Alexa and Cortana Team Up
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Alexa and Cortana Team Up | |
| Number | 608 |
| Broadcast Date | AUGUST 15, 2018 |
| Episode Length | 4:43 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Microsoft launches integration with Amazon for voice services, new chip security flaw Foreshadow found and patched, and 5G starts to get rolling.
Headlines
- Microsoft and Amazon launched an early access public preview of integration between Cortana and Amazon Voice Services. Users will be able to ask their Echos for information from email and calendar that Microsoft handles well and Cortana users can have Amazon execute smart home things that it handles well. In practice this means asking one voice assistant to "open" the other and then using it like you normally would.
- Microsoft is making its "Your Phone" app available to all users in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10. Right now it works with Android phones to drag and drop photos from a phone to a PC. Syncing text messages and notifications is still to come.
- A new vulnerability being called Foreshadow was found thanks to research into the related Meltdown and Spectre chip flaws. Foreshadow bypasses speculative execution safeguards to create an unprotected copy of data in Intel's SGX enclave which is meant to secure sensitive application data liked credit card numbers. Foreshadow could also break security boundaries between virtual machines in a data center. Intel and Microsoft have published patches. Amazon and Google have developed mitigation for cloud services.
- Mashable reports hundreds of people have reported their Instagram accounts were accessed, locking them out and changing all their profile info. Some even had their two-factor-authentication turned off by the attackers. Photos on the accounts remain unchanged.
- HQ Trivia has launched a version of its app for Apple TV. The new version lets you use the iOS remote app for voting. The mobile apps downloads have been declining in recent months but the game still attracts hundreds of thousands of players.
- Samsung announced its 5G-standards-compliant Exynos Modem 5100 that can hit 6Gbps mmWave speeds. It's built on Samsung's 10-nanometer process for sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G spectrums. It also works with 2G, 3G and LTE. Samsung says it is the first modem to conform to the 3GPP 5G spec published in July. Qualcomm launched its X50 modem before the spec had been finalized.
- Sprint and LG will work together to release a 5G smartphone in the first half of 2019. Sprint plans to launch its 5G network in 2019 as well. LG joins Motorola's 5G Moto Mod for the Moto Z3, as the second promised device for 5G networks.
- Verizon plans to launch its 5G service later this year in Indianapolis, Houston, Sacramento and Los Angeles. Early adopters can choose a free subscription to YouTube TV or a free Apple TV 4K device, as well as NFL, NBA and news content from Verizon's Oath.
- Android Police reports that PiunikaWeb, developers of two call recording apps for Android, say call recording is no longer possible in Android 9 Pie without root access. That means no third-party call recoding apps on Android Pie. There have been rumors that Google was working on native call recording but it does not appear in the first release of Android 9 Pie.
- Research led by scientists at Rutgers University showed how to use existing WiFi networks to identify suspicious objects in bags. It could be uses as a low-cost security measure in places like stadiums or theme parks that can't implement airport-level security. A device with 2-3 antennas can be implemented into existing WiFi networks. The system then analyzes how WiFi signals penetrate and bounce off materials. It had a 90% success rate of identifying dangerous objects wrapped in bags.
- Tencent reported an unexpected 2 percent drop in Q2 profit, its first decline in almost 13 years. Tencent experienced slower than expected growth in gaming and investments. Tencent plans to address the slowdown by getting more from existing titles, launching more RPGs and publishing more games internationally. WeChat grew to 1.06 billion users and financial and cloud services raised its other business category revenue 81 percent.
- Bloomberg reports Chinese regulators have frozen approval of game licenses. The freeze comes as a result of personnel changes as well as concerns over violence and gambling in games. Companies like Tencent have mentioned approval freezes in earnings but the government has not made official comments about it.
Links
| Preceded by: "Facebook Acqui-Hires Vidpresso Team" |
Alexa and Cortana Team Up |
Followed by: "Google's Pixel Watch May Arrive This Fall" |