Amazon brings Alexa calling to the UK, Germany and Austria

The whole point of Amazon’s Alexa is to talk, rather than type, to a virtual assistant. When you’ve grown tired of ordering Domino’s pizzas and asking what the weather is like, however, the company hopes you’ll want to talk to another human being. Following the US, it’s now possible to call and message Alexa users from the UK, Germany and Austria. It works on the company’s fast-growing range of Echo and Echo Dot speakers, as well as the Alexa app for iOS and Android. The screen-equipped Echo Show will also support basic video calling when it arrives in Britain next month.

There are, of course, countless messaging apps that support voice and video calling. Amazon is banking on Alexa’s popularity, and the convenience of having an Echo in the home, to jump-start its late market entrance. The pitch is that it might be easier to call your parents or grandparents through their Echo — a simple, voice-based interface anyone can understand — rather than Skype or Hangouts, which can often feel convoluted to set up. Apple has used the same strategy to great effect with FaceTime. Amazon will, however, have an uphill battle persuading people to ditch their messaging app of choice and use Alexa regularly, if not full-time.

Via: The Verge

Source: Alexa (iOS), (Android)

Nura’s headphones custom fit music to match your hearing

When it comes to listening to music, most headphones are equivalent to an audio “magnifying glass” — they amplify whatever sound is fed into them. Nura and its semi-eponymous Nuraphones ($399) aim to be more like prescription specs for your ears, by analyzing your hearing and creating a bespoke audio profile. It’s an interesting idea, and an even more interesting design.

The Nuraphones determine your personal hearing profile by listening to “otoacoustic emissions” — sounds emitted by the inner ear when stimulated — with a tiny microphone. These emissions reveal a lot of info about our hearing, enough that Nura believes can be deciphered into a sort of hearing “fingerprint.” Nura takes this fingerprint and uses it to adjust the audio signal from the headphones. The end result is a bit like a personal EQ setting, without all the guesswork, designed to make music sound like the artist intended (rather than amplify arbitrary frequencies).

It’s a tantalizing prospect: Corrective headphones that know the quirks and failings of your beleaguered ears. When we wrote about them last year, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Pretty much every headphone pitch I have ever had (and that is many) has espoused the virtues of its revolutionary audio, be it custom drivers, magical sound engines, dynamic doo-dahs or cutting-edge EQ algorithms and so on. But none of that helps if you’re not able to hear all of those sounds and frequencies equally.

Setting up the Nuraphones is a bit more involved than most other headphones (in that there’s even a setup process at all), but it’s simple. Using the companion app (iOS/Android), you are first guided to make sure you have the headphones placed on your head correctly. Nuraphones have an unusual configuration that we’ll get into later, but this makes it important to have them on just right during setup.

Once you have them on properly, the app plays some audio that sounds a bit like a futuristic fax machine. This doesn’t last long, but it soon moves onto the next stage of configuration, which takes a little longer. All in all, it takes about a minute. Once complete, you can save your profile and forget about it if you wish.

Naturally, the first thing I wanted to know was how it sounded without the custom profile. Fortunately, this is easy to do in the app, as there’s a switch to toggle between generic and custom audio. I’ll be honest, the difference was incredible. In the generic setting, the audio sounded actually pretty bad. But once I put on the custom profile, the music sprang to life.

The first thing you notice is that the music is louder. This alone — a simple bump in volume — is often enough to “trick” the brain into thinking something sounds better. (There’s an old DJ trick of casually lowering the volume on the previous DJ’s last record so that your first one invokes the same feeling.) I could tell straight away though that there was more going on here. The music didn’t just sound louder, it sounded more “complete.” All the different frequencies in the music felt balanced and natural, and not “juiced.”

After listening to a number of different tracks in different styles, I was actually somewhat excited. There’s an intangible, magical feeling you get when listening to well-recorded audio on a high-end system. This isn’t quite the feeling I had here, but it was similar. A sense that music feels alive — clearer, almost.

The Nuraphones have a few other features that help the music along, too. While they look like over-ear headphones, each cup has a protruding “stalk” that goes inside your ear. Both the outer section and in-ear part provide passive noise canceling, so the effect is doubled. In a room with people talking right in front of me (and no music playing), I couldn’t hear a thing.

