Tech News - Home Automation

In the midst of all the leaks related to Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL regarding whether Google will embrace iPhone like notch or will have wireless charging, reports have surfaced that Google has even more news to showcase in its big hardware event “Made By Google” on October 9. According to a report from MySmartPrice, Google might launch a new device called "Google Home Hub" Smart Speaker sporting a 7-inch display with large squarish speakers in two variants Chalk white and Charcoal. Image source mysmartprice Google has been pretty successful with its smart home devices like Google Home series but after Amazon teased its smart home device with screen called 'Amazon Echo Show' Tech giant was keen to work on a product to compete with its rival. If the leaked news from "MySmartPrice" is to be believed, with Google Home Hub powered by Google assistant we can watch YouTube, HBO, and videos from other content providers. Additionally, the device will also display time, weather, daily commute information and other regular Google assistant features.  However, it will not have full-fledged Android OS. While the device comes power packed with the Google software but based on leaks, what seems to be missing from the device is the camera. It would have been perfect if the device sported a camera as well which could have been used for video calling as Google is aggressively marketing its video calling app Google Duo. The device will, however, feature  WiFi and Bluetooth. Image source: mysmartprice With the new device, Google might also introduce new features for the Google assistant. Though there is no confirmation from Google regarding the product yet but the timing makes perfect sense as Google's upcoming event on October 9th would be the perfect place to announce a Google Home Hub along with its much awaited Pixel smartphone series. Read full article on Mysmartprice. Author Bio Full time Linux Admin part time reader, always up for latest technology and a cup of tea, interested in Cloud services, Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Next-gen IoT war. Home Assistant: an open source Python home automation hub to rule all things smart. Cortana and Alexa become best friends: Microsoft and Amazon release a preview of this integration.

Yesterday, Google announced a series of consumer hardware products. This included two new variants of their flagship Pixel smartphones—Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Also launched was a high-performance tablet, the Pixel Slate and the Google Home Hub. Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL The new smartphones from Google, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come with artificial intelligence features. They can automatically answer calls, click powerful photos,  and provide an enhanced visual and audio experience while charging, powered by the Google Assistant. Source: Google Blog With an integration of Google Lens, Pixel 3, can scan and translate text, find similar styles of clothing, or identify popular plants and animals. It also supports Google’s Smart Compose which suggests phrases in emails to help them draft faster. Pixel 3’s on-device AI can also screen phone calls and avoid spam calls. This feature is first, starting out in English in the U.S. Pixel users in the U.S. will also get a taste of an experimental new Google Assistant feature, powered by Duplex technology. This feature will initially be available later this year in New York, Atlanta, Phoenix, and the San Francisco Bay Area and will roll out to other U.S. cities in the future. Pixel 3 also supports Digital Wellbeing, which is a suite of tools to help users limit the time they spent on their phones. Users can monitor the time spend time on phones and set time limits on specific apps. Digital Wellbeing also comes with a new Wind Down mode to transition display to a grayscale screen in the night. Google Pixel Slate The Google Pixel Slate is a new high-performance tablet in the likes of Google’s popular Pixelbook. Source: Google Blog This tablet is 7mm thin and weighs 1.6 lbs with rounded edges and curved 2.5D glass. It’s Molecular Display packs 293 pixels per inch for the sharpest picture. Pixel Slate includes 8MP cameras on both the rear and front and dual front-firing speakers. It comes with three months of YouTube TV subscription and up to 12 hours of battery life. It’s Pixel Imprint power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor. Pixel Slate is compatible with the Pixel Slate Keyboard, and the Pixelbook Pen. Pixel Slate starts at $599 with several configurations available. Pixel Slate Keyboard is $199, and Pixelbook Pen is $99. Google Home Hub Another addition to their Home series is the Google Home Hub. This home automation device has built-in Google Assistant to traverse Google’s products —Search, YouTube, Google Photos, Calendar, Maps and more. It’s 7” screen features a floating display to naturally fit on any surface. Purposely, Google didn’t put a camera for privacy. Other features include: An Ambient EQ light sensor which allows the screen to automatically adjust to match the lighting in the room. Connection with 10,000+ types of smart home devices from 1,000+ popular brands. With live albums, a new feature from Google Photos, users can view their recent photos even while Google Home Hub is not in use. Google Hub is available for $149 for pre-order from the Google Store. Google Home Hub will also be available by October 22 at Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and other retailers. In the light of their recent Google+ data breach, Google has also mentioned their guiding principle. Per their website, “We respect our users and put them first. We feel a deep responsibility to provide you with a helpful, personal Google experience, and that guides the work we do in three very specific ways: First, we want to provide you with an experience that is unique to you. Just like Google is organizing the world’s information, the combination of AI, software, and hardware can organize your information—and help out with the things you want to get done. The Google Assistant is the best expression of this, and it’s always available when, where, and however you need it. Second, we’re committed to the security of our users. We need to offer simple, powerful ways to safeguard your devices. We’ve integrated Titan™ Security, the system we built for Google, into our new mobile devices. Titan™ Security protects your most sensitive on-device data by securing your lock screen and strengthening disk encryption. Third, we want to make sure you’re in control of your digital wellbeing. From our research, 72 percent of our users are concerned about the amount of time people spend using tech. We take this very seriously and have developed new tools that make people’s lives easier and cut back on distractions.” Read more about the new products on Google Blog. Google announces new Artificial Intelligence features for Google Search on its 20th birthday. Google’s Stories to use artificial intelligence to create stories like Snapchat and Instagram. Google enhances Wear OS design, adds a Google Assistant feed and much more

