Amazon Echo vs. Google Home: Which voice assistant answers questions best?

Being able to talk to these things is important, but the answers are even more important.

Amazon Echo and Google Home are the two big names in connected home tech right now. While it’s important to see which one sounds better in your room if you’re into music or which has the most features you might actually use, there’s one bigger thing. When you ask Alexa or Assistant a question, the answer needs to be useful. Those answers need to be plentiful, useful, and easy to digest.

Here’s how the Amazon Echo (and Alexa) and Google Home (and Google Assistant) compare in our tests.

See Home at Google   See Echo at Amazon

‘What’s the weather like tomorrow?’

The ultimate softball question for any digital assistant, and it shouldn’t surprise you to see Google Home and Amazon Echo give basically the same answer. The response from these assistants confirm your location, let you know if it is partly cloudy or raining or sunny, and then give you a high and low temperature.

In our tests, these two platforms responded almost identically. The answer had all of the right information and was delivered in a way that makes sense. One point awarded to each.

Alexa ✔️ | Assistant ✔️

‘What is the traffic like right now?’

When asked, Google Home immediately responded with any traffic issues or delays within my zip code. At the time of day I asked, there were several slowdowns on local roads because the schools had just let out. Google Home didn’t tell me about the school buses, but the delays were all accounted for.

Alexa doesn’t have an automatic response to this question. Instead, it asks you to go to the Alexa app and add your commute information. When you do that, Alexa will tell you about any traffic on what it now knows is your commute to or from work. All of the information Alexa gave in this situation turned out to be accurate.

The difference between these two answers is important. Alexa doesn’t have a mechanism for giving you traffic details in your general area, and Google doesn’t immediately try to give you traffic information relevant to your commute. You can ask Google Home “What is the traffic like on the way to work?” and get that information as long as you have added a work location in Google Maps, but there’s no prompt anywhere to do so. One point awarded to Google, with the caveat that it needs some improvement still.

Assistant ✔️

‘Can you find me a recipe for fried chicken?’

Google Home immediately responded with information it found on the web. Specifically, it started reading me the recipe found in the Google Search card for Friend Chicken recipes. Google Home read through the entire recipe in about 45 seconds, and then stopped.

Alexa offered me several options for recipes, and when I chose one with my voice it read the first few steps in the recipe and then offered to either keep reading or send the recipe to my phone. When I asked for the recipe to be sent to my phone, it was immediately available in the Alexa app.

While both of these systems had the “right” answer, the way Google Home delivered it was mostly useless to me. I didn’t retain any of the information, and had to search for the recipe on my phone even thought Google Assistant knew what I was listening to and could have had that information available to me quickly. No doubt about it, one point to Alexa.

Alexa ✔️

‘Who won the Ravens game?’

Google Home quickly points out the Ravens loss, final score, and what team they played against.

Alexa quickly points out the Ravens loss, final score, and what team they played against. Alexa then let me know what team the Ravens were playing next and when that game would be.

While both answers are correct, the answer Alexa gave is more complete and in this situation more useful. One point to Alexa.

Alexa ✔️

‘How much does an apple weigh?’

Google Home found an answer from the web, and read a detailed explanation of what someone on a blog somewhere thought was the average weight of an apple.

Alexa immediately gave me a numerical answer to this question, sourcing Wikipedia.

While both answers were correct, Google Home took way longer to get to the actual numerical answer. On top of being longer, the answer didn’t contain any information that was more useful. One point to Alexa.

Alexa ✔️

‘What is 13 X 9?’

Google Home answered immediately with the correct answer.

Alexa answered immediately with the correct answer.

Not a lot to discuss here. One point to each!

Alexa ✔️ | Assistant ✔️

‘How do I make my feet warm?’

Google Home found an answer on the web, which happened to be from a blog with useful information and step-by-step instructions. The answer wasn’t too long, and in the end, I clearly understood what I needed to do.

Alexa had no answer to this question at all and quickly apologized.

Clearly, one point to Google Home for this one.

Assistant ✔️

The results!

This covers a small fraction of the wealth of knowledge accessible from these assistants, but gives you a reasonable cross-section of the kinds of answers these assistants are capable of delivering.

Google Home relies heavily on the web, specifically on the cards Google creates when you do a web search on your phone or PC. Just like searching the good ol’ fashioned way, these cards can be hit or miss when it comes to how useful they are.

