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Google I/O 2018 recap: We came, we saw, we’re sleepy
2018-05-10

Google provided all the context we’d need for the rest of the week with an almost overlooked announcement on Tuesday: it was renaming its “Google Research” division “Google AI.” The rest of the week came fast. Starting on Tuesday, at the keynote, journalists found themselves neck deep in news touting all the...

Seeing is believing: How AI could prevent blindness for 415 million people (right now)
2018-05-10

When you take a picture of a cat and Google’s algorithms place it in a folder called “pets,” with no direction from you, you’re seeing the benefit of image recognition AI. The exact same technology is used by doctors to diagnose diseases on a scale never before possible by humans. Diabetic retinopathy, caused...

In praise of Klout, now that it’s going away
2018-05-10

It never became a standard tool for measuring influence. But it was weirdly influential itself, if the jokes it inspired are any indication. Tragic news: Klout, the once-famous service that measured the influence of individuals on social media such as Twitter using a 1-100 benchmark called the Klout Score, will be...

“Bad With Money” Host Gaby Dunn Is Good With Financial Activism
2018-05-10

Comedian and author Gaby Dunn’s podcast dispenses financial advice for millennials, including tips for “dismantling the socioeconomic patriarchy.” The idea that it’s gauche to discuss money seems like a conspiracy invented by people who have money to prevent other people from getting any....

Instagram’s new “emoji slider” is a fresh take on polls
2018-05-10

“How much do you love pizza?” If you ask your friends that question using the poll sticker in Instagram’s stories feature, you can only give them two responses to choose from, which hardly captures the range of feelings they might have. Now Instagram is adding something called an emoji slider that...

Here’s the latest Senate dump of Russian Facebook and Instagram ads
2018-05-10

The Russian-bought ads targeted multiple political leanings, and were replete with odd messages and broken English. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have released a new trove of data containing thousands of Russian-bought political ads on Facebook and Instagram. According to NBC News, the troll farm...

Medium keeps killing off blogs in the name of saving the internet
2018-05-10

The next Ev Williams pivot has screwed over another round of scrappy media professionals. Yesterday I wrote about the weird breathless coverage that Twitter co-founder Ev Williams seems to get whenever he talks about Medium, his grand project to make online publishing sustainable. Williams will speak to anyone...

Automakers Talk Up An Electric Future, But Push Weaker Fuel Standards
2018-05-10

Car manufacturers say they believe in climate change and don’t want Trump to gut the Obama administration’s fuel efficiency rules. But the “flexibility” they’re asking for leaves them a lot of wiggle room to put the brakes on cleaner technology. “Climate change is...

Google Maps aims to dethrone Yelp with its latest update
2018-05-10

Google announced this week it’s overhauling Maps with multiple new features intended to turn the app into a one-stop shop for planning a night out. In borrowing features from apps like Yelp or Foursquare, Maps shows the potential to surpass both of them. For starters, Google is redoing the Explore tab. Currently,...

PSA: Saving passwords in public Trello boards is a really, really bad idea
2018-05-10

If you put something on a publicly-accessible webpage, you should assume that it can (and eventually will) be read by another person. By that, I mean don’t put things you’d want to keep secret — like passwords and API credentials — in places where someone might eventually find them. Sounds obvious, right?...

How to try Google’s 6 new Assistant voices now
2018-05-10

If you use Google Assistant a lot and have tired of the default voice that responds to your commands, you now have six more to choose from. The new ones, which benefit from the AI-powered WaveNet voice engine for more natural-sounding speech, are available in Assistant’s options – bringing the total to eight (John...

Google’s Duplex voice bot is clever, but I’m probably never going to use it
2018-05-10

Google’s Duplex tech, which sees an AI mimic a human voice to make phone calls for you and do things like book an appointment at a hair salon, drew a massive ovation at the company’s I/O 2018 conference. Google CEO Sundar Pichai noted that it was built to make it easier for people to connect with the 60 percent of...