Yesterday, Microsoft and Amazon announced a public preview of the integration of their intelligent digital assistants, Cortana and Alexa for US users. Both Cortana and Alexa allow each digital assistant to summon each other and access additional apps and services on their Windows 10 PCs and Harman Kardon Invoke speakers. This digital assistant integration was first announced on 30th August last year and was demonstrated at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwjnuhNVIY Why did Microsoft and Amazon collaborate Cortana and Alexa? "I want them to have access to as many of those A.I.s as possible", said Jeff Bezos in an interview with The New York times, while putting forth his vision for users to communicate with AIs as they do with their friends while asking them recommendations about a good restaurant or a famous hiking place nearby, and so on. He further stated, "The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas. Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience." Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft added,"Bringing Cortana's knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments, and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal". Cortana users can have another way of making their lives easier with a great shopping experience. For instance, if you’re at work but remember you have to get soft drinks for a dinner party in the evening and you’re using their Windows 10 PC, iPhone or Android phone, you can simply ask Alexa to order soft drinks using the preferred payment method for their Amazon account. “Alexa, open Cortana” “Hey Cortana, open Alexa” For trying out this exciting update for Alexa on Cortana, and vice versa, you can simply say “Hey Cortana, open Alexa” on a Windows 10 PC, or “Alexa, open Cortana” on an Echo device. https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1029722099789832200 As explained by Amazon in one of its recent posts, “The goal is to have two integrated digital assistants who can carry out tasks across different dimensions of daily life — at home or work, and on whatever device is most convenient. Currently, Cortana and Alexa can each be enabled as a skill on the other.” In Microsoft Office 365 users can simply ask Cortana to summon Alexa through a PC at work or can use Alexa to order groceries, adjust the thermostat before heading home for the day. Also before heading to work, one could enlist Cortana through an Echo device to preview a daily calendar, add an item to a to-do list or check for new emails while making breakfast in the kitchen. As a part of this latest public preview, users can freely offer their feedback on how they can help both the communities in improving the Alexa+Cortana experience. The feedback will be based on what the users like, what they did not, and what features they use the most. With customer feedback, the experience will keep getting better and more precise as more people use it and as changes are updated to the underlying algorithms. “Engineers will use feedback from the public preview to deepen the collaboration between Cortana and Alexa”, stated Jennifer Langston in Amazon’s official post. Read more about this collaboration in detail on the  Amazon blog and Microsoft blog. Amazon Alexa and AWS helping NASA improve their efficiency Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Next-gen IoT war Microsoft Azure’s new governance DApp: An enterprise blockchain without mining

Microsoft stepped up its tablet game by releasing the all-new Surface Go yesterday. The 10-inch Windows tablet looks exactly likes its expensive and popular counterpart, the Surface Pro device. Only smaller, less powerful and way cheaper, starting at $399. It includes features such as a 10-inch screen, front-facing camera with facial recognition, USB-C 3.1 port, and an integrated kickstand among others. Source: Microsoft Mechanics Let’s have a look at the features that make this tablet all the more alluring: Design Surface Go comes with a  built-in kickstand which includes unlimited positions. It has got corners that are slightly round as compared to the latest Surface Pro and a user familiar magnesium design surface. It weighs 1.15 lbs, making it a bit heavier as compared to the iPad but lighter than the Surface Pro. It consists of large bezels surrounding the screen which provides a place to hold the tablet. You get wider keyboard attachment with these bezels even though they make the tablet look quite dated when compared to the latest versions of the iPad. Display The Go has a smaller 3:2 aspect ratio display (1800 x 1200 pixel resolution). Its 3:2 touchscreen makes it easy for the users to use Go in landscape mode for more productivity. It also supports all the split-screen and multitasking modes that are available in Windows 10. Processor It comes with Intel’s Pentium Gold 4415Y processor with a RAM of either 4GB or 8GB. It provides storage of 64GB  eMMC or a 128GB SSD. Its processor is a dual-core seventh-generation model. According to Microsoft, this was chosen as it is able to provide the right balance between performance, battery life, and thermal properties which allows for a thin, fanless design. Battery Microsoft Surface Go has a USB-C 3.1 port which is Microsoft’s signature surface connector. This helps charge the tablet along with outputting video and data to external devices. Microsoft says the Surface Go tablet comes with up to nine hours of battery life. Additional Features Operating System: Go Tablet runs Windows 10 with S mode enabled. With Go, you can access only Edge browser and apps that are available in the Microsoft Store. Keyboard: The Surface Go consists of an additional keyboard cover which is available in four different colors, and can work with an optional Surface Pen. The Surface Go’s Type Cover provides “laptop-class typing” that comes with a scissor-key mechanism as well as 1 mm of key travel. The trackpad is much larger than the trackpad on the current Type Cover for the Surface Pro. If you add the keyboard, it will increase the price of the Go tablet to $99 or $129 ( depending on which color you choose) while the Pen adds another $99. There’s also a new $34.99 Surface Mobile Mouse. It is an ambidextrous, and two-button Bluetooth mouse which comes with a scroll wheel. It is available in colors like silver, red, and blue which matches the keyboard cover and pen. The new Surface Go is available for pre-order starting today and will start shipping in August. Leap Motion open sources its $100 augmented reality headset, North Star HTC Vive Focus 2.0 update promises long battery life, among other things for the VR headset

