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Spotify's Premium Family plans get an explicit content filter
Spotify is rolling out a new Premium Family Plan with a much-awaited setting. Parents will now have the ability to filter out songs with swearing, violence, drugs and more via an explicit content filter that can be applied to individual accounts. That feature was surprisingly lacking on a plan with the word "family" in it, considering that it might be used by young children who thought "Snoop Dogg" was some kind of cartoon.
Samsung updates Family Hub smart fridge with new UI
Samsung is adding more features to its Family Hub smart refrigerator, and the company claims its latest version is more intelligent than any other. Family Hub 2019 includes a redesigned screen experience and Samsung says users will be able to ask difficult questions in natural language. Answers are powered by Bixby and the assistant will also let Family Hub users preset the oven, search for recipes and call an Uber through voice control. Bixby will also display relevant information on the Family Hub screen.
Samsung's Bixby-powered Family Hub fridge is great at blasting tunes
The company is eagerly trying to squeeze Bixby into just about everything, and its latest Family Hub fridge is no exception. Now, this isn't the first time we've had the opportunity to yell at a refrigerator -- that was last year -- but Samsung promises we'll soon be able to ask for daily rundowns and control SmartThings-compatible gadgets, like connected lights and thermostats. In other words, you can expect the full-blown Bixby experience, not just the limited list of voice commands we got last time.
Samsung adds Bixby voice control to its Family Hub smart fridge
Samsung is fulfilling its promise of spreading Bixby beyond mobile devices -- it just unveiled a Family Hub 3.0 refrigerator whose star attraction is (you guessed it) Bixby voice control. The company hasn't said exactly what its in-house voice assistant allows, but it will personalize responses to individual voices: you can ask what's new and get your personal calendar and news updates.
Samsung's virtual assistant might live in your fridge
Whatever you think of the Bixby assistant in Samsung's Galaxy S8, you're about to see a lot more of it. According to Pulse, the company is outfitting its Family Hub 2.0 refrigerators with the AI helper, including both newly shipping fridges and existing units through an update. And while Bixby's voice control is still largely unavailable on the S8, it'll reportedly be a staple feature here -- you could ask about the weather, search for a recipe or play music while you're prepping your next meal.
Order around this Samsung refrigerator with your voice
Home appliances may not be the most exciting side of CES, but every year massive companies like LG and Samsung show off weird additions to the vast range of refrigerators, washing machines and other exciting devices. Take Samsung's "Family Hub 2.0" refrigerator, for example: This massive monolith has a 21.5-inch touchscreen built into it for playing video and audio, leaving your family notes and to-dos, ordering groceries, looking up recipes and much, much more.
Samsung goes big on smart fridges with 10 new models
Samsung must have done alright with its crazy WiFi-connected smart fridges last year, because it's launching six more in 2017, for a total of 10. That includes both three-door, four-door and four-door "flex" models with dual freezers (shown above). It's also updated the fridge's OS to Family Hub 2.0 with a new interface that lets everyone have a profile, complete with avatar. From there, you can share photos, calendars and handwritten memos on your fridge's giant 21.5-inch LED touchscreen. Voice control and entertainment apps like Pandora are on offer as well.
You can order groceries from the door of Samsung's new fridge
When Samsung announced its latest smart refrigerator earlier this week, we were intrigued. After the company demoed the appliance during its CES press conference, we had to stop and take a look. If you missed the initial news, the new Family Hub fridge is packed with tech. The first thing you notice is the 21.5-inch display in the door, and that screen is the centerpiece of the Tizen-based system. As you might expect, you can mirror what's on your TV or stream music from the likes of Pandora, but entertainment options are actually the less exciting features.
