Tech
The Morning After: Now there's a 'Hey Google' car – Yahoo Canada Finance
Siri is shedding its default female voice. With the latest iOS 14.5 beta, Apple is introducing two new English-speaking voices for Siri alongside the ability to choose which voice to use when setting up an iOS or HomePod device. The new voices should also sound more natural, with improved inflection and smoother transitions between different words.
Apple’s move away from female voices as default could help to address gender bias implied by most voice assistants. A 2019 UN report said that it “reflects and reinforces” the idea that assistants are female and they “not only replicate gender inequalities, but also widen them.”
Your intelligent assistant experience might differ, however. In the UK, Siri’s default voice is the male equivalent, and the same is, or was, true in Arabic, French and Dutch. Making the default voice option your choice could make it less of an issue.
— Mat Smith
It includes Google tech and branding for the 500, 500X crossover and 500L MPV.
Fiat has launched special edition versions of its 500 lineup, in partnership with Google. TThe Fiat 500 Family Hey Google brings Google tech — as well as a handful of design elements and Google badges — to the 500 city car, 500X crossover and 500L MPV. The Fiat 500 Family Hey Google will be available exclusively in Europe in 10 countries — and only in the ICE versions, not the 500 EV. It’ll go on sale in Italy, the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.
Continue reading.
Tests are expected to be available at major retailers within the next few weeks.
The FDA has now authorized multiple rapid tests for over the counter use (meaning without a prescription or doctor approval) to screen people who don’t have symptoms of the disease. According to the FDA, “The addition of the OTC and POC tests for screening will give schools, workplaces, communities and others several options for serial screening tests that are accurate and reliable.”
Separately, the CDC and the National Institute of Health are trying out a rapid at-home test initiative in two communities where thousands of residents will receive kits they can use on themselves three times a week for a month. They’re attempting to find out if frequent self-tests can help cut down on the spread of COVID-19, and they see this as a way to gather important data in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Continue reading.
The studio says it wants to bring online to all of its franchises one day.
Off the back of a massive Cyberpunk 2077 patch, developer CD Projekt Red has outlined its roadmap for the open-world game. The bad news is that it’s “reconsidering” its plan to launch a Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mode, despite teasing the addition for a while.
The studio said it’s focused on bringing online to “all of its franchises one day,” but that doesn’t really mean much. CEO Adam Kiciński elaborated a little, saying the team doesn’t “want to go overboard or lose our single-player DNA. We want to take thoughtful steps to build robust online capabilities.”
Instead, expect more patches and fixes in a bid to get the game back on the PlayStation store with Sony’s approval. It’s also working on free DLCs, paid expansions and a next-gen update that’s still slated for the second half of 2021.
Continue reading.
The $199 retro gaming system is now expected to land in October.
The Analogue Pocket, a $199 do-everything retro portable console capable of playing Game Boy, Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx games from their original cartridges, has been delayed once again. Analogue says that “sudden and severe electrical component shortages” are making it harder to deliver on its release-date promises. The company is offering full refunds to anyone who already pre-ordered a system and isn’t willing to wait until October.
Continue reading.
You can turn off algorithmically ranked posts while scrolling.
After allowing you to prioritize posts from select friends and Pages, Facebook is introducing a new Feed Filter menu that gives you quick access to its Most Recent setting, so you can switch off its algorithmically ranked News Feed. There are some more News Feed controls, too, including a Favorites setting that boosts your chosen friends’ content. The update is currently available to Android app users when they scroll up on their feed and is slated for the iPhone app in the coming weeks.
Continue reading.
Barbados will accept the pass on flights from London starting on April 16th.
After successfully trialing it on an international flight between Singapore and London in March, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says it will release its Travel Pass app in mid-April. The software allows airline travelers to store verified COVID-19 test results and vaccination certificates on their phones. It plans to launch the app on iPhones around April 15th, with an Android version to follow later. Virgin Atlantic plans to pilot the digital pass on its London to Barbados route. The Caribbean island will accept the app at its border, making it one of the first countries to admit a digital pass instead of paper documentation.
Continue reading.
But wait, there’s more…
Netflix pays a reported $450 million for two ‘Knives Out’ sequels
‘Among Us’ will get 15-player lobbies and a new art style
Biden’s EPA dismisses dozens of Trump-appointed science advisors
Microsoft wins 10-year contract supplying AR tech to the US Army
Watch the trailer for ‘Zola,’ a Twitter thread turned motion picture
Valve is still letting bots invade one of its longest-running games
Amazon’s Deal of the Day cuts SSD and hard drive prices by up to 48 percent
A Japanese man was charged $81 for cyberbullying star Hana Kimura before her death
|
|
By Steve Scherer
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s Telesat is racing to launch a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to provide high-speed global broadband from space, pitting the satellite communications firm founded in 1969 against two trailblazing billionaires, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Musk, the Tesla Inc CEO who was only a year old when Telesat launched its first satellite, is putting the so-called Starlink LEO into orbit with his company SpaceX, and Amazon.com Inc, which Bezos founded, is planning a LEO called Project Kuiper. Bezos also owns Blue Origin, which builds rockets.
