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Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are changing how we interact with the world by doing it for us

Apr12
by on April 12, 2019 at 12:11 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication


Innovation shapes our daily experiences, offering us the chance to seize the convenience offered by modern technology. Since the advent of smart speakers and voice-enabled digital assistants, voice-user interface (VUI) technology has experienced an explosion in popularity among consumers and developers alike. VUI grants us convenience—and in our fast-paced modern world, the time saved by VUI is a valuable benefit. A look at online shopping hints at the potential of VUI. E-commerce accounts for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales every year. In 2018, voice search accounted for more than a billion searches every month. A survey of more than 1,500 online…

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How to stop people from adding you to WhatsApp groups

Apr12
by on April 12, 2019 at 10:20 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web


Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff. A few weeks ago WhatsApp announced a feature that lets you stop others from adding you to group conversations without your consent. The feature is now rolling out globally on both iOS and Android. FINALLY. Here’s how you can enable it: Open WhatsApp on your phone, and go to Settings > Accounts > Privacy. Tap on Groups, and select the option that suits you best. The first one will prompt the user adding you to first…

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Ancient whales had four legs, and split their time between land and sea

Apr12
by on April 12, 2019 at 9:05 am
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication, world


Whales belong in the ocean, right? That may be true today, but cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises) actually descended from four legged mammals that once lived on land. New research published in Current Biology reports the discovery in Peru of an entirely new species of ancestral whale that straddled land and sea, providing insight into the weird evolutionary journey of our mammalian friends. We might think of them as smooth, two-flippered ocean swimmers that struggle to even survive the Thames, but whales originated more than 50m years ago from artiodactyls – land-dwelling, hooved mammals. Initially, whales’ ancestors resembled small deer, with…

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Facebook may soon let you chat with friends on mobile without Messenger

Apr12
by on April 12, 2019 at 7:48 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web


Five years ago, Facebook began encouraging users to use its standalone Messenger app to chat with their contacts, instead of using the built-in feature in the social network’s mobile apps. It appears that it’s now looking to bring messaging back to the primary Facebook app experience – which indicates a change in strategy for keeping users engaged on the platform App researcher Jane Manchun Wong tweeted a screenshot of a Facebook feature in the works, which shows a new tab for messaging people right within the social network’s app. Currently, the chat button – on the Facebook app and mobile…

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