Microsoft Garage releases Dictate, letting you talk to your Office apps

Why it matters to you

You can now leverage Microsoft’s expertise in voice recognition to speak your words into Office apps.

Microsoft Windows 10 is chock full of ways to input information. There is the keyboard, of course, which comes in both physical and software versions. Then there’s Windows 10 Ink, which provides solid handwriting recognition to go along with its excellent drawing capabilities. Another important input mechanism, particularly for anyone with a physical challenge, is voice input. Speaking your words to a PC can be a liberating experience for some people, and while Windows has always had a form of dictation built in, Microsoft Garage has another option in Microsoft Dictate.

Dictate is built on the same voice-recognition technology that powers Microsoft Translator and other products and services build on Microsoft Cognitive Services. That means that it benefits from Microsoft’s industry-leading research into using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve a computer’s ability to understand spoken languages.

Microsoft Dictate works just like a number of other voice-recognition solutions, such as Nuance’s Dragon Dictate. It is a little different from some in that it is specifically an Office add-in, meaning it works with the desktop version of Office. You need to download the right version, either 32-bit or 64-bit, and then run through the installation process.

Once you install the add-in, it will be available in Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. You then have another menu option available dubbed “Dictation,” and selecting that lets you start and stop dictation. While dictation is running, you have access to a number of commands, including:

• New Line: Takes cursor to new line
• Delete: Removes the last line you dictated
• Stop Dictation: Terminates the dictation session
• Full stop or period: Types period character (.)
• Question mark: Types (?)
• Open Quote: Types (“)
• Close Quote: Types (”)
• Colon: Types (:)
• Comma: Types (,)

In addition, Dictate supports more than 20 languages for the dictation process itself and it can provide real-time translation between 60 languages. English language support includes both automatic and manual punctuation, and the system provides for real-time visual feedback showing that speech is being processed.

If you have been looking for a good way to speak to your Windows PC using your Office apps, then Dictate might be a great solution. Keep in mind that Microsoft Garage products don’t always last forever, however, and so it is entirely possible that Microsoft could kill the project.

First, Huawei wants AI to help you. Then it wants AI to be you.

Huawei is increasingly optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence. At CES Asia 2017, Chief Operating Officer Wan Biao spoke to Digital Trends about the technology’s growth, describing three key stages in AI’s evolution: “Enable me, Know me, Be me.” We’re already into the beginnings of the “know me” stage, Biao said. “Be me” is still some time away, but despite its potential, that may be a good thing.

Machines are already surpassing human intelligence, Biao said, and we’re edging even closer to the prospect of a smart society — where people and machines are one. This, combined with previous statements made by Huawei about artificial intelligence and the integration of machine learning into its smartphones, gives us a tantalizing glimpse of the smart future.

Enable Me, Know Me, Be Me

“‘Enable me’ typically means the control system and our voice are used to enhance the user experience,” Biao said. “In ‘Know me,’ artificial intelligence comes into the equation, to proactively know the requirements of users.”

For example, when a friend sends a message inviting you to dinner, it will likely include the address and location. “Know me” will automatically show this on the maps app. Over time, it will learn your daily behavior and activity, and get to know you personally.

The technology is unique to the platform, and couldn’t be implemented on a Qualcomm or other competing chipset.

Huawei’s user interface placed over Android — EMUI 5.0 and EMUI 5.1 — uses machine learning techniques to push resources directly to the apps you use most often, according to the company’s software engineering director, Christophe Coutelle. That way, it’s not warming up apps you almost never use, ensuring you don’t have to wait around or deal with lag when you open your favourite apps.

This works locally in the background, along with smart resource allocation algorithms — which constantly shift the processor power, along with the phone’s RAM and GPU resources — to where they’re needed at the time. The result is 20 percent faster app launch time, and a 40 percent decrease in wait time when you first turn on the phone. How effective is Huawei’s machine learning system on predicting your behaviour? In EMUI 5.0 — introduced with the Huawei P9 and Mate 9 — its accuracy was measured at 85 percent. For EMUI 5.1 on the Huawei P10, Huawei said the predictive accuracy is up to 90 percent.

