Month: April 2019

Study suggests that Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant is most used voice assistants

CompuScoop Staff April 29, 2019 0

A Microsoft study suggests that Apple's Siri is on par with Google Assistant for worldwide usage, despite the latter being available on a wider range of devices.

Both voice assistants ranked at 36 percent in a whitepaper based on two online surveys. The first ran from March to June 2018, considering over 2,000 responses in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and India. The second was U.S.-only, but tapped some 5,000 people in February 2019.

Amazon Alexa managed second place in the study at 25 percent, followed by 19 percent for Microsoft's Cortana. Few speakers support Cortana, but the assistant is built into anything with Windows 10.

The predominance of Siri and Google Assistant is due to their native presence on smartphones. Alexa is the commanding player in the world of smartspeakers, but has relatively little footprint on phones — people typically have to install the Alexa app on their own.

Privacy is the overriding concern most people have with AI assistants, Microsoft noted. In overlapping figures, 52 percent of respondents said they felt their personal data was insecure, and 41 percent worried that speakers were actively listening and recording. 36 percent said they didn't want personal data being used, and 31 percent believed their information isn't being kept private.

Apple has held privacy as a key selling point of its devices, including the HomePod. The product managed just 1.6 percent of the global smartspeaker market in the December quarter however, likely held back by its pricetag. Until this month a single HomePod was $349 from Apple, and it's still $299 — that compares against $49 entry points for Amazon and Google. A rumored low-cost HomePod model has yet to surface.

Via: AppleInsider.com

Apple cracks down on screen-time and parental-control applications

CompuScoop Staff April 29, 2019 0

“They all tell a similar story: They ran apps that helped people limit the time they and their children spent on iPhones,” Jack Nicas reports for The New York Times. “Then Apple created its own screen-time tracker. And then Apple made staying in business very, very difficult.”

“Over the past year, Apple has removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded screen-time and parental-control apps, according to an analysis by The New York Times and Sensor Tower, an app-data firm,” Nicas reports. “Apple has also clamped down on a number of lesser-known apps… Some app makers with thousands of paying customers have shut down. Most others say their futures are in jeopardy.”

“On Thursday, two of the most popular parental-control apps, Kidslox and Qustodio, filed a complaint with the European Union’s competition office. Kidslox said business had plummeted since Apple forced changes to its app that made it less useful than Apple’s tool,” Nicas reports. “‘We treat all apps the same, including those that compete with our own services,’ said Tammy Levine, an Apple spokeswoman. ‘Our incentive is to have a vibrant app ecosystem that provides consumers access to as many quality apps as possible.’ She said the timing of Apple’s moves were not related to its debut of similar tools.”

“Last year, the company stopped apps from using the software to enable parents to control their children’s devices. The Apple spokeswoman said Applehad blocked the practice because app makers could gain access to too much information on the children’s devices.”

Read more in the full article here.

How to sign an email on iPad

Dan Uff April 28, 2019 0

Sending emails seem so generic. Wouldn't it be neat if you can actually add your signature to an email? You can, on an iPhone or iPad.

Here's how:

Create an email message as normal.
At the end of the email, hold your finger on the screen until a menu pops up.
Select "Insert Drawing".
The default iPad note app comes up.
Sign your name (either with your finger or an Apple Pencil).
Select "Done"
Your signature will appear at the end of the email.
When you're done, tap Send as normal.
That's it.

You can also sign documents that were emailed to you. Watch it here.

Robber steals iPhone out of the hands of a 5 year old boy walking with grandmother in Flushing, Queens, New York

Dan Uff April 27, 2019 0

FLUSHING, Queens (WABC) -- Police are looking for the robber who stole an iPhone right out of the hand of a 5-year-old boy in Queens.

The incident happened April 19 on 166th Street in Flushing.

According to the NYPD, the boy was walking with his grandmother and was holding her iPhone in his hand.

A man approached the boy and snatched the phone away, then ran southbound on 166th Street toward 27th Avenue.

The boy was not hurt.

Police have released surveillance images of the suspect, who they describe as a black male, 18-years-old, last seen wearing a black jacket and dark pants.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

You can see a picture of the guy by clicking here.