Russian voice assistant Alice sounds as natural as developer Yandex claims

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It’s sometimes tough to remember the days when we didn’t have the convenience of a voice assistant. Whether it’s through your smartphone or a home device, it’s as though a new one is popping up everyday. In the U.S., this type of technology is always available for us in the English language, while that’s not always the case for other countries. This week, we have an international app that takes the concept of voice assistants and create its own.

Yandex — available for iOS and Android — is particularly known as a Russian search engine. Since it’s been around for quite some time, Yandex has also branched out into language translation, a real-time bidding platform, and antivirus software. Most recently, it also introduced its own voice assistant, Alice, and integrated the new feature into the Yandex app. While the app can be downloaded in Ukrainian and Turkish as well, Alice can only speak Russian at the moment.

Perhaps the most unique thing about the new voice assistant is the fact that its developers based Alice’s voice off Spike Jonez’ movie Her. For anyone who’s unfamiliar, the premise of the film involves Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), faling in love with an operating system named Samantha. Yeah, you read that correctly — but it also helps to know that Samantha is played by Scarlett Johansson, whose voice has a soothing, friendly tone to it. To create the same tone, Yandex specifically used the recording actress who dubbed the voice of Samantha in the Russian version of the movie.

While Alice is here to help inform Russian users of the weather, plan routes to destinations, or learn the latest news, she’s also here to talk to you about nothing. The company recently added a neural network based “chit-chat” feature to allow you to have free-flowing conversations about anything you’d like. Yandex claims it’s a feature that sets it apart from the crowd of other voice assistants, but I think it’s going a bit overboard with this Her theme.

As a Russian speaker myself, I decided to test out Alice along with my dad, who immigrated here from the Ukraine when he was young. I was particularly excited to speak to Alice because I wanted to see how bad my Russian has truly gotten over the years. I wondered if she would still be able to understand what I was saying. If you really want to know how terribly I speak it, let’s just say I sound like someone who’s in the beginning stages of learning the language, rather than someone who spoke it as their first language.

As for my parents, their Russian accents are barely even there anymore, but growing up, I remember those old school voice assistants — known as navigation systems — had some trouble understanding them. I was interested to see how much easier it would be for my father to interact in his native language, especially given that Alice was created with SpeechKit — which is Yandex’s toolkit that enables her to understand your Russian with close to human-level accuracy. But in my opinion — and based on experience — she might have actually understood me better than humans do.

The Yandex app looks extremely similar to the Google Assistant app interface. You have a newsfeed of information from weather to your email, along with news headlines. When it comes to using Alice, all you need to do is click on the microphone and tell her your question or command. There’s also the option to type it out instead, and Alice will still understand you even if you type in English. But for maximum effect, you’re probably better off typing to her in Russian by adding the keyboard to your device.

While I can’t read Russian, I typed to her in English and had my dad read it out loud in Russian. Her responses were witty and entertaining, even with questions like “How are you?” she responds with “Very good, but lonely.”

Even if Alice doesn’t get your question correct the first time, there are options presented to you to choose from instead. You can also send a thumbs up or thumbs down symbol to let her know whether or not she was accurate in understanding your response.

For both my dad and I, speaking with Alice was actually a breeze. Even though my Russian isn’t perfect, she was still able to pick up on what I was saying. As for my dad, he said that if Yandex were available in the U.S., he would prefer to use it.

Though I thought it strange to base a voice assistant off of a movie like Her, I have to admit that speaking to Alice was entertaining. She was not only full of jokes, but would also give in-depth answers to all of your questions whether it was the weather or directions.

Yandex also did a great job of making her voice sound more natural than I’ve heard with other voice assistants. The most impressive factor was definitely how easy it was for her to understand me, when my Russian isn’t even that great. Perhaps those other companies could take a few hints from Alice herself.

Here’s how to watch the epic USA vs. Japan giant robot battle to the death

Why it matters to you

A pair of giant robots battling it out until one is left standing. Need we say more?

It’s been years in the making, but the big event has finally arrived. The Giant Robot Duel between Eagle Prime and Kuratas will erupt on October 17, and you can follow all the action on Twitch.