Best of all, this is Huawei’s own technology, and it’s made possible by its Kirin 960 processor. It utilises one of its cores for storing and managing apps, rather than constantly killing them off. The technology is unique to the platform, and couldn’t be implemented on a Qualcomm or other competing chipset. It also means other companies need to come up with their own version should they want to follow along.

“Kirin is the future for our smartphones, and Huawei intends to continue investing in it,” Biao said, adding that in the future, “all smart devices will have these functions.”

This type of AI smarts is already available on other smartphones such as the HTC U11, as well as through other services such as chatbots in messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger.

It’s all useful, but what about “Be me?” The very phrase is evocative. Do we want software and machines to be us? Biao’s not shy in painting a picture of a techno future more suited as a plot for a Terminator-esque movie.

“Man and machine will be integrated together for proactive thinking,” he said, when asked to describe what “Be me” will be like. “The brain is made of neural cells, it makes full use of the information stored, and is like a super computer. In the future, the machine will also store and acquire information from the outside world. The simultaneous calculations will be far stronger than the human brain.”

He cited the recent advances made by AlphaGo, Google’s now-retired AI computer program that’s purpose was to master and beat top Go players.

“Man and machine will be integrated together for proactive thinking”

“In the 90s, [computer program] Deep Blue beat a chess champion, as Go has done now,” he said. “Computers are already stronger. Einstein had an IQ of 160, and in some cases, AlphaGo has an IQ of 10,000. I believe AI and data processing will be far stronger than the human brain, and the world will become a smart society.”

The concept of a smart society, and man and machine becoming one, is likely to be a terrifying thought to many people. But Biao is optimistic that we’ll remain in complete control over this new wave of hyper-intelligent machines.

“In the end, machines will be controlled by people,” he said. “They’re powered by energy, and if the power is cut, they’ll stop working.” Let’s hope machines don’t control the power source.

The power of collective wisdom

This is not the first time Huawei has gazed into the AI future and given us its predictions. Richard Yu, Huawei’s president, also talked about the impact artificial intelligence will have on our lives during his 2017 CES keynote speech. He said over the next five to 10 years, there will be an, “intelligent revolution,” where all things will be connected, and be able to sense their environment. Our phones, he said, will be more like robots, and move past being simply smart phones, to become intelligent phones. The Kirin processor will continue to be instrumental in making this happen, with future versions having dedicated cores specifically for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Huawei’s obviously convinced that artificial intelligence will play a big part in our smart devices over the coming years, and the company is making sure it’s in at the start. It reinvests 10 percent of its revenue into research and development each year, a figure that matches Google, and 79,000 of Huawei’s 180,000-strong workforce works in R&D. There’s no doubt it’s serious.

But so is everyone else. Samsung’s very keen on artificial intelligence, but isn’t off to the best start with its stalled Bixby virtual assistant — despite its acquisition of AI experts Viv Labs. Apple revealed more about its improvements to Siri during its WWDC 2017 keynote, including news of extensive machine learning tools being made available to developers inside iOS 11. It’s also likely to install a lot of these skills into its HomePod smart home device which launches later this year.

Huawei is the world’s number three smartphone manufacturer, behind Apple and Samsung respectively. Its goal is to be number one, and we were told of an important company mantra it considers key to reaching the top: A belief in “the power of collective wisdom.”  There’s a clear parallel between this, and the AI research described here. Let’s see if this can become more than just a fortuitous coincidence.

These tips will help keep your camera lens squeaky clean

No matter what you shoot or where you do it, it’s inevitable your camera lens will, at some point, become dirty enough to warrant a cleaning. To ensure your lenses stay in tip-top shape, we’re going to run through the various steps you should take to clean your camera lenses with the attention to detail they deserve. After all, a well-maintained lens could last a lifetime.

