Author: Anna Galvez

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Google Assistant Interpreter Mode Is A Real-Time Translator

Thanks to Google Assistant, travelers do not have to worry about not knowing the foreign language of the country they travel to, as the Interpreter Mode in Google Assistant is a real-time translator. And the best part is that Google added the real-time translation to its increasingly smart AI voice assistant, so you can just write what you would like to say and Google Assistant will translate it and read it for you.

“Google Assistant Interpreter Mode is potentially world-changing for the future of travel: I won’t need to be bilingual in order to properly visit places and converse with locals in China, France, Italy, and so on. And there’s no need to boot up a translation app, sort through language selection drop-down menus, or spend time typing in words. It all happens automatically,” said Matt Swider on TechRadar.

The new Google Assistant Interpreter Mode has been presented at CES 2019, and it is, so far, the most exciting innovation revealed at the tech congress.

Google Assistant Interpreter Mode Is A Real-Time Translator

Like Google Maps, which helps users navigate the world and find the most exciting places when traveling, Google Assistant Interpreter Mode is also coming to aid users when they travel to foreign countries. The so-called Interpreter Mode in Google Assistant is a real-time translator as it’s translating whatever you want to say into the language you want.

“My CES demo was mostly a success, though Assistant didn’t particularly care for my not-so-authentic Spanish accent when I said ‘Okay, Google, become my Spanish Interpreter’ and asked ‘¿Dónde está el baño?,’ or ‘Where is the bathroom?.’ It kept translating my ‘Spanish’ to Spanish, and it proved my ability to speak Spanish is absolutely terrible. It’s now AI-verified,” explained Matt Swider from the TechRadar, who managed to test the feature live.

Soon, Google Assistant Interpreter Mode, a real-time translator, would reach Android smartphone so that it would help travelers even more than the well-known Google Translate.

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News Tech

Samsung Users, Confused As They Can’t Delete Facebook App

On specific Samsung devices, users cannot delete the Facebook app, something that puzzled a lot of Samsung users who already posted a series of complaints on the official forums and blogs of the South Korean giant company. According to the reports, it is impossible to uninstall Facebook on the Galaxy devices which come with the application pre-installed.

“It just absolutely baffles me that if I wanted to completely get rid of Facebook that it essentially would still be on my phone, which brings up more questions. Can they still track your information, your location, or whatever else they do? We the consumer should have to say in what we want and don’t want on our products,” said Nick Winke, a photographer in the Pacific Northwest, in an interview.

The Samsung users are now questioning why the company is not allowing them to delete the Facebook app, especially since the social network has been involved in scandals regarding privacy leaks and information sharing.

Samsung Users, Confused As They Can’t Delete Facebook App

“My news feed was full of negative stuff, people going crazy on social media. It was affecting me emotionally and mentally,” said Balwinder Singh who lives in the Susquehanna Valley of the eastern US and works in transportation. Even after disabling the Facebook app on his seven-month-old Samsung device, the idea that the app was still on his smartphone bothered him.

According to Facebook, disabling the app is like uninstalling it. Once a user disables the application, Facebook stops collecting data and sending information back to Facebook.

“It’s only recently that people have become to understand that these apps really power the spy in your pocket. Companies should be filing public documents on these deals, and Facebook should turn over public documents that show there is no data collection when the app is disabled,” explained Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.

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Samsung Bixby 2.0 To Support Google Apps, Again

At its presentation at the CES 2019, Samsung revealed that its upcoming Bixby 2.0 update would support Google Apps again. More specifically, Samsung Bixby 2.0 would work with Google Maps, YouTube, Google Play, and Gmail, among others. However, the South Korean tech company did not reveal how Bixby 2.0 would work with Google Apps.

Initially, Bixby 1.0 version, which launched on Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, supported Google Apps. Then, with the rollout of the new Bixby 2.0, Samsung eliminated the support for Google Apps, without revealing the reasons why it took that decision. Now, however, the upcoming Bixby 2.0 update would support Google Apps, again.

“This is all a little bit coincidental with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S10 on the horizon, but that doesn’t make it a bad thing by any means. As for when this update is occurring, well, we’re still not so sure, but a February launch alongside a potential S10 unveiling would be a solid bet,” according to 9to5Google who reported about the Bixby 2.0 update.

