April, 2019

• 4 April

  Fitbit now lets you get motivated by your own Bitmoji face

  

  Face on your face? Sure, why not. I used to do that with the Pebble watch years ago. There’s now a Bitmjoji watch face for the Fitbit Versa and Fitbit Ionic, which does exactly what you think it does: Your little avatar can hop onto your watch. Fitbit says there are over 50 Bitmoji animations …

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• 4 April

  How to get free digital magazines from your library

  

  Public libraries are so awesome. (Thanks, Ben Franklin!) They let you borrow not only physical books, but also digital content like e-books, audiobooks and — surprise, surprise! — digital magazines. It’s true: Many libraries have partnered with RBdigital (formerly Zinio for Libraries) to offer electronic ‘zines you can check out and read on a variety of devices. I was already …

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• 4 April

  Amazon is making Alexa

  

  Amazon is reportedly gearing up to take on Apple’s AirPods.  The e-commerce giant is working on wireless earbuds with built-in access to Alexa, according to a Thursday report by Bloomberg. The earbuds, which would resemble AirPods and include similar features, could reportedly come as soon as the second half of this year. Amazon’s team is working to create better sound …

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• 4 April

  Google’s spam

  

  Google’s Call Screen technology, which helps determine who’s calling your phone and why, is coming to Motorola’s G7 and One lines. This marks the first time the feature will be available outside of Google’s own Pixel lineup. Call Screen answers incoming calls, asks the caller for information and then transcribes the response in real time. Designed to help users manage …

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• 4 April

  Apple envisions devices that can ‘smell’ blood sugar, toxic gases

  

  It’s common to test blood sugar by pricking a finger if you’re diabetic, but what if there was an easier way? Apple appears to be working on it. The US Patent and Trademark Office published two patent applications Thursday that suggest Apple is working on devices that could potentially smell the environment.  One application details the “systems and methods for environmental sensing.” …

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• 4 April

  Make Fortnite memes on the fly with Microsoft’s upgraded Windows 10 Game bar

  

  The Windows 10 Game bar is about to get a whole lot more useful.  The Game bar overlay, launched by pressing the Windows key plus G (Win+G), lets you do things like control volume, take screenshots, record gameplay and broadcast your gaming. Earlier in the year, Microsoft asked users for ways to improve the bar and now it’s starting to …

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• 4 April

  Huawei sets new goals to overtake Samsung and Apple

  

  Huawei has new goals for the company, namely world domination.  “[Huawei] has arrived at a brand new stage,” Huawei CEO Richard Yu said in a press release Wednesday. “Huawei and Honor are likely to become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer this year.” To achieve its top goal of becoming the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer, the Chinese smartphone giant has to come …

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• 4 April

  Deepfakes may ruin the world. And they can come for you, too

  

  Thinking about deepfakes tends to lead to philosophical head-scratchers. Here’s one: Should you worry about your face being grafted into hard-core pornography if deepfakes are bent on sabotaging global power? Deepfakes are video forgeries that make people appear to be doing or saying things they never did. Similar to the way Photoshop made doctoring images a breeze, deepfake software has …

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• 4 April

  AT&T’s 5G E network helps it take crown as fastest US carrier

  

  Maybe it really is evolving? AT&T’s wireless network was named the fastest in the US, it announced Wednesday, based on an analysis of speeds over the first quarter of 2019 by Ookla’s Speedtest. It noted that AT&T’s speeds improved by more than 15% during that period, while the other carriers plateaued. AT&T’s speeds jumped from 34.3 megabytes per second (MBPS) …

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• 4 April

  Snapchat unveils new games that let you play with friends

  

  Snapchat is leveling up on mobile games. The company on Thursday introduced new games to its platform during the Snap Partner Summit. Snap Games is launching with six games, rolling out worldwide Thursday. The games, which let you play with friends on Snapchat, include Bitmoji Party, Tiny Royale, Snake Squad, C.A.T.S. Drift Race, Zombie Rescue Squad and Alphabear Hustle, according …

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