Cleaning the front and rear elements

First, you want to clean the front and rear elements of the lenses. For obvious reasons, these two optical elements are the most likely to get dirty when shooting day-to-day, the front element in particular. Before opting for a traditional cleaning cloth, however, what you’ll want to do is use a blower bulb. We suggest the Giotto Rocket Blaster, as it’s an age-old tool used by photographers around the world for decades. Using a blower bulb helps to gently remove any dust or dirt on your lens that would otherwise be ground into the glass when wiping it with a cloth.

Once you’ve finished blowing off the element, you’re going to want to obtain a microfiber cloth and cleaning solution. Microfiber cloths vary in terms of texture and quality, so be sure to find one that doesn’t leave behind any unwanted fuzzies. Also, when using the cleaning solution in conjunction with the cloth, avoid spraying the solution directly on the optical elements. Instead, spray the solution on the cloth and wipe accordingly. If there are streaks left behind, use a dry section of the microfiber cloth to ensure a clean surface.

Cleaning the outside of lens

You might not find yourself cleaning the outside of your lens often, but when you do, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing it right. A microfiber cloth works wonders for getting dust and dirt off the outside of the lens, and for those times when you want to give your lens a deeper cleaning, a toothbrush is your best friend.

Specifically, get a soft-bristled toothbrush and, without any sort of liquid cleaner, brush across the surfaces and inside the crevices of your lens. The bristles on the brush should dislodge any dirt that might’ve built up between the focus and zoom rings.

Although many lenses claim to be “waterproof” or “weatherproof,” the truth is, no lens is completely protected from liquids. Because of this, we suggest you avoid using liquid cleaners on the barrel of your lens. If you do find it absolutely necessary to do so, remember to place the cleaning solution on the microfiber cloth — not on the lens directly.

Lens contacts

Newer lenses have electronic contacts on the lens mount that drive the focusing motor, the image stabilization setup (if present), and help transfer information about the image and lens to the camera body. For the most part, you should never have to worry about these contacts. In fact, it’s best to avoid cleaning them as much as possible, since they’re often made of sensitive metals.

But, in the event you’re getting a constant error code regarding the connection between the lens and the camera, your safest bet is to clean the camera with a standard pencil eraser. Make sure the eraser you’re using is made of a soft rubber, as certain erasers may contain abrasives that could scratch the contacts. Furthermore, ensure the lens is facing down so that shavings don’t find their way into the internal components of the lens. Again, only do this as a last-ditch effort.

Leave it to the pros

auremar/123RF

If you aren’t much of a do-it-yourselfer or you aren’t comfortable doing the steps mentioned above, then it’s possible you could accidentally damage a lens. In this instance, you should leave it to the professionals. Yes, it will cost you out of pocket, but if lens cleaning is something you do once in a while, then the money spent could be a sound investment.

Many specialty camera retailers will offer in-store lens cleaning. Even Best Buy offers such a service through its Geek Squad division. You can also check with your camera manufacturer’s customer service, which could direct you to the appropriate place for lens cleaning. If you live near one of Canon’s service centers, such as the one in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, you could even drop off a lens and have a Canon technician not only clean it, but diagnose it for possible problems.

Wrapping it up

Overall, keeping your lens working like a well-oiled machine shouldn’t take too much work once you have the required tools on hand. This is especially if you properly attach and remove it from your camera, adding both the front and rear lens caps.

If your lens has more profound problems than those mentioned in this article, or has a build up of dirt on the internal optical elements, your best bet is to contact your camera manufacturer about getting it professionally cleaned. Whether talking a manufacturer’s in-house service or that of a third party, taking care of gear is what these people do. And, trust us, it’s better to spend a couple hundred dollars having your shooter professionally cleaned than to try and do it yourself only to ruin an expensive lens.

Mozilla brings Firefox Focus, its privacy-conscious web browser, to Android

Why it matters to you

If you’re search for a simple web browser with a focus on privacy, look no further than Firefox Focus.

