Google Assistant offers second voice option in nine countries

Unfortunately, it isn't available here yet. But it'll be coming to nine other countries for the first time. The US is the first country to get a second option. Now there are new voices available for Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Norwegian in their respective countries. India and the UK get new English voices. When a user sets up a new Android phone, the default voice will be chosen at random. But users do have the option to change that later.

The voices are built with DeepMind's WaveNet technology to help make these sound natural. Instead of making the traditional female-sounding voice the default, Google is moving away from assigning genders to the system. Alternatively, the new voices will be referred to by colours. One is called red, and another is called orange. And the order they will be presented in is randomized. Google started this last year in the US with Google Nest and Home devices. 

Source: The Verge + Engadget

PopSockets turns to beverages with PopThirst line

You know PopSockets for its smartphone accessories. The unusual little retractable phone holder generated US$90 million in profit in 2018 for the company. But now the company is setting its sights on a new industry: beverages. It's now making drink holders. The cup sleeve comes with the pop-out gripper, and it works for both hot and cold drinks. And in typical PopSockets fashion, it's available in different styles. The PopThirst can holder and cup sleeves are available for US$15 over at its site.

Source: TechCrunch

JustWatch shows you Disney+'s roster ahead of launch

Perhaps you're still mulling over whether or not to subscribe to Disney+ when it launches. You can get a quick peek into what past Disney-owned shows and films are coming through JustWatch. The website has a new Disney+ guide that shows most of the titles coming to Disney+ when it launches on November 12th. The movies and shows are arranged in an easy-to-browse, aesthetically pleasing way. And when you select a title, you'll get the general information like the synopsis of the movie or tv show, the cast, ratings from services like Rotten Tomatoes, a list of places where you can buy the content, and the runtime. 

If you want to create your list of programs to see, you have to create a JustWatch account. What isn't available there right now are the new shows or movies. You won't see info on The Mandalorian just yet.

Source: Lifehacker

Google confirms new orange Pixel 4 colour with Times Square billboard ad

We've seen a leak of the rumoured orange version of the Pixel 4. But now Google itself confirms the existence of the new Pixel 4 colour. It does so in the most obvious way it could: through a billboard on Times Square. Aside from learning about the new colour, we now know that the Pixel 4 is coming on October 15th. What isn't clear at the moment is if this new colour will be available for both the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL. The other colour options of the Pixel we've seen going around are black and white, which we have seen in past models. 

Source: Reddit