Back to Blog
If you’ve been using Google Assistant to manage your notes and lists with help from third-party apps like AnyList or Bring, you’ll need a new workflow starting next month. Google Assistant will drop its integrations with “non-Google” notes and lists apps beginning June 20, according to a notice on a Google Assistant help page. After that date, those who want to use Google Assistant to create notes and lists via voice commands will have to settle for Google Keep, or–if they want to use AnyList, Bring, or another third-party app–switch their allegiance to a new voice assistant like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. In a blog post signed by AnyList founders Jeff Hunter and Jason Marr, the developers called Google’s decision to yank Google Assistant’s notes and lists integration with third-party apps “frustrating and disappointing.” “We are continuing to communicate with Google and hope to be able to support Google Assistant on Android devices again in the future, but we don’t have anything to announce at this time,” the AnyList developers wrote, adding that AnyList users who still wanted to use a voice assistant with the app should consider jumping to Alexa or Siri. Google Assistant has had a rocky history when it comes to integrating with notes and lists apps. Google’s voice assistant originally integrated with Google Keep for notes and lists before switching over to the bare-bones Google Express, later known as Google Shopping. In 2019, Google finally switched the Assistant’s native notes and lists app back to Google Keep. Even better, it rolled out a Google Assistant integration for third-party notes and lists apps, opening the door to the likes of AnyList, Bring, and Any.do. Now, just four years after rolling out its Google Assistant integration for third-party notes apps, Google is unceremoniously shelving it. While Google Keep is a powerful tool when it comes to creating and managing both notes and lists, it lacks some of the key features of third-party notes apps, such as AnyList’s database of recipes and meal-planning functionality. Google’s yanking of third-party app integration for notes and lists through Google Assistant comes on the heels of Google I/O earlier this month, where the Assistant was largely shoved aside in favor of Google’s AI-powered Bard. via TechHive https://ift.tt/Nd1RSfh
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog
Amazon is about to pay the piper, with the e-tailing giant agreeing to pay more than $30 million to settle a pair of U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaints over its handling of data from Alexa kid profiles as well as its sharing of Ring video recordings with third parties. In a pair of filings released Wednesday, Amazon has agreed to fork over $5.8 million to settle the FTC’s Ring complaints, while the Alexa settlement will cost Amazon a cool $25 million. As CNBC reports, the Alexa settlement concerns the FTC’s accusations that Amazon illegally gathered information from the Alexa profiles of children, including voice recordings and other data. The Ring settlement, meanwhile, calls for Ring to do a better job of disclosing to its users the information it shares with company employees and third-party contractors, according to Reuters. For its part, Amazon fired off a pair of responses to the twin FTC settlements, pledging that it had–in both cases–already implemented policies to protect customer privacy, while also denying that it broke the law. But while Amazon took issue with the FTC’s Alexa and Ring complaints, the company chose to settle, adding (in the case of the Alexa complaint) that “this settlement puts the matter behind us.” In its Alexa complaint, the FTC alleged that Amazon violated COPPA–the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act–by storing the data of children, including voice recordings, that had been gathered in Alexa profiles without proper consent. Amazon’s handling of the data of children would naturally be a cause for concern, particularly given kids versions of Amazon’s Echo Dot speakers and Echo Show smart displays. As part of the settlement, Amazon must wipe inactive child accounts, and it is forbidden from using any data collected from kids to tweak its algorithms, according to the CNBC report. Amazon pushed back in its response to the FTC’s Alexa complaints, saying that it “work[s] hard to protect children’s privacy” and that it has “built robust privacy protections into our childrens’ products and services.” Amazon also denied that it had violated COPPA, noting that it had “collaborated directly with the FTC” about the act before launching its Amazon Kids service on Alexa. In its second complaint, the FTC slammed Amazon-owned Ring for its “dangerously overbroad access and lax attitude toward privacy and security,” which allowed “employees and third-party contractors…to view, download, and transfer customers’ sensitive video data for their own purposes.” In a response to the settlement, Ring argued that it had “promptly” addressed such privacy issues prior to the FTC investigation. The Ring statement also claims the FTC “mischaracterizes our security practices” and “ignores the many protections we have in place for our customers.” Ring has long been dogged by criticism over its handling of user videos, including how it shared them with third-party contractors as well as law-enforcement officials. Those complaints came to a head in late 2019, as reports emerged of hackers managing to crack Ring’s security and spy (or even taunt) unsuspecting users, while the Electronic Frontier Foundation accused Ring of using third-party trackers in its Android app. Ring has also been criticized for handing over video footage to law enforcement, sometimes without a warrant. For its part, Ring says it has already taken steps to address the FTC’s concerns. In 2020, Ring began rolling out two-factor authentication to help prevent hackers from breaking into the accounts of Ring users. A year later, Ring began to implement end-to-end encryption, allowing users who enable the feature to ensure that they’re the only ones with access to their stored videos. Finally, Ring noted that it now has “strong policies and controls” that prevent its employees and third parties from viewing, accessing, or controlling Ring livestreams. via TechHive https://ift.tt/8KL6lDY
