Apple acquires AI startup Voysis in a bid to improve Siri

Apple's voice assistant, Siri often falls short in functionality and natural language processing capabilities when compared to the Google Assistant. In a bid to improve Siri's shortcomings, Apple has decided to acquire Voysis, which is a company that has developed an AI based platform for digital voice assistants to understand natural language. Voysis is a company that is based in Ireland and until now, has been working on improving voice assistants for online shopping apps. The company developed its platform an on AI-based method called Wavenets, which was first by Google's DeepMind back in 2016. It allowed the program to work on a really small amount of memory once it was trained, as little as 25MB. Although Apple has not stated clearly their intentions for buying Voysis, it wouldn't be a stretch to guess that they want to use Voysis's research to improve Siri's natural language processing capabilities. Apple has steadily buying small startups to improve and integrate more functionality into their services. Recently, Apple bought Dark Sky, a hyper local weather app, for an undisclosed amount to improve its own Weather app in iOS. Source

Xiaomi starts rolling out PatchWall 3.0 with enhanced UI, dedicated sports channel, new content partners to Mi TVs in India

Xiaomi today announced the roll out of PatchWall 3.0, the latest version of Mi TV’s UI. This will offer deeper integration with Disney+ Hotstar and addition of new content partners, Mi List along with other UI enhancements. Cleaner animations, a new Mi Lanting Pro font, horizontal scrolling are some of the key features and improvements in PatchWall 3.0, said the company. Introducing the all-new #PatchWall3.0, the latest version of #MiTV’s intelligent content-first. New features: > Sports Page Powered by @DisneyPlusHS > Universal Search > All-New Design > Live News > Comprehensive Kids Channel > 20+ Content Partners > Smart Curation pic.twitter.com/2YVVRZtMFE — Mi TV India for #MiFans (@MiTVIndia) April 6, 2020 Mi TV PatchWall 3.0 features Xiaomi has partnered with Disney+ Hotstar to introduce a first-of-its-kind dedicated sports channel in PatchWall 3.0. The channel not only helps discover content with ease but also gives a one-click play option for various sports content. Content related to ongoing tournaments spanning across different sports such as Kabaddi, Tennis, Cricket and more can be streamed seamlessly on the channel. With the new addition of Docubay and Lattu Kids, Xiaomi's PatchWall 3.0 now has 20+ content partners, which will provide an eclectic mix of high quality content to the Mi TV users in India. Docubay ...

Airtel Home combines billing for Broadband, DTH and Postpaid services into one at a discounted price

Airtel has launched new Home Plan that lets you combine your existing Airtel postpaid, Airtel Broadband connection and Airtel DTH connection under one bill and get several benefits including discounts. If you have one postpaid connection, Broadband or DTH, you can combine them, but a postpaid connection is compulsory. It was rolled out way back in 2018 in Hyderabad as a beta. Airtel says that you can also combine existing Broadband, Postpaid and DTH connections, but you will have to migrate to the new plans. Airtel pre-paid connection can also be ported to Airtel postpaid to avail these plans. PLAN BB RENTAL DISCOUNT ON MONTHLY BB BILL PP RENTAL DISCOUNT ON MONTHLY PP BILL  ₹1899  ₹1399  ₹500  ₹897  ₹321  ₹1399  ₹1399  ₹466  ₹698  ₹232  ₹899 – –  ₹698  ₹149 Entertainment worth ₹2997  and Benefits Worth ₹3500 with Airtel Home plans Amazon Prime (1 YEAR) + Airtel Xstream APP + Zee5 One bill & one call center: All your queries will be answered by one Airtel representative Complimentary service visits: Zero visiting charges for 1 year from the date of installation of the Set top box Extended warranty on DTH box: Get an additional year warranty for your DTH box with Airtel Home Wi-Fi router at no extra cost: Enjoy amazing hardware like Wi-fi router for free with Airtel Home Airtel Xstream box ...

Google Phone app may get Flip to Silence gesture soon

With the launch of the Pixel 3, Google introduced a gesture of flipping the phone on to its screen to enter a 'Do Not Disturb (DND) mode. Now, with Google Phone 47 beta, they appear to be testing a more traditional use for the same gesture: silencing incoming calls. Along with this, Google is also testing a feature to answer a call with 1-way video. When initially released, the feature called "Flip to Shhh" to turn on DND mode was exclusive to the Pixel 3. However, Google introduced it more phones via Digital Wellbeing later on. In an APK teardown of the new Google Phone app, new text and a basic setting screen for the "Flip to silence" feature can be seen. It also seems to be linked to the "Flip to shhh" of Digital Wellbeing, indicating that Google may combine the two features somehow. Another feature that was spotted in the APK teardown was the ability to answer 1 way video calls. According to the code, the user will be able of answering a video call from the caller and user can respond via just audio. We can expect Google to add a feature to enable bi-directional video mid-way through the call ...