In 2015, Megabots completed construction of the Mk.II, a 15-foot tall, 6-ton behemoth capable of hurling projectiles at more than 130 miles per hour. Megabots challenged Suidobashi Heavy Industries, creators of the Kuratas heavy robot, to a duel. They accepted, with one condition.

“Just building something huge and sticking guns on it. It’s Super American … If we’re going to win this, I want to punch them to scrap and knock them down to do it,” said Kogoro Kurata, designer of the 4-ton gargantuan Kuratas mech. In other words, it had to be a melee fight to the death.

Megabots accepted, but there was one small problem. They needed a new robot. Their Mk.II robot had been deemed “unsafe for hand-to-hand combat.” The upcoming encounter would have killed or seriously injured the human operator. So, they did what any enterprising company would have done — they took to Kickstarter.

“The Mk.II was designed to be an inexpensive prototype,” explained MegaBots co-founder Matt Oehrlein. “The Mk.III is designed from the ground up to be the best robot possible, with the best hydraulic, robotics, and pilot safety technology available on the market.”

The new Mk.III features a grappling hook and an eight-foot chainsaw as optional accessories. In training for the fight, Eagle Prime honed its fighting skills by bashing a hapless Prius to death. Not much is known about the armament of Kuratas, other than its 6,000 rounds-per-minute BB Gatling guns.

The showdown won’t actually be streamed live; in fact it’s already taken place at an abandoned steel warehouse in Japan. There were no spectators at the event, due to safety concerns. According to MegaBots, the duel consisted of several rounds, spaced out over several days to give the teams time to repair their bots. Gui Cavalcanti of MegaBots told The Verge that there were no points or scoring — it was purely winner-take-all by knockout. Additionally, the weight, power, size, and weapons of the bots were “left to each individual team,” and they were designed “to not cut through metal, but instead to damage it.”

WE'RE STILL ALIVE.WE'RE BACK FROM THE DUEL.VIDEO COMING ASAP. RELEASE DATE COMING SOON.

Posted by MegaBots on Saturday, September 30, 2017

On September 30, MegeBots posted on Facebook that they were “still alive,” so the results of the duel are anyone’s guess. If you’re hoping for a Transformers-style destructive extravaganza, you’ll probably be disappointed — the mechs are slow and ponderous, and it’s likely to be a slow-moving battle of attrition until one can no longer move.

The event will be streamed on Twitch, with commentary provided by Mike Goldberg of the UFC and robotics expert Saura Naderi. Tune in at Tuesday, October 17 at 7 p.m. PT for all the giant mech-on-mech action.

Google lowers the price of the Pixel 2’s headphone adapter

Why it matters to you

Your first dongle is free, but replacements are now more than half off.

When Apple first announced that the iPhone 7 would not have a headphone jack, there was a clear sense of frustration in many responses. The internet wasted no time in mocking Apple’s decision, with some joking that Apple had innovated in reverse by actually removing features that consumers wanted. This decision prompted Apple’s rivals, such as Google, to boast that its phones maintained headphone jokes. Despite these issues, the iPhone 7 sold rather well. However, those who did want to use their old headphone still had an option in Apple’s headphone adapter. While it’s easy to mock Apple products as overpriced, the adapter was reasonably priced at $9.

All of this brings us to the Google Pixel 2. By all accounts, it’s a great looking phone, but, like the iPhone 7, the Pixel 2 lacks a headphone jack. In order to use standard headphones, users will have to rely on Google’s dongle adapter. One of these dongles is included with the Pixel 2, but should you need a second one, it could get expensive. Google originally priced the dongle at $20. This apparently frustrated a lot of people and, in response, Trusted Reviews has reported that Google lowered the price of the adapter to $9.

Regardless of the price of the adapter, Google’s decision to kill the standard headphone jack is becoming something of a pattern among smartphone makers. Some manufacturers, such as OnePlus and Samsung, are resisting this trend, but don’t be too surprised if the the Samsung Galaxy 9 doesn’t sport a headphone jack.

The points in favor of keeping the headphone jack are obviously a matter of affordability and convenience. Nearly everyone has a pair of 3.5mm headphones, and if you lose a pair, it’s is easy and affordable to find a replacement. You can pick up a decent pair of headphones for $10. Wireless headphones, on the other hand, tend to be a lot more expensive.

