The Morning After: Amazon put Alexa in everything
And Facebook's brand new world of VR.
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
Wednesday events for Amazon and Facebook gave us visions of the world each company sees us living in. Naturally, each one includes plugging into lots of their stuff. When you're done tripping over the latest Alexa-enabled tchotchke, then it's time to consider finally getting a projector.
These are all of the Alexa devices Amazon unveiled
Amazon's annual hardware deluge enveloped us Wednesday, as it revealed a slew of Echo devices, Alexa-powered wearables, Ring's first indoor security cam and a new smart oven. Oh, and that's not all -- now Alexa can speak to you using a celebrity's voice, and Samuel L. Jackson is first on the list. This is the quick and thorough roundup you've been looking for.
Did Nicole Lee ever actually escape Amazon's hardware showcase, or has she, like Samuel L., been synthesized and replaced by Alexa? If so, you can honor her sacrifice by checking out these first-hand impressions of new Alexa-connected rings (Echo Loop), Alexa-connected glasses (Echo Frames), Alexa-connected earbuds (Echo Buds) and Amazon's biggest Alexa-connected speaker (Echo Studio).
'Mario Kart Tour' is a simple racer surrounded by free-to-play complexity
Despite crisp visuals and simple controls, Nick Summers found Nintendo's mobile Mario Kart game mired in "a joyless web of free-to-play systems." Pity.
Facebook lays out its vision of our communal VR future
Amazon wasn't the only company with an event on Wednesday. Facebook's Oculus Connect 6 served as a preview of new VR headset capabilities, as well as an opportunity to demonstrate the new forms of social interaction made possible by photo-realistic avatars and virtual spaces. We could be living in an entirely new reality soon, and Facebook wants to own all of it.
How and why to buy a projector in 2019
You may think of projectors as either expensive, dim or janky, but with the latest technology, that's all changed. It's possible nowadays to find reasonably bright 4K HDR projectors with near theater-quality images for $1,500 or less. Before you start running to the store for popcorn, it's important to learn a few things and beware of the pitfalls, so we're here to help.
But wait, there's more...
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