No clicks required — Polygram lets you ‘like’ a post just by smiling

Why it matters to you

There’s a new social network in town — and all it needs to respond to a post is your face.

Sure, likes and even Facebook’s emoji reactions give users a good idea of what people think of their photos — but a new social network could take responses to an entirely new level, without even clicking. Polygram is a new photo-based social network that gauges user response using artificial intelligence to recognize facial expressions, tallying up responses based on a smile or frown.

Polygram, which launched on iOS over the weekend, shows users just how everyone responded to their photo by using facial recognition technology to identify different expressions through a smartphone’s front-facing camera. That means you can see how many people liked your photo, who found it shocking, and who really laughed out loud based not on how many people decide to click, but on actual expressions while viewing the photo.

Polygram then offers a breakdown of the responses, including the number of views, how long that shot made other users pause and even how many other users took a screenshot. User response can also be broken down by gender and location. The network doesn’t appear to list a user name with those responses however, showing a general tally but not who responded with what.

While emotional reactions form the basis of the new social network, Polygram isn’t just a one-trick network. The app also includes Snapchat-like facial filters and, along with the fun masks, there are also a handful of beauty masks that were actually designed by plastic surgeons, according to the developer.

The new network also offers a unique take on preventing those disappearing images from becoming screenshots for permanent existence with a wipe-to-reveal feature. Essentially, users wipe the touchscreen to reveal portions of the photo, almost like wiping the fog off the mirror after a hot shower. The feature means that the entire photo isn’t visible at once, adding a layer of security to the photos that aren’t meant to stick around for forever.

New social networks traditionally have a tough time gaining traction among giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat — after all, it’s not very social if none of your friends are on it yet. Moreover, most of the major social networks imitate other platforms (case in point: Snapchat Stories), which can also make breaking through tougher, even for networks with their own unique features.

Emotion-recognition technology is quickly expanding into new uses — Facebook even recently acquired a company called FacioMetrics that could present a similar feature, though Polygram says it already had its program under development at the time. Facebook recently patented several different ideas for gauging a user’s emotions, including using that front-facing camera and even the pressure and speed of users’ fingers pressing the touchscreen.

Eufy’s Alexa-powered Genie is down to $30 for a limited time

It may not be an Amazon Echo Dot, but our friends at Thrifter are back again with a great deal on a new competitor!

Amazon’s Echo Dot is the company’s most affordable way to add Alexa through your house, but at $50 it is still more than some people want to pay. Eufy, a sister brand of Anker, has recently released a competitor which is basically a more affordable Echo Dot and today you can grab one for less. The Genie is normally priced at $34.99, but right now you can pick one up at Amazon for just $29.70.

While many of the features are the same, the functionality differs a little bit. Be sure to check out the video review from Modern Dad below.

• Eufy Genie is a voice-controlled smart speaker with Amazon’s intelligent Alexa voice assistant. Just say the wake word “Alexa” and Genie plays music, controls your smart home devices, answers your questions, sets calendars, reports the weather and news and more.
• Built with a 2W speaker that delivers dynamic audio and room-filling sound, so you can truly enjoy your favorite playlists from streaming services like Amazon Music, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. Also supports music streaming from your Apple devices via AirPlay.
• Enables a true voice-controlled smart home experience. Use Genie to control all Alexa-compatible Eufy smart products, such as RoboVac 11c and Lumos LED Smart Bulbs, in addition to other brands that work with Alexa.
• Easy setup with the free EufyHome app. Use the Amazon Alexa app to access 10000+ skills and services, such as Domino’s Pizza, Uber, ESPN, NPR News, and much more. Plus, Genie is always getting smarter. Future updates include: directly control Spotify with your voice; Alexa messaging and calling. (EufyHome requires a smartphone or tablet running iOS 8.0 (and above) or Android 4.3 (and above) to operate.)

With the purchase, you’ll also score a free 3-month trial of Amazon Music Unlimited. This offer is limited to one per account, and new subscribers only. You will receive an email after your purchase instructing you how to redeem your trial.

If you want to pay a little more to get a little more, you can pick up the Echo Dot for $44.99.

See at Amazon

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• How to avoid baggage fees
• The Best Amazon Sample Boxes

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Fitbit Ionic is the smartwatch that will compete with Android Wear

The newly announced Fitbit Ionic is the company’s official foray into the smartwatch game!