The benefits of losing the headphone jack are less clear, but they are there. A major factor has to do with the trend towards smaller and thinner phones. In order to make phones thinner and thinner, manufacturers have to remove components where they can, and headphone jacks are one of the first casualties of this design philosophy. Another major reason, especially for Apple, was to push its vision of the future of audio technology.

How to Use Portrait Mode on an iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, or X

Portrait Mode is arguably the best reason for picking up the last-gen iPhone 7 Plus. The intuitive feature makes good use of the iPhone 7’s rear dual cameras, allowing you to imbue your photos with a shallow depth of field effect, one typically reserved for fancy DLSRs.

With iOS 11 and the new iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, Apple is adding cool lighting effects and other new features that will give your photos a more personalized look.

Thankfully, learning how to use Portrait Mode on an iPhone only takes a moment — simply open up the camera and tap Portrait, which is located directly above the shutter button. Once your camera is in Portrait Mode, a wheel of lighting effects will appear.

The first effect is Natural Light, which is essentially the same as the regular Portrait Mode introduced in iOS 11. As the name implies, the effect will simply blur the background and not adjust any of the lighting.

The next effect is Studio Light, which tries to even the lighting across your subject, so it looks as though you shot the photo in a well-lit studio. Contour Light tries to even out the lighting, too, but it also adds shadows to your subject’s contours, giving their cheeks and other features a more pronounced look.

Studio Light

Dramatic Light

For dramatic shots, try opting for Dramatic Light. The effect offers up the same features as Contour Light, but it also blacks out everything surrounding your background. This gives you the feeling of being the only thing lit on a black box stage.

But if Dramatic Light isn’t moody enough for you, then the final Portrait Mode effect, Stage Light Mono, will probably do the trick. It’s the same as Dramatic Light, except it results in a black-and-white photo.

Once you’ve chosen your desired effect, you’ll want to position the subject in the center of the camera and far enough away for you to snap the shot. The photo will then pop up in your Photos app with the applied effect.

If you want to change the effect after you’ve taken the photo, then find your picture in the Photos app and tap Edit. You’ll then see the same choices as before, but at the bottom of the photo. Just remember that you can only change or add an effect to photos that you’ve previously shot while in Portrait Mode.

David Cogen — a regular contributor here at Digital Trends — runs TheUnlockr, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him on Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

Daydream Audio: What to do when there’s no headphone jack

Don’t panic at the lack of a headphone jack!

The Pixel 2 was revealed alongside the newest iteration of Google’s Daydream View headset, and while this phone is amazing for VR it is rather conspicuously missing something. That something is, of course, a headphone jack. This isn’t the first Daydream-ready phone with no headphone jack, but it is certainly the most popular.

Since wireless headphones don’t offer the best experience for VR due to issues with latency. While this isn’t ideal, it’s no reason to panic. We’ve got your options covered for getting the best audio experience.

Read more at VRHeads!

Android’s ‘instant’ apps are now leaner and faster

Right now, Google’s instant Android apps don’t quite live up to their billing. Google has to load support for every possible device, which can slow down access to the app and chew up valuable space. That shouldn’t be an issue going forward. Google has updated its instant app programming kit to let developers give you configurations that only target specific device profiles based on the display, chip architecture and language. If you’re using a low-resolution screen, an ARM processor and Chinese, for example, you won’t get the data needed for a sharper display, Intel chips and other languages. Google reckons that this saves an average of 10 percent space, which should translate to faster-loading apps.

Also, you stand a better chance of keeping that instant app data if you decide to install the full thing. Where you previously needed Android Oreo to preserve that content, it now applies to phones running Lollipop or newer.

Developers will need to roll the new features into their Android titles, so don’t expect to see improvements right away. With that said, the gap between instant and fully installed apps should be noticeably narrower, especially if you’re using one of the vast majority of Android devices that doesn’t yet have Oreo.

