone in the U.S.

Facebook says that M will pop up into conversations to suggest contextual “content and capabilities to enrich the way people communicate and get things done” — which sounds a lot like how Google Assistant works within Allo.

M’s initial actions will include “fun” sticker suggestions, facilitating payment transfers, location sharing, coordinating meetup plans, and the ability to list ride-sharing options near your locale. M will automatically serve up suggestions once it recognizes intent in a conversation. From Facebook:

To experience M, simply chat with a friend or a group as you normally would. M may make a suggestion in a conversation relevant to one of the core actions listed above, and then the M logo and suggestion will appear — it’s that simple. And M learns: the more you use it, the more it can help.

Facebook says that you can easily mute M if you don’t want contextual suggestions, and that more features will be added in due course of time. While it didn’t detail international availability yet, Facebook is rolling out a global update to Messenger that makes it easier to share videos and images. Starting today, you’ll be able to share content with a long press from within the text compose window.