The second trick that Nura added, is tactile bass. Inside the on-ear part are transponders that respond to low frequencies (bass) with vibrations. It’s not just an on/off vibrate, it’s responsive to the frequency. Similar to how SubPac or Basslet work. The idea is that you “feel” the bass while the in-ear part focuses on the midrange and upward. It works very well (trust me), and I’d love to see this option in more headphones. If you’re wondering, you can disable the “immersion” feature (as Nura calls it) or, conversely, go wild, and jack it right up to face-melting levels.

By now, you can’t help but have noticed that these are no regular headphones. The design alone will tell you that. When I first saw the two in-ear drivers poking out of the cups, I didn’t know what to make of them. Each stalk is spring-loaded, so it doesn’t poke you in the side of the head (or push into your ear too hard). The spring is cleverly engineered so it retracts/extends slowly. The upshot is that sometimes you adjust the headphones and then feel the tip of the stalk slowly worm its way into your ear canal. You might also have noticed these stalks are… mildly “anatomical” looking. It’s a little weird, but not unpleasant.

I did find myself having to readjust the Nuraphones a fair amount. Not constantly, but maybe two or three times an hour I’d find myself reaching for either side just to get it in a slightly sweeter spot. The earbud stalks aren’t uncomfortable, but it’s more about making sure you have them inserted properly, so it becomes a bit of an unconscious twitch to be sure you have them set right.

The Nuraphones’ weird earcups aside, the product experience as a whole is thoughtfully designed. The rubber sections that rest on the side of your head can detect when you’re wearing them. This is, in fact, how you turn the Nuraphones on — simply put them on your head. There are two touch-sensitive buttons “hidden” in the circular caps outside the strap (where you adjust the fit). These can be configured in the app to do whatever you want.

There’s likely a compromise here, as you’ll have to choose between skipping tracks, audio profile toggling, answering calls … whatever the two things you need the most. I often want to pause or adjust the volume on the go, but obviously want to be able to answer calls too, without reaching for my phone.There’s no button to activate Bluetooth mode, either. Anytime the headphones aren’t connected, they default back to pairing mode.

This minimalist approach feels smart when it works. But if you need to toggle Bluetooth (as I sometimes did) or want to reboot the headphones (as I sometimes did), it’s a bit of a guessing game — setting them down for a bit and putting them back on. Likewise, occasionally I’d lift one earcup off to talk with a friend, and the headphones would turn off. They’d reconnect again in a few seconds, but it’s a minor break in the experience.

For those who prefer a wired connection, you have plenty of options here. The Nuraphones come with a USB A cable for charging, but there are USB C, micro-USB, Lightning and 3.5mm audio cables available too (for an additional cost).

Despite the minor quirks, the whole experience feels refined. Smart, even. And it’ll likely only get better. A feature in beta is that the headphones can detect who’s wearing them (if they have a profile set in the app). I tested this with my wife, and it works well — telling me “Welcome back, James” every time I put them on. You also don’t need the app once you’ve gone through the setup — the settings are stored on the headset, so you can forget about it completely if you prefer.

If you’re wondering, you can have up to three different profiles set in the app. It’s also a good way to see how different your hearing is to someone else’s. I tried my wife’s profile, and it actually sounded pretty similar. Both mine and hers sounded pleasing, but mine did sound better (to me). I noticed higher frequencies were a little harsher in my partner’s setting, and mids a little subdued.

On a more practical note, in wireless mode the Nuraphones last about 20 hours, which is decent. You can also use them with your PC without the 3.5mm cable. When you plug them in via USB, your computer should detect them as an audio output device, so you can easily charge them while listening at work. It’s worth noting here that there’s no LED, so without the app, it can be hard to know if they are fully charged.

For a debut product, the Nuraphones are impressive. The audio voodoo really does add a depth and a sense of clarity to music that almost makes you worry that you must otherwise be slogging through the world hearing the world only half as brightly as you could. The tactile bass adds another dimension (and means you need less volume), though your personal preference may vary with this one, and the slick design touches make this feel like a polished product.