When Mozilla launched Firefox Focus last year, its take on a modern iPhone web browser, it doubled down on privacy. Now, nearly half a year later, Mozilla is bringing the same security-conscious experience to devices running Android, Google’s smartphone operating system.

“For the times when you don’t want to leave a record on your phone. You may be looking for information that in certain situations is sensitive — searches for engagement rings, flights to Las Vegas or expensive cigars, for example,” Mozilla wrote in a blog post. “And sometimes you just want a super simple, super-fast Web experience — no tabs, no menus, no pop-ups. Firefox Focus gives you just that.”

You would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Focus for Android and its iPhone counterpart. The app retains the stripped-down, simple interface of its iOS cousin, down to the incredibly basic browsing experience and Yahoo search toolbar. You cannot favorite web pages or open multiple tabs in Focus — instead, you are expected to perform quick searches and visit web pages directly.

The distinct lack of bells and whistle works in Focus’s favor, though. Mozilla claims that its ad-blocking and anti-tracking tech speeds up web browsing sessions and decreases page load times.

“[Trackers] are notoriously known for slowing down your mobile experience,” Firefox mobile product manager Barbara Bermes wrote in a blog post announcing the Android launch. “Why do we block these ad trackers? Because they not only track your behavior without your knowledge, [but] also slow down the web on your mobile device,”

To commemorate the debut of Focus for Android, Mozilla introduced the key new features first to Google’s platform. You can switch off the web browser’s built-in tracker blocker so that you can view sites that do not load properly with it enabled, or view the ad tracker counter to see how many analytics are being actively blocked on a given page. And you will now get push notification reminders to erase your browser history.

“For Android users, [we] made Focus a great default browser experience,” Bermes wrote. “Since we support both custom tabs and the ability to disable the ad blocking as needed, it works great with apps like Facebook when you just want to read an article without being tracked.”

Firefox Focus is available for free from the Google Play Store. The iOS version, which is slated for an update in the “coming weeks,” is on the iTunes App Store.

Sprint and Samsung team up for speedy MIMO 5G cellular network

Why it matters to you

Sprint’s new MIMO technology, which it’s developing in partnership with Samsung, might dramatically boost the range and speed of its prototypical 5G network.

The next generation of cellular connectivity is nearly upon us, and there’s every indication it will perform leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. So it’s no real surprise that carriers like Sprint are already prototyping next-gen networks ahead of broader rollouts. On Tuesday in Suwon, South Korea, the Now Network teamed up with Samsung to prototype massive MIMO technology.

Massive MIMO (short for multiple input, multiple output) is a radio technique that uses multiple antennas to boost signal speed. It’s not exclusive to 5G, per say — some high-end phones and Wi-Fi routers already support it — but it’s critical in urban environments, where hundreds (and even thousands) of tightly packed subscribers compete for high-speed data. Using a technique called beamforming, which focuses and transmits cell signals to targeted locations, MIMO-enabled radios are able to deliver relatively consistent quality of service to all devices on a given network.

Entire industries stand to benefit — at least in theory. Cars, Internet of Things (IoT) products, and even virtual and augmented reality headsets enabled with 5G will deliver faster, more reliable experiences than the 4G devices of today. And cloud-powered storage like iCloud and Google Drive could become speedy enough to replace physical hard drives.

Sprint’s brand of MIMO consists of eight transmitting antennas and eight receiving antennas for a total of 16, a configuration it calls 8T8R. In its collaboration with Samsung, it compared the performance of 8T8R, which it’s deployed across its network, to Samsung’s massive MIMO radios. During field testing in Suwon, technicians measured speeds of 330Mbps per channel — about four times the capacity and three times the cell edge performance compared to current radios.

Going forward, Sprint plans to deploy upgraded 64T64R (64 transmit, 64 receive) antennas across its network, which the carrier expects will achieve speeds “well beyond” 1Gbps. In addition, it will partner with Samsung on massive MIMO network infrastructure, network design, operation, data collection, and processing.

