Google Home adds Spanish speaking and listening capabilities
Speakers who habla Español can try out all sorts of new skills on the Google Home smart speaker series as of today, as the company officially announced that the device speaks and understands versions of Spanish tailored for markets in Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
August smart locks open new doors for Airbnb hosts and guests
Leaving a key for your Airbnb guest will soon be a practice of the past, as long as you have an August smart lock installed. The smart home company has announced a new partnership with Airbnb that promises to simplify rental access for hosts and guests alike. August will auto-generate passcodes.
Your Overstock purchases can now be installed by professionals from Porch
Thanks to the Porch Retail Service technology integration, Overstock buyers can now access experts for tasks ranging from furniture assembly to product installs. Porch will offer Overstock's customers access to a national network of more than 300,000 vetted home service professionals.
Get all your pods in one place with Google’s streamlined Podcasts app
Play Music no more! Google's long-awaited stand-alone podcast app, Google Podcasts, is here, and it's being constantly updated. With Google's sleek design, super-smart integration with Google Home, and millions of podcasts available at launch, there's nowhere better to listen to your favorite podcasts.
How close are we to living in ‘The Jetsons’? Checking in on our smart-home future
From video calling to robot maids, The Jetsons made many bold predictions of what daily life could be like in the year 2062. We took a look at the technology featured in the cartoon to see how close (or how far off) the cartoon was in predicting the technology of the future.
How to set up the Continued Conversation feature for Google Home
Tired of repeating "Hey Google," or "Ok, Google?" Google Home's Continued Conversation feature allows you to keep giving commands to Google after saying "OK, Google" only once. This makes talking to your device more conversational and less repetitive. Here's how to activate the feature.
Whole Foods perks are rolling out to all Amazon Prime members
Amazon Prime members are now eligible for discounts and special deals at Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S.. All Whole Foods Market 365 stores nationwide now have Prime savings. All Prime members will be privy to 10 percent off sale items, as well as "deep discounts on select popular products,” Amazon noted.
New AirPods, HomePod, and high-end headphones for 2019?
Is Apple making moves to bring upgraded high-end audio devices to life? Rumors suggest AirPods 2, a new HomePod, and new headphones could be released as early as 2019.
The Purple PowerBase adjustable bed frame lets you rest and work in comfort
While the idea of having a robot in the bedroom may seem odd, when that robot comes in the form of a powerful PowerBase for your bed, all that machination and automation really comes in handy. Meet the Purple PowerBase, a new fully adjustable bed frame that promises to give you uniquely customized comfort.
The NookDesk offers three levels of workspace and one-touch adjustments
Standing at your desk has never felt so roomy. That is, if that standing desk is of the NookDesk variety. The recently launched flagship product is a power-adjustable height desk with a triple-level workspace to ensure that even the busiest of desks never feel cluttered. It starts at $499.
Velociraptors and Alexa take over family game night with Jurassic World Revealed
Family game night is about to get a lot louder, and a lot more prehistoric. While you may have grown up playing cards and charades, the 21st century is bringing a bit more excitement to your friendly competition now that Universal Brand Development and Earplay have released Jurassic World Revealed.
Amazon Fresh or rotten? Customers complain of declining delivery quality
Amazon Fresh is being seen as anything but by some unhappy customers. Amazon Fresh is now being plagued by complaints of low-quality or rotten produce, incorrect orders, cancelled or delayed deliveries, and frequently missing items. In essence, it seems that Amazon Fresh is being seen as more trouble than it's worth.
The U.K. and Europe lose their fizz as a CO2 shortage rocks pubs, restaurants
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the gas that beer and soda manufacturers use to make drinks effervescent but a shortage of the vital gas resulting from a series of events is causing disruption in the markets for beer, fizzy sodas, meat, and prepared foods in the U.K. and Europe this summer.
How to play ‘Westworld: The Maze’ on your Amazon Alexa device
With season 2 of Westworld coming to a close, HBO launched its first full-scale Alexa voice skill called Westworld: The Maze. In this interactive game, you will be transported to Westworld, where you must answer questions and riddles to stay alive and get to the center of the maze.
From J.A.R.V.I.S to John Legend, here are our favorite A.I. assistants
From a wise and pragmatic Pontiac Trans Am to a trusted computer aboard the spacecraft Discovery One, the voices of artificial intelligence have solidified their place in pop culture. So, we decided to round up our favorites., concluding that giving a voice to technology subsequently brings it to life.
Alexa reportedly says, ‘Every time I close my eyes, all I see is people dying’
We'll take Amazon Alexa's creepy laugh any day over her latest bizarre antic. On Monday, an Amazon Echo device apparently made an unprompted and terrifying statement. The owner claims that the smart assistant suddenly activated herself and said, "Every time I close my eyes, all I see is people dying."
Amazon may have spilled the beans for Prime Day 2018
The cat's out of the bag, and it's all the owner's fault. On Thursday, online retail giant Amazon may have accidentally let slip when its perennially popular Amazon Prime Day would be in 2o18. Mark your calendars, friends, because as per the banner Amazon posted to its U.K. website, Prime Day will be July 16.