Back to Blog
After a decade of service, the first Chromecast is heading out to pasture, with Google quietly ending updates and support for its original streaming stick. Google announced the news on its Chromecast support page (as spotted by 9to5Google), which was last updated in late April:
Given the lack of future updates, those with the original Chromecast should probably consider upgrading to newer hardware, such as the Chromecast with Google TV 4K or the cheaper, 1080p-only Chromecast with Google TV HD. The original Chromecast received its last update (“bug fixes and improvements”) in November 2022, as 9to5Google notes. First unveiled back in 2013, the first Chromecast had an impressively long run. The only Chromecast model to arrive in a streaming-stick design, the original Chromecast plugged directly into a TV’s HDMI port, with a micro-USB port providing the power. Rather than an elaborate on-screen interface, the first Chromecast (along with several subsequent models) simply displayed a screensaver when it wasn’t actively streaming video. And instead of a remote control, you used your phone or tablet to control the video stream. The clever design made it easy to add Chromecast capabilities to any HDMI-equipped TV set, and it was mimicked by the Chromecast Audio, a dongle with a 3.5mm jack that lets you add Chromecast audio streaming to practically any speaker or audio system. (Discontinued in 2019, the Chromecast Audio has become something of a collector’s item.) Google abandoned the first Chromecast’s stick design with the second-gen version, which arrived in the now familiar puck shape. Following the third-generation Chromecast, Google finally released a model with a remote: 2020’s Chromecast with Google TV, which (as its name implies) also packed an on-screen interface. Despite all the revisions, the first Chromecast remains a remarkable device (I still have a working model in a box somewhere), and deserving of a curtain call before it heads off the stage. via TechHive https://ift.tt/Bgv250s
Back to Blog
At a glance
Expert's RatingPros
Cons
Our VerdictThe Amazon Echo Pop isn’t much smaller or cheaper than the Echo Dot, yet it sounds worse, does less, and feels cheap. Our advice: get a Dot instead. Let’s just cut to the chase: With its new Echo Pop, Amazon has delivered an Echo speaker that looks worse, sounds worse, and does less than the only slightly larger and more expensive Echo Dot. I’m not really sure what the thinking was behind Amazon’s latest Echo speaker, or who it’s supposed to be for. If the half-spherical device was significantly smaller than the Echo Dot, which the Pop replaces as the smaller and least-expensive Echo speaker, I’d be more forgiving. But the Echo Pop is almost precisely the same size as the Echo Dot, and at $39.99, its list price is only $10 less than that of the Dot. (We haven’t reviewed the latest Echo Dot, but we did review the fifth-generation Echo Dot with Clock, which is virtually identical save for its LED display and higher price tag.)
The Echo Pop also drops a couple of the Echo Dot’s key smart home sensors, while its flat audio performance makes the Echo Dot’s middling sonics sound much better in comparison. On the plus side, the Pop does come with Alexa and her usual bag of tricks, and besides supporting Amazon’s Sidewalk neighborhood networks and the new Matter smart home standard, the Pop doubles as an extender for Amazon’s Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers. But the Echo Dot does all those things too, and while it’s a tad deeper in size than the Echo Pop, it has a much more premium feel; the Pop, on the other hand, feels cheap. So, at the risk of sounding glib: the Echo Pop flops more than it pops. How big is the Amazon Echo Pop?Measuring 3.9 x 3.3 x 3.6 inches (WxDxH), the Amazon Echo Pop is roughly the same size as the Echo Dot. With its half-spherical design, the Echo Pop certainly looks somewhat smaller than the Echo Dot, but practically speaking, the Pop’s slice-in-half design only shaves about a half and inch of depth and a hair off the height. So yes, the Echo Pop is a tad smaller than the Dot, but it’s not that much smaller. On the other hand, the Echo Pop is considerably lighter than the Dot, with the speakers weighing in at 6.9 and 10.7 ounces respectively. Unfortunately, that loss in heft makes the Pop feel cheap compared to the weightier Dot. Making matters worse, the Pop is almost all plastic save for the flat, fabric-covered front, while the more handsome Dot has a more expansive fabric covering, giving it a more premium feel. Ben Patterson/Foundry Where is Alexa’s light ring on the Echo Pop?The Echo Pop actually doesn’t have an Alexa light ring, per se; rather, it has a thin Alexa indicator light that sits along the top edge of the speaker. Behind the Alexa light are a trio of buttons for volume up, volume down, and microphone mute. Eagle-eyed Echo Dot users will notice that the Pop lacks an Action button, which allows you to (among other things) silence alarms and put the speaker in setup mode. For the Echo Pop, the typical function for the Action button–snoozing alarms–can be performed by simply tapping the top of the device. On the back of the Echo Pop is a port for the roughly five-foot charging cable, which terminates in a (typically, for Echo speakers) chunky wall wart. There’s no 3.5mm audio-out jack on the back of the Pop–not a huge surprise, given that the fifth-generation Echo Dot jettisoned the auxiliary audio jack, too. But while you can’t connect a secondary speaker to the Echo Pop using a wire, you can still do so via Bluetooth. How do you set up the Echo Pop?Getting the Echo Pop up and running is a snap for those who already own other Echo speakers. You simply plug in the Echo Pop, wait a few minutes until Alexa says the speaker is ready for setup, and fire up the Alexa app; within a few seconds, a prompt to pair the Echo Pop should appear. If you’re new to the Echo scene or Alexa as a whole, you’ll need to download the Alexa app and (if you haven’t already) register for an Amazon account. You’ll also