Fitbit has been making fitness trackers for ten years, and some of its more recent models, like the Surge, Blaze and Charge 2, have dipped their toes into being smartwatch/fitness tracker hybrids. Now, Fitbit has officially announced the release of the Fitbit Ionic the company’s first fully-fledged smartwatch with its very own operating system, Fitbit OS.

What’s new about Fitbit Ionic

Fitbit has promised that the Fitbit Ionic will give users the same great activity tracking, sleep tracking, and other metrics that current Fitbit models already offer; however, plenty of new features are to be included in in the Ionic.

• Swim exercise mode: The Fitbit Ionic will be water resistant up to 50 meters, meaning you can jump in the pool without having to take it off your wrist. The Ionic will track metrics such as the number of laps, swim duration, and calories burned while you’re in the water.

• Fitbit Coach: The Fitbit Ionic will provide dynamic on-device workouts directly on your wrist that are said to adapt to your feedback. The device will launch with one dynamic workout, and three static workouts and more dynamic workouts can be accessed with a subscription to Fitbit’s new premium guidance and coaching, which will cost $7.99 per month or $39.99 per year.

• Run Detect: This new feature kicks-in the on-board GPS in the Ionic as soon as you head out the door for a run. Leave your phone at home and get real time pace and distance. The Ionic will even auto-pause the tracking if you stop to take a breather and resume as soon as you hit the ground running again.

• On-board storage: The Fitbit Ionic will have 2.5 GB of storage space built-in allowing you to store music and download apps directly on your wrist! Plus, the Fitbit Ionic will be able to connect to any Bluetooth-enabled headset directly, meaning you don’t need your phone for music while you’re working out! There’s also Pandora Premium support, allowing you to download playlists directly to the watch to play back without a phone.

• Fitbit Pay: NFC is including in the Fitbit Ionic, which allows it to take advantage of Fitbit Pay, and pay for things with just a tap of your Ionic to any compatible card reader!

• Smart notifications: On top of call, text, and calendar notifications, the Fitbit Ionic can also receive notifications from many popular third-party apps such as Facebook, Gmail, Instagram, Slack, and even Snapchat.

• Improved heart rate technology: Fitbit has improved its PurePulse heart rate tracking on the Ionic providing you with more accurate tracking during exercises like cycling and running. The more accurate heart rate tracking, the more accurate the measure of calories burned giving you a better picture of how you’re doing during your workout.

• New sensor technology: The Fitbit Ionic will be sporting a relative Sp02 for estimating blood oxygen levels. According to Fitbit this will open up the potential for tracking sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation.

• Multi-day battery life: Fitbit states that the Ionic will have a 4-day battery life with regular use, although only 10 hours with constant GPS or music playback. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on use.

Fitbit OS

Along with the announcement of the new hardware, Fitbit also announced the Ionic would run on Fitbit OS, a new operating system developed by the company itself. No doubt the acquisition of Pebble and Vector helped make Fitbit OS a reality, which Fitbit promises will be updated regularly.

Fitbit OS will include the all-new Fitbit App Gallery where you will be able to download watch faces and other apps from Fitbit like Fitbit Coach, Relax, Timer and other. Plus, Fitbit App Gallery will feature third-party apps that can be downloaded directly onto your wrist. The three third-party partners have been announced for launch, Starbuck Coffee Company, Strava, and AccuWeather.

Fitbit says the Fitbit App Gallery will continue to grow with more apps available in the fall across multiple different categories including finance, lifestyle, health, music, sports, productivity, and more.

Colors and accessories

The Fitbit Ionic will launch in three different color combinations: silver gray tracker and clasp with a blue gray band, smoke gray tracker and clasp with a charcoal band, or burnt orange tracker and clasp with a slate blue band.

The Fitbit Ionic will also have interchangeable bands. On top of the three bands listed above, you’ll be able to get your hands on a three different two-toned sports bands ($29.95 each) including blue gray and coral, black and charcoal, or cobalt and lime. Plus, hand-crafted Horween leather bands in cognac and midnight blue ($59.95 each) will also be offered.

Fitbit Ionic adidas special edition

Fitbit also revealed a new partnership with adidas that will see Fitbit launch a special edition of the Ionic sometime in 2018 along with special training programs on board the device. No word as of right now on pricing of the adidas special edition Ionic.