“The testing in South Korea is an important step towards deploying massive MIMO in our U.S. network where it will be a key element of LTE Plus as well as 5G,” Günther Ottendorfer, Sprint’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Massive MIMO is a tremendous differentiator for Sprint because it is easily deployed […]  This makes massive MIMO an important tool.”

Sprint’s MIMO partnership with Samsung follows on the heels of its pledge to roll out 5G by “late 2019.” In May, the carrier said that it would deploy spectrum in the 2.5GHz band, using the new standard developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project — a key working group overseeing the development of 5G technologies.

The competition isn’t standing idly by. In February, Verizon launched “pre-commercial” 5G service for homes and offices in 11 cities, following a partnership with Samsung, Qualcomm, and others that saw 5G routers installed in homes.

AT&T, another rival, said it will begin streaming DirecTV service over 5G to some residential customers. And more recently, it announced “5G Evolution,’”a series of high-speed connectivity trials in 20 major cities.

HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap: Should you buy it?

What is this Deluxe Audio Strap all about, anyway?

The first of many accessories slated for the HTC Vive this year has shipped to those who pre-ordered, and it’s all about adding audio and structure to the Vive experience. It’s called the Deluxe Audio Strap, and HTC is asking $100 for this upgrade to what is already the most expensive — though also most feature complete — virtual reality kit you can buy today.

Is this new strap worth the upgrade fee? Lets break it down.

Read more at VR Heads!

OnePlus 5: Do you really need 8GB of RAM in a phone?

Nope. But it opens a lot of possibilities.

You can buy a OnePlus 5 that has 8GB of RAM on board. That’s 4GB more than most other high-end Android phones (and Chromebooks and cheap Windows Laptops) have and about 6GB more than the absolute bare minimum you can get away with. We’ll answer the question right here in the first paragraph: No, you do not need 8GB of RAM in a phone.

But it does mean some really cool stuff could happen.

Read our OnePlus 5 review

What your phone does with RAM

We all know that more RAM means more apps can be kept running at the same time (sort of at the same time, anyways) but that’s just one thing your phone does with the RAM inside of it. In fact, a portion of that RAM gets used before Android even starts running.

Without getting too nerdy and injecting ideas like compcache into the mix, your phone uses RAM like this:

• The kernel-space: Your Android phone runs on top of the Linux kernel. The kernel is stored is a special type of compressed file that’s extracted directly into RAM during the device power-on sequence. This reserved memory holds the kernel, drivers and kernel modules that control the hardware and room to cache data in and out of the kernel.
• A RAMdisk for virtual files: There are some folders and files in the system tree that aren’t “real.” They are pseudofiles written at boot and hold things like battery levels and CPU speed data. With Android, the whole /proc directory is one of these psuedofile systems. RAM is reserved so they have a place to live.
• Network radios: Data about your IMEI and radio settings are stored in NVRAM (Non-Volatile memory that’s not erased when you power off your phone), but get transferred to RAM along with the software needed to support the modem when you first turn on your phone. Space is reserved to keep this all in memory.
• The GPU: The graphics adapter in your phone needs memory to operate. That’s called VRAM, and our phones use integrated GPUs that have no stand-alone VRAM. System RAM is reserved for this.
• Available RAM: This is what’s left over, minus any extra reserved for file-system cache and minfree settings. This is what the apps you run can use.

Having 8GB of RAM means any or all of these different ways RAM is used can use a lot more of it if it needs to. Or if a person writing the operating system wants to try something new and different.

What can you do with extra RAM

I’ll start by saying we’re not yet sure what OnePlus is doing with the extra RAM or what plans it has for the future. We’ll know more when the phones get in the right hands. At first glance, it appears that it’s not doing anything different at all.

But there is one thing that OnePlus (or any custom ROM developers) can do that would be a great way to use an extra 2GB of RAM: store the entire system home launcher in it.

8GB of RAM means more could be set aside for the user interface or a game mode.

