Movado unveils first Android Wear 2.0 watch

Luxury mechanical watchmaker Movado’s first Android Wear 2.0 watch has made its debut at Baselworld 2017. And as The Verge points out, it looks pretty much like a typical Movado timepiece. The Movado Connect features the iconic single dot used as a 12 o’clock indicator and a clean, simple-looking case. Its custom watchface looks just like the company’s Museum model.

Movado won’t spill the beans about hardware yet so we can’t compare its specs with its competitors. The smartwatch is set to debut in the fall and it’ll come in five different men’s styles. Pricing will start at US$495. Movado's previous smartwatch effort was in collaboration with HP.

The new @Movado Connect. Iconic design. Powered by #AndroidWear. #Baselworld2017 pic.twitter.com/61aLczsoUc

— Android Wear (@AndroidWear) March 24, 2017

Facebook Messenger app gets mentions and reactions

You’re familiar with reactions on Facebook’s main app, right? Well, that feature is making its way to Messenger in hopes of making it easier to communicate in group messages within the app. Aside from that, the social network is also introducing an @ mentions system, too. When it comes to reactions you get all the ones you see on Facebook itself plus a new thumbs down option. This gives you one more option to react using emojis within Messenger. Who says you need words these days?

Now, if you’re in a big group chat and want to call out a specific person, you can just type in the @symbol to notify them to join the conversation. The person you mention will get a notification to join said conversation. This message will be highlighted in blue to help catch them easily. These new features are said to be coming to Messenger real soon.

Source: Android Central + Wired

Automatic captioning system on YouTube now identifies sound effects

While limited, YouTube is venturing out of just automatically captioning what’s being spoken. Google’s technology is now able to caption three specific sounds: [LAUGHTER], [APPLAUSE], and [MUSIC]. YouTube concentrated on these three first because these are exactly the sounds most video producers manually caption in their clips. These three are considered to be “relatively unambiguous” as compared to the sounds lie [RING], which as Google engineer Sourish Chauduri points out, can refer to the ringing of a bell, alarm, or phone. If you’re curious about how the company managed to do so with its tech. You can read more about it in detail in this link. You can see it in action in the video embedded above. Just make sure to click the CC button to see the sound effect captioning system at work.

Samsung and SickKids hope to bring a piece of home in new interactive Space

The Samsung Space is an interactive digital environment that will provide a variety of immersive experiences through the Samsung connected ecosystem, bringing visitors closer to what matters to them. (CNW Group/Samsung Electronics Canada)

There is no place like home for children. But when your child is suffering from an illness, you tend to spend a lot of time in the hospital. Samsung Electronics Canada and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) hopes to ease things somehow with a new interactive digital environment right in the hospital. Located on the 9^th floor of SickKids, the Samsung Space offers the children and their families things like a 75-inch SUHD TV for movie nights, a number of GearVR virtual reality headsets, Gear360 cameras, Galaxy Tab E devices, Galaxy View devices, and a Synced Interactive Table to let visitors play with their favourite apps and games.

Samsung Space will be open six days a week for in-patients and their loved ones to help provide a sense of normalcy for them. It is part of Samsung’s global philanthropic “Hope for Children” program as well as the company’s ongoing, multi-year partnership with SickKids.