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Kamis, 30 Mei 2019

Microsoft will distribute more Xbox titles through Steam and finally support Win32 games - The Verge

Microsoft says it’s committed to supporting competing PC game stores and it’s announcing today that it will distribute more Xbox Game Studios titles through Valve’s Steam marketplace. Typically, Microsoft has distributed its games through only Xbox Live on its game console platform and through its own Windows storefront on PC. Now, Microsoft says it wants to better support player choice and let customers buy games in more than one destination on PC.

“Our intent is to make our Xbox Game Studios PC games available in multiple stores, including our own Microsoft Store on Windows, at their launch. We believe you should have choice in where you buy your PC games,” writes Xbox chief Phil Spencer in a blog post announcing the shift in strategy. The move follows Microsoft’s decision to publish its upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam.

“We will continue to add to the more than 20 Xbox Game Studios titles on Steam, starting with Gears 5 and all Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Editions,” Spencer explains. “We know millions of PC gamers trust Steam as a great source to buy PC games and we’ve heard the feedback that PC gamers would like choice.”

It’s not an unusual move for Microsoft these days, especially not since Spencer took over the Xbox division in 2014 under CEO Satya Nadella, who promoted him again in the fall of 2017 to run all of the company’s gaming initiatives spanning Xbox and Windows 10.

The two have worked together to build a far more open and cooperative Microsoft, and that’s given birth to a lot of genuinely player-friendly advancements in the Xbox and Windows departments. Xbox games published by Microsoft can now be played on the PC free of charge, thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, while Microsoft worked with Nintendo and game developers like Epic and Psyonix to successfully apply pressure on Sony to support cross-platform play. The company is also pioneering a new business model for games with its Xbox Game Pass subscription, and its upcoming xCloud cloud gaming service is poised to introduce an all-new distribution model for delivering games and potentially upending how games are both funded and sold.

What’s remarkable in this case is that Microsoft is standing somewhat in opposition to Epic Games, a company whose CEO Tim Sweeney once criticized Microsoft for attempting to create a closed ecosystem with its Universal Windows Platform strategy, which attempted to distribute all software, including PC games, exclusively through its own storefront.

”Microsoft has built a closed platform-within-a-platform into Windows 10,” Sweeney wrote in a 2015 op-ed in The Guardian, “as the first apparent step towards locking down the consumer PC ecosystem and monopolising app distribution and commerce.” At the time, Sweeney called for Microsoft to let developers publish games built using UWP on other stores. He went so far as to say UWP “can, should, must, and will die.”

Now, it’s Epic that’s trying to supplant Steam with its own game store and finding itself embroiled in controversy stemming mostly from its exclusivity contracts it secures with developers. Of course, Epic’s approach is much different than Microsoft’s was back then, given it does not own the Windows operating system and has nowhere near the level of power and control Microsoft did when it was trying to push UWP. But Epic, having grown to a level of unprecedented power in the PC marketplace due to the success of Fortnite, is discovering just how hard it is to dethrone Steam.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has given up entirely on that vision and is instead embracing a much more open model. And it extends beyond gaming. Microsoft recently announced a partnership with Google to rebuild its Edge browser, once built on UWP, using the open-source Chromium framework.

“We also know that there are other stores on PC, and we are working to enable more choice in which store you can find our Xbox Game Studios titles in the future,” Spencer writes, indicating that Microsoft may eventually publish its games on Epic’s store as well. Spencer goes on to say that the company is committed to providing voice and text chat, friends lists, and cross-play across PC and console to all titles it publishes under Xbox Game Studios. “On Windows 10 you’ll find this functionality in the Xbox Game Bar, which we’ll continue to evolve and expand,” he adds.

In addition to this shift to support Steam and competing stores, Microsoft says it’s also opening up support in the Microsoft Store for games built as native Win32 apps, which is the predominant Windows app format and the format that UWP effectively was designed to replace. This all but ensures UWP will fall out of favor with game studios that may have felt forced to adopt the format in recent years to better access core Windows 10 features.

“We recognize that Win32 is the app format that game developers love to use and gamers love to play, so we are excited to share that we will be enabling full support for native Win32 games to the Microsoft Store on Windows,” Spencer writes. “This will unlock more options for developers and gamers alike, allowing for the customization and control they’ve come to expect from the open Windows gaming ecosystem.”

