TELUS to carry the Alcatel LUME and GO FI

Two new Alcatel products will be carried by TELUS exclusively: the LUME smartphone and GO FI pocket Wi-Fi. According to Alcatel, the LUME is a pocket- and wallet-friendly smartphone with a 4-inch display. It’s powered by a quad-core processor that’ll be able to take you from work to play. If you’re feeling playful, it comes with exclusive Polaroid filters (specifically, 17 different effects and 13 frame styles). The GO FI, on the other hand, helps boost your connectivity while on the move. It promises 4G LTE data with download speeds of up to 150Mbps and the ability to connect up to 15 different Wi-Fi-enabled devices. To manage connected devices, the GO FI works with the Alcatel Onetouch Smart Link, an app that works with both iOS and Android devices, The GO FI promises to work for up to seven hours of continuous use.

As mentioned both products will be available through TELUS, with the GO FI coming on October 7 and the LUME becoming available starting October 12. The LUME will also be available at Koodo Shops.

Meet Sony’s new powerful shooters

Sony has new powerful cameras for both ɑ and RX fans. The new ɑ camera is the ɑ6500, which comes with the same 4D FOCUS system of the ɑ6300. Like the ɑ6300, this new interchangeable lens camera has 425 phase detection AF points and can shoot up to 11 frames per second with continuous autofocus and exposure tracking and up to 8fps in a live-view shooting mode. This model can shoot at high speeds for up to 307 frames. The ɑ6500 also has an in-camera 5-axis optical image stabilization, touchscreen AF, and 4K movie recording capabilities.  The ɑ6500 has an APS-C-sized 24.2-megapixel Exmor CMOS sensor with a BIONZ X image processor. This camera also comes with Wi-Fi, QR, and NFC compatibility and retails for $1,750.

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Duolingo introduces AI-powered chatbots

Free language-learning platform Duolingo is helping language learners practice their new skills with the use of chatbots. The service gets three language “tutors” in the iOS app that you can text back and forth for practice. There’s Renèe the Driver, Chef Roberto, and Officer Ada to help you practice French, Spanish, and German. Duolingo promises to add more languages in the future but that’ll depend on demand. And since these chatbots are powered by artificial intelligence, the more you use them, the smarter they get. Chatbots have been gaining popularity in the recent months but are far from being polished products yet. It’s good to see them being used in more and more services to hopefully stabilize and improve them.

Prince’s Paisley Park launches Social Media accounts

The Purple Rain room from Paisley Park - Photo courtesy of TodayBremer Trust, the special administrator for the Prince estate, announced today that new Paisley Park social media accounts will be launched on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for millions of Prince fans around the world, as Paisley Park prepares to open for its first day of public tours today, October 6.

The Facebook page Facebook.com/OfficialPaisleyPark, the Twitter account @PaisleyPark, and the Instagram account Instagram.com/OfficialPaisleyPark will be the online hub for fans worldwide, enabling fans to honor and celebrate Prince by sharing their memories, photos and videos. Fan artwork will have its own dedicated digital hub called “The Fence,” located on the Official Paisley Park Facebook page as a Facebook tab, which will showcase and memorialize extraordinary art created and shared by fans around the world. Fans can go to Facebook.com/OfficialPaisleyPark starting today to submit their own original artwork and to see artwork and tributes created by fans and admirers of one of the greatest and most beloved artists of all time.

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