Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant comes to the US

While there’s still no sign of Bixby anywhere here yet, Samsung just launched its voice assistant in the US, a few months after it was introduced alongside the debut of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. It was released in South Korea in May and it looks like it’s finally ready to take on the English-speaking market in the US. Hopefully it makes its way here soon, too. With Samsung adamantly not letting users remap the Bixby buttons on the S8 devices, it would be better if the physical Bixby button actually served a purpose.

Source: Samsung

Apple names Isabel Ge Mahe as Managing Director of Greater China

Photo from Business Insider

Appleannounced that Isabel Ge Mahe, the company's vice president of Wireless Technologies, has been named vice president and managing director of Greater China, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams. In this newly created role, Isabel will provide leadership and coordination across Apple’s China-based team.

“Apple is strongly committed to invest and grow in China, and we are thrilled that Isabel will be bringing her experience and leadership to our China team,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “She has dedicated a great deal of her time in recent years to delivering innovation for the benefit of Apple customers in China, and we look forward to making even greater contributions under her leadership.”

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Nintendo Switch Online app goes live

The Nintendo Switch Online app was scheduled to come out on July 21st but the app is now available for download for both iOS and Android Switch users. There isn’t much to see at the moment since the first game it supports, Splatoon 2, is coming out on Friday. When that launches, players will be able to use the app's voice chat feature with a special Splatoon hub. At the moment, though, it seems Nintendo is still working to stabilize the app's servers, which hopefully will help them avoid the fiasco during Pokèmon Go's launch. So don't be surprised if you can't log in yet. But when it does go fully live, you'll just need to sign in with your Nintendo account. 

Source: Polygon 

You can now buy Snap's Spectacles via Amazon

After a gimmicky release through pop-up vending machines and direct orders online, Snap is now ready to sell Spectacles to a lot more users. The wearables are now available through Amazon. Its three colors—black, teal, and coral—are available. Snap is selling them directly for the usual US$129.99 price tag and Amazon fulfills the order. The glasses are eligible for next-day delivery. 

Spectacles is Snap's first foray into hardware manufacturing and it lets users record 10- to 30-second clips, which can be uploaded to your Snapchat account, another social media app, or be exported to your camera roll. 

Source: The Verge