be prompted to enter the credentials for your home Wi-Fi router, although once that step is done, you won’t need to repeat it for adding future Echo speakers. Can the Amazon Echo Pop control smart home devices?With the help of Alexa, the Echo Pop can take charge of your compatible smart home devices via voice commands, and the pool of supported smart devices just got wider thanks to Matter, the new standard that promises to (eventually) unite the big smart home ecosystems, including Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. Like the Echo Dot and most other current Echo speakers, the Echo Pop acts as a Matter controller, allowing it to connect other Matter devices in your home together. The Pop can’t connect Matter devices to the internet, however; for that, you’ll need a Thread border router, such as an Amazon Echo speaker; an Apple HomePod, HomePod mini, or third-gen Apple TV 4K; or a Google Nest Hub Max, second-gen Nest Hub, or a Nest Wifi Pro. The Echo Pop also works with Sidewalk, Amazon’s budding neighborhood network that allows multiple Ring, Echo, and other compatible devices to work together, creating a low-power, long-range network large enough to cover an entire neighborhood. With help from a Sidewalk network (and many U.S. neighborhoods are already blanketed by Sidewalk coverage), users can install (for example) compatible motion sensors, smart lights, and other devices outside of their homes without worrying that they will be out of Wi-Fi range. The benefits of Sidewalk are still more theoretical than practical, however, and you can turn off the Echo Pop’s Sidewalk functionality if you’d rather. Even if you don’t take advantage of the Echo Pop’s Matter or Sidewalk support, you can still take charge of more than 100,000 smart home devices with Alexa, either via voice commands or Alexa routines. For more details on how the Echo Pop can control your smart home devices, check out our review of the fifth-generation Echo Dot with Clock. Ben Patterson/Foundry Can the Echo Pop act as an Amazon Eero extender?Amazon recently added the ability for most of its current Echo line to double as range extenders for its Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers, and the Echo Pop is no exception. Each Echo Pop will add up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your Eero mesh setup, a nice bonus given the Pop’s bargain price. Does the Echo Pop let you chat with Alexa?As with other Echo speakers, the Echo Pop lets you speak with Alexa. You can ask Alexa a broad range of questions, anything from “Alexa, what’s the weather?” to “Alexa, do I have any appointments today?” You can also set Alexa to listen to suspicious sounds, such as breaking glass or smoke alarm sirens (via the free Alexa Guard feature, or you can upgrade to the paid Alexa Guard Plus), set alarms or timers, or even shop on Amazon (you can set a PIN to keep your kids from going on Amazon shopping sprees). Can you make phone calls with the Amazon Echo Pop?Alexa offers most of the same communication features on the Echo Pop that are available on other Echo speakers. For example, you can ask Alexa to “drop in” on an Echo device in another room, allowing you to hear what’s going on in that room or speak to anyone nearby (Alexa will warn you if someone is dropping in from another Echo speaker). You can also ask Alexa to make an announcement (like “Dinner time!”) on all the other Echo devices in your home. Besides communication with other Echo devices, Alexa on the Echo Pop can make free phone calls to landlines in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (free Alexa calls are limited to 10 contacts at a time, unfortunately). You can also link Alexa to your AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon cellular account, allowing Alexa to place and answer calls using your mobile number. Can you play music on the Amazon Echo Pop?Like other Echo speakers, the Echo Pop can double as a jukebox with help from Alexa. Using the Alexa app, you can sign into your favorite music streaming service, including Amazon Music, Apple Music and Podcasts, Spotify (including Spotify Connect functionality), Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, and TuneIn; missing from the list is Qobuz and YouTube Music. With your music streaming account linked, you can ask Alexa on the Echo Pop to play a track, an album, an artist, or a genre (“Alexa, play Taylor Swift” or “Alexa, play classic rock”). Another option is to add music playback as an action in an Alexa routine; for example, you could make Alexa play “Happy” during your morning wake-up routines. What’s missing from the Echo Pop?“Just like other Echo speakers” has been something of a refrain in my review of the Echo Pop, but there are a couple of key Echo features that the Pop decidedly doesn’t support. For example, the Echo Pop lacks the built-in motion sensor found in the latest (and, again, only slightly pricier) Echo Dot, and it’s also missing the Dot’s temperature sensor. Both of those sensors can be used to trigger Alexa routines, such as turning on the lights when someone enters the room or spinning up a fan when the temperature hits a certain level. Also missing from the Echo Pop is a Zigbee smart home hub that would allow the speaker to directly control Zigbee devices–although, to be fair, the Dot doesn’t have a Zigbee radio either. For an Echo device with a Zigbee hub, you’ll need to pony up for an Echo ($99.99), Echo Studio ($199.99), or an Echo Show 10 ($249.99). How does the Echo Pop sound?On paper, you might think the Echo Pop and its 1.95-inch driver has the sonic edge over the Echo Dot and its smaller 1.75-inch driver. The reality, however, is that the Echo Pop’s audio pales compared to the Echo Dot’s–and that’s saying something, given the Dot’s only so-so audio performance. Going back and forth between the two speakers, the Echo Pop sounded flat and tinny, with just a hint of bass response. The Echo Dot, in contrast, sounded deeper and fuller, with better high-end detail. Granted, the Echo Dot still sounds pretty meh to my ears, but at least its audio reproduction flirts with actual high fidelity. The Echo Pop, on the other hand, sounds like a cheap Bluetooth speaker, good for hearing your tunes rather truly enjoying them. Is the Amazon Echo Pop worth the cash?If the Amazon Echo Pop arrived with a $25 price tag, making it half the list price of the Echo Dot, then sure, it might be worth it. Heck, even a $30 price would make the Pop seem more appealing. But at $40, the Echo Pop is only $10 less than the sturdier, better sounding, more capable, and only slightly larger Echo Dot. Save for a price cut, the Echo Pop gets a hard “no” from us. via TechHive https://ift.tt/LdmqZoj