But they also introduce a few minor compromises or design quirks that might take some getting used to. If you can live with relinquishing control over connectivity and power to the headphones, you’ve got little to worry about. At $399, the Nuraphones aren’t the cheapest on the market, but they deliver an experience (and musical excitement) that’s unique.

Leaked Images Show Google Pixel 2 XL Smartphone With Minimal Bezels

A day ahead of Google’s October hardware event, serial mobile leaker Evan Blass has shared images of the company’s new 6-inch Pixel 2 XL smartphone, revealing a display with thin bezels and rounded corners reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Rumors suggest the Pixel 2 XL will feature a QHD+ display with an 18:9 (2:1) aspect ratio, 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear camera, and front-facing stereo speakers, with a price tag of $849/$949 for either 64GB or 128GB of storage.

Blass also tweeted images of the smaller 5-inch Pixel 2 (below) which, apart from a less impressive 1080p display, is thought to share the same specs as the XL 2. The wallpaper used in both the leaked images shows a vibrant depth-of-field view, suggesting an upcoming “bokeh” camera feature native to the new Google handsets.

According to a source familiar with Google’s release plans that spoke to VentureBeat, the new phones will have a pre-order period followed by a staggered rollout, with October 19 for the Pixel 2 and November 15 for the Pixel 2 XL.

MacRumors will have all the details on Google’s October 4 event, when the company is expected to unveil a range of products, including new Google Home smart speakers, a new laptop, and perhaps more.

Tag: Google Pixel
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Amazon Rolls Out Alexa Device Messaging and Calling to U.K. and Germany

Amazon is updating its Alexa app today to add support for messaging and calling on Alexa-powered smart devices in the U.K., Germany, and Austria (via The Verge).

The second-generation Echo in Charcoal Fabric
The Alexa voice calling feature will work on standard Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers, allowing users to call the devices free of charge. iPhone and Android owners can also use the Alexa app to call the Alexa-powered devices directly.

Amazon’s second-generation Echo devices hit Europe on October 31 and support the feature as standard, while video calling is limited to the display-based Echo Show device, which is set to become available in the U.K. and Germany next month.

Tags: Amazon Echo, Alexa
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Snapchat’s next AR trick is giant art installations

Snap is bringing a touch of art world glitz to Snapchat. Keen observers will have noticed a newly launched countdown on its art.snapchat.com URL. Well, the internet has already cracked its code. And no, you’re not about to get a Snapchat drone (at least not yet). The domain is apparently tied to a new augmented reality art project featuring Jeff Koons and, possibly, more artists down the line. When logged into the app, users will be able to point their phones at a distinct spot to view Koons’ signature giant balloon installations.

I wish startups would learn to start guarding against client-side date setting pic.twitter.com/TY8zMneEDq

— Jonah Grant (@jonah) October 2, 2017

Snap is also opening up the feature to applicants (likely other artists), who will be able to sign up via the website. Software engineer, and Twitter user, Jonah Grant first unlocked the site’s secrets by simply setting his computer’s clock ahead a few hours. Since then, other users have shared screenshots and a video from the site. The clip below (which comes courtesy of Paul Stamatiou) lacks audio, but clearly features footage of Koons interspersed with people using the feature.

full snapchat art video.. no audio. i screencasted from an expired youtube link that was cached HT @jonah pic.twitter.com/Zhyl1hVYTe

— Paul Stamatiou 📷 (@Stammy) October 2, 2017

According to the stills, the artists’ AR balloons will be viewable in Champ de Mars, Paris; Central Park, New York; and Hyde Park, London. Whether or not it’s tied into the Snap Map feature is unclear. But, the tool could piggyback on the same tech that Snapchat uses to power its world lenses. It recently opened up the AR capability to advertisers, and this latest feature indicates that it may be mulling a further expansion.

Snap is not commenting on the tool directly, instead claiming that it will “share more soon.” We’re guessing all will be revealed when the countdown runs out at 3PM ET. That also happens to be when the company’s co-founder Evan Spiegel will take the stage at Vanity Fair‘s New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles.

Source: Jonah Grant (Twitter)

Microsoft Announces the End of Groove Music, Points Users to Spotify Instead

Microsoft is shuttering Groove Music. The company announced the news on Monday in a blog post on its site, explaining that the streaming service will be discontinued on December 31 and any customers subscribed to the service will be refunded on a pro rata basis.