Source: Android Developers Blog

Windows 10’s data collection allegedly violates Dutch privacy law

Microsoft has already caught flak over claims that Windows 10’s data collection is still overly aggressive, but it’s now facing a direct legal challenge over how it handles your info. The Netherlands’ Data Protection Authority has determined that Windows 10 violates the country’s data protection law even after tweaks that came with the Creators Update. Allegedly, Microsoft doesn’t “clearly inform” you of the type of data it’s using and the reasons why that data is needed. Moreover, officials believe that Windows’ default settings prevent you from offering true consent to data gathering.

Windows defaults to the full data sharing during the installation process, and encourages you to simply accept those terms. Just because you didn’t change those settings doesn’t mean you gave permission, the DPA said. The regulator also contended that the Creators Update didn’t honor some users’ existing privacy preferences, and that Microsoft doesn’t make it clear that the Edge browser is continuously collecting app and browsing data using the default settings.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft has taken issue with the findings. In its response to the DPA, it illustrated point-by-point “concerns” with the Dutch authority’s statement. It maintained that Windows 10 informs you about the data it collects and how that info is used, although it acknowledged that you may have to dive into the privacy agreement or “learn more” sections (that is, the sections few people read) to get a full understanding. It also argued that it needs at least some device data to understand compatibility problems (there are hundreds of millions of Windows users, after all) and look for repeated app crashes that might hint at security holes. And as you might expect, Microsoft doesn’t agree that its approach to software defaults prevents people from giving true consent.

Microsoft does plan to work with the authority to take care of violations, although the disputes suggest that the two sides aren’t about to come to an agreement in the immediate future. Whatever happens, this Dutch claim could have far-reaching implications. Unless Microsoft is willing to make a version of Windows 10 with privacy changes just for the Netherlands, you may see it alter data collection policies worldwide.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Data Protection Authority, Microsoft Pulse

The Senhance System is a robotic assistant that can help doctors with your next surgery

Why it matters to you

Your surgeon’s assistant during your next operation just might be this robotic system.

We can’t say anything for its bedside manner, but a new robotic system could be a pretty crucial assistant during your surgery. On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave clearance to a robotically-assisted surgical device (RASD) called the Senhance System. Intended to help facilitate minimally invasive surgery, this system allows surgeons to control three individual robotic arms while examining a 3D high-definition view of the surgical field.

Congratulations #ASCRS2017 on a great meeting! Thank you to all who visited the booth to provide feedback on #Senhance #Surgery #RoboticCRS pic.twitter.com/9U66TSaVGa

— TransEnterix (@TransEnterix) June 14, 2017

“Minimally invasive surgery helps reduce pain, scarring and recovery time after surgery,” said Binita Ashar, M.D., director of the Division of Surgical Devices in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “RASD technology is a specialized innovation in minimally invasive surgery designed to enhance the surgeon’s access and visualization within confined operative sites.”

What makes the Senhance System particularly interesting is its inclusion of force feedback, which allows the surgeon to actually “feel” the tissue he or she is grasping with a robotic arm. So really, it’s as though your doctor grew three additional, extremely dexterous arms. The Senhance System also boasts eye-tracking, which is said to help control movement of surgical tools.

150 patients participated in a clinical study involving the new RASD, and their results were compared to those using another previously approved RASD. The FDA concluded that the Senhance System was just as effective as its peer (the da Vinci Si IS3000 device) for gynecological and colorectal procedures.

“The Senhance System is intended to assist in the accurate control of laparoscopic instruments for visualization and endoscopic manipulation of tissue including grasping, cutting, blunt and sharp dissection, approximation, ligation, electrocautery, suturing, mobilization and retraction in laparoscopic colorectal surgery and laparoscopic gynecological surgery,” the FDA noted in its approval. “The system is for use on adult patients by trained physicians in an operating room environment.”

This marks the first time since 2000 that the FDA has approved a surgical assistant for the abdominal area, according to the company behind the Senhance System, TransEnterix. So if you’re scheduled for surgery in the coming months (though we certainly hope you are not), you may just be able to see the Senhance in action.

Best new songs to stream: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sufjan Stevens, and more

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click — you want the best new songs to stream right now.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our five best new songs to stream this week. And don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post. Not sure which streaming service is best for you? Check out our post about the best music streaming services, or go in depth and learn the differences between Apple Music and Spotify to better weigh your options.