Pricing and Availability

The new Fitbit Ionic is available for pre-order today on Fitbit’s web page and will carry a price tag of $299.95. The new device won’t start selling in stores until October 2017, and it will be available at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and others.

See at Fitbit

Other products

Fitbit also announced three other products coming out in the future.

• Fitbit Flyer: A pair of Bluetooth headphones that are sweat proof that will retail for $129.95 and will be available in October 2017.

• Fitbit Aria 2: A new and updated version of Fitbit smart scale will be available sometime in the fall of 2017 and will retail for $129.95.

• New premium guidance and coaching offering The new Fitbit paid subscription service that will allow Ionic users to access the new dynamic workouts that a personal tailor to fit your needs. The Fitbit Coach app will launch in fall of 2017 on iOS, Android, and Windows, meanwhile, the Audio Coaching won’t be available in sometime in 2018.

Are you excited about Fitbit’s announcement today?

What do you think of the Fitbit Ionic and the other product revealed today? Let us know in the comments below!

This $20 UPS can keep your home network connected when the power goes out

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a great deal on APC’s home network UPS!

There’s nothing worse than losing power in the middle of an important project and losing all of your data along with it. Having your devices connected to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a smart choice, and one you’ll thank yourself for making. Right now you can pick up APC’s Back-UPS Connected battery backup for just $19.66, a savings of around $10 from its regular price.

This option is perfect for hooking up your Wi-Fi router, modem, and even devices like your VoIP phone system, Echo Dot and more. It can provide up to 3 hours of additional power to these devices if you do happen to lose power, and it also helps prevent against damages from power surges.

• The BGE70 UPS backup battery helps you stay connected to the Internet during power outages
• Ultra efficient design maximizes ups battery backup runtime for low-power devices like network routers, Amazon Echo or VOIP systems
• 3 hours of extended runtime provides instant battery power to your critical electronics when the power goes out
• 3 outlets provide battery backup power and surge protection
• Outlets support 2-prong plugs only. For 3-prong support, consider BGE50ML

This is the lowest price we’ve seen on this UPS, so be sure to grab one now if you are interested.

See at Amazon

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• How to avoid baggage fees
• The Best Amazon Sample Boxes

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Galaxy Note 8 screen earns DisplayMate’s first-ever A+ grade

We knew the display on the Note 8 was going to be good but had no idea it would be this good.

There is a lot to like about the Galaxy Note 8, but one part of it has already won an award of sorts. DisplayMate, producers of what’s recognized as the best suite of tools for display diagnostics and calibration, has given the Note 8’s display their first ever A+ rating, calling it “the most innovative and high-performance smartphone display that we have ever lab tested.”

That is some very high praise from a company that knows everything there is to know about displays. We’re used to hearing that Samsung makes some of the best, if not the best displays available, and it’s not surprising that the Note 8 carries the company’s latest advancements when it comes to making them. What we weren’t prepared for was hearing so many things the Note 8’s screen does better than anything we have seen before. The Note 8 matches or sets performance records for a list of features.

• Largest Native Color Gamut with a score of 112% for the DCI-P3 color space and 141% for the sRGB / Rec.709 color space
• Highest Peak Display Brightness at 1,240 nits
• Highest Contrast Rating in Ambient Light with a score of 270
• Highest Screen Resolution: 3K (2960×1440, 521 ppi)
• Highest Contrast Ratio: Infinite
• Lowest Screen Reflectance of just 4.6%
• Smallest Brightness Variation with Viewing Angle at 29%

Overall, the Note 8 scored “very good” or “excellent” in every testing category except for the Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level section, which OLED displays are unable to accurately process using the current technology.

DisplayMate didn’t only have praise for the hardware that is being used for the Note 8 display. Several software features were recognized as being outstanding, such as the Mobile HDR processing, user selectable color management and adjustable white point and color balance.

DisplayMate goes in-depth with every aspect of the Note 8’s display, and it’s worth reading for anyone interested in display technology in general or fans of the Note 8 who want every intricate detail. Describing the results of DisplayMate’s testing for the layman is much easier:

You have never seen a phone with a display this good. Ever.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 hands-on preview
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy Note 5: Which should you buy?
• Which Galaxy Note 8 color should you buy?
• All Galaxy Note 8 news
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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Best Speakers To Use With Your Amazon Echo Dot

• Best overall
• Best for portability
• Best for sound quality

Best Overall

Bose SoundLink II

See at Amazon

While it’s designed to be a Bluetooth speaker to connect your phone, the design and audio quality from this speaker make it perfect for filling most rooms with sound.