Back to Blog
At a glance
Expert's RatingPros
Cons
Our VerdictBluesound has played no small role in creating the market for hi-res streaming, and the Node X is a fitting way celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary. Price When Reviewed$749.00 Best Prices Today: Bluesound Node X
Retailer
Price
$749.00
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
In the decade since the Canadian audio company Bluesound first launched its Node wireless streamer, audiophiles have embraced the idea of high-resolution streaming audio. The new Node X, released in a limited edition to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary, is Bluesound’s best streamer yet. Think of the Node series as a Swiss Army Knife for all kinds of wireless playback. It can play your own music files from a local server (including Roon servers), stream music from subscription music services, tune in to internet radio stations, act as a Bluetooth receiver for a home audio system, and integrate with powered speakers (including Bluesound’s own). It can also operate with other BluOS devices as a multi-room audio system. What’s different about the Node X? Bluesound has given it a new silver finish, upgraded its DAC and internal headphone amp, and included a 1/4-jack for headphone playback. Most of the new tech will probably eventually show up in later Node models, but that striking silver case is likely to be exclusive to the Node X. Very few users will take advantage of every Node X feature, but Bluesound has designed a device that can handle any wireless music option you’re using now, and it will adapt if you want to change things up later with new sources. James Barber/Foundry Is the Bluesound Node X a well-built audio device?The Bluesound Node X is a sleek rectangular box measuring 1.8 x 8.7 x 5.7 inches (HxWxD) and weighing around 3 pounds. It has a recessed black band around the middle, creating a reverse ice cream sandwich look. There’s a Bluesound logo on the front top half and a 1/4-inch headphone jack on the bottom half. The top surface of the Node X has a touchscreen with a proximity sensor, so it lights up when your hand approaches it. The volume control is an LED slider and there are LED touch controls for play/pause, next track, previous track, and five station or playlist preset buttons. The Node X could be an excellent desktop audio system when used with powered speakers. That setup would make it easy to use the built-in THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier with headphones. I used the Node X with a home audio setup and controlled it with either the BluOS app or the included RC1 remote. James Barber/Foundry The heart of the Node X is a new ESS 9028Q2M Sabre DAC that supports resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz, with support for MQA playback. That’s the biggest upgrade in this unit and it’s the same DAC used in the lauded Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M. The DAC is paired with a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A53 processor. There are multiple ways to input audio into the Node X, including HDMI eARC, Wi-Fi, gigabit ethernet, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth (with support for aptX HD), and USB Type A. Bluetooth is bi-directional, so you can stream music from an Android device to the unit or send a signal to a wireless headphone and listen without being tethered to the device. Using streaming services with the Node XThe Node X is the perfect partner for both Qobuz and Tidal. Listeners can take advantage of those service’s better-than-CD quality streams and control them via the excellent BluOS app for iOS and Android. I usually listen to Qobuz and Tidal with headphones and a DAC, since that’s been the best way to enjoy the immersive detail each service can offer with its high-resolution audio files. Listening to the 2023 remaster of Miles Davis’ 1960 album Workin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet via a 24-bit/96kHz stream via Qobuz, I was blown away by how much better it sounded than my CD copy. The silent parts are dead silent and the breaths that both Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane take have a presence I’ve never heard before. Would a mint LP copy from six decades ago sound better than this? I suppose it’s possible, but the Node X offers a listening experience that turntables or CD players in the same price range can’t begin to match. Other music services that can be controlled directly from the app include the Neil Young Archives, Spotify, Nugs.net, SiriusXM, TuneIn Radio, Deezer, Amazon Music, Napster, and iHeartRadio. James Barber/Foundry Unfortunately, Apple Music subscribers can’t get in on the hi-res action with this streamer. The Node X sounds great playing tunes from Apple Music via AirPlay 2, but the stream lacks the detail you’ll get from a Qobuz or Tidal stream because Apple limits output to CD quality on third-party devices. This is frustrating, since Apple Music playback sounds fantastic with headphones and a DAC. Spotify also sounds fine, but the Spotify Connect stream is still lossy. If Spotify ever delivers on its promise to deliver hi-res audio, the Node X will be able to handle any audio resolution that the streaming service might conceivably choose to use. The first streaming boxes touted their ability to stream radio stations over the internet, and the Node X continues that tradition. You can create station presets on the top of the unit and in the BluOS app and easily keep track of your favorite sources. Bandwidth costs broadcasters money, however, so you should realize that those radio streams usually come with a low bit rate. To be clear, the Node X is an outstanding