If you've ever wanted to take Amazon's Alexa digital assistant for a spin but bulked at the though of dropping $180 on the company's Echo wireless speaker, now you can.
Originally started by Nexmo developer Sam Machin at a hackathon in 2015, a web-based Alexa simulator runs in any standards-compliant web browser.
The assistant wars are in full swing, with Google Assistant and Viv entering the fray and existing players such as Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Hound and Google's Now all stepping up fight for consumers' hearts and minds.
Apple's rumored Amazon Echo competitor, which VentureBeat believes is a next-gen Apple TV, could blow all the assistants out of the water when it comes to deciphering complex natural language queries.
And powering it—VocalIQ, a sophisticate technology Apple acquired back in October 2015. Tech Insider provided an in-depth overview of how VocalIQ could make Siri a lot smarter than it is today.
Virtual reality is a new tech buzzword and key players are taking notice, with Samsung Display showing off a cutting-edge smartphone display technology at the Display Week conference in San Francisco last week. The tech promises to let people enjoy 3D content without needing any special glasses.
Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes is reporting that TPK Holding is gearing up to product nanowire-based flexible touchscreens. TPK is on Apple's supplier list so there's a high likelihood that future iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices could switch to these flexible screens based on nano silver ink. Originally developed by 3M, silver nanowire films are flexible and transparent to the eye, making them feasible for wearable devices particular.
Apple's signature glass staircase in its newly launched store on San Francisco’s Union Square set the company back a cool $1 million, or approximately $33,333 per stair, while the shell of the building cost about $19 million, according to official building permits obtained by Patently Apple.
The building's sprinkler system cost an estimated $2.28 million to upgrade, the solar power installation on the roof cost $800,000 while installing canopy panels came with a $150,000 price tag attached to it.
The government of India has said 'no' to Apple's request to import used iPhones into the country, LiveMint reported today. The move comes hot on the heels of the finance ministry's decision to rejecte a recommendation from the commerce ministry to waive the 30 percent local sourcing norm for Apple to sell refurbished iPhones in its own branded stores in India.
“We are not in favour of any company selling used phones in the company, however certified they may be,” said commerce and industry minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
Despite some Apple device users being skeptical of using Apple Pay for security reasons, many are embracing the power of NFC payment technology everywhere it is supported.
If you're like many Apple Pay users, then you might have more than one credit or debit card linked to your Apple Pay Wallet. If this is the case, then it would be good to know how to choose which card is set as the default card when you choose to carry out payments at the register.
In this tutorial, we'll show you how that's done.
Of the running Wallpapers of the Week section, Star Wars wallpapers are among the most popular. Today's collection features fan art in the noir and minimalist categories, taking a new spin on our previous Star Wars wallpaper posts.
With a six year span of Star Wars movies, starting with The Force Awakens in 2015 and a new movie launching each year until 2020, Star Wars wallpapers will continue to be a popular category for new and old fans alike. Inside, take a look at the newest selection and download images for your iPhone or desktop.
Despite the dry Cydia pipeline that continues on due to the lack of a fresh jailbreak, existing iOS developers are still launching jailbreak tweak releases.
This week hasn't been much more impressive than the last, but nevertheless, we'll still recap on everything that's new. We'll start with our favorites, and then we'll finish off with the rest of this week's releases.
Facebook users who are looking for a little more oomph from their app experience are going to love a new jailbreak tweak release called Prenesi 3.
This tweak not only supercharges the app with additional features, but it even lets users further configure the app's behavior and features to their liking.
A long story short, if you're rocking a jailbroken device and you use Facebook regularly, then this is a tweak you don't want to miss.
Those who are using a Pebble smartwatch rather than Apple's own Apple Watch as an accessory for their iPhone are limited in features, but with a new jailbreak tweak dubbed TextSender for Pebble, there is at least some hope for extended functionality.
TextSender for Pebble will, as the name implies, allow those with a Pebble smartwatch to send text messages from their watch via their iPhone.
Although you couldn't tell it by looking at official release notes for Twitter's version 6.54 update, which make a passing mention of “a few minor updates that you didn’t even know you needed”, the app has finally gained additional 3D Touch goodies in the form of Peek and Pop previews within the app. Before today, Twitter for the iPhone and iPad only supported Quick Actions on the Home screen. Grab Twitter for iOS for free on the App Store.