You can connect your Amazon Echo Dot to this speaker and leave it forever as a better Amazon Echo, or you can take the $180 Bose Soundlink II with you when leaving the house thanks to its internal battery. It’s a great flexible option for just about every occasion, and looks nice enough that it can sit in a room without standing out or taking up too much space.

Bottom line: This speaker will turn your Amazon Echo Dot into something better than an Amazon Echo, and does a whole lot more.

One more thing: You can pick up the Bose SoundLink II in either black or white to match your Echo Dot.

Why the Bose SoundLink II is the best

Plain and simple, this one comes down to style and feature set. Bose made a nice looking speaker with colors that complement the Echo Dot well, offers a quality audio experience over both Bluetooth and through the 3.5mm jack, and can be portable if you want it to be. This can be a poolside speaker as well as a great Amazon Echo speaker, and it will look nice doing both.

This speaker does make your Amazon Echo Dot a little more expensive than a standalone Amazon Echo when you add the two costs together, but what you’re getting in exchange is noticeably better audio quality and some features you won’t get by just buying an Amazon Echo.

Best for portability

VAUX speaker for Echo Dot

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Why bother with buying multiple Amazon Echo Dots when you can buy a speaker that powers your single Echo Dot so it can come with you wherever you are in the house? VAUX is one of several speaker designers clever enough to make the body of the speaker something that can actually hold the Echo Dot while in use, so it not only powers the brains of the operation but makes the whole system a single portable unit.

This $50 speaker promises six hours of portable run time, and the dual 52mm drivers will certainly make this little Echo Dot fill a room with sound. Best of all, you don’t need a different power cord to charge this combined unit. The charger you used to power the Echo Dot is also capable of charging this speaker.

Bottom line: If portability is your goal, this is a great place to start.

Best Audio Quality

Sonos Play:5

See on Amazon

The speaker on a taller Amazon Echo is ok, but in larger rooms frequently feels a little flat. If your goal is high audio quality so you can stream across an entire house and really rattle the windows, you either want a complete standalone stereo system or you want a Sonos Play:5.

Sonos is the champion of high quality streaming audio through an entire house, but you pay for the privilege. These speakers are not cheap, but the audio difference couldn’t be more clear when compared to other standalone speakers. While Sonos does make other, smaller speakers that do a good job filling a room with sound, the $500 Play:5 speakers include a Line In port on the back. This means you can connect an Echo Dot and bring all of your Amazon Echo features to these incredible speakers, sacrificing nothing in the process.

One more thing: Amazon’s Alexa service and Sonos have been long rumored to work together eventually, so you’ll be able to control all of your Sonos speakers just by speaking to your Echo.

Conclusion

There are a lot of great options for speakers to add to an Amazon Echo Dot, because just about every speaker has a 3.5mm jack right now. If you want the best for a single room, the Bose SoundLink II is where you want to be. If your goal is portability over all else, the Bliik Infinite X is your speaker. And if audio quality is the most important thing to you, grab a Sonos Play:5 and have a blast.

Best Overall

Bose SoundLink II

See at Amazon

While it’s designed to be a Bluetooth speaker to connect your phone, the design and audio quality from this speaker make it perfect for filling most rooms with sound.

You can connect your Amazon Echo Dot to this speaker and leave it forever as a better Amazon Echo, or you can take the Bose Soundlink II with you when leaving the house thanks to its internal battery. It’s a great flexible option for just about every occasion, and looks nice enough that it can sit in a room without standing out or taking up too much space.

Bottom line: This speaker will turn your Amazon Echo Dot into something better than an Amazon Echo, and does a whole lot more.

One more thing: You can pick up the Bose SoundLink II in either black or white to match your Echo Dot.

Update, August 2017: We still think these are the best picks for speakers to use with your Echo Dot.

Hulu adds the CW to its live TV service

If you’re using Hulu’s new live TV service for your cord-cutting needs, you’ll find a new network available soon. Hulu just announced that the CW (home to shows like Jane The Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash) will be available to stream live. That’s the fifth major broadcast network to join Hulu, alongside Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC. Naturally, this means you’ll be able to watch any of those aforementioned CW shows live when they air; additionally, Hulu will be adding the local station broadcasts so that you’ll see the same programming that you’d see when watching over the air.

