Tag Archives: google

9 tech tips I learned while traveling abroad

If you don’t do it often (or ever), traveling to another country can be challenging. Scary, even. During a recent trip to Italy, I found myself staring down the barrel of a language I couldn’t speak, read or understand. Thankfully, I had modern technology at my disposal, and that made the travel life infinitely easier. …

Read More »

TicWatch Pro tries to tackle smartwatch battery life with a second screen, and fails

The TicWatch Pro is a unique new Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) smartwatch that squeezes two screens into its face. It’s available now to Amazon Prime members for $250 (£220 or AU$370). The watch is from Mobvoi, a Chinese company focusing on AI that also makes budget smartwatches and smart speakers, such as the TicHome Mini. But wait: This isn’t a great …

Read More »

Google’s longtime AI boss is now in charge of Apple Siri

We don’t typically cover executive moves at CNET, but this one might pique your curiosity: Apple has poached Google’s former head of AI and search to help fix Apple’s Siri voice assistant. Technically, the poaching part happened three months ago, but on Tuesday the other shoe has dropped: As spotted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s Leadership page now lists Giannandrea as “Apple’s …

Read More »

Here are 5 ways Apple’s App Store changed how we use smartphones

Without Apple’s App Store, your iPhone may well have just stayed a phone. The App Store has been around so long, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always a core part of the iPhone concept. The store came a year after the introduction of original iPhone, arriving with the iPhone 3G. It debuted with 500 apps from developers like MLB …

Read More »

Phones and apps to replace your old Windows phone

Windows Phone is dead and it’s not coming back. Microsoft has long since pulled support for push notifications, and even Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates gave up his Windows phone in favor of an Android device. Once upon a time, Windows-based phones vied with BlackBerry, Palm and Nokia’s platforms to dominate the nascent smartphone world. But in the years following the 2007 introduction …

Read More »

Find your missing stuff with the Tile Mate tracker 4

I’m back! Hugs all around. If you’re wondering how I spent my summer vacation, I can sum it up thusly: gelato. Yes, I was lucky enough to visit Italy, including Rome, Florence and parts in between. Those parts included the most beautiful rolling countryside I’ve ever seen. Absolutely dazzling. And the food? Well, let’s just say there’s more of me …

Read More »

iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 Plus: Which iPhone is better?

If you’re in the market for a new, big-screen iPhone, deciding which to buy — and debating between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 Plus — you’re probably not alone. True, the iPhone X is the slightly “better” of the two on paper. It has a sharper, larger screen and a depth-sensing front-facing camera. But while it may be …

Read More »

How to set up a Fitbit family account

With Fitbit now selling a device specifically made for kids — the Fitbit Ace — privacy concerns are only natural. Creating a standard Fitbit account for your child and adding friends opens them up to the broader social aspects of Fitbit’s services, as well as random friend requests. Now playing: Watch this: Unboxing the Fitbit Versa 2:24 Enter Fitbit’s new Family …

Read More »

Google says no, Duplex AI won’t take over human call centers

Google Duplex is a technology that’s designed to work for people, not take their jobs — at least, according to Google. When Google unveiled Duplex at its I/O conference in May, it caused quite a stir. The technology is an expansion of its Google Assistant AI that is meant to sound much more human. Google says the main purpose of …

Read More »

These are the Galaxy S9’s six best features

After using the Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus almost every day for the last three months, it’s funny that the phones’ most enviable features — a fantastic OLED screen, great photos from the dual-aperture camera lens, elegantly curved sides — aren’t what I love most about Samsung’s top handsets for 2018. See, it’s the little things that connect a person …

Read More »