Lin-Manuel Miranda — Almost Like Praying

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has been outspoken in his support of those affected by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and he took his support a step further this week with the release of this star-studded charity single. Hispanic musicians Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Fat Joe, John Leguizamo, Rubén Blades, Camila Cabello, Joell Ortiz, Juan Luis Guerra, Dessa, and more appear at various points in Almost Like Praying to offer a powerful and uplifting message to those who could use it most.

Sufjan Stevens — Wallowa Lake Monster

Songwriter Sufjan Stevens promoted the upcoming release of a collection of unreleased B-sides called The Greatest Gift with the release of this gorgeous seven-minute single, an outtake from his 2015 full length album Carrie & Lowell. Fans of Stevens will love the new track — a thoughtful, ambiance-filled song that sounds like it barely missed the final cut of the album.

Landlady — Cadaver (and more, live at NPR’s Tiny Desk)

Brooklyn’s Landlady recently performed this series of perfectly arranged songs at NPR’s offices in Washington D.C. The groovy and compelling tunes showcase each member of the quartet’s outstanding and creative musicianship. They are joined by a string quartet for the final track, not that you’ll need that as a reason to stick around until the end of the 20-minute live video.

Lo Tom — Bubblegum (and more, live on KEXP)

Lo Tom‘s Bubblegum is the kind of song you imagine putting on when you start up a vintage muscle car or put on a black leather jacket. A driving bit of rock ‘n’ roll with a clean and hooky melody, the tune showcases powerful distorted guitars and fat drum tones. It’s just the kind of thing you need to start your engines.

Gregory Porter — Smile

The velvety vocal tone of singer Gregory Porter is perfectly suited to this Nat King Cole tune, part of an upcoming tribute to the late, great vocalist. Porter is joined by a full jazz orchestra and strings on the track, a beautiful recording that we can easily imagine becoming one of the definitive versions of this standard.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more songs to stream, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

A new satellite is orbiting our planet to track greenhouse gases and pollution

Why it matters to you

We’ll soon have a more detailed idea of all the pollution on Earth thanks to a new satellite from the ESA.

The evidence of pollution on Earth is already pretty evident to those of us living on Earth — at least, for those of us living in large cities or manufacturing hubs. But now we’re going beyond our planet to see just how bad things really are. The European Space Agency (ESA) has just launched the most advanced air-pollution-monitoring satellite in history. Its goal is to map the global distribution of air pollutants in truly novel detail.

On Friday, ESA controllers received the first signal from the Sentinel-5P satellite, which lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia about at around 5:30 a.m. EDT. The Sentinel-5P, otherwise known as Precursor, is a member of the European Union’s Copernicus program, which is the largest Earth-observation program in the world. And while there are a total of six satellites in orbit as part of this program, Precursor is the first and only to measure the chemistry of our planet’s atmosphere.

“Having Sentinel-5P in orbit will give us daily and global views at our atmosphere with a precision we never had before,” Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director of Earth-observation programs, said in a statement.

While Precursor isn’t the first satellite to have this important mission, it is the first in quite some time. The only other satellite currently tasked with measuring pollution is NASA’s Aura, which was launched 13 years ago in 2014. And in the time since, quite a few improvements in technology have been made. As Stephen Briggs, senior advisor to the director of ESA’s Earth Observation program, told Space.com, “Sentinel-5P carries an instrument called Tropomi, which is very powerful because it has a very wide swath — 2,600 kilometers wide (1,615 miles). That means that it will give us the view of the whole Earth every day. Every day, we will get measurements of every point on the Earth.”

With Tropomi, which was developed in large part by the Netherlands’ national meteorological agency (KNMI), the satellite will measure several pollutants, including the levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which result from fossil fuels, as well as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ozone, and greenhouse gas methane.

“Tropomi will make 20 million observations every day, covering the entire globe at a resolution that is 10 times better than we have ever seen before,”  KNMI’s principal investigator Pepijn Veefkind told the BBC. “That allows us to see pollution in cities on a much finer scale. In Rotterdam, for example, we will be able to distinguish the harbour from the city centre; and we will be able to see the pollution in shipping lanes over the oceans.”