iRobot, the intelligent robot making company revealed its latest robot vacuum, the Roomba i7+ yesterday. It is a successor to the Roomba 980 which was launched in 2015. The i7+ has two key changes - it stores a map of your house and empties the trash itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPgxcETuqzI Weighing about 7.4lbs, the Roomba i7+ is designed to be easier to manage than the previous models. The new charging base houses a larger trash bin for automatic emptying. The stationary base automatically sucks the debris out of the Roomba into the bag. The base has the capacity to hold dirt of 30 cleanings. This would mean you’ll have to empty the bigger trash bag only once a month, depending on your cleaning needs. The i7+ works with two rubber brushes, one to loosen up the dirt and another to lift and collect it. The large bag in the base traps dust so that it can’t escape. It works on iAdapt® 3.0 Navigation with vSLAM® technology both of which are patented. They allow the robot to map its surroundings and clean sections of your home systematically. It creates visual landmarks to keep track of areas it has cleaned and areas pending to clean. Source: iRobot The i7+ too like the older models connect to the iRobot Home app and can sync with virtual assistants like Alexa to schedule cleanings. Like the previous 900 series, the i7+ too maps your house, the difference being that the newer model stores the map for automatic navigation later. You can use the app to differentiate and name different rooms and control the cleaning frequency. With an assistant, you can use voice commands to clean specific rooms. The i7+ will be available in stores from October. The price tag of $949 may not appeal to everyone, but if you want your house to be cleaned automatically, this is something to consider. There is also a lower- priced model, the i7 with a price tag of $699. This version does not have a self-cleaning base or mapping features, but it can be controlled by Wifi or an assistant. You can pre-order the latest Roomba i7+ from the iRobot website. Home Assistant: an open source Python home automation hub to rule all things smart How Rolls Royce is applying AI and robotics for smart engine maintenance 6 powerful microbots developed by researchers around the world

Microsoft’s tiny two-in-one tablet Surface Go is now shipping! Microsoft launched Surface Go last month, as the smaller, and cheaper version of its expensive counterpart, the Surface Pro device. Surface Pro is Microsoft’s response to the popular 2018 iPad and Chromebooks with features such as a 10-inch screen, front-facing camera with facial recognition, USB-C 3.1 port, and an integrated kickstand among others. Surface Go comes with Intel’s Pentium Gold 4415Y processor. Its processor is a dual-core seventh-generation model. According to Microsoft, this was chosen as it is able to provide the right balance between performance, battery life, and thermal properties which allows for a thin, fanless design. The device comes with a 10-inch display and weighs nearly 500g. The base model of the Surface Go is $399, the upgraded version, however, costs around $549 per model. Those prices don’t include the cost of the Surface keyboard, which comes for $100 extra for a basic model. You can also get the keyboard in $125 Alcantara Signature version. It also supports inking with the Surface Pen costing $99. There’s also a new $34.99 Surface Mobile Mouse. It is a two-button, ambidextrous, Bluetooth mouse which comes with a scroll wheel. It is available in colors like silver, red, and blue. For now Surface Pro is available to purchase online from the Microsoft Store in 25 countries only. Depending on the region the prices may vary. For the US, the price ranges between $399 and $599 depending on the RAM (4 or 8GB), storage (64 or 128GB), as well as the operating system (Windows 10 Home S-mode, or Windows 10 Pro). Microsoft launches Surface Go tablet at just $399 Microsoft launches a free version of its Teams app to take Slack head on Microsoft Edge introduces Web Authentication for passwordless web security