LG’s trio of soundbars look to impress with Google Assistant and Dolby Atmos

LG

Ahead of CES 2019 in January, LG announced three new soundbars: the SL10YG, SL9YG, and SL8YG.

All three soundbars were developed in conjunction with Meridian Sound, an English manufacturer known for its high-fidelity audio and video components. LG calls out three features: Bass and Space, Image Elevation, and Upmix.

Bass and Space supposedly improves the soundstage with added bass. Image Elevation creates an imaginary 3D space that emits sound to “lift” the soundstage. Finally, Upmix takes two-channel audio and makes it sound like multi-channel audio without noise or distortion.

LG specifically calls out the SL9YG, which features a built-in gyroscope that determines how you orient the soundbar. The SL9YG then adjusts the sound output accordingly.

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The SL10YG, SL9YG, and SL8YG also support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for surround sound. LG will offer a wireless rear speaker kit that should increase the bass output.

Lastly, all three soundbars feature built-in Google Assistant functionality. That means the soundbars listen to voice commands and act as smart home hubs that can control other connected devices.

LG didn’t say how much the soundbars cost or when they’ll launch. That said, LG will show them off during CES and might have more information to share then.

Source: Android Zone

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Snowden: ‘Get rid of Dropbox.’ Here’s the alternative he recommends

A few years back, Edward Snowden picked something of a fight with cloud storage mogul Dropbox in an interview with the New Yorker.

It’s a lengthy interview, but the meat of the matter that we’re addressing today comes at 1:04:55.

We’re talking about encryption. We’re talking about dropping programs that are hostile to privacy. For example, Dropbox? Get rid of Dropbox, it doesn’t support encryption, it doesn’t protect your private files. And use competitors like SpiderOak, that do the same exact service but they protect the content of what you’re sharing. -Edward Snowden

Dropbox fired back that all data was encrypted while “in transit,” but SpiderOak encrypts your files even while they’re on your device in addition to while they’re in transit.

Many privacy enthusiasts, out of respect for Snowden’s opinion and expertise, flocked to SpiderOak… only to balk at its hefty $260/year price tag.

The reason that we’re circling back to this topic today is that SpiderOak is currently running a special through TechDeals on their 2TB 1-Year Cloud Storage Subscription. Now you can gain access to “the most secure cloud storage provider out there” for just $39.99.

At 84% off, we’re calling this one a no-brainer.

SpiderOak ONE in a Glance:

• Get 2TB of cloud storage from SpiderOak ONE
• Recovery feature can restore your data to its proper state before ransomware hits
• Seamlessly sync data between all of your devices, regardless of operating system
• Share files securely w/ others through a web-based interface
• Create temporary, self-destructing links to single files in your backup
• SpiderOak ONE maintains no knowledge of your password, any data stored on their servers, or the metadata associated w/ your files

Interested in upping your privacy game? Start operating like Snowden and keep your files secure on and off your devices. Click the button below to learn more about SpiderOak!

Check it Out

The AAPicks team writes about things we think you’ll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.

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Source: Android Zone

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Reply is working on bringing Smart Reply to all messaging apps

• Smart Reply is an AI-based feature in some of Google’s messaging apps that helps craft replies to messages automatically
• Google’s internal incubator is working to expand the functionality into other major chat apps.
• No release date is currently known, but users can fill out a form for a chance to beta test the feature.

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If you happen to use Gmail, Inbox, Google Allo, or Android Messages on Project Fi, you no doubt know (and love!) Smart Reply. You know those boxes that pop up when you are composing a reply to a message and make suggestions what to say? That’s Smart Reply in action, and it’s going to start rolling out to chat platforms in the future.

Smart Reply is an AI-based feature that runs within the app. It scans the message you are replying to and takes into account other factors like your current location, what’s in your Google Calendar, the time of day, and even the weather, and then suggests applicable replies that you can tap and automatically fill in.

For example, if you are replying to an email that includes the phrase “Is Tuesday good for you?” Smart Reply will scan your calendar, see that Tuesday is totally open, and then make suggested replies, like, “Tuesday works for me,” or “Let me get back to you.”

Google’s internal incubator, Area 120, is working hard to incorporate this functionality into chat apps such as Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Android Messages (for all carriers), Skype, Twitter DMs, and Slack. The newly announced project is simply called “Reply” and will be initially available to Android users. You can fill out this form for a chance to beta test Reply once it’s available.

Area 120’s vision is to have Reply take over all the busy work when it comes to responding to messages of all kinds. An example would be receiving messages while driving; using your phone’s GPS and Bluetooth sensors, Smart Reply would know you are in your car. When a text comes during your trip, it would mute the notification and automatically respond with, “I am driving right now and will respond to you when I get to my destination,” or something along those lines.

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There would also be a vacation responder that would automatically reply while you are in an area without cell service for an extended period. Smart Reply would even be able to break out of your phone’s silent mode if a message came in that seemed urgent, such as, “We’re all here, where are you?” or “I am in the dungeon of the castle, my name is Zelda, please help me.”

Smart Reply first appeared in the mobile app Inbox two years ago. While the Inbox app is still available in the Google Play Store, many of its features have been rolled into the official Gmail app.

Google oversees the Area 120 incubator team, but its work is not actually under Google’s control. As such, Google confirmed Reply experimentation is ongoing, but wouldn’t give any details such as who is on the Area 120 team or when the product might start to launch. But get excited: replying to messages will eventually get a whole lot easier.

Source: Android Zone

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