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z with low-latency, 20-hour battery life and Warp Charge surfaces

OnePlus is set to launch the OnePlus 8 Series in an online event on April 14th and the key specifications are already confirmed by the company. While we are just a week away from the official launch, the leaks haven't stopped yet and now a new leak suggests that OnePlus is said to launch the Bullets Wireless Z earphones soon and is said to come with major upgrades to previous Bullets wireless. OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z earphones is said to feature Warp Charge, the company's fast charging technology, and is said to offer up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge. Furthermore, a 10-minute charge is said to provide up to 10 hours of usage. It is also said to be IP55 certified for protection against dust and water. As it is a wireless product, the Bluetooth latency is said to be 110ms, which if true, is quite impressive. The Bullets Wireless Z from OnePlus is said to be a neckband styled product and not truly wireless earbuds. Previous leak suggested that the Bullets Wireless Z will come in Black, White, Green, and Blue color options. Hope we can expect the Bullets Wireless Z  alongside the OnePlus 8 Series on ...

iOS 14 code hints at home screen widget support and new wallpaper settings

Apple has been working on redesigning its wallpaper settings for its upcoming iOS 14 for quite a while now. In a supposed new leak, twitter user DongleBookPro has tweeted images of the new iOS wallpaper settings panel and its implementation. In iOS 14's code, as explained by 9to5Mac, default wallpapers appear to be separated by collections. Some of the available organisation include “Classic Stripes”, “Earth & Moon”, and “Flowers”. This will help users scroll through each collection to find their specific wallpaper instead of scrolling through the entire list. Another option that is available right below it is "Home Screen Appearance" which appears to let users choose a smart dynamic wallpaper that can be used for the home screen alone. The various options include flat colour, a blurry one and a dark version based on the current wallpaper. According to another code leak, Apple also seems to be working on a better implementation of Home Screen widgets. Currently, widgets are supported on iPadOS 13 when the user swipes right on the home screen. For iOS however, Apple might be working to have widgets in iOS 14 that can be moved around, instead of the pinned layout in iPadOS. This feature however, is still ...

Vivo V19 with 6.44-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, 48MP quad rear cameras, 32MP dual front cameras announced

Vivo launched the vivo V17 smartphone late last year in India with a Super AMOLED display, 32MP in-screen camera, and more. The successor to that smartphone i.e., vivo V19 was set to be announced last month but got delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis. After delays, vivo has now announced the vivo V19 smartphone with 48MP quad rear cameras, 32MP dual front camera, and more in Indonesia. Vivo V19 flaunts a 6.44-inch FULL HD+ Super AMOLED Ultra-O display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 SoC paired with 8GB of RAM with up to 256GB of internal storage which can be expanded with microSD. It features a glass sandwich design with "ergonomically-designed 3D curves". Coming to the optics, the vivo V19 sports quad-rear cameras which are a combination of 48MP (f/1.79 primary ) + 8MP (f/2.2 wide-angle) + 2MP (f/2.4 depth) + 2MP (f/2.4 macro) and the front-facing camera is a dual 32MP f/2.0 + 8MP f/2.2 shooter. This is the first vivo smartphone to sport dual punch-hole display. It packs Copper Tube Liquid Cooling for heat dissipation. Lastly, it runs on Funtouch OS 10 based on Android 10 and packs a 4500mAh ...

Infinix Note 7 and Note 7 Lite with Infinity-O display, quad rear cameras, 5000mAh battery announced

Earlier last month, Infinix launched the S5 Pro smartphone in India with a pop-up camera, triple rear cameras, and more. Following that, Infinix has now announced its new Note 7 and Note 7 Lite smartphones with a punch-hole display, quad rear cameras, and more. Infinix Note 7 flaunts a 6.95-inch HD+ Infinity-O LCD display with a resolution of 720 x 1640 pixels and is powered by the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC. It is paired with 6GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage and the storage can be expanded through microSD. It has a 'gem cut finish', sports a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and has support for Face Unlock. Coming to the optics, the Note 7 sports quad-rear cameras and are a combination of 48MP (primary) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (depth) + low-light video camera and the front-facing camera is a 16MP shooter. It runs on Android 10 and packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging through a micro USB port. Infinix Note 7 specifications 6.95-inch (1640 x 720 pixels) HD+ 20.5:9 Infinity-O display Octa-Core MediaTek Helio G70 12nm processor (Dual 2GHz Cortex-A75 + Hexa 1.7GHz 6x Cortex-A55 CPUs) with ARM Mali-G52 2EEMC2 GPU 6GB RAM with 128GB internal storage; ...

OPPO teases new audio product for April 7, could be wireless earbuds

OPPO introduced its Enco Free True Wireless Earbuds back in December in China, and it was launched in India last month. Now the company has announced that it will introduce a new audio product in China tomorrow, April 7th. The teaser just shows a circular device along with the launch date. This could be the OPPO Enco W31 wireless earbuds with intuitive touch controls in white, black and pink colors that was introduced in India at Rs. 4499 last month along with the Enco Free. The company also didn't share much info. Even though it was announced in India, sale for the earbuds got delayed due to the current situation. It was also introduced in Russia last week. However, the design of the Enco W31 charging case is slightly different, so it could be an entirely a different earbuds. Some rumors say that it could be a compact Bluetooth speakers with support for Breeno voice assistant. We should know all the details about this mystery audio product from OPPO when it goes official tomorrow. Source

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Buds ‘Bean’ true wireless earbuds surface

Samsung introduced Galaxy Buds+ (SM-R175) with improved sound, triple microphones, and up to 11 hours battery life in February along with the S20 series, but there was no change in the design compared to the first Galaxy Buds, but the company is now said to be gearing up to introduce  new Truly wireless earphones  codenamed "Bean" with the model number SM-R180, and the design resembles that of a bean. This will offer a more compact and will fit well inside the ear, thanks to 2.8cm (approx.) body. It should also offer improved ambient noise isolation, and is said to come with two small speaker units, one of which should provide treble and midrange or low tones. To get a better sound, the speakers seem to have an outside channel, similar to what you would find on a subwoofer. In addition, as usual, there are also several built-in microphones and use beam forming technology to offer much improved audio capture for calls. It will likely come with Ambient Sound feature, giving users to choose from four levels of background noise pass-through. These are also said to come with sensors which detect whether the earphones are in the ear or not. The development of the internal ...