Day: October 2, 2018

Once Voice Access is activated, you’ll see numbers next to everything on your screen that you can interact with. And you can opt to issue a command using what that numbered item is — like a save button or an options menu — or you can use the number itself, like by saying “click 7,” for example. You can even ask what the number is labeling if you’re unsure of what it is.

Among the available commands are general instructions like “go back,” “show notifications” and “go home.” You can also tell your device to turn on the WiFi or Bluetooth, adjust the volume, open an app or turn off. And when composing text, you can use Voice Access to type, replace, delete, select, cut, copy or paste words, letters and phrases. There’s also the option of formatting certain types of text like email addresses.

Stefanie Putnam, a quadriplegic that worked with the Google Accessibility team on Voice Access said, “After using this product for probably about 10 seconds, I think I’m falling in love with it. You use your voice and you’re able to access the world. It has become a huge staple in my life.” Google also says that while the feature is useful for those with mobility limitations, it could also be desirable for those who are just juggling multiple actions at once and could use some hands-free control.

Voice Access is available now globally, though it currently only supports English commands. Microsoft says it’s adding additional language support in the future. You can download Voice Access through Google Play, find out how to set it up here and learn more about the available commands here.

The main draw for Amazon is the advertising revenue that such a service would bring in. While Amazon is now the third-largest digital advertiser, it’s still well behind Google and Facebook in that space, and an ad-supported streaming service could help the company capture more of that market. The new service will reportedly allow for ads both in between content and wrapped around an embedded video player, and advertisers will be able to target their ads using Amazon’s proprietary data.

The service will reportedly be announced as part of Advertising Week.

The aforementioned trackers are a new Tile Mate and a new Tile Pro. The new Tile Mate has an improved Bluetooth range of 150 feet, and is also 50 percent louder than its predecessor. As for the new Tile Pro, that now has 300 feet of range (100 more than the original Pro), and is also 50 percent louder than last year’s model. Flip both of them over, and you’ll see that both have tiny compartments, each housing regular coin cell batteries. The Tile Mate uses a CR1632 model while the Tile Pro uses a CR2032. (We should note here that Tile still sells the Slim, which doesn’t have a replaceable battery. Tile says it’s a bit too thin for that.)

According to Tile, the batteries in both of the models are guaranteed to last at least 12 months each. Just like it does now with the older Tiles, the Tile app will let you know when the batteries are running low. Of course, since the new Tiles use ordinary coin cells, you can just go out and buy the replacement batteries yourself, without having to involve Tile in the process.

But if you’re particularly lazy, or you just happen to own a lot of Tile trackers, you can also sign up for an optional Tile Premium service. For $30 a year (or $3 a month if you’d rather go the monthly route), you will get automatic battery replacement every year for an unlimited number of Tile trackers. This means that every time the app detects that your tracker is running low, it’ll automatically send you a new battery without you having to do anything.

Even if you weren’t to get the new Tile trackers, there are other benefits with the Premium subscription. The service extends the warranty of Tile products from one year to three, and you can also now share a Tile tracker with an unlimited number of people — in case your soccer team shares a communal bag, for example. Another subscriber-only feature is Smart Alerts, where you can set it so that you’ll be alerted whenever you leave the house without certain Tiled items. Other Premium features include a up to 30-days location history and Premium Care tech support.

According to Tile, the Premium service supports all existing Tile trackers as well as partner products like Bose and Skullcandy earbuds (it’s just that the battery replacement plan only works with the new Tile trackers). The new Tile Mate is priced at $25 while the Tile Pro will cost $35 (the Pro comes in a white and black version). Both products are available today. As for the Premium service, you can sign up for a one-month free trial starting today as well.