Samsung steps up Personal Assistant game with acquisition of VIV

“Viv was built with both consumers and developers in mind. This dual focus is also what attracted us to Viv as an ideal candidate to integrate with Samsung home appliances, wearables and more, as the paradigm of how we interact with technology shifts to intelligent interfaces and voice control.”

Artificial Intelligence and personal assistants are going to play a big part of our mobile future. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai said as much during his keynote early this week by stating that A.I.-first will be the future and this interface goes beyond displays and moves into the realm of voice assistants.

Apple was an innovator in this space with Siri and has slowly placed Siri beyond the iPhone and iPad and into the Apple TV, CarPlay and now on macOS Sierra. The company that created Siri spun off from Apple some time ago and created a new assistant called VIV who is more extensible than Siri and can work with more services and apps. Viv was just purchased by Samsung for an undisclosed amount.

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Smart thermometer offers contact-free readings, app and Apple Watch integration

Created by technology company Zeraph, the Flo smart thermometer says it offers a non-invasive, fast and accurate way to measure a child’s temperature; it is so simple to use it won’t wake a sleeping baby. Simply hold Flo above your loved one’s forehead and it will tell you their temperature. 

“There is nothing more difficult than getting a sick child to fall asleep, so as parents, we never want to wake them back up,” said Eddie Cheung, co-founder of Flo. Taking away contact also removes the risk of spreading bacteria, making temperature monitoring safer and healthier. 

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Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto Mods now available in Canada

Lenovo's latest flagship smartphone, the Moto Z and its midrange Moto Z Play, as well as various Moto Mods are now available in Canada.

Moto is pleased to announce Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto Mods are now available at a number of carriers and retailers in Canada. This brings one of the most innovative devices and the one viable modular smartphone platform to Canada. Below is availability and pricing details information for the devices.

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Heart-wrenching game ‘That Dragon, Cancer’ is now on iOS

Delving into the human experience and one of the toughest things we can go through, That Dragon, Cancer is now available on iOS. The game, which first launched on the PC and Mac back in early January, is a semi-autobiographical game developed by Ryan and Amy Green that deals with their son Joel’s battle with cancer. Ryan and Amy worked with a small team from Numinous Games on the game that has a series of interactive vignettes showing Joel’s life before and during the heartbreaking ordeal. Unfortunately, Joel didn’t live to see the game finished.

Aside from the mobile version of That Dragon, Cancer, a PBS special called Thank You for Playing is airing on PBS in the US on October 24.

Source: The Verge