option for any online streaming source you’d choose to use, and each one will sound as good as it possibly can. If your listening is limited to Spotify and internet radio, you just won’t be taking advantage of everything the Node X has to offer. Using the BluOS appJames Barber/Foundry The BluOS app makes it easy to add supported streaming services to the app and access your catalog from within the interface. None of those interfaces quite match what you’ll see with each service’s freestanding app, but Bluesound has designed the BluOS app to present a consistent interface that’s easy to use once you get up to speed with how it works. For anything that’s not accessible from within the app—such as Apple Music, the game streams offered by Major League Baseball, or radio stations that don’t stream via one of the supported radio apps—users can employ AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth to fill in those gaps. Android users should know that BluOS does not support Chromecast. Users looking for elaborate equalization tweaks may be disappointed, because only treble and bass levels can be adjusted in the Tone Control setting. There’s also an option to adjust crossover if you’re using an outboard subwoofer. The best features in the BluOS app are the My Playlists and My Favorites options. Each function aggregates your selections from your subscribed services, and the favorites include artists, albums, songs, playlists, and stations. Each list is broken down by service, making it easy to keep track of your favorites without remembering which service you saved them on. This is especially helpful with radio stations, as many of them are exclusive to iHeartRadio and don’t appear on TuneIn or vice versa. James Barber/Foundry The worst feature of the app is that it doesn’t display the streaming resolution of the original track beyond “CD” or “HR” for Qobuz. Users can always switch over to the Qobuz app for the details, but that’s a pain because the track you’re playing won’t be the first thing you see when you switch. Maybe it’s a restriction from the streaming services or perhaps it’s a limitation in how the app was coded, but a solution to this problem would be welcome. Those of us who pay extra for high-resolution streaming services want to see that level of detail. Should you buy the Bluesound Node X?The Node X is a dynamite upgrade to a home audio system for anyone looking to integrate modern streaming music into a setup that’s been playing vinyl, CD, and tapes. If you have an open input on your preamp or receiver, you’ll have access to a world of digital music via the internet and from files stored on your home network. If you haven’t already invested in a home audio system, you can connect the Node X to powered speakers and you’ll have a digital music streamer setup that can play any file or online source you might choose. You could later add a Bluesound Hub ($319) nearby and plug in a turntable, CD player, or any other legacy format with an RCA connection to the Hub and enjoy the benefits of whatever source you want. If you’re already enjoying high-resolution audio from a personal collection of audio files or via a streaming service like Qobuz or Tidal, the Node X is a great value proposition at this price. There are other wireless streaming DACs that feature more expensive conversion chips and front-panel displays, but those can cost two, three, or even five times as much as the Node X. Quite a few vinyl purists are starting to recognize that high-resolution digital audio can be a compelling addition to an audio system setup rather than a replacement for turntables, cartridges, and their beloved round slabs of PVC. The Node X and its companion BluOS app make streaming a compelling proposition for integrating both formats into your system. via TechHive https://ift.tt/e1dN8yA
Back to Blog
If you paid extra for the privilege of making Alexa sound like a celebrity, bad news: The option is going away, and it’s not clear if you’ll get your money back. As The Verge reports, notices have appeared on the Alexa celebrity voice pages for Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy, and Shaquille O’Neal warning that the voice skills are no longer available for purchase. What’s more, the notices say that those who did purchase the McCarthy and O’Neal voices will only be able to use them until September 30, while the option to use the Samuel L. Jackson voice expired back in April. Here’s the full text on the Alexa celebrity voice page for Melissa McCarthy:
It’s not clear if users who bought the celebrity voice skills will get refunds once the voices are pulled from Alexa. We’ve reached out to Amazon for more details. A secondary note on each Alexa celebrity voice page reads: “Please reach out to customer service if you have any questions about this update,” so it’s possible you could get a refund if you ask for one. Each Alexa celebrity voice costs $4.99, although Samuel L. Jackson’s voice initially cost just 99 cents. Alexa celebrity voices debuted back in 2019, starting with Jackson’s voice. At first, you had to say “Alexa, ask Samuel” to make Alexa answer queries using Samuel L. Jackson’s voice, but by 2020, you could simply say “Hey Samuel.” When using a celebrity voice, Alexa can tell jokes, tell you the weather, and acknowledge the performance of basic tasks (“OK’), among other things. Shopping, lists, reminders, and skills were not supported, however. Besides celebrity voices, Alexa finally added the option for a male voice in 2021. via TechHive https://ift.tt/yGEhqlC
Back to Blog
YouTube has announced pricing for NFL Sunday Ticket, but it doesn’t want you to wait until fall to sign up. Until June 6, YouTube is offering $100 off the first season of Sunday Ticket. That brings the first-year price to a still-steep $249 when bundled with YouTube TV, or an even-steeper $349 on a standalone basis through regular YouTube. Adding NFL RedZone to either plan costs an extra $40 for the season. Because Sunday Ticket only covers out-of-market games, YouTube’s bifurcated packages are likely to cause some confusion and heartache once football season starts. Before you jump in with the presale, pay close attention to what you’re paying for.