Think back to the HTC M7 if you’ve been around Android that long. It was the first phone that used Android and was super-responsive when you were zipping around the OS. It was because a good portion of the system RAM was “reserved” for HTC Sense and wouldn’t be freed when another app asked for more memory. In the M7’s case, that meant it couldn’t hold as many apps open as other phones. Most companies making Android phones do something similar now and set things up so that parts of the launcher are never removed from RAM, and Android feels much better to use because of it. With 4GB of RAM, getting a balance that offers good performance without upsetting users who want to keep apps open in the background can be tough.

With 8GB of RAM, the whole user interface can not only be kept in RAM, but done with a real reserved block outside of the system memory parameters.

Writing a device driver that enables DMA (Direct Memory Access) for the user interface means RAM can be set aside for use by only the user interface. The operating system still controls the i/o, but no other application can overwrite any part of it so everything needed for “instant” scrolling and swiping is held in RAM where it’s fast and ready at all times.

OnePlus may not have anything planned for the extra RAM, but I’m sure developers at XDA will.

This is a little different than the memmap kernel parameter that reserves space outside the operating system for the radios and VRAM, but it lets the OS manage the RAM so data can move in and out and a buffer can be written when you shut the phone down to prevent data loss. It’s a more robust solution than using the standard Linux LMK (Low Memory Killer) system to keep important processes running. The end result is a user interface that’s fluid and responsive all the time, without affecting the way other apps run or stay alive in the background.

And that’s just one example I thought of without digging too deep into it all. Imagine a “game mode” that reserves more RAM for the GPU or can keep more of a 3D game in memory while you’re playing it. Or even tweaked minfree settings so we can leave every app we love open in the background all of the time.

Don’t forget the cool factor

The OnePlus 5 can have 8GB of RAM to do crazy stuff with the OS for better performance, but it likely has it simply because it can.

RAM isn’t expensive. At least not component RAM used on a phone mainboard. Spending a few dollars more per unit (which can be a lot if you sell millions of units) to give the OnePlus 5 something the Galaxy S8 or iPhone doesn’t have is a real selling point in parts of Asia and for a lot of enthusiasts. Plenty of people are obsessed about the specs of a phone because they understand how they could be used, or simply because more is always better. Double the RAM of other flagship phones makes the OnePlus 5 more futureproof.

I’m sure someone at OnePlus did the math and figured that through a combination of all these factors, it was beneficial to sell an 8GB RAM model.

We’ll end this the same way we started: by saying no, you don’t need 8GB of RAM in a phone. But it doesn’t hurt anything, and the creative freedom it gives to Android developers, both at OnePlus and third-party devs, could very mean some cool things will be coming.

OnePlus 5

• Complete OnePlus 5 review
• Reviewing our first OnePlus 5 photos
• OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3: Should you upgrade?
• OnePlus 5 specs
• The latest OnePlus 5 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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Project Fi takes the guesswork out of splitting the phone bill

Don’t fight with your friends and family. Let Google be the mediator at the end of every month.

Have you ever rounded up a bunch of friends to go in on a carrier subscription in an effort to save some cash on a major family plan? I personally know people who have done this, and it’s akin to the same way that I stay subscribed to my family plan to save a couple of bucks. Splitting the bill at the end of each month can be a pain, however, which is why Google wants to help in an effort to convince you to come over to Project Fi.

It’s payback time. 💰 Introducing Project Fi group repay (and a limited time new member bonus) → https://t.co/eM8V13noCX pic.twitter.com/hieTiVwXid

— Project Fi (@projectfi) June 20, 2017

Project Fi now offers group plans. Per the official announcement:

To take the headache out of sharing your wireless plan, today we’re introducing group repay—an easier way to split your Project Fi group plan bill. Each month, we’ll calculate participating members’ portion of the bill, send out payment reminders, and provide a simple way for members to repay plan owners directly through Project Fi.