It’s not clear yet when Hulu subscribers will have access to this content, though. The company says it’ll roll out “in the coming months,” so you probably won’t be able to just turn on Hulu today and see the CW live. The good news is that the current season of the network’s shows will be available on-demand. CW’s shows have been on and off Hulu over the years; it’s a bummer not to get the full run, but you’ll at least be able to stay current.

This comes after a month that saw Hulu expand where you can watch its live TV service. Hulu recently added support for Mac, PC, the Xbox 360 and Amazon’s Fire TV family — that’s in addition to devices like Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, the PS4 and Xbox One. But getting another major content source is probably the best improvement that Hulu could have made. The interface may still be a bit wonky and it’s still missing some important content providers, but more options are never a bad thing.

Insta360 One is a 4K 360 camera with smart tricks

For those who haven’t been following, earlier Insta360 released a montage of cool sample clips to tease its upcoming camera’s bullet-time video capability. What baffled me at the time was how those slow-motion shots orbited around a person with his upright arm seemingly holding onto something, except there was no visible string nor selfie stick to suggest that the camera was being swung around. Well, as it turns out, I was wrong, but there’s no need to be disappointed — it actually takes a lot more than just a piece of string to achieve this bullet-time effect.

The camera, which has just been unveiled as the Insta360 One, is the latest 360 camera designed to deceive naive folks like myself. This is the company’s second 4K-capable compact device following the aptly-named Insta360 4K but at about half the price — just $299.90. The One shoots video at either 3,840 x 1,920 at 30 fps or 2,560 x 1,280 at 60 fps, both with LOG format option which is a first for a consumer 360 camera; and it can take 24-megapixel stills (6,912 x 3,456) with RAW format option — another first for a consumer 360 camera — followed by HDR capture at a later date.

Unlike the older model, the One lacks WiFi connectivity for remote view, but it does come with an 8GB microSD card to get you started. Sports fans will also be delighted to know that the One has an optional IP68 waterproof housing that’s good for depths of up to 30-meter or about 98.4 feet.

Much like the 3K-only Nano, the One can be used as a standalone 360 camera (using the power button or via Bluetooth) or as an iPhone dongle using its retractable Lightning plug (an Android version is due to arrive by the end of the year). It’s also gained a couple of new use methods. For one, the kit comes with a short plastic tube that houses the device on the deeper end to protect its two lenses, while the shallower end lets you mount the device so that the tube can be used as a stand. Alternatively, you can also mount the camera on any standard tripod, monopod, selfie stick or even the bundled string attachment using its 1/4″-20 screw thread.

Needless to say, one of the main selling points of the One is the aforementioned bullet time mode. This trick is a combination of the device’s six-axis image stabilization, powerful 120 fps capture at 2,048 x 512 (which can be boosted to 240 fps via interpolation using the companion app), some video magic to erase evidence of tethering plus a little bit of manual work using one arm. Once the power button’s triple-tap toggle has been mapped to bullet time capture (via settings in the app), simply mount the One on the bundled string attachment or an optional selfie stick, turn it on, tap its power button three times and then start swinging it above your head at a modest pace (with the risk of getting funny looks from folks nearby). When done, simply hit the power button once to stop recording, and then you can plug the camera into your iPhone for playback, editing and exporting to 720p clips.

Perhaps an even more useful feature coming from the One is its app’s FreeCapture tool — a “shoot first, point later” concept that’s clearly going after the upcoming GoPro Fusion’s OverCapture feature. This one’s super easy: just load up a 360 clip in FreeCapture mode, treat your phone as if it’s a conventional video camera at the time of capture (this relies on the phone’s gyroscope), then simply pan around and zoom in or out — all the way to the cute “tiny planet” view, if you want — as you desire for your new “director’s cut” in 1080p. Similarly, there’s a SmartTrack editing tool that can automatically output a 1080p clip based on the subject that you want to be tracked in a 360 clip.

For existing Insta360 users who already have a library of fun 360 clips, a company rep pointed out that you can actually side-load any 360 clip from older cameras to the One’s microSD card, in order to tinker with it using FreeCapture. That said, there are currently no plans to update the other cameras’ apps with FreeCapture, which is all the more reason for existing Insta360 users to upgrade to the One.

