Google on Thursday said it’s unveiling a new feature for its Assistant software that lets people send reminders to friends and family on their phones or Google Home devices. Here’s how the update, called “assignable reminders,” works: You can trigger the Google Assistant, the search giant’s rival to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, by saying …
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Microsoft says humans could be listening to your Skype calls
Microsoft has revealed that humans could be listening to “short snippets” of voice conversations on its audio services like Skype and virtual assistant Cortana, Motherboard reported Wednesday. Microsoft confirmed the report saying the disclosure came in an update to its privacy statement. The news comes a week after Motherboard reported that Microsoft contractors listen to recordings of some Skype conversations and …
Read More »Avengers: Endgame and five more Marvel films now available on 4K Blu
The humble Blu-ray disc hasn’t been Thanos’d yet. Avengers: Endgame, the biggest movie in the world, hit stores today on Blu-ray, UHD 4K and DVD, joined by a handful of older Marvel films. Avengers: Endgame is now available at most outlets for $22.99 (1080p), $29.99 (UHD 4K Blu-ray). Best Buy has an exclusive SteelBook version for $34.99 — basically, a fancy case …
Read More »Huge Apple Watch sale at Walmart, including the Series 3 GPS and Cellular for $229 (Update: Expired)
Think you missed your chance to score Prime Day-level Apple Watch deals? Think again. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Walmart has the Apple Watch Series 3 GPS and Cellular 42mm in black for $259 shipped — a full $160 off the current Apple price and the lowest I can recall seeing. Note that CNET may get a share …
Read More »Facebook paid contractors to transcribe Messenger calls
Facebook last week halted a program in which it was paying third-party contractors to listen to and transcribe audio clips from its users, the company said Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported on the existence of the program and the fact it had been stopped. The contractors had no knowledge of where the audio was being recorded or how it …
Read More »Calling all cord
Cord-cutting is more popular than ever, but one of the big challenges is how to retain local channels. Sure, you can connect an antenna for over-the-air (OTA) viewing, but how can you pause playback and/or record those channels — without paying added monthly fees (which was the whole point of cutting the cord)? One popular solution: Amazon’s Fire TV Recast. …
Read More »Emmys 2019: How to watch every nominated show without cable
The 71st Emmys will air Sept. 22 on Fox, which gives you plenty of time to binge the Emmy-nominated shows you have yet to see. Pretty much every single one is available online, no cable subscription required. You’ll need an assortment of streaming subscriptions to catch them all, and that’s where we come in. If you are keeping score by …
Read More »The best GoPro alternative won’t break the bank
GoPro makes some of the best action cameras, especially its flagship Hero10 Black. It has excellent image quality and supersmooth stabilization and the whole thing is waterproof without a case. But all those features don’t come cheap — the Hero 10 Black costs around $449. If you can’t quite stretch the budget to get the best GoPro, you can get a …
Read More »White House meets with social media giants on predicting mass shootings
The White House met with tech giants Friday to discuss how tools might be developed to scan social media posts and predict mass shootings, according to a report by The Washington Post. The meeting, which followed two such shootings last weekend that have left 31 people dead, included Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, all of which were asked to …
Read More »The best MacBook deals right now
For a long time, Apple laptops were expensive, premium products that were rarely discounted. You might find a modest deal on an older model or a retailer might sweeten a sale with a gift card. But that’s changing — we’re seeing significant, sustained price breaks on an almost daily basis. Some of those lower prices come from back-to-school discounts — …
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