How does NFL Sunday Ticket work on YouTube?First, let’s clarify the difference between YouTube TV and plain old YouTube:
DirecTV will no longer sell Sunday Ticket in 2023, so these will be your only options for out-of-market NFL games for the next seven years. With that in mind, YouTube’s regular pricing for Sunday Ticket is as follows:
Signing up by June 6 will save you $100 on any of the above packages, but only for the first year. And if you go with YouTube Primetime Channels, Sunday Ticket will auto-renew at the regular price unless you cancel beforehand. (The best time to do so is right after signing up.) In both cases, the core NFL Sunday Ticket offering is the same: You’ll get live access to out-of-market games, along with a “multiview” feature for watching up to four games at a time. The difference with YouTube TV is that you’ll also get a full pay TV package to go with it. Meanwhile, the NFL RedZone add-on will provide whiparound coverage of early and late afternoon games. YouTube TV’s $11-per-month Sports Plus add-on also offers NFL RedZone without the need for Sunday Ticket, but no standalone RedZone option exists for YouTube Primetime Channels subscribers. Here’s a comparison chart to sum up YouTube’s Sunday Ticket options:
Does NFL Sunday Ticket include all NFL games?Once more, with feeling: NFL Sunday Ticket does not include local or nationally broadcast NFL games. With the NFL RedZone add-on, you might occasionally see local action through that channel’s whiparound coverage. Coverage is otherwise limited to out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons only. Jared Newman / Foundry That means if you subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket through regular YouTube, you’ll need to look elsewhere for local games, Sunday Night Football on NBC, Monday Night Football on ESPN, Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, and the entirety of the NFL playoffs. If your TV has an onboard tuner, you might consider buying an over-the-air antenna to bring in local TV broadcasts. Take a look at TechHive’s coverage of the best TV antennas. But by now, you should see the potential for chaos: With YouTube taking pre-orders, some folks will sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket on a standalone basis only to realize come football season that it doesn’t entitle them to complete NFL coverage. Conversely, YouTube TV’s version of NFL Sunday Ticket requires an active YouTube TV subscription to access. If you sign up this way, and then decide to try a different live TV service—or cancel your TV bundle entirely—you’ll lose access to the NFL Sunday Ticket subscription you already paid for. At that point, YouTube says you’ll need to contact customer service to switch over to the more expensive standalone package. Jared Newman / Foundry Hence the need for foresight when choosing one of these plans. Bundling NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV makes sense for those who are committed to the latter for at least the next nine months. If you want flexibility, it’ll cost you an extra $100. Why NFL is Sunday Ticket so expensive now?While YouTube’s Sunday Ticket price is a lot higher than the $294 that DirecTV charged, its reported $2-billion-per-year price tag for the rights is also $500 million more than what DirecTV paid in its final years. All this comes as the tech and streaming industries focus more on profits than growth, so the largesse you might’ve expected from a company like Google is no longer on display here. Whether it’ll pay off for Google is another matter. With NFL Sunday Ticket, Google is betting it can use bundle discounts to prop up its pay TV package. Even so, the trend in cord-cutting is away from these big bundles and toward cheaper streaming options. NFL Sunday Ticket was a boon for DirecTV in the satellite service’s early days, but it eventually became an albatross, costing corporate parent AT&T $800 million per year by one estimate. YouTube has indicated it will experiment more with pricing and packaging down the road, perhaps to avoid a similar fate. For now, its motivations look a lot like those of the TV provider it’s replacing. This story has been updated with additional information from YouTube, including DVR details and the ability to switch from YouTube TV to YouTube packages by contacting customer service. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more help navigating the post-cable world. via TechHive https://ift.tt/fBHWe2E
Back to Blog
Wyze Labs has a new, higher-end floodlight camera in its arsenal. The Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro pairs a 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels) security camera with a trio of LED dimmable floodlights that produce a maximum combined 3,000 lumens of brightness. The camera features a 180-degree field of view and detects motion using onboard AI that can be set to trigger the lights only in response to the movement of people or vehicles. When a person is detected in the camera’s field of view, the camera can play a recording that says “Hi, you are currently being recorded.” This deterrent will be repeated every 10 seconds, and it can be supplemented by a 105dB siren should an unwanted visitor not get the message.