As cool as the sample clips look, what remains to be seen is how well these features — especially bullet time — actually work when mere mortals like us give them a go. Alas, the pre-production unit we received didn’t get on well with my iPhone 6 due to the app’s beta nature, so I haven’t been able to upload any of my 360 content. More worryingly, the string attachment I got was apparently flawed and thus rendering all of my bullet-time attempts useless, so unless you really want to get one as soon as middle of next month, you may want to wait until our replacement unit arrives and see how it fares.

Source: Insta360

Dell’s latest Inspiron PCs include the first 17-inch 2-in-1

Dell is launching its latest generation of Inspiron PCs pacing Intel’s latest 8th-generation “Kaby Lake” chips, with a bit more fanfare than usual. Exhibit “A” is the Inspiron lineup of laptops and 2-in-1s: Dell says the Inspiron 7000 is the first 17-inch 2-in-1 on the market. That might seem excessive, but the larger screen makes some sense — foldable devices are increasingly used in “tent” mode for multimedia and graphics, rather than just as glorified tablets.

The 17-inch model, priced starting at $950, is reasonably well-equipped for video and light graphics chores. It has 8th-gen Intel Core i7 or i5 CPUs, entry-level NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, a 1080P IPS display, up to 16GB of RAM and a variety of SSD and hard disk options.

Battery life goes up to 11 hours, but you won’t want to carry the stout 6.6 pound device around for long periods. Other features include two USB Type-C ports (gen 1, with one doing double-duty as a power port), a USB 2.0 slot and SD card reader. Pen and facial recognition for Windows Hello comes standard.

Dell also revealed 13- and 15-inch Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 models with the same 8th-generation Intel CPUs and similar specs. The biggest difference is that the 15-inch model, weighing in at 4.6 pounds, can be purchased with an optional 4K (3,840 x 2,160) screen and NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics (with either 2GB or 4GB GDDR5 RAM).

The 13-inch model, available only with a 1080p screen, integrated graphics and SSD and PCIe drives (no hard disks) weighs 3.2 pounds. The 13- and 15-inch models start at $900 and $850, respectively, and an active pen is available separately.

Dell also launched regular, non-convertible 13- and 15-inch 7000 series laptops. Those devices share specs with their corresponding 2-in-1 siblings; the 13-inch model supports only integrated graphics and a full HD screen, while the 15-incher has optional GeForce 940MX discrete graphics and a 4K screen. Both devices are obviously a bit lighter — the Inspiron 15 weighs 4.4 pounds, while the Inspiron 13 tips the scale at 3.09 pounds. Both the 13- and 15-inch laptops start at $800.

Rounding out the Inspiron lineup are the 5000 series 15- and 17-inch laptops and 13- or 15-inch 2-in-1s. Those are a step down from the 7000 series models, but still give you 8th-gen Intel Core i5-8250U or Core i7-8550U chips. As you’d expect, graphics are integrated, and screen resolutions top out at 1080p. However, you can still get them with 16GB of RAM and SSD M.2 drive options, and all come with multiple USB 3.1 ports, HDMI and a card reader. Oddly, unlike the 7000 series, the lower-end 5000 series 2-in-1 models come standard with either an active or non-active pen.

The 2-in-1 Inspiron 5000 models run $750 in both sizes with a non-active pen, and $800 with an active model. The 15-inch laptop starts at $700 and the 17-incher runs $550, but again, expect to pay more for better-equipped versions. All of the 5000- and 7000-series Inspirons arrive on October 3rd, 2017.

Source: Dell

Sonos FCC filing confirms a voice-powered speaker

At this point, it’s probably easier to list off who isn’t making a voice-controlled smart speaker (that we know of). Thanks to an FCC filing, it looks like Sonos is getting close to jumping into the fray. “Product model S13 is a high-performance all-in-one wireless smart speaker and part of Sonos’ home sound system,” the document reads. “S13 adds integrated voice control functionality with far field microphones. Moreover, the device will support multiple voice platforms and music services, allowing customers to effortlessly control their music on Sonos.” That lays it out pretty well, no?

Combined with what new CEO Patrick Spence told us back in January, this may very well be an integration of Amazon’s Alexa tech. “We’re working with Amazon on Echo, but we wanted to do something deeper,” he said. As Zatz Not Funny noticed, this looks like native hardware integration with a dedicated touch panel versus tacked-on software support. But with the Google Home already on the market and Apple’s HomePod en route, you have to wonder if Sonos is going to be late to the party.

Via: Zatz Not Funny

Source: FCC