Fret Zealot adds lights and learning to your guitar

 I’ve been messing around with LED-embedded guitars since the original GTar. Designed to help beginners learn and players look like all supersonic freakadelic on stage, they have quickly become commonplace if expensive. Now Fret Zealot has something that can turn your guitar into a laser light show in a few minutes. Designed as an $199 add-on to any acoustic or electric guitar, this… Read More

Galaxy S9’s display takes honors alongside its camera

 Earlier this morning Samsung’s Galaxy S9’s camera was awarded the highest-yet score from DxOMark, and now its screen gets the best-of-all-time nod from DisplayMate and display wonk Ray Soneira. The margins between the victor and the vanquished, however, are growing thinner every generation. Read More

Voice shopping estimated to hit $40 billion across U.S. and U.K. by 2022

 The growing popularity of smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home will lead to an explosion in voice-based shopping, according to a new market research report from OC&C Strategy Consultants out this week. The firm is bullishly predicting that voice shopping will grow to a whopping $40 billion-plus in 2022, up from $2 billion today across the U.S. and the U.K. This sizable increase… Read More

Citi wants fintech startups to disrupt institutional banking

 Financial services giant Citi reckons fintech startups are missing out on a major opportunity to disrupt institutional banking. Indeed, it’s inviting entrepreneurs to do so.  Read More

Alexa has literally lost her voice as users report outages and unresponsiveness

 Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant seems to be down this morning. We’ve been hearing reports over the last hour of either delayed responses or just total loss of connection. While Amazon doesn’t have a status page for its consumer products, Down Detector is reporting a huge spike in Alexa-related complaints over the last hour. For example, Alexa is giving me replies like… Read More

This app uses machine learning and AR to teach you how to draw

For some people drawing comes naturally. But, if you’re anything like me, your stick figures look like misshapen horrors for whom death would surely be a relief. Enter Sketch AR: the AI-powered app that aims to make you a better artist regardless of your current skill. The idea is pretty simple: you draw a few plus-signs on a piece of paper, wall, or sleeping friend’s face and then point your smartphone’s camera at it. From there you can cycle through point-by-point lessons that help you learn to associate free space with the next layer of a drawing. It’s quite intuitive and…

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Twitter is now specifically focusing on increasing black, Latinx and female representation

 Twitter met or surpassed many of the diversity and inclusion goals it set for itself for 2017, the company announced today. Twitter is now 38.4 percent female, compared to 37 percent in 2016. Regarding underrepresented minorities at Twitter, representation increased from 11 percent in 2016 to 12.5 percent in 2017. While Twitter increased the overall representation of women and… Read More