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https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/30/18645250/microsoft-xbox-game-studios-publishing-valve-steam-32-bit-windows

2019-05-30 13:00:00Z
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Your next iPhone or Mac? WWDC offers the best tease - CNET

apple-wwdc-2019-03142019-1 — Apple will kick off its developer conference Monday.
Apple

At WWDC next week, Apple may be talking to developers. But it's really all about you.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is the company's annual gathering where it hosts designers and engineers making apps for iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices. Thousands will descend on the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, at 10 a.m. PT on Monday to hear CEO Tim Cook and various executives outline their strategy for the company's software. They'll spend the rest of the week at sessions about the new technology and walk away with plans for updating their apps.

WWDC typically isn't where Apple launches new devices. Instead, it updates its iOS software for iPhones and iPads, MacOS for its computers, TVOS for Apple TV and WatchOS for the Apple Watch. Despite all of that news, most of what it unveils won't be available until later in the year, at best. Even if you're a big software fan, some of Apple's announcements, like discussions about the Swift programming language, get technical pretty fast.

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It may be easy to think WWDC doesn't have anything for you. You're not going to see the next iPhone there, and Oprah's not going to show up. She's already been to one Apple event this year, after all. What could a developer-focused show really offer you?

But if you look past all the talk about Swift and APIs, you'll find quite a lot. While WWDC is all about the developers, it's also Apple's way of teasing the features and services you'll see in products coming later this year. You won't see the new iPhone, but you will see what its interface will look like. You may not get the new Mac Pro, but at the very least, Apple will try to make you feel like it hasn't forgotten the creative professionals. And there will be various health, augmented reality and privacy advancements you'll soon get to access.

The twist this year, though, is those new features and services are increasingly coming directly from Apple -- in some ways a source of tension for the company. As iPhone sales slow -- we're all holding onto our phones longer than before -- Apple has been trying to turn itself into a services powerhouse. It has jumped into TV and music streaming, introduced gaming and news subscriptions and even plans to launch its own credit card this summer.

But just because it's doing more on its own doesn't mean Apple doesn't need developers. After all, it's their apps that keep you reaching for your iPhone. And Apple will give them even more ways to improve those apps you use everyday.

"Apple's not going to have a service for everything out there," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said. "At the end of the day, developers drive engagement, drive new use case and drive the link the consumer has with their device."

Apple declined to comment ahead of WWDC.

App battle

This year's WWDC comes at a tense time for Apple's App Store. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that iPhone owners can sue Apple for allegedly operating a monopoly through its App Store. And there has been an outcry from parental control app makers that Apple unfairly banned their software because their apps compete with Apple's own software. Amazon, Netflix, Spotify and other heavyweights have also criticized Apple's App Store model.

Even the man who used to run third-party app approvals for Apple called on the company to "own up" to irresponsible policies against direct-competitor services, saying "Apple has struggled with using the App Store as a weapon" for years.

Consumers say Apple's tight control over the App Store causes higher prices. Some developers say Apple's policies, like charging a commission for any subscriptions, make it harder for services that compete directly with Apple's own. Apple, for its part, says its App Store policies keep its customers safe and help maintain high standards. It also says it welcomes competition.

While Apple likely won't completely overhaul the App Store, it's got to find ways to keep its developers -- and in return, you -- happy.

At a time when rival Google is touting its artificial intelligence prowess, Apple's software also needs to be smarter. Apple's Siri Shortcuts feature from last year allows the company's digital assistant to complete complex tasks with a single voice command -- or sometimes without a voice command at all. But Siri still doesn't match up to the assistants from Google and Amazon.

The breadth of apps in the App Store isn't the advantage it used to be.

"I don't know the last time I downloaded a new app from the App Store," Milanesi said. "We're now in a very mature part of the market. Apple can't tell the same story."

Beyond the iPhone

This year, there could be two major announcements by Apple that actually have very little to do with its iPhones: the launch of a Watch App Store and a bigger push with Project Marzipan, the effort to make iPhone and iPad apps run on Macs.

Apple's huge installed base of iPhone users has made developing for the iOS App Store an easy sell. At the end of 2018, there were 1.4 billion Apple devices actively used around the globe, the company said in late January during its quarterly earnings report. More than 900 million of them were iPhones.

That same focus hasn't extended to Apple's other products, though. The Mac App Store never really took off, with most software on computers coming through Web browsers. Not all developers have made companion Apple Watch apps, and Apple TV has largely centered around video, not the gaming platform Apple once envisioned. It can even be hard to find apps optimized for Apple's various iPads.

