Apple AirPods 2 undergoes Bluetooth certification

We may or may not be seeing the second iteration of Apple’s AirPods soon. The accessory is currently undergoing certification by the Bluetooth SIG, according to a declaration form published online. It’ll reportedly come with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and is listed under model numbers A2031 and A2032. With this certification process happening, it’s usually a sign that the device launch is upon us. Other trademark filings have also unveiled possible new features of the AirPods 2. Filings in Europe and Hong Kong suggest we’re going to get things like its own health tracking sensor. According to MySmartPrice, “It also covers monitors, speakers and displays of measuring, displaying, tracking, reporting, monitoring, storing, and transmitting biometric data, heart rate, body movement, and calories burned." We won’t be surprised though if the AirPods 2 gets these feature. With Apple honing in on its health- and fitness-related features, it makes sense it brings these to more of its devices.

Google Maps is testing out crash, speed trap reporting

It seemed inevitable, or rather expected, that Google would be making use of some of Waze’s features. And that day seems to have arrived—at least for some users. Reports surfaced online that Google Maps is letting some Android users report crashes and speed traps while they navigate, similar to what you can do on navigation app Waze. For those who are part of the test, they see a new “+” report sign at the bottom left of the display. It does only show up though when you navigate with the app. And whether it’s going to be a feature we’ll see in the future is still up in the air. Google hasn’t made a comment on the report just yet.

Source: CNET

Huawei Mate 20 Pro now available in Canada

Canada is getting a rare exclusive as the new flagship Huawei Mate 20 Pro is now available through various carriers like Bell Mobility, Fido, Koodo, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, Videotron and Virgin Mobile and shops like Best Buy, NewEgg and others. In our recent review of the smartphone we found it to be a delightful handset with stellar cameras including an impressive 5X optical zoom feature and AI functionality. 

Powered by the world's first 7nm Mobile Artificial Intelligence (AI) chipset Kirin 980, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro will be available in Black and Twilight.

Consumers have been able to pre-order their Mate 20 Pro today, with selected carriers offering a special gift – a HUAWEI WATCH 2 or a HUAWEI MediaPad T3 10 tablet – for a limited time.

Microsoft Word aims for productivity boost by automatically making to-do lists for users

A new beta feature being tested out by some Mac for Office Insiders brings added productivity features to Microsoft Word. The word processor can now automatically detect notes and messages you leave for yourself and others and turn these into actionable to-do lists. All you need to do is type in things like “todo” or “<insert something here>” in a document and Word’s AI-powered writing assistant Editor will create a list based on these items. It can even suggest things based on recent documents and files. For example, if you type in "<insert graph here>," it’ll show you recent charts you’ve worked on. If you’re collaborating with someone in a Word document, you can @-mention these colleagues to let them know what tasks need to be done. The tagged person will get an email and can even take action on the document by replying directly to said email.

As mentioned, it’s first available to Mac for Office Insiders who are on the Fast level, which is a group of users that get features first to provide feedback. Slow level Insiders will get a more stable version at a later date. The Windows version is expected to land in the coming weeks. It’ll eventually be rolled out to all existing Office 365 users. The other Office apps will get the feature later on.

 Source: Engadget