Samsung Bixby 2.0 To Support Google Apps, Again

Initially, Bixby 2.0 rolled out on Galaxy Note 9, and the South Korean company quickly added it to Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. However, the original version of Bixby 2.0 is not supporting Google Apps. Now, at the CES 2019, Samsung announced that a Bixby 2.0 update would support Google Apps, again.

“While this update is nice and all, it is still both puzzling and annoying that the support was removed at all, especially considering that Bixby 1.0 launched with Google app support on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+,” 9to5Google reported. They added that thanks to the upcoming update, Samsung Galaxy devices with Bixby 2.0 would support Google Apps, again.

In short, Samsung seems to prepare for the launch of Galaxy S10, and now, the South Korean tech giant plans to release a Byxby 2.0 update to support Google Apps, again.

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Games News Tech

PlayStation 4 Surpassed Xbox One – Sony’s Console Sold Over 91 Million Units

The battle between the current-gen consoles of Sony and Microsoft has been definitely won by PlayStation 4. Sony’s PlayStation 4 surpassed Xbox One, as it sold over 91 million units, according to the Japanese company’s reports.

“PS4 has now cumulatively sold through more than 91.6 million units globally as of December 31, 2018,” Sony stated. The company added that the success of the PlayStation 4 is due to exclusive games like God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man. “PS4 has sold more than 5.6 million units globally during the 2018 holiday season alone,” Sony continued.

“More than 50.7 million PS4 games were sold through globally during the 2018 holiday season, which sums up to 876 million PS4 games cumulatively sold through worldwide. Part of that involves Spider-Man, which became the biggest selling PS4 exclusive title to date with over nine million copies sold,” stated Sony.

PlayStation 4 Surpassed Xbox One – Sony’s Console Sold Over 91 Million Units

“We are also happy to announce that the monthly active users of PlayStation Network continues to show strong growth, and has surpassed 90 million as of (the) end of November 2018,” explained John Kodera, the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to our passionate community around the globe, and our partners, for helping us achieve these milestones. This year, we will bring more enhanced experiences to our fans along with a highly anticipated lineup of games that are only possible on PS4. As we look towards the next PS4 milestone, SIE will continue to evolve, and we will further expand the platform to deliver the best interactive experiences to the world,” he added.

In short, Sony’s PlayStation 4 surpassed Xbox One, as the Japanese console sold over 91 million units, most of them thanks to exclusive PS4 games such as God of War and Spider-Man. It would be an exciting battle between Sony and Microsoft in about a couple of years when the next-gen consoles would roll out.

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News Tech

HTC Vive Pro Eye VR Is The Next Step In Virtual Reality

Facebook and Oculus are out there already, aiming for the regular users, as the Oculus Go and the upcoming Oculus Quest are two of the most affordable VR headsets. However, HTC Vive Pro Eye VR is the next step in virtual reality since it’s boasting built-in eye-tracking, along with the functions of the already released Vive Pro.

According to Gizmodo, “the first benefit results from foveated rendering, which takes advantage of the headset’s eye-tracker to adjust which parts of a virtual scene get priority when processing graphics.” Sam Rutherford of Gizmodo also added that “because the headset knows where you’re looking, it can spend a larger share of computer’s performance rendering what you see at the moment while dialing back other images in your peripheral vision.”

That built-in eye-tracking feature is reducing the overall graphics requirements required to run VR apps while it’s also permitting devs to focus the users on what they want.

HTC Vive Pro Eye VR Is The Next Step In Virtual Reality

With the introduction of HTC Vive Pro Eye VR headset, gamers of those video games like MLB Home Run Derby VR would not need to use additional controllers to navigate through menus or setting. That is a significant benefit as it’s reducing the complaints about VR, as it’s lowering the complexity sometimes felt by the average users.

HTC Vive Pro Eye VR is the next step in virtual reality as it represents the second phase of development of the VR headsets, thus, being a more performant VR solution for those planning to play VR games or enjoy virtual reality scenes at their maximum.

During CES 2019, HTC would also present its upcoming VivePort Infinity which would be a Netflix of virtual reality. VivePort Infinity will offer users access to more than 500 VR titles against a single monthly subscription plan.

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