Google boosts Assistant, search and Maps to help you order food

Hungry? Google wants to help.  In a series of updates Thursday, the search giant is adding features to Google Assistant, Maps and its classic search to help you get your next meal.  Partnering with delivery services including DoorDash, Postmates, Delivery.com, Slice and ChowNow, Google is enabling users in the US to order directly from search, …

Read More »

Move over Google: LG brings Alexa to 2019 LG ThinQ AI TVs

Have a new LG but prefer Alexa to Google Assistant? You now have a choice.  LG announced Thursday that it has begun rolling out Amazon’s digital assistant to its 2019 line of ThinQ AI televisions. Those in North America will get the update this month, the company says, with European and Asia users getting it in “the weeks to come.”  …

Read More »

Best PC game deals from the Epic Games Store mega sale

Epic Games, known best for its Fortnite game, opened its online store for PC games this past December, competing directly with Steam, the leading storefront for computer games. By offering a larger percentage of sales to developers, Epic was able to secure multiple exclusive titles away from Steam. Then on Friday, the Epic Games Store had its first storewide sale, …

Read More »

Instagram will now let you upload landscape videos to IGTV

Instagram will now support landscape videos on its IGTV platform. The Facebook-owned photo app said Thursday that it’s adding the capability following requests from creators and viewers. Previously, IGTV only supported vertical videos. Viewers can now also watch landscape videos in full-screen by turning their phone sideways.  “We realize this is an evolution from where IGTV started — we believe …

Read More »

Apple sends out WWDC 2019 keynote invites to Mac and iOS developers

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. Apple on Wednesday sent WWDC invitations to members of the media for its annual keynote address at its Worldwide Developers Conference. The WWDC 2019 presentation will take place at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, June 3 at the McEnery Convention Center in San …

Read More »

Get a refurbished Apple HomePod for $194

As a general rule, Apple products and “Cheapskate” don’t belong in the same sentence. But obviously zillions of people love Apple gear, price be damned. Read more: Will HomeKit and HomePod get any attention at WWDC? I like Apple gear, too, but damned if I’m going to pay full retail for it. That’s why I always advise people to choose refurbished …

Read More »

These JBL wireless headphones double as a heart

It’s pretty widely accepted that keeping tabs on your heart is a smart move, whether it’s to keep you “in the zone” for maximum exercise benefits or make sure your resting heart rate isn’t too high or low. Lots of smartwatches and fitness bands can do this, of course, but did you know there are earphones with this capability as …

Read More »

Barnes & Noble debuts new larger Nook GlowLight Plus e

While Amazon may dominate the world of dedicated e-readers with its various Kindle models, lest anyone forget, Barnes & Noble still has a digital book business and now a new e-reader — the GlowLight Plus ($200) — ahead of the summer reading season. The distinguishing feature on this new Nook is its 7.8-inch high-resolution (300 pixels per inch) touch-screen display. …

Read More »

How to watch Diamondbacks baseball in 2019 without cable

The Arizona Diamondbacks have been mired in mediocrity recently. They have finished neither first nor last in the NL West the last four years, ending the season in second, third or fourth in their division. The club faces an uphill battle to take down the free-spending Dodgers this year, but the D-backs could linger around .500 long enough to make …

Read More »

Chip designer Arm ditches Huawei because of Trump ban

Chip designer Arm has become the latest company to cut ties with Huawei to comply with a Trump administration ban.  But Arm will keep supporting older products, and previously signed licenses likely make it possible for Huawei to build its own Arm-based chips for years to come. The Chinese company likely won’t see a huge impact unless the ban lasts …

Read More »

Motorola is profitable after years of struggles, says Lenovo

Motorola is… back?  As the rest of the smartphone industry grapples with declining sales, in its fourth-quarter earnings Lenovo revealed that its mobile business group — which houses Motorola — had a profitable year and its second straight profitable quarter.  While still nowhere near as strong as the company’s PC business, Lenovo says the mobile unit was “profitable starting from …

Read More »

Alphabet’s Toronto smart campus could open around late 2023

Google’s parent company Alphabet will reportedly open its first smart city buildings in Toronto as early as 2023. Google will eventually move into the Canadian smart campus, the report said. Dan Doctoroff, founder and CEO of Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs — which focuses on innovation in urban environments — told the Collision Conference in Canada of the timeline for the project, …

Read More »

We can now 3D

We’ve got 3D-printed plastics and 3D-printed metals. Now you can add 3D-printed diamond materials to the list. Sandvik, a Swedish company specializing in mining, materials science and metalworking, has developed a way to make diamond composite materials with the 3D-printing technology called additive manufacturing. The material can be formed into many custom shapes, but think of ultradurable drills, not exotic …

Read More »

Amazon is working on a wearable that can read your emotions, report says

Amazon is reportedly working on a health and wellness device that could figure out how you feel before you do.  The e-commerce giant detailed a voice-activated wearable device that can recognize human emotion, according to internal documents obtained by Bloomberg. The wrist-worn gadget reportedly pairs with a smartphone app and uses microphones to decipher your emotional state based on your …

Read More »

Senate passes bill to curb robocalls

The Senate voted Thursday in favor of bipartisan legislation to help stop annoying robocalls on your phone. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act passed 97-1 and had more than 80 co-sponsors. The bill, introduced by Sens. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, and Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, would improve enforcement policies, such as criminalizing …

Read More »