How nice of Google to take on the arduous task of splitting the bill. The company will even do all the math for you based on each individual’s data usage. Any Project Fi plan owner or member can set up the monthly repayment reminders, too, though the plan owner will have control over the amount. There is even a payment history tracker so that you’ll always have that archived information available when the inevitable dispute comes up. And if you sign up now and add a new member to your group plan, you’ll both receive a free month of Fi Basics. This promotional offer is only good for a limited time, though.

Google’s working hard to push Project Fi, and why wouldn’t it? It’s the Android maker’s own carrier offering, not to mention that every new user means that there’s another person in the world using a Google-branded smartphone.

What do you think? Is this something you’d benefit from as a Project Fi user?

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How to add a user to your Alexa Household

Share your Amazon content with your special someone with Alexa Household.

Household profiles are an option that you can use on Alexa to share certain Amazon content and purchases with another user. This means that you and your sweetie can share your Audiobooks, Music, Lists within Alexa, and plenty more. We’ve got all the details for you here!

What is an Alexa Household?

By using Alexa Households, you can ensure that no matter which of you buys the new Stephen King audiobook, you’ll both be able to listen. When you join in a Household with someone, you’re essentially linking your accounts by using Alexa. This is so that purchasing content twice or having to log out and then log back in doesn’t become an issue. Since many couples only purchase content on one account, this is a serious godsend for making sure you can always access the content that you shelled out dollars for!

Now it’s worth mentioning that by adding someone to a Household with you, you are authorizing them to use the credit or debit card that is linked to your account. If you’re worried about accidental misuse, you may want to set a verbal pin number that must be used when trying to make voice purchases.

How to add another member to your Household

Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button that looks like 3 horizontal lines.

Tap settings.

Scroll down and tap Household Profile.

Tap Start.

Tap OK after passing your device to the person whose account you want to add to your Household.
Enter the email address and password for the Amazon account you are adding to the Household and tap Verify Account at the bottom of the screen.

Tap Join Household.

Have you added anyone?

Have you added a member to your Alexa Household? Have questions? Let us know in the comments below!

Amazon Echo

• Amazon Echo review
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OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3: Should you upgrade?

If you’ve been holding onto a OnePlus 3 for the past year, is now the time to upgrade?

After a barnstorming 2016, OnePlus is back with its most anticipated smartphone yet, the OnePlus 5. It’s slimmer, with improvements to build quality and battery life, and a new dual camera system. But if you’re rocking the year-old predecessor, the OnePlus 3 — or its upgraded cousin the 3T — is the new model worthy of a $479 splurge?

That all depends on your priorities, so let’s examine why you might want to take the plunge and upgrade to a OnePlus 5 — and why you might be smarter to hold onto your cash and stuck with a 3 or 3T.

The core physical design of the OnePlus 5 is clearly inspired by the 3 and 3T — particularly around the front, where it’s virtually indistinguishable from the older models. Around the sides and back, the 5 has softer corners, a slimmer profile and less overt antenna lines. (And of course, the new dual camera module gives the back of the OnePlus 5 a very different look, too.) It’s a little more compact and ergonomic than last year’s handsets, building on what was already a svelte smartphone design.

More: OnePlus 5 vs OnePlus 3 vs OnePlus 3T spec comparison

On the inside, it’s mostly a generational leap in hardware specs. The OnePlus 5 steps up to a Snapdragon 835 — up from the 820 or 821 in the 3 and 3T, respectively. The new chip is blazing fast, but the biggest difference we’ve noticed in Snapdragon 835 devices so far is power efficiency — an 835 phone like the HTC U11 or Galaxy S8 can go a lot further on a 3000mAh battery than last-gen chips like the 821. So naturally, the OnePlus 5 absolutely screams in both day-to-day apps and more demanding tasks like gaming — but then again, so do the 3 and 3T still. For most people, the more noticeable upgrade will be the battery life.

The OnePlus 3 was already ridiculously fast — and so is the OnePlus 5, but the difference is more about battery life this time.

If you’re coming from a OnePlus 3, the more efficient CPU and slightly larger battery — 3300mAh, up from 3,000 — should result in a noticeable bump in longevity. So if battery life is a major consideration, that’s one big reason to upgrade.