The next version of Apple's WatchOS is expected to make the Apple Watch more "independent." You'll be able to download apps directly from your watch -- even if your phone is nowhere around. Today, Apple Watch apps are companions to the main iPhone app. You currently add them, update them or change their settings through your smartphone, not your watch.

"The watch is an area where Apple has an enormous lead over the competition," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said. "But there's still a lot of headroom on the watch."

Mac attention?

The biggest advancements from WWDC could come to Apple's long-neglected Mac computer line.

Apple still generates about 10% to 15% of its quarterly sales from its computer line, but it hasn't given its Macs as much attention in recent years as other its devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch. In October 2016, Apple redesigned the MacBook Pro laptop for the first time in four years, but the "butterfly switch" keyboard it's used in every new laptop since then has been criticized. Last week, Apple said it would replace all defective butterfly switch keyboards for free -- even on the new MacBook Pro models it just unveiled.

Apple's Mac Pro is no longer persona non grata in Europe. — Apple's Mac Pro is long overdue for an update.
CNET

Power users, like graphic designers, also have been waiting for more pro-friendly features for years. The company hasn't made big changes to its high-power Mac Pro since 2013. Notable for its cylindrical design, the Mac Pro is favored by creatives who need a lot of horsepower for professional purposes. Apple said in April 2017 that it's working on a big refresh of the computer, but a year later, it said the device wouldn't hit the market until sometime in 2019.

It's unclear whether Apple will actually launch the Mac Pro at WWDC, but it likely will spend a big chunk of its keynote on its computer line.

At the end of Apple's WWDC presentation last year, the company gave a sneak peak of Project Marzipan, its effort to make it easy to take apps developed for iOS devices to Macs. Its MacOS update released in September included four of Apple's own apps that originated on iOS -- News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home.

This year at WWDC, Apple is expected to open that capability up to third party developers, as well as port more of its own iOS apps, like Podcasts, to the Mac. Marzipan brings Apple's mobile devices and computers one step closer -- without actually merging them.

Like much of WWDC, it may seem wonky and pretty removed from your actual devices. But listen closely, and you just might see the future of those Apple products you'll one day hold in your hands.

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2019-05-30 12:00:11Z
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Google will force Android apps to show the odds of getting loot box items - Engadget

Apple, Google, Microsoft, WhatsApp sign open letter condemning GCHQ proposal to listen in on encrypted chats - TechCrunch

An international coalition of civic society organizations, security and policy experts and tech companies — including Apple, Google, Microsoft and WhatsApp — has penned a critical slap-down to a surveillance proposal made last year by the UK’s intelligence agency, warning it would undermine trust and security and threaten fundamental rights.

“The GCHQ’s ghost protocol creates serious threats to digital security: if implemented, it will undermine the authentication process that enables users to verify that they are communicating with the right people, introduce potential unintentional vulnerabilities, and increase risks that communications systems could be abused or misused,” they wrire.

“These cybersecurity risks mean that users cannot trust that their communications are secure, as users would no longer be able to trust that they know who is on the other end of their communications, thereby posing threats to fundamental human rights, including privacy and free expression. Further, systems would be subject to new potential vulnerabilities and risks of abuse.”

GCHQ’s idea for a so-called ‘ghost protocol’ would be for state intelligence or law enforcement agencies to be invisibly CC’d by service providers into encrypted communications — on what’s billed as targeted, government authorized basis.

The agency set out the idea in an article published last fall on the Lawfare blog, written by the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Ian Levy and GCHQ’s Crispin Robinson (NB: the NCSC is a public facing branch of GCHQ) — which they said was intended to open a discussion about the ‘going dark’ problem which robust encryption poses for security agencies.

The pair argued that such an “exceptional access mechanism” could be baked into encrypted platforms to enable end to end encryption to be bypassed by state agencies would could instruct the platform provider to add them as a silent listener to eavesdrop on a conversation — but without the encryption protocol itself being compromised.

“It’s relatively easy for a service provider to silently add a law enforcement participant to a group chat or call. The service provider usually controls the identity system and so really decides who’s who and which devices are involved — they’re usually involved in introducing the parties to a chat or call,” Levy and Robinson argued. “You end up with everything still being end-to-end encrypted, but there’s an extra ‘end’ on this particular communication. This sort of solution seems to be no more intrusive than the virtual crocodile clips that our democratically elected representatives and judiciary authorise today in traditional voice intercept solutions and certainly doesn’t give any government power they shouldn’t have.”