Microsoft said it would cease sales of Groove Music Pass memberships soon, and in a partnership with Spotify, would make it easy for existing Groove Music subscribers to move their playlists over to the rival music streaming service.

With the continued advancement of music streaming today, all the world’s music has become easily accessible across a variety of devices, unlocking new ways to discover and experience music. As we continue to listen to what our customers want in their music experience we know that access to the best streaming service, the largest catalog of music, and a variety of subscriptions is top of the list.

Which is why we’re excited to announce that we’re expanding our partnership with Spotify to bring the world’s largest music streaming service to our Groove Music Pass customers. Beginning this week, Groove Music Pass customers can easily move all their curated playlists and collections directly into Spotify. Plus, you may be eligible for a 60-day free trial of Spotify Premium.

Microsoft said users of the Groove Music iOS app will be able to continue using music purchased through the service and stored on OneDrive, but streaming, buying, and downloading through the app will end for good on December 31.

It’s unclear how many subscribers were still using the ailing service, which is home to a 50-million track library, but the announcement will be good news for Spotify, with Microsoft now officially promoting the rival as the go-to streaming service across both Windows 10 and Xbox platforms.

Tags: Spotify, Microsoft Groove
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DJI now lets drone pilots fly with more privacy during ‘sensitive’ operations

Why it matters to you

Organizations using DJI drones for certain types of work will be keen to learn if the new feature ensures that data linked to their drone flights is now secure and private.

DJI has followed through on its recent promise to provide an offline mode to enhance privacy for drone pilots wishing to use its machines for what it describes as “sensitive” operations.

Aimed primarily at the company’s enterprise and government customers, the launch of the “Local Data Mode” follows a decision by the U.S. Army in August to stop using DJI’s machines for its work because of “an increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities with DJI products,” according to an internal memo seen by sUAS News. DJI hopes the new mode will restore confidence in its products among organizations such as the Army.

DJI told Digital Trends in August that it’d been working on the feature for “several months,” though confirmed it’d “accelerated that effort” in a bid to launch the feature by the end of September.

The new feature can be downloaded as part of the latest update on the DJI Pilot app on CrystalSky and for select Android devices. iOS users will have to wait longer for the new mode.

Activating it will immediately prevent the drone app from sending or receiving any data over the internet. This means the DJI Pilot app will be unable to detect the pilot’s location or indicate map and geofencing information such as No Fly Zones and temporary flight restrictions, DJI said. It’ll also be unable to notify the drone owner of any firmware updates until the system is reconnected to the internet.

The pilot will still be able to receive live video streamed from the drone’s camera, but the stream won’t be able to travel beyond the controller. In addition, whether or not Local Data Mode is activated, media such as photos and videos captured by the drone will remain on its SD card, with the owner free to choose how — or even if — they share the data with others.

DJI’s Brendan Schulman said his company had created the new privacy mode “to address the needs of our enterprise customers, including public and private organizations that are using DJI technology to perform sensitive operations around the world,” adding that the Chinese company is “committed to protecting the privacy of its customers’ photos, videos and flight logs. Local Data Mode will provide added assurances for customers with heightened data security needs.”

Now DJI will be watching to see if it’s done enough to allay the concerns of enterprise and government customers in a highly competitive market that is of growing value to drone makers around the world.

Toys ‘R’ Us turns to augmented reality in bid to bring back shoppers

Why it matters to you

If you’re heading to Toys R Us anytime soon, be prepared to dodge hordes of excited kids engrossed in a new AR game.

Clearly aware of how Pokémon Go took the mobile gaming world by storm in 2016, embattled retailer Toys R Us is turning to the same augmented reality (AR) technology in a bid to save its business.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in September and needs to deal with long-term debt of around $5 billion. That means getting lots of people back into its 1,600 or so stores, so executives are hoping a new AR game called Play Chaser — designed especially for use in Toys R Us stores — can play a part.

Developed in partnership with robotics and AI firm PlayFusion, the new mobile game lets players activate a variety of AR games and play experiences as they move around the store. They can do this simply by scanning the many different Play Chaser signs attached to Toys R Us shelves.