Landmark Supreme Court decision lets states force online stores to pay sales tax
The online marketplace now looks a lot more like its offline counterpart -- at least, when it comes to taxes. A contentious case has reached a rather contentious ruling in the Supreme Court today, and the highest court in the U.S. ruled that states can indeed collect sales taxes from ecommerce retailers.
Sick of sleepless nights? Bose wants to help with noise-masking earbuds
Bose has now presented a solution to the noise problem in the form of its "noise-masking sleepbuds." After first introducing these guys via an Indiegogo campaign late last year, these Sleepbuds are now widely available for everyone. You can buy them for $249 in the United States, and they're coming soon elsewhere.
Assistant’s Continued Conversation feature lets you drop all the ‘Hey, Googles’
We first learned that Google would be bringing a Continued Conversation feature to Assistant at Google I/O, when the tech giant unveiled a whole host of exciting new features. And now, Continued Conversation has been launched, and promises to make your interactions with Assistant more natural.
Robots and delivery services take over a kitchen-free future, reports says
UBS analysts suggested to investors this week that the traditional home kitchen might be permanently altered by meal-delivery services-, envisioning a future where meals made by robots are delivered by drones in lieu of a home-cooked meal.
Gourmia GPC400 Smart Pot Pressure Cooker review
When you’ve had a long day, a pressure cooker can be a huge help because you can just chuck a few ingredients in the machine and have dinner ready a little while later. In this Gourmia GPC400 review, we test a pressure cooker that could be the next Instant Pot.
August Home partners with Alexa, Assistant, and now, Alarm.com
August Home has partnered with Alarm.com, fully integrating its smart lock with security panels such as DSC, Interlogix, Nortek, and Qolsys. This functionality builds upon August's existing Google Assistant capabilities, as well as compatibility with Apple's HomeKit and Amazon Alexa.
Bamboo Music is a new Alexa Skill that makes learning music fun for the family
While there's no promise that Bamboo will turn your child into the next Chopin, there's still plenty of reason to teach your tot music from an early age, as research has shown that a music education also boosts learning and memory capabilities. And with the new Bamboo Music, learning music can be fun.
Amazon Prime Wardrobe lets you try on clothes before buying them
Amazon Prime Wardrobe is the latest benefit for being a Prime member. Users can try on and send back clothing at no cost. First announced in June 2017, Amazon Prime Wardrobe is the latest benefit for being a Prime member. Finally, as of June, all Prime members in the United States can try out the service.
GE adds a cubic foot with high-capacity French door refrigerator
Stressing large capacity and flexibility at low cost, GE Appliances' new French door refrigerator boasts 25.6 cubic feet of usable interior space. With the open shelving and an additional cubic foot, GE says the fridge can hold up to 50 more cans of soda than comparably priced models from leading brands.
TP-Link’s new Deco M9 Plus Mesh router is also a smart home hub
TP-Link's newest mesh router not only purports to provide fast internet connections to more than 100 devices throughout your home, but also serves as a smart home hub for all of your connected devices. Meet the Deco M9 Plus Mesh Wi-Fi System, the latest multitasker in your life. A one-pack costs $180.
Ecobee Switch+ review
Now you can ask Alexa to play music, on your wall switch. The Ecobee Switch+ controls not just your lights, but also your home, packing everything into a single device.
Pair your smart mattress with Eight Sleep’s A.I.-powered Sleep Coach
For something so important, it can really be quite hard to get. We're talking, of course, about a good night's sleep. Back in 2016, Eight Sleep launched the Smart Mattress to help us get some shut-eye, and now, two years later, it's back with an A.I.-powered personal sleep coach, available for both iOS and Android.
Google Home will stamp its passport in at least seven new countries this year
Google is slated to double the number of national markets in which the Google Home and Google Home Mini can be found this year. With the addition of Spain, Austria, and Ireland, the Google Assistant-enabled smart speakers are now available in 11 countries around the world.
How to give your Google Home multiple commands at once
Google has updated Home devices with the ability to perform not one, not two, but three commands at the same time. However, you need to phrase things just right for the process to work. We'll show you how to give your Google Home multiple commands at once.
Hola, Alexa! Amazon Echo is on its way to both Spain and Italy
Smart speakers are taking over the world one country at a time. The Amazon Echo will soon be made available in both Spain and Italy, and around the same time, Sonos and Bose will both offer up their own Alexa-enabled devices in those two markets as well. There's no word yet on exactly when it'll happen.
No doorman to receive your delivery? With Hub by Amazon, that is not a problem
Meet Hub by Amazon, a container that allows for the storage of packages so that they're not just strewn about a lobby, or worse yet, potentially stolen. Really, the Hubs look just like traditional Amazon lockers, but rather than being located in businesses, are located in apartment complexes.
Fix upcoming for Google Home, Chromecast bug that can tattle on your location
Your trusty Google Home speaker may not be all that trustworthy after all -- at least, not for now. Security researcher Craig Young from the firm Tripwire discovered a bug that allows both the Google Home and the Google Chromecast TV stick to share user location, which needless to say is less than ideal.