Alexa doesn’t have every answer every time, but the answers it does have tend to be a little more thought out in the delivery. Those little details tend to matter quite a bit when someone less technical is using something like a connected home speaker.

While there’s still plenty of room for growth with both of these assistants, it’s clear Alexa is a little more prepared to consistently answer your questions in a useful way. That’s why Amazon Echo wins this little contest for now!

Google Home / Assistant ✔️✔️✔️✔️

Amazon Echo / Alexa ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️

See Home at Google   See Echo at Amazon

Amazon Alexa

• Which Amazon Echo should you buy?
• Get more Alexa Skills
• How to enable and disable Alexa Skills
• How to customize Flash Briefing
• How to get sports updates
• How to sync your calendar with Alexa
• How to shop with Alexa
• Send voice messages with Alexa

See more at Amazon

Google Hardware

• Google Wifi review
• Google Home review
• Everything you need to know about the Chromecast Ultra
• Chromecast vs Chromecast Ultra: Which should you buy?

Google Wifi:

Google
Amazon

Google Home:

Google
Best Buy

Chromecast Ultra:

Google
Best Buy

Peek into tight spaces with this flexible endoscopic camera!

Typically when you hear the word endoscopic camera it’s being said by a doctor for the purpose of looking inside a patient. But these bendable snake cameras can be used for many everyday things beyond medical applications.

Get your very own endoscopic camera for only $18.99! Learn more

The versatility of an endoscopic camera can allow you to investigate what’s clogging a drain, peer inside the tight spaces of your car, or give you an inside look at any tough to reach areas of your home. The camera head is adjustable and waterproof, making it perfect for inspecting underwater areas, gaps or holes.

Best of all, you can get your very own waterproof endoscopic camera for just $18.99! The camera cable is a meter long, meaning this camera can snake its way into the tight and dark spaces our fingers or eyes can’t and send a feed right back to your Android phone or PC via the convertible microUSB/USB connector

Typically, endoscopic cameras like this are sold for $49.99, but you can get yours and save 62%! What a deal!

Save 62% on this HD endoscopic camera! Learn more

So what are you waiting for? You never know when you may need a versatile endoscopic camera to get you out of a jam. But act fast — this deal won’t be around forever!

Chrome updates set to kill annoying redirects and trick-to-click popups

New user protections coming with Chrome 64 and Chrome 65.

The team behind Google Chrome knows there are a lot of things that we all hate about the internet. One of those things is the way a website can force you to a completely different page or even open a new tab because you clicked on something you wanted to see or went to a URL that was supposed to be something cool. And these are more than an annoyance — it’s a great way to distribute malware and trackers from adware. Ugh.

While sometimes page redirects are an accident, the behavior is still something that needs to die in a fire. Solutions like blocking all scripts are bad because they block plenty of things we want to see. The Chrome team just might have the solution, and it’s coming with updates to Chrome 64 and Chrome 65 for both the desktop (including Chromebooks) and Android.

With Chrome 64, Google plans to tackle auto-redirects. We’ve all been there: you open a new tab or web page and just as it starts to load you get whisked away to a different page, often filled with nonsense or surveys or any other thing you didn’t ask for an never wanted to see. It’s frustrating, especially when you can’t go back or you get prompted to download random suspicious stuff. All you can do in those situations is close the page or tab and try to find your way back to where you wanted to be before the foolery happened.

Mostly, this comes from third-party content that has been embedded in a web page. It could be an ad or some sort of widget or almost any embedded iframe causing it, but that shouldn’t matter to the end user. It’s just bad.

This is all great news for anyone who regularly uses the internet. Which is all of us.

With Chrome 64, every redirect from a third-party iframe will show an info bar instead of sending you off to some other page. This way we can decide if we want to navigate away or stay on the page we’re looking at. If we’re interacting with an iframe, like clicking an embedded YouTube video to open it on YouTube in a new tab, the request goes through as normal — this only applies to things you didn’t click and didn’t expect to send you off.

We can get more than we asked for when we are interacting with a web page, too. Google has two things planned that should help.

With Chrome 65, websites that try to circumvent Chrome’s pop-up blocker by opening a new tab for a thing you clicked while navigating the original tab to some other page will be blocked with the same style of info bar. This gives us the choice of taking a look versus being forced.

Some abusive experiences are harder to autodetect, but Google plans to use the same type of data as its Safe Browsing feature to kill off deceptive page elements.