Despite the competition, Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s chief executive officer, voices confidence when he calls Telesat’s LEO constellation “the Holy Grail” for his shareholders – “a sustainable competitive advantage in global broadband delivery.”
Telesat’s LEO has a much lighter price tag than SpaceX and Amazon’s, and the company has been in satellite services decades longer. In addition, instead of focusing on the consumer market like SpaceX and Amazon, Telesat seeks deep-pocketed business clients.
Goldberg said he was literally losing sleep six years ago when he realized the company’s business model was in peril as Netflix and video streaming took off and fiber optics guaranteed lightning-fast internet connectivity.
Telesat’s 15 geostationary (GEO) satellites provide services mainly to TV broadcasters, internet service providers and government networks, all of whom were growing increasingly worried about the latency, or time delay, of bouncing signals off orbiters more than 35,000 km (22,200 miles) above earth.
Then in 2015 on a flight home from a Paris industry conference where latency was a constant theme, Goldberg wrote down his initial ideas for a LEO constellation on an Air Canada napkin.
Those ideas eventually led to Telesat’s LEO constellation, dubbed Lightspeed, which will orbit about 35 times closer to earth than GEO satellites, and will provide internet connectivity at a speed akin to fiber optics.
Telesat’s first launch is planned in early 2023, while there are already some 1,200 of Musk’s Starlink satellites in orbit.
“Starlink is going to be in service much sooner … and that gives SpaceX the opportunity to win customers,” said Caleb Henry, a senior analyst at Quilty Analytics.
Starlink’s “first mover” advantage is at most 24 months and “no one’s going to lock this whole market up in that amount of time,” Goldberg said.
Telesat in 2019 signed a launch deal with Bezos’ aerospace company Blue Origin. Discussions are ongoing with three others, said David Wendling, Telesat’s chief technical officer.
They are Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Europe’s ArianeGroup , and Musk’s SpaceX, which launches the Starlink satellites. Wendling said a decision would be taken in a matter of months.
Telesat aims to launch its first batch of 298 satellites being built by Thales Alenia Space in early 2023, with partial service in higher latitudes later that same year, and full global service in 2024.
‘SWEET SPOT’
The Lightspeed constellation is estimated to cost half as much as the $10 billion SpaceX and Amazon projects.
“We think we’re in the sweet spot,” Goldberg said. “When we look at some of these other constellations, we don’t get it.”
Analyst Henry said Telesat’s focus on business clients is the right one.
“You have two heavyweight players, SpaceX and Amazon, that are already pledging to spend $10 billion on satellite constellations optimized for the consumer market,” he said. “If Telesat can spend half that amount creating a high-performance system for businesses, then yeah, they stand to be very competitive.”
Telesat’s industry experience may also provide an edge.
“We’ve worked with many of these customers for decades … That’s going to give us a real advantage,” Goldberg said.
Telesat “is a satellite operator, has been a satellite operator, and has both the advantage of expertise and experience in that business,” said Carissa Christensen, chief executive officer of the research firm BryceTech, adding, however, that she sees only two to three LEO constellations surviving.
Telesat is nailing down financing – one-third equity and two-thirds debt – and will become publicly traded on the Nasdaq sometime this summer, and it could also list on the Toronto exchange after that. Currently, Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc are the company’s main shareholders.
France and Canada’s export credit agencies, BPI and EDC respectively, are expected to be the main lenders, Goldberg said. Quebec’s provincial government is lending C$400 million ($317 million), and Canada’s federal government has promised C$600 million to be a preferred customer. The company also posted C$246 million in net income in 2020.
Executing the LEO plan is what keeps Goldberg up at night now, he said.
“When we decided to go down this path, the two richest people in the universe weren’t focused on their own LEO constellations.”
($1 = 1.2622 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
|
|
Nova Scotia Health’s mental health and addictions program hopes to offer more online support to people across the province after receiving a significant donation this week.
The QEII Foundation announced that RBC is contributing $600,000 toward the province’s e-mental health programming.
“It’s particularly important for the current time under all the strains of COVID,” said Dr. Andrew Harris, a psychiatrist and the senior medical director for the program.