Google Drive gets a new look to match Gmail’s redesign
2018-05-10

In case you haven’t heard, Gmail got a big redesign recently that’s in the process of rolling out. Now Google Drive is getting a look to match. The company today made a small announcement on its G Suite blog detailing the update. Here’s Google’s descriptions of the changes: The logo in the top left has been...

Exclusive: Upcoming Google Home Max update reduces latency by 93 percent. Here’s why that matters
2018-05-09

In February this year, we called Google Home Max the best smart speaker for the money, period. Our position hasn’t wavered. For around $400, the speaker is the best combination of elements in its price range. It lacks the audiophile-quality sound of Sonos, and the form factor of the HomePod, but for all intents and...

Google’s top AI scientists: We’re entering phase two
2018-05-09

Some of Google’s top scientists today discussed the future of artificial intelligence and the message was one of tempered expectations – something we hadn’t seen much of at the Google I/O event. The field of artificial intelligence exists in two states which, upon first glance, appear diametrically opposed. In...

Google Tour Creator brings VR content creation to the masses
2018-05-09

Earlier today Google announced perhaps the easiest way for “anyone with a story to tell” to do so in a rich, visual interface behind the lenses of their favorite VR viewer. Called ‘Tour Creator,’ Google’s newest virtual reality tool lets anyone produce professional-looking VR content without the associated...

Apple is removing apps that share your location data without consent
2018-05-09

Apple has recently started removing apps from the App Store for violating the Terms of Service — or, more specifically, the rule against sharing location data with third parties without the consent of the app users. According to 9to5Mac, several app developers have had their apps removed from the store, and are told...

TNW’s Big Spam: Can we sniff your meat?
2018-05-09

We’re still at Google’s I/O 2018 conference all week… Here’s all the jazzy stuff that’s happened so far. No newsletter tomorrow ),: Top trending (Google) tech news: 📷 Google Maps now uses the camera to figure out which direction you’re facing (TNW) 👍 iOS 11.4 will reportedly make it harder for...

Facebook’s passion for blockchain may actually help the technology thrive
2018-05-09

Facebook is exploring the possibility of leveraging blockchain technology for its platform. Recode reports that the social media giant has established a dozen-member-strong research and development team to explore the applications of this tech in its varied businesses. The team will be led by David Marcus, who was...

Walmart agrees to buy Flipkart, India’s largest online store
2018-05-09

Reuters reports that Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son has confirmed that Flipkart – India’s largest online store – will be acquired by Walmart. According to FactorDaily, the US-based retail giant is buying SoftBank’s one-fourth stake in Flipkart for between $4 billion and $4.5 billion. In...

Walmart reportedly agreed to buy Flipkart, India’s largest online store
2018-05-09

Reuters reports that Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son has confirmed that Flipkart – India’s largest online store – will be acquired by Walmart. According to FactorDaily, the US-based retail giant is buying SoftBank’s one-fourth stake in Flipkart for between $4 billion and $4.5 billion. In...

Walmart is buying Flipkart, India’s largest online store
2018-05-09

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son has confirmed that Flipkart – India’s largest online store – will be acquired by Walmart. According to FactorDaily, the US-based retail giant is buying SoftBank’s one-fourth stake in Flipkart for between $4 billion and $4.5 billion. In addition, it will grab...

Google’s upcoming app for guiding the blind sounds kinda brilliant
2018-05-09

Google has been working on improving its AI and computer vision for quite some time now, and it looks like they’re getting pretty darn good at identifying objects. The company is now building a clever Android app that takes advantage of these developments to help the visually impaired understand what’s around...

Android P’s Slices and Actions bring smart shortcuts to your fingertips
2018-05-09

Among many other features revealed during today’s I/O conference, Google announced Slices and Actions, new ways for users to interact with Android apps by predicting what they might want based on previous actions. They’re intended to give users more options with fewer taps and less app-hunting. Slices are...

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