Two examples given are a hotlink disguised as a play button that opens a new tab instead of playing a video, and an invisible link over a close button which can open anything when what you’re trying to do is close some ad or overlay.

These changes come in January 2018 and to help web developers prepare Google is building out an Abusive Experiences Report tool that site owners can use to see if anything that would cause a bad experience has been found so they can fix it. If a web page is found to have this sort behavior and isn’t fixed in 30 days, Chrome will prevent it from triggering any new windows or tabs.

These sound like great features, and should help make the web a better — and safer — place!

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

How to fix voice search problems on Gear VR

How do I enable voice search for my Gear VR?

When it comes to browsing the web in VR, Samsung has made it easier than most with the Samsung Internet app for Gear VR. The ability to surf the web and watching anything you come across is generally pretty easy, though reading isn’t always the best experience.

A key part of this experience is voice search, making it so you don’t have to type every character out by pointing your face at a key on a virtual keyboard. On occasion, this feature can become interrupted by other apps on your phone. Thankfully it’s an easy fix, and one that can be handled in just a few minutes.

Read more at VRHeads

This LIFX BR30 smart LED bulb has 16 million colors for just $40

Put smart light bulbs everywhere in your home.

Is this deal for me?

The LIFX BR30 Smart Wi-Fi LED light bulb is down to $39.99 on Amazon. These bulbs regularly sell around $60 and have never dropped below $45 on Amazon before.

This deal is a price match of Best Buy’s, which also includes the LIFX A19 bulbs on sale for $40. BR30 and A19 bulbs are very similar, but BR30s cast more downward light and are therefore better in ceiling lamps and light fixtures.

Features include:

• Works with Amazon Alexa to support dimming, shades of white, and color settings through voice control
• 16 million colors and warm to cool whites
• Easy to set up, built in wifi – no hub required
• Bright – equivalent to 75W bulb
• Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant

You don’t need a hub to control these lights, but it can make your life easier especially if you plan on getting more than one. Get an Amazon Echo Dot or take advantage of this huge sale on Samsung SmartThings devices that includes the hub.

TL;DR

• What makes this deal worth considering? – This is the lowest price by far for the BR30 LIFX smart bulb. It has never gone below $45 before.
• Things to know before you buy! – You don’t need a hub to control these bulbs, but life is easier with one. Grab an Echo Dot so you can use your voice to turn them on and off.

See at Amazon

Happy Thrifting!

Bowers & Wilkins PX wireless headphones review: Essential sounds

A great, forward-thinking set of over-ear headphones.

You’re probably familiar with headphones by companies that command the most attention: Bose Sennheiser, Sony and others. They’re popular because they’re great products, but also because they have great marketing departments.

Other deserving headphones fall under the radar. Enter the Bowers & Wilkins PX.

Most important: they sound amazing.

They are a pair of over-ear, closed back wireless headphones with aptX HD that can charge, update and carry audio through a USB-C port. They feature different levels of noise cancellation, including a mode that can pipe in surrounding noise. Most importantly, they sound fantastic.

See at Amazon

I’ve been wearing and listening to the Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones for the past two weeks. On most days, I had the headphones on for at least eight hours per day taking helpdesk calls at my day job and listening to music and podcasts. All the music I listen to consists of MP3s originally purchased from iTunes, Google Play or Amazon. I also listened to those same music files from my home computer with audio routed through a Dragonfly Black USB DAC. For mobile use, I listened to music through my OnePlus 3T running Open Beta 15, which features the aptX HD codec.

In terms of sheer song count, my music library primarily consists of Johnny Cash (older country), Rosanne Cash (pop/alternative country) and Lily and Madeleine (folk/pop), with a smattering of other rock, pop and country artists. This is an important note, because the way the headphones have been tuned will represent certain instruments and genres better than others.

I was able to hear details in my songs that I haven’t heard from any other pairs of headphones I’ve tried. For example, I just noticed background instruments in My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade” — a song I’ve been listening to regularly for the last 11 years — that I never picked up on other speakers or headphones. And this was while writing this review and responding to instant messages, where my attention isn’t solely focused on listening to music. My current benchmark for great sounding headphones is my pair of TMA-2 headphones configured with the S02 speaker module, and the PX headphones easily match that. More impressive, they match those headphones while streaming wirelessly.

Noise cancellation

Three noise cancellation modes can be accessed in the companion app, and that app is the only way to actually toggle between them. The three modes are “Office,” where surrounding noises will be piped into the headphones, “City” which blocks certain frequencies but amplifies others, and “Flight” which blocks everything.

