Roku to Chime in With Voice-Controlled Assistant

HIGHLIGHTS

Roku made the announcement on Wednesday
The move is an attempt to catch up with Google, Apple, Amazon
It currently offers very basic voice controls

Roku plans to add a voice-controlled digital assistant to its streaming TV players in an attempt to catch up with Google, Apple, and Amazon.

Roku's voice capabilities are currently limited to performing search requests and launching apps. The assistant will be able to field broader requests about video, music and other tasks tied to entertainment.

Still, that's a much narrower scope than the assistants already available from its bigger rivals in the battle to build digital command centres in people's homes. Google's Assistant, Apple's Siri, and Amazon's Alexa can perform tasks and control appliances that have nothing do with entertainment.

Roku could fall even further behind before its assistant reaches homes. Although it was announced Wednesday, the assistant won't be released until this fall as part of a software update.

By the time that its assistant comes out, Roku hopes to have an array of agreements to license its software to the manufacturers of smart speakers, sound bars and other audio devices.

Roku also announced its plans to wirelessly connect its video players with sound systems Wednesday, expanding upon the partnerships that it already has forged with television manufacturers during the past five years.

TCL will be the first manufacturer to design a sound system tied to Roku's video players. More details about that device will be released next week when Roku and other technology companies gather for a major electronics show in Las Vegas - CES 2018.

Comments

World’s first sex shop shuts down, declares bankruptcy

Germany’s pioneering sex shop chain, Beate Uhse, said Friday that it has filed for insolvency, as the empire started by a female World War II pilot fails to rise to the challenge posed by erotic e-commerce. In its hey day, the group sold lingerie, erotic films and sex products. Uhse began her foray into erotic business in 1946, when she put together a pamphlet called “Document X” describing how women could avoid pregnancy. In post-war Germany, her advice was in high demand and she sold thousands of copies of her brochures. The mail order business thrived and the former fighter pilot and member of the Luftwaffe opened in 1962 her first shop in the German town of Flensburg. Named Institute of Marital Hygiene, the store selling lingerie and contraceptives became the world’s first sex shop. Her activities often ran counter to the morality of post-war Germany and she was called before the courts in thousands of legal suits filed against her. Yet she remained frank and unashamed about...

John McCain has brain cancer, his office says.

Veteran US Republican Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options, according to his office. The options may include chemotherapy and radiation, his doctors said. The 80-year-old politician is in "good spirits" recovering at home. The tumour was discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week. A Vietnam veteran, Mr McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. The six-term senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate underwent surgery at a clinic in Phoenix, in the state of Arizona, last Friday. Tissue analysis revealed that a primary brain tumour known as glioblastoma was associated with the clot, a statement from the Mayo Clinic said. "The senator's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and his underlying health is excellent," it added.

When will President Buhari be considered incapacitated?

AT the homestretch of the 2015 presidential election, the Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election campaign team challenged then candidate Muhammadu Buhari to a sport contest. When the gauntlet was left unpicked, the team in a follow up, set the internet abuzz with the juxtaposition of the pictures of President Jonathan and members of his Federal Executive Council jogging and that of not-too-good- looking candidate Buhari. The challenge which came on the heels of simmering conjectures on the health condition of candidate Buhari was aimed at passing one message which is: President Jonathan is healthier than candidate Buhari to carry out the duties of the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But was “health” given a premium in the election? The vuvuzelas of the opposition party was so fortissimo that not even the yawping of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state could be heard. They rally-cried “Nigeria sai changi” and people responded wi...

hakdown07

Search This Blog