There is also the option of a whopping 8GB of RAM, should you opt for the more expensive 128GB OnePlus 5. While there is an argument to be made about future-proofing here, in 2017 having such a huge quantity of RAM in a smartphone is more about bragging rights than any practical concerns. But hey, if you’re thinking about a new high-end smartphone, you’re making a substantial purchase anyway … and if you want the extra internal storage, there’s certainly no harm in pairing it with more memory than you’ll ever need.

Other areas are pretty much a wash. Both OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 5 feature 5.5-inch AMOLED panels that while good, don’t quite match the very best available. And there’s also an excellent front-facing fingerprint scanner, with optional capacitive keys, in both handsets. No change there.

A largely identical software experience — but the OnePlus 5 will now be first in line for updates.

On the software side, you’re right up to date on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and the latest version of OnePlus’s OxygenOS software. OnePlus 3 and 3T owners have been able to get a taste of the new OxygenOS features from the OnePlus 5 for a while, thanks to the many community builds available for those phones. A stable release based on this new firmware, with the updated launcher and a handful of other features, should be forthcoming soon. In the meantime, OnePlus 5 owners get exclusive access to new tricks like a Pixel-style home screen panel, and the new Gaming Do Not Disturb Mode. Nice to have, but not a reason to upgrade.

When it comes to updates, however, it is worth considering that the OnePlus 3 and 3T will probably no longer be first in line for new OS updates. Expect the OnePlus 5 to get Android 8.0 a good few months before its predecessors.

The most sizeable upgrade this year is, obviously, the new dual camera setup in the OnePlus 5. The main camera retains the same 16-megapixel resolution and loses OIS (optical image stabilization), but steps up to a faster f/1.7 lens. (Plus, the improvements thanks to the Snapdragon 835’s new image signal processor shouldn’t be underestimated.) And complementing all that, there’s a 20-megapixel telephoto camera behind an f/2.6 lens, which can be used in conjunction with the main in the new iPhone-style portrait mode.

These are all things you simply can’t do on a OnePlus 3 or 3T, however respectably that phone’s camera performs. And the dual-camera setup gives you some new creative possibilities, even if low-light performance from the telephoto camera isn’t great. Fortunately, though, the main camera comes closer than ever to matching today’s $700-800 flagships, as Andrew Martonik explains in our full review:

The main camera is a solid step up from the OnePlus 3 and 3T overall, managing to provide clear, sharp and colorful images even with small pixels and no OIS. In low light it relies on higher ISOs, though, leading to some grain and occasional blur when the shutter speed also has to be slowed down — it’s in these situations that you miss having that physical stabilization. OnePlus still makes the right decision overall to leave some grain in the photos rather than aggressively over-sharpen images artificially, which never looks good.

And sure, portrait mode isn’t perfect in its current incarnation, but still, OnePlus has come a long way toward closing the feature gap with the big-name phone makers.

Camera and battery life are the two main reasons to upgrade this year

So the biggest reason to upgrade from a OnePlus 3 (or 3T, if you’re feeling particularly crazy) is the camera, which provides tangible improvements to image quality and allows you to shoot the kind of zoomed photos that simply aren’t possible in most smartphone cameras. Beyond the camera, the biggest performance difference between the two is in battery life, with the slightly larger cell — relative to the OnePlus 3, if not the 3T — working in tandem with a much more efficient CPU.

If you’re already happy with the way your current OnePlus 3 and 3T perform in the areas of photography and battery life, you’re probably safe to skip this year. But if those two things are a priority, and you like the OnePlus software and design language, you’ll find an excellent upgrade waiting for you with the OnePlus 5.

OnePlus 5

• Complete OnePlus 5 review
• Reviewing our first OnePlus 5 photos
• OnePlus 5 vs. OnePlus 3: Should you upgrade?
• OnePlus 5 specs
• The latest OnePlus 5 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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