“We’re not talking about weakening encryption or defeating the end-to-end nature of the service. In a solution like this, we’re normally talking about suppressing a notification on a target’s device, and only on the device of the target and possibly those they communicate with. That’s a very different proposition to discuss and you don’t even have to touch the encryption.”

“[M]ass-scale, commodity, end-to-end encrypted services… today pose one of the toughest challenges for targeted lawful access to data and an apparent dichotomy around security,” they added.

However while encryption might technically remain intact in the scenario they sketch, their argument glosses over both the fact and risks of bypassing encryption via fiddling with authentication systems in order to enable deceptive third party snooping.

As the coalition’s letter points out, doing that would both undermine user trust and inject extra complexity — with the risk of fresh vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers.

Compromising authentication would also result in platforms themselves gaining a mechanism that they could use to snoop on users’ comms — thereby circumventing the wider privacy benefits provided by end to end encryption in the first place, perhaps especially when deployed on commercial messaging platforms.

So, in other words, just because what’s being asked for is not literally a backdoor in encryption that doesn’t mean it isn’t similarly risky for security and privacy and just as horrible for user trust and rights.

“Currently the overwhelming majority of users rely on their confidence in reputable providers to perform authentication functions and verify that the participants in a conversation are the people that they think they are, and only those people. The GCHQ’s ghost protocol completely undermines this trust relationship and the authentication process,” the coalition writes, also pointing out that authentication remains an active research area — and that work would likely dry up if the systems in question were suddenly made fundamentally untrustworthy on order of the state.

They further assert there’s no way for the security risk to be targeted to the individuals that state agencies want to specifically snoop on. Ergo, the added security risk is universal.

“The ghost protocol would introduce a security threat to all users of a targeted encrypted messaging application since the proposed changes could not be exposed only to a single target,” they warn. “In order for providers to be able to suppress notifications when a ghost user is added, messaging applications would need to rewrite the software that every user relies on. This means that any mistake made in the development of this new function could create an unintentional vulnerability that affects every single user of that application.”

There are more than 50 signatories to the letter in all, and others civic society and privacy rights groups Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, Liberty, Privacy International and the EFF, as well as veteran security professionals such as Bruce Schneier, Philip Zimmermann and Jon Callas, and policy experts such as former FTC CTO and Whitehouse security advisor, Ashkan Soltani .

While the letter welcomes other elements of the article penned by Levy and Robinson — which also set out a series of principles for defining a “minimum standard” governments should meet to have their requests accepted by companies in other countries (with the pair writing, for example, that “privacy and security protections are critical to public confidence” and “transparency is essential”) — it ends by urging GCHQ to abandon the ghost protocol idea altogether, and “avoid any alternative approaches that would similarly threaten digital security and human rights”.

Reached for a response to the coalition’s concerns, the NCSC sent us the following statement, attributed to Levy:

We welcome this response to our request for thoughts on exceptional access to data — for example to stop terrorists. The hypothetical proposal was always intended as a starting point for discussion.

It is pleasing to see support for the six principles and we welcome feedback on their practical application. We will continue to engage with interested parties and look forward to having an open discussion to reach the best solutions possible.

Back in 2016 the UK passed updated surveillance legislation that affords state agencies expansive powers to snoop on and hack into digital comms. And with such an intrusive regime in place it may seem odd that GCHQ is pushing for even greater powers to snoop on people’s digital chatter.

Even robust end-to-end encryption can include exploitable vulnerabilities. One bug was disclosed affecting WhatsApp just a couple of weeks ago, for example (since fixed via an update).

However in the Lawfare article the GCHQ staffers argue that “lawful hacking” of target devices is not a panacea to governments’ “lawful access requirements” because it would require governments have vulnerabilities on the shelf to use to hack devices — which “is completely at odds with the demands for governments to disclose all vulnerabilities they find to protect the population”.

“That seems daft,” they conclude.

Yet it also seems daft — and predictably so — to suggest a ‘sidedoor’ in authentication systems as an alternative to a backdoor in encrypted messaging apps.

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https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/30/apple-google-microsoft-whatsapp-sign-open-letter-condemning-gchq-proposal-to-listen-in-on-encrypted-chats/

2019-05-30 09:44:08Z
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MediaTek’s first 5G-enabled chipset will save battery life and space - The Verge

MediaTek has unveiled the world’s first mobile chipset with an integrated 5G modem. The 7nm chipset combines the company’s Helio M70 5G modem with ARM’s recently announced Cortex-A77 and Mali-G77, resulting in an integrated chip that should save on physical space inside the phone and battery life. The chip’s modem has a theoretical maximum download speed of 4.7 Gbps and upload speed of 2.5 Gbps, MediaTek says.