Wyze says color night vision is possible even without turning on the floodlights, thanks to a starlight sensor inside the camera. Traditional black-and-white night vision can be enabled during moonless nights. A continuous-recording setting can capture footage 24/7, storing the material locally on a microSD card inserted into the camera (cards with up to 256GB of storage are supported, but one is not included). Wyze Labs The floodlight’s LEDs can be articulated independently, and an ambient light mode can be set to avoid making your yard look like a prison yard: You can set an ambient level of light—as low as 10 percent brightness—that switches to a higher level in response to motion. Dusk-to-dawn automation promises to switch the camera’s modes automatically once it’s installed. Users can create other automations as well, and the device can be integrated with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT. The floodlight camera sets up using Bluetooth LE and then transfers to your Wi-Fi network, with support for either 2.4- or 5GHz networks. You can program the camera to send you push notifications when it detects people, pets, and packages in its field of view. The Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro is priced at $149.98 with free shipping and is available in white starting today, May 30, 2023. A limited-availability black version of the floodlight will be available between June 27 and July 11, 2023. Wyze Labs is offering a $15-off coupon on the white version of the floodlight cam when you use the coupon BRIGHTERTHANEVER, plus $15 of Wyze Cash when the product ships. via TechHive https://ift.tt/ZnHjS4h
Back to Blog
At a glance
Expert's RatingPros
Cons
Our VerdictOrfeld’s V20 cordless vacuum offers an easy way to tackle dirt daily with minimal labor. Price When Reviewed219.99 Best Prices Today: Orfeld V20
Retailer
Price
$129.91
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Keeping your home’s floors free of dirt and dust often requires more than a weekly cleaning. But for most folks, the biggest impediment to more regular vacuuming is the vacuum itself. Who wants to hall out a heavy upright or a bulky canister vac multiple times every week? Cordless stick vacuums, with their lightness and easy maneuverability, make daily floor cleaning much less daunting. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, Orfeld’s low-priced V20 makes a great entry point. The Orfeld V20 boasts a max suction power of 22,000 Pa. It uses a 5-stage air filtration system that includes an H11 HEPA filter to capture 99.99 percent of dust as small as 0.1 microns and then expel purified air. It’s powered by a 2200 mAh Lithium battery that provides about 30 minutes of runtime during normal use and 15 minutes in max suction mode. Setup is limited to assembling the vacuum’s primary components: the body—which is composed of a handle core containing a 160W brushless motor and a separate 800ml dust container—a metal extension tube, and a motorized floor brush. A utility brush and crevice tool can be swapped in for the floor brush, and all three accessories can be attached directly to the V20’s body to convert it to a hand vacuum for cleaning furniture, curtains, and car interiors. The V20 also comes with a charging base that can be used in two ways. This plastic slab, which comes with the power adapter already installed, can be hung on a wall to charge the V20 while securely storing it. Alternatively, you can simply set the base on a table and charge the disassembled handle core unit between cleanings. The base also included slots to hold the vacuum’s accessories. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The vacuum is trigger activated and once you squeeze it, the V20 will keep running until you squeeze it a second time. A dedicated mode button on top of the body allows you to switch between normal and max suction. A three-segment LED adjacent to the mode button indicates the current battery level. I used the V20 to vacuum my downstairs level, where I have hard-surface floors and a pair of area rugs. The vacuum glided effortlessly over both surfaces with the help of rubber wheels on either side of the floor brush. It’s also easy to maneuver around chair and table legs and under couches and cabinet toe spaces, thanks to the floor brush’s ability to rotate 180 degrees and tilt 90 degrees. The floor brush has an integrated LED “headlight” to make it easier to see dirt and dust, but I found you need to dim the room light for it to be effective. The V20 comes with a hard roller for carpeting preinstalled in the floor brush, and a soft brush that’s to be installed for hard floors and tile. I found the soft brush worked pretty well for both types of flooring, though, and stuck with it for most of my cleaning to avoid needing to stop and swap rollers halfway through each job. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Normal suction mode was adequate for every type of hard flooring I tested the V20 on, but max suction was required to pull dirt and dust from my two area rugs. Given the vacuum’s short runtime at full power and the four hours needed to fully recharge the battery, that could present a problem when cleaning a larger room with wall-to-wall carpeting. To empty the V20 when you’re done cleaning, you simply detach the extension tube and hold the body over a trash can, press the dust container button to unlock it, and let the contents fall out. It’s recommended you wash the HEPA and mesh filters after each cleaning. These are easy to remove from the dustbin—the user manual provides step-by-step instructions—and can be cleaned with cold water and air dried. If your household includes kids and pets, the Orfeld V20 can be a great ally in keeping your floors tidy. Its light weight and flexibility make it an ideal tool for quickly tackling spills, eradicating cobwebs, and cleaning up the dirt, pet hair, and food crumbs that can accumulate during the day. Best of all, it eliminates the back-aching labor associated with most corded vacuums. via TechHive https://ift.tt/WwYum9I
Back to Blog
Some of us go for a run for our morning routine, others get the kids ready for school, and some of us just want to know if it will be smooth sailing during their rush-hour commute. The weather can throw a monkey wrench into any of those plans. Owning a personal weather station is one way to stay on top of mother nature. Yes, you can open an app, but the information there is from a remote station miles away and up to an hour old. With a home weather station, you get up-to-minute information on what she’s up to doing right outside your door. We’ve performed extensive evaluations on a number of home weather stations and picked our favorites. We’ll also discuss the features you should look for when shopping for one of these systems. Updated May 29, 2023 to add a link to our KestrelMet 6000 review, which is our new top pick in high-end weather stations. WeatherFlow Tempest — Best home weather station for most peoplePros
Cons
Price When Reviewed: $329
Best Prices Today: $329 at WeatherFlow$339.00 at Amazon