The plan for online programming has been in the works for years, he said, but the pandemic expedited the push. Last June, the department launched a number of applications that can be used to help those with anxiety, depression and addictions.
Since then, as many as 3,000 Nova Scotians have used the site to access mental health services.
“There’s a persistent difficulty in accessing services,” Harris said of traditional models in Nova Scotia. He said those who don’t need intensive therapy may find the support they need through the online programs.
He uses the example of someone who can’t take time off work to speak to a clinician.
“It’s better for them to be able to access a service after hours or on the weekend. So our e-mental health services are tailored a little bit to meet that need.”
Calls to crisis line increase
Harris said the province’s mental health crisis line continues to see a 30 per cent increase in calls for help, so he’s trying to raise awareness that services can be accessed immediately online.
“I think everyone is aware that for a lot of people it’s much easier to talk about a physical illness than a mental illness. So there’s an allowance there for privacy, for some anonymity but still making available things that can help the person who is struggling in the community.”
The online portal has a list of programs that people can use, covering things like reducing stress, solving problems and becoming mindful. It mirrors a site in Newfoundland and Labrador that Harris said is used to help people in remote areas.
Harris said the donation from RBC will be used to continue to evaluate more services, and pay for the licensing of the products that are mostly developed by other organizations.
He encourages anyone who is struggling to test out the site, and use it as an entry point into the mental health system.
“It’s important for people to acknowledge when they’re struggling. It happens to all of us through our lives in different times.”
Anyone in Nova Scotia looking to access the tools can visit: https://mha.nshealth.ca.
Source:- CBC.ca
|
|
Samsung
Samsung
- Release date: April 9
- Price: $499.99
The Galaxy A52 5G is the most expensive smartphone of the bunch. It comes with a 6.5-inch FHD+ screen and a quad-camera system that includes some of the same features as Samsung’s more expensive Galaxy S phones. These include Single Take, which creates several different photos or video clips with different effects with a single press of the shutter button.
Its screen can also boost its refresh rate up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling and performance, a feature that has become common on pricier flagship phones but is rare on cheaper models. It’s also the only phone in this A-series lineup to include Samsung’s notch-free screen design.
Samsung
- Release date: April 8
- Price: $399.99
The less expensive Galaxy A42 5G has a slightly larger screen than the A52 5G, but scales back on certain features when it comes to the camera and screen refresh rate.
Still, it has a triple-lens camera with high-resolution sensors, and like its pricier sibling it also supports Single Take.
Samsung
Release date: April 9
Price: $279.99
The Galaxy A32 5G is Samsung’s cheapest 5G smartphone to date. It has a large 6.5-inch screen, but it’s made from an LCD panel instead of Super AMOLED. That means it will likely lack some of the contrast and boldness of Samsung’s other devices. But Samsung hasn’t skimped on the camera considering this model has a quad-lens main camera, which is rare if not unheard of at that price.
Samsung
Release date: April 9
Price: $179.99
Samsung’s Galaxy A12 doesn’t come with 5G support, but it still gives you a lot for the price. For less than $200, you’re getting a quad-lens camera and a large 6.5-inch LCD screen. But remember this phone only has 32GB of storage, so it’s best suited for those who don’t store a lot of photos and videos on their device.
Samsung
- Release date: April 29
- Price: $109.99
The Galaxy A02s is Samsung’s cheapest phone, offering a 6.5-inch LCD screen and three main cameras. It doesn’t have 5G support or as much computing power or camera prowess as Samsung’s other A-series phones, but that’s to be expected for a device at this price. This phone is truly for those who just need the basics and little else.
Sign up for Insider Reviews’ weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.
You can purchase syndication rights to this story here.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.
Source:- Business Insider
Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
New Zealand says ‘uncomfortable’ with expanding Five Eyes
Australia to hold inquiry to examine military suicides
-
News17 hours agoCanadian police refuse provincial order to make random stops amid COVID-19 surge
-
Health17 hours ago
Canada has second case of rare blood clots after AstraZeneca vaccin
-
News17 hours ago
Canada to set aside C$12 billion to extend main pandemic supports in budget – newspaper
-
Sports16 hours ago
UEFA threaten to ban breakaway clubs from all competitions
-
Media17 hours ago
‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Tops Box Office Again, Crosses $80 Million in the U.S.
-
News17 hours ago
Canada’s immigration initiative for Hong Kong residents receives over 500 applications early on
-
News16 hours ago
Livid Russia expels 20 Czechs after blast blamed on Skripal suspects
-
News17 hours ago
Moderna expects vaccine shipments to Britain, Canada to be delayed, EU, Swiss roll-out on track