Although it’s not as fast as Qualcomm’s second generation X55 modem, which offers peak download speeds of up to 7 Gbps, MediaTek’s approach has the advantage of combining everything into a single chip. By comparison, Qualcomm’s modem is separate to the company’s SoCs, meaning it occupies more space and may draw extra power (depending on the two companies’ implementation of the technology).

From a technology perspective, MediaTek’s chip isn’t quite as advanced as Qualcomm’s latest modem, since it doesn’t appear to support mmWave along with sub-6Ghz. That shouldn’t be a problem for MediaTek’s primary markets in the short term, however, as Anandtech notes that the US is the only major region that’s currently rolling out mmWave. Otherwise the chip supports both standalone and non-standalone 5G, and is also backwards compatible with 2G to 4G networks.

After Intel’s exit from the 5G phone business and the US’s blacklisting of Huawei, the amount of competition in the 5G hardware business has reduced significantly, so it’s good to see that MediaTek is still offering Qualcomm some competition in the 5G space. MediaTek says the new chip should start shipping to device partners later this year, with the first releases expected in early 2020.

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https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/5/30/18645415/mediatek-integrated-5g-modem-specs-download-upload-speeds-sub-6ghz-helio-m70-arm-cortex-a77

2019-05-30 08:58:40Z
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Rabu, 29 Mei 2019

Apple’s latest defense of the App Store shows how hard it is to compete with Apple - The Verge

As it faces both an antitrust lawsuit with huge implications and a formal EU investigation over its App Store tactics, Apple is today publicly defending itself against Spotify and other critics of the company’s massively successful software storefront.

“Today, the App Store is more vibrant and innovative than ever, offering equal opportunities to developers to deliver their apps and services across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch,” reads a new page at Apple’s website titled “App Store — Principles and Practices.” “We’re proud of the store we’ve built and the way we’ve built it.”

Apple says it has paid out $120 billion to App Store developers worldwide since the platform launched, and the company again touts the quick approval process and efficient work of its app review team, which now “represents 81 languages across three time zones.” Sixty percent of the approximately 100,000 apps and app updates reviewed each week are approved, with rejections mostly stemming from “minor bugs, followed by privacy concerns.” Apple notes that anyone who feels that they were unjustly rejected can have their situation looked at by the App Store Review Board.

But the most interesting parts of this new site relate to competition. In one section, Apple goes over the core, built-in apps on iOS and lists the many popular third-party options that are available from the App Store in each category as alternatives.

The company fails to mention that none of these apps can be chosen as the default messaging app, maps service, email client, web browser, or music player. That limitation isn’t always a deal-breaker — just ask WhatsApp, which is more popular than iMessage in many countries — but it still gives Apple’s services an advantage. Apple also claims that “developers have lots of choices for distributing their apps — from other app stores to smart TVs to gaming consoles. Not to mention the open internet, which Apple supports with Safari, and our customers regularly use with web apps like Instagram and Netflix.”

The message here seems to be that if companies don’t like Apple’s policies, they’ve got other options. Go find your riches on Android or make a Roku app. But developers have a huge financial incentive to be in the App Store. It’s often been reported that iOS users spend more money on apps than people with Android phones, and Apple leans on that advantage. “Even though other stores have more users and more app downloads, the App Store earns more money for developers,” the company notes. So ignoring the App Store isn’t exactly practical for businesses that want to make a lot of money. As for the open web, how often are you using Instagram or Netflix in the Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad instead of the app itself? On desktop, maybe, but Apple is about to let developers bring their iPad apps to the Mac, and how do you think you’ll be watching Netflix once that happens?

Apple also lists the various types of apps in the store, from completely free to paid to the many with in-app purchases or monthly subscriptions. You might not know that some of the essential apps you use every day are classified as “reader” apps because those companies have decided against giving Apple a cut of their in-app purchases and subscriptions. (Apple takes a 30 percent cut of subscriptions for the first year a customer is signed up and 15 percent for each year thereafter.)

This category includes Amazon Kindle, Netflix, and Spotify. Apple says customers of these services “enjoy access to that content inside the app on their Apple devices” and that “developers receive all of the revenue they generate from bringing the customer to the app.”