I didn’t get a chance to test these headphones on an actual flight, but the “Flight” noise canceling mode was sufficient to drown out a crowded coffee shop concert. Flight mode does have a negative effect on the quality, but not so much that it takes away from the music’s overall fidelity.

The three noise cancellation modes are effective for most situations I found myself in.

The Office mode is fantastic. I use it every day to hear my coworkers over the sound of my music, and it works well enough that I haven’t had to remove my headphones while listening to a conversation. Listening to podcasts in that environment can be troubling, but that’s because my brain is trying to decipher two separate and unrelated conversations at once. Bowers & Wilkins estimates 22 hours of music listening while using any of the noise cancellation modes, and that lines up with my experience.

Build quality

These wireless headphones sound better than many wired headphones I’ve tried.

The controls and ports for the headphones all live on the right earcup. From top to bottom, there is the volume up button, play/pause, volume down, noise canceling, the 3.5mm-in port and the USB-C port. Holding down the play/pause button will activate Siri or Google Assistant, while double tapping that button will skip forward and triple tapping the button will skip backward.

I spent the previous six months using gesture controls on the Sony MDR-1000X headphones, and I was more than happy to move back to solid buttons. The buttons all feel solid with no wiggle, activate with just the right amount of force, and seem like they’ll hold up to the test of time. Speaking of holding up to the test of time, the earcups are held on with magnets and can be easily swapped out.

The headphones are mostly made of metal, with plastic used for the top of the headband and leather for the bottom of the headband and the ear cups. Vlad Savov of The Verge noted he had problems with the long-term comfort of the headphones, but they’re perfectly comfortable to me. I definitely get a case of headphone hair after wearing them for eight hours a day, but that happens with every pair of over-ear headphones I use.

Smart features

The PX headphones can pair with as many as eight devices, and will automatically switch the audio source depending on what’s playing music. For example, if I’m listening to music from my phone and decide to fire up my favorite YouTube channel on my Chromebook, my music will automatically pause on my phone and I will start hearing the audio from the YouTube video.

Only needing to bring one USB-C cable with you for charging is a huge plus.

Another great feature is that these headphones detect when they are sitting on your head. If not, music is automatically paused. Even moving an earcup off of your ear is enough to trigger this. Again, this feature is included on other high-end Bluetooth headphones, but the PX are the first set where this feature has consistently worked for me. The companion app lets you make this feature more or less sensitive if it isn’t working, but the default setting was sufficient. The feature can also be disabled entirely if you’d like.

Next on the list of things other headphones do but the PX does better: routing audio over the USB port. Because the PX’s use the newer USB-C standard, users can use the same cable that came with their phone for wired USB audio rather than needing to use an adapter. For those without a headphone jack, this is great way to avoid the #donglelife.

That may not sound like a huge deal, but as someone who hates any and all clutter it’s another huge win for these headphones. I tested the audio routing with my OnePlus 3T, a Samsung Chromebook Plus, a Google Pixelbook and Pixel 2 and my brother’s iPhone 7, and it worked every time.

Should you buy them? Definitely

I do have one minor complaint about these headphones, and one larger one. The minor complaint is that I wish the battery was easily removable so that a new one could be popped in a few years down the road.

The major complaint is that Bowers & Wilkins don’t include a hard case. The included soft case is nice, with a magnetic clasp and interior pouch for cables, but anyone taking these on vacation or a business trip would want more protection. And at $400, they should come with one.

Those complaints aside, these are fantastic headphones. The USB-C port means you’ll only need one charger for both phone and headphones, and being able to route audio through the USB port will better prepare those without a headphone jack on their phone. Automatically having my music pause when I take them off is a great convenience and, above all, they sound amazing.

At $400, they’re definitely at the higher end of what you’ll spend for headphones, but I feel they are well worth it.

See at Amazon

Vespa’s first electric scooter will arrive in 2018

Last year, Vespa announced that it was working on an electric scooter and today it has released some specs and an approximate availability date. The Vespa Elettrica is a silent, fully electric scooter with acceleration capabilities in line with those of traditional scooters, according to Vespa. It has a 62-mile range and can be fully charged in just four hours through a normal wall-mounted electrical outlet. The battery will reportedly last around 10 years, but will drop to 80 percent capacity after 1,000 charge cycles or so. The Elettrica comes in a chrome grey color, but buyers can choose between seven color options for the decorative trim.