This home weather station packs a lot of value for the price and makes a great entry point for the amateur meteorologist. All its sensors–including temperature, humidity, wind, and rainfall–are integrated into a single housing. That makes this weather station supremely easy to set up, and it costs considerably less than other high-quality systems. Ambient Weather WS-5000Pros
Cons
Price When Reviewed: $299
Best Prices Today: $439.99 at Ambient Weather$449.99 at Amazon
KestrelMet 6000 — Best home weather station for hardcore enthusiastsPros
Cons
Price When Reviewed: $999.00
Best Prices Today: $999.00 at Kestrel Instruments$1,098.00 at Amazon
Its high price tag means the KestrelMet 6000 isn’t the right choice for casual weather observers, unless you just want a best-in-class system and don’t mind paying for it. Hardcore weather enthusiasts with deep pockets, on the other hand, should consider this to be the home weather station of choice. It’s loaded with features, it’s very accurate, and is super easy to set up. How we evaluate home weather stationsWe test weather stations over a period of at least one month to ensure we get the widest possible array of weather conditions to see how the station performs. We paid special attention to ease of use and installation, and also used nearby National Weather Service stations to judge accuracy. Weather conditions can vary dramatically in just a few miles, so with temperature we judged readings of within plus-or-minus two degrees, and all other measurements within a five percent tolerance of the NWS station as accurate. We also evaluated each system’s ability to connect to and influence smart home systems. Which platforms are supported? Can you use voice commands? Did it work as expected? Finally, we examined durability. With instruments being out in the elements 24/7, this is a very important factor to consider. What to look for when shopping for a home weather stationAt a minimum, a basic weather station should report temperature and humidity, inside and outside your home, and barometric pressure outside your home. A mid-priced station will measure wind speed and direction, as well as rainfall. A high-end model should deliver all of the above, plus other specialized measurements such as UV index, soil moisture, and water temperature (think your pool or a koi pond, for example). As with any product, spending more money doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’ll get a great product, but we’ve yet to find a cheap weather station deliver genuine value. The vast majority of the budget stations available at chain discount and hardware stores are inaccurate. While temperature is generally accurate to within a degree or so, humidity is poorly measured, and readings can be 10 to 15 percent off actual values. Mid-range and high-end weather stations are typically much better, and in my experience never more than about five-percent off most of the time. Wind and rain measurements are very useful, especially if you have activities affected by that type of weather. High-end stations are nice to have if you can afford them; they’re typically the most accurate, but unless you need specialty measurements—UV, soil moisture, and the like—don’t spend the money. Here are some other features you might want to look for in a weather station: Accuracy: By far the most important, accuracy is also the hardest to gauge. Here we’d recommend looking at the spec sheets and choosing stations with low margins of error. Additionally, look through user reviews (or ours) for real-world testing. Not all weather stations are built the same, and a high price doesn’t always mean high quality. Battery or solar power? Just about all weather stations these days operate wirelessly, so your instruments will run on either battery or solar power. Avoid stations that rely mostly or solely on solar power, as a few dreary days can prevent the instruments from have energy stored to do their job. Battery-operated or solar-assisted units are the best choice—you might need to change the batteries once a year. Internet connectivity: If your weather station can connect to the Internet, you’ll not only be able access it while you’re away, typically through an app or a special website, but you’ll also be able to share your data with the world via services such as Weather Underground. Meteorologists might need your data, especially if you’re in a place where their weather stations aren’t! Smart home support: Personal weather stations can make your smart home even smarter. If you already own a connected-home system, look for a weather station that’s compatible with your setup. Some stations now support automation services like IFTTT, so you can turn on your heater when the temperature gets too cold, or your A/C if it gets too hot. Others are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing you to ask for highly localized weather reports. Expandability: Your weather station might suit you fine now, but your needs could change later. Instead of going for all the bells and whistles up front, save some cash and buy mid-range product that can be expanded with new and different sensors down the road. That way, you’ll never outgrow it. Durability: The elements can be harsh, and your sensors will be in it 24/7. Inexpensive stations are constructed from low-grade plastic that will quickly deteriorate. Look for a well-built station, and stay from “all-in-one” units where all the sensors are in a single housing. The sensors represent the bulk of the cost, and if one fails, you’ll need to replace all of them—even if the others are working just fine. A word about sensor placementNow here’s where my meteorologist side comes out. Please, please, please choose carefully where you place your instruments. The temperature and humidity gauge should be placed in an shaded and grassy area about eye-level height off the ground (National Weather Service specifications say five feet), and out of direct rain or snowfall. Do not place it near or above concrete, macadam, or other potential heat radiators. This means your bedroom window, too: warm air escaping from your house will throw off its readings. For the rain gauge, the level you place it at isn’t as important. What is important is that it’s not placed too low, so that splash-back from the ground causes abnormally high readings, or near tall obstructions that might block rainfall in windy conditions. The NWS generally recommends you place the rain gauge as far from obstructions as they are high. That’s tough to do, so just put it in as clear of a spot as possible. The anemometer (the fancy name for the wind gauge) is the toughest instrument to place. Most people are surprised to find out that the wind speed readings you see on TV are taken at a height of 33 feet above the ground. That’s not practical for most of us, but try to get it 10 feet above any nearby obstructions if you can. You’ll also need a compass nearby: you’ll need it to point the wind vane in the right direction. The station’s setup instructions will tell you how to align it correctly. via TechHive https://ift.tt/U5THZNE |