But here, again, Apple ignores a major gripe that developers have been raising for years: if an app doesn’t use Apple’s in-app purchase system, its developers are forbidden from telling their customers where and how they can pay outside of the App Store or providing a convenient link. “Not only is Netflix not allowed to link to their website, they can’t even tell the user they need to go to netflix.com to sign up,” John Gruber wrote back in January when Netflix stopped letting new customers subscribe through its iOS app. “Apple can make the rules — it’s their platform. But it’s just wrong that one of the rules is that apps aren’t allowed to explain the rules to users.”

Apple’s new site puts a big spotlight on the App Store’s unrivaled success and reach, but in some ways, it also brings more attention to how difficult it can be to compete against Apple.

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https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/29/18644045/apple-defends-app-store-policies-antitrust-eu-spotify

2019-05-29 14:21:01Z
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Amazon Echo Show 5 smart display coming in June for $90 - CNET

echo-show-5-kitchen — Amazon's Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch screen and costs $90.
Amazon

Amazon didn't wait long after Google announced the Nest Hub Max at its May developer conference to introduce its latest smart display, the $90 Echo Show 5.

But unlike the 10-inch Hub Max -- a direct competitor to the 10-inch second-gen Echo Show -- the Echo Show 5 is aimed at the entry level side of the smart display category. With a 5.5-inch display, the Echo Show 5 is smaller than the Echo Show, but only slightly smaller than the the seven-inch screen on the Google Nest Hub (formerly the Google Home Hub), the popular smart display Google released last fall.

An even smaller Google Assistant-based display called the Lenovo Smart Alarm Clock debuted at CES 2019 with a four-inch touchscreen, and is expected to hit the stores this spring for $80. The Echo Show 5 appears to want to split the difference between that product, and the larger Nest Hub.

Note that CNET may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

A nod to privacy

Like Amazon's other smart displays, the Echo Show 5 has a built-in camera, but this time the tech giant included a camera shutter that's integrated into the hardware, as well as a separate, dedicated camera and microphone off-button.

Amazon also says it has added a privacy-oriented feature wherein you can say "Alexa, delete everything I said today," and it will purge the audio recordings of your Alexa conversations from Amazon's servers. This comes after reports that Amazon holds onto text recordings of your voice conversations with Alexa, even after you've deleted those audio clips. A US senator has asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for more information about its privacy policies, including how it stores information.

Amazon isn't the only company dealing with privacy questions, though. Google is also facing questions for putting a camera into its Nest Hub Max device. Its original smart display, the Nest Hub, doesn't have a built-in camera.

Keeping up with Google

Other features of the Echo Show 5 include an auto-screen brightness feature built around an ambient-light sensor, which sounds similar to the same feature in the Google Nest Hub. Amazon also says it's added a dedicated smart home control screen with more granular controls for any connected thermostats, light bulbs or other devices you've paired with Alexa. This is also similar to the smart display software Google introduced with the Nest Hub last year.

The Echo Show 5 can handle all the standard Alexa commands as well, like asking Alexa general questions or the local weather forecast and to play your favorite podcast. You'll be able to view your security camera's video feed through the screen and also carry on a two-way conversation with your Ring doorbell -- features limited to Amazon's screen-equipped displays.

Amazon also promises upcoming support for WikiHow on the Echo Show 5, which should make it possible to get simple answers to questions like "Alexa, how do I clean my electric cooktop?"

Available next month

Amazon plans to ship its latest smart display, which is available for preorder now, starting in June.

The $90 Echo Show 5 comes in dark gray and white color finishes (that's "charcoal" and "sandstone" to the folks at Amazon) and you can buy an adjustable magnetic stand as an optional accessory for $20.

It's a safe bet that the Echo Spot, Amazon's round, 2.5-inch smart display is dead at this point. Amazon said it would continue selling the Spot for $130, but it's hard to imagine it living for long next to the Echo Show 5 given the latter's larger display, lower cost, and more privacy-friendly features. The Echo Show even creates some problems for the $100 Amazon Echo speaker, which has fewer features than the $90 Echo Show 5 and no screen. Maybe this will be the device that makes me rethink smart displays?

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https://www.cnet.com/news/amazons-echo-show-5-smart-display-coming-in-june-for-90-dollars/

2019-05-29 14:15:00Z
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Kamis, 30 Mei 2019

App battle

Beyond the iPhone

Mac attention?

Apple iPhone XS

Sponsored Links

Rabu, 29 Mei 2019

A nod to privacy

Keeping up with Google

Available next month

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