It certainly sounds like an interesting idea, albeit one coming a little late in the day. If the game catches on, the company will be desperate to see gamers’ visits convert into sales, while constant updates or new AR games will be necessary to keep the experience fresh and exciting to ensure ongoing engagement (in other words, more store visits).

Play Chaser, available on both iOS and Android, features a virtual Geoffrey the Giraffe welcoming kids to the store. Geoffrey also explains how the app works before sending them on a quest inside the store.

There’s also a virtual basketball hoop that kids can shoot at solo or alongside friends in-store, and a baby nursery where they can select a unique, digital You & Me doll, take it home and care for it, Toys R Us PR manager Nicola Hayes explained on the company’s website.

To add a competitive edge to the proceedings, some games also include leaderboards so kids can see how they rank against not only other players in the same store, but also against players in Toys R Us locations across the country.

Play Chaser went live in 23 Toys R Us stores in the U.S. on Monday, and will land at all locations nationwide on October 21. Parents of littluns, be prepared to have your arms tugged. Or just don’t tell them about Play Chaser if you prefer to do your toy shopping online.

Google gives Insta360 Pro the Street View stamp of approval

You no longer need a Trekker if you want to help capture Street View experiences. Google has certified the Insta360 Pro as the first “Street View auto ready” camera, allowing anybody who owns one to contribute 360-degree images to Google’s immersive street-level map. You’ll be able to control the camera mounted on top of your car through the Street View app and to upload your footage straight from Insta360’s Stitcher software.

To show its support for the program, Insta360 will add a 5 FPS 8K shooting mode optimized for Street View collection. It will even release an optional USB accessory that can automatically attach GPS data to footage the camera captures. Insta360’s addition to the Street View-ready program will give Google access to roads and remote locations — such as Faroe Islands, where it had to strap cameras on sheep — it might not be able to go to otherwise.

As TechCrunch noted, though, the camera will set you back $3,499. It’s not the most expensive 360-degree camera, but it could still make a sizable dent in your wallet. If you’d like to help but can’t afford to buy an Insta360 Pro of your own, check out Google’s Street View loan program. The big G is lending out some cameras to qualified photographers, travelers, tourism boards, non-profits and a variety of other organizations.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Insta360

Scientists test VR system to control robots from virtual cockpits

Folks have made telerobotics — aka, operating robots from afar — work, but solutions are expensive. Similar to how the US Navy just opted to ditch its expensive joysticks for Xbox controllers, researchers are thinking about consumer-tested solutions. Scientists at MIT CSAIL have developed a system that uses off-the-shelf gaming and VR technology (Unity and Oculus Rift, respectively) that both drives down the price while situating the users in a more organically-designed interface. Plus, it pretty much lets users control a robot from the inside of a simulated virtual cockpit.

That’s because the system’s design was inspired by Descartes’ (fallacious) “homunculus” philosophical model of the mind — as in, our human bodies are operated by tiny versions of ourselves in cranial control centers. Likewise, the MIT CSAIL setup sets users up in a VR headset and places them in a virtual control room. There, they manipulate digital knobs correlating to each of the robot’s arms, and watch their progress on “screens” that broadcast from cameras around the ‘bot. In essence, it simulates placing the user inside the robot, which should be easier for humans to spatially comprehend than having their hand motions directly correspond to robot motions.

The team used a two-armed robot that users controlled to complete simple coordination tasks like connecting blocks. It apparently performed well under multiple network setups, from wired person-to-bot operation to controlling it wirelessly in the next room over. They even controlled a robot at MIT successfully from a hotel room in Virginia.

The researchers designed the setup with manufacturing applications in mind. If a bot on the assembly line was having trouble, a supervising human could don a headset and virtually dip into the robot for a hands-on fix. Or, more broadly, for the ultimate work-from-home experience, as the team’s paper summarized: “Teleoperated robotic systems will allow humans the ability to work at scales and in environments which they cannot accomplish today. Barriers to working such as physical health, location, or security clearance could be reduced by decoupling physicality from manufacturing tasks.”

Source: “Baxter’s Homunculus: Virtual Reality Spaces for Teleoperation in Manufacturing” (paper)