Along with the Elettrica, Vespa is also releasing a hybrid version — the Elettrica X — which can be driven twice as far as the fully electric version on a single charge. The scooters are set to be available for sale sometime in 2018, but the exact date and pricing haven’t been announced just yet.

Via: The Verge

Source: Piaggio Group

T-Mobile can keep Nest Secure online if your WiFi fails

In September, Nest released its Secure alarm system, complete with motion and door sensors and an app that lets you manage the system from anywhere. But arming the alarm through your phone or receiving alerts that motion has been detected in your home requires the Nest system to be actively connected to WiFi. If your internet service goes down or your home network stops working, however, you won’t get those alerts or be able to access your system through Nest’s app. That’s why Nest has worked cellular backup into the Secure system and T-Mobile announced today that it’s the exclusive cellular provider for Nest Secure.

Through T-Mobile, you’ll be able to get the full Nest Secure pack, including the Nest Guard base, two Nest Detect door/window sensors and two Nest Tag key fobs that let you arm or disable the alarm system without having to mess with a passcode. It also comes with a Nest Cam Indoor security camera with intelligent alerts provided through Nest Aware. And, of course, it comes with cellular backup that will kick in whenever your WiFi becomes inaccessible.

The T-Mobile Nest plan costs $240 down and $10 per month (for 24 months) once a $5 monthly credit is applied. That credit is only available for a limited time, according to T-Mobile, and it’s unclear how long the deal will last. If you cancel your wireless service plan before the 24 months are up, though, you’ll have to pay the remaining balance. If you want to buy the setup without T-Mobile’s service, you can get it for $698, which is what it would cost through Nest.

The Nest security pack will be available in T-Mobile stores starting November 10th.

Source: T-Mobile (1), (2)

Minneapolis Said to Have Fastest Average LTE Speeds in United States

Minneapolis has the fastest average LTE speeds of all major cities in the United States, according to a recent study conducted by OpenSignal.

OpenSignal found that the average LTE download connection in Minneapolis was 21.5 Mbps, almost twice as fast as the 11.65 Mbps average it measured in Las Vegas, which was the slowest among the 35 cities it tracked.

Four out of the five fastest cities were in the Midwest region, with Minneapolis joined by Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis in the rankings.

OpenSignal said 29 of the 35 cities exceeded the national LTE download average of 13.98 Mbps. When compared to global speeds, though, only 14 cities had 4G speeds higher than the worldwide LTE download average of 16.6 Mbps.

OpenSignal collected its data from millions of smartphones with its app installed under conditions of normal usage.

Tag: OpenSignal
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Apple Developing Redesigned 2018 iPad With Face ID, Slimmer Bezels and No Home Button

Apple is working on a new high-end 2018 iPad that will adopt many of the design elements from the revamped iPhone X, reports Bloomberg. The new tablet device, which is likely to be a “Pro” model, will reportedly do away with the Home button.

It will feature slimmer edges, a faster processor, a custom Apple-built GPU, and built-in support for Face ID, allowing it to be unlocked with a facial scan much like the iPhone X. With Face ID, there’s no need for a Touch ID Home button.

By removing the home button, Apple plans to noticeably reduce the size of the edges on the top and bottom of the device for the first time since its introduction in 2010, bringing the design closer to that of the recently released flagship iPhone X. The new version will mark the first revamped look for the iPad since the first iPad Pro debuted in 2015.

While the new 2018 iPad is said to be adopting many iPhone X features, Bloomberg’s sources do not believe it will feature an OLED display. Instead, it will continue to use an LCD, likely because Apple suppliers are still working on ramping up OLED production. Samsung continues to be the only display maker capable of producing OLED displays suitable for an iPad, but technical and financial constraints will prevent Apple from adopting OLED at this time.

A new version of its Apple Pencil and new “software tools” for using the stylus are also said to be in development alongside the new iPad model.

According to Bloomberg, the revamped iPad is expected to be released “a little more than a year” after the prior iPad Pro update, suggesting it could see a launch sometime around September. Apple refreshed its iPad Pro lineup in June of 2017 at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Today’s rumor is in line with prior reports from reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who previously said he believes iPad Pro models set to be released in 2018 will come equipped with a TrueDepth Camera and support for Face ID.

Related Roundup: iPad ProTag: bloomberg.comBuyer’s Guide: 10.5″ iPad Pro (Caution), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Neutral)
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