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amazon’s-new-echo-show-8-is-a-little-faster-and-has-a-better-camera

Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 is a little faster and has a better camera

Amazon’s midsize Echo Show 8 is the best smart display in its lineup. It is larger and more capable than the diminutive Echo Show 5, while costing far less than the larger Echo Show 10. The Echo Show 8 is handy for watching video, listening to music, getting weather reports, controlling smart home devices, making video calls, and more.

So it’s no surprise that the second-generation model, which sells for $129.99 and is shipping this week, doesn’t rock the boat. It’s largely the same smart display as before but with slightly faster performance and an improved video calling camera. It has the same display, same design, same speaker system, and the same set of features as its predecessor.

Improving the video calling capabilities makes sense, given how much video calling has been done while everyone was (and for large part, still is) stuck at home during the pandemic. The new Echo Show 8 borrows the 13-megapixel camera from the flagship Echo Show 10, replacing the pathetically low-resolution, mediocre 1-megapixel camera that was in the first gen. As before, there’s a mechanical privacy shutter you can slide in front of the camera to both disable it and block its view.

The improvements in video calls are immediately noticeable. You can use the Echo Show for video calls to the Alexa app on phones or other Echo Show devices, or you can join Skype, Zoom, or Amazon’s Chime calls from it. In my testing with Zoom calls, the image is much sharper and more pleasant to look at, with better color and much more detail.

The Echo Show 8 doesn’t have the motorized base on the bigger Echo Show 10, but it still can automatically frame you and follow you around as you move thanks to its high resolution. The autoframing isn’t as good as the new iPad Pro’s Center Stage feature, and it moves much slower and tends to constantly reframe itself, like you’re the star of a Ken Burns documentary. But the Echo Show is a $130 smart display, not an $800 tablet, so it’s hard to complain, so long as you stay relatively still during video calls. If you don’t want the camera to autoframe, you can say “Alexa follow off” to disable it.

You can use the Echo Show 8 for Zoom calls, but it works best for one-on-one calling, not groups

That said, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. The new camera has a much wider-angle lens, which allows it to do those auto-framing tricks. But it can also cause the image to look distorted at times and isn’t always very flattering.

The Echo Show 8’s eight-inch display works fine for one-on-one video calls, but it’s too small to comfortably use for a group call. If you are on a call where someone is sharing a screen, it’s hard to see what’s happening, and while you can view messages posted to a chat, you can’t type any out yourself on the Echo Show’s display. Joining Zoom calls can be done entirely by voice, but it’s much easier to call up the Zoom app on the Echo Show by saying “Alexa, open Zoom” and then typing in a meeting code or starting one yourself from the touchscreen.

I also observed an echo of my own voice in several Zoom calls, both with individuals and group calls, which made it hard to use the Echo Show for anything work related. Other parties on the line also said there was an annoying echo of my voice whenever I unmuted my mic. Amazon says it is looking into this problem and I will update this review if a solution is found.

The new processor in the second-gen Echo Show 8 does make the smart display respond quicker to taps and swipes than its predecessor. It’s not a huge difference, and Amazon’s software still has a long way to go to make it more useful via touch, but when compared side by side, the new one opens menus and screens quicker.

Elsewhere, the changes are either nonexistent or very minor. The wedge-shaped design is exactly the same; you can still get it in the same white or black color options as before. (Annoyingly, both colors come with a white power cord.)

The display has the same 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, but now it can adjust its color and white balance to the lighting in the room. Like the new processor, the difference isn’t huge, but the new model is slightly warmer and more pleasant to look at when the adaptive color setting is enabled. I’m still more impressed by the ability of Google’s Nest Hub to mimic the look of a printed photo by adapting its color to the lighting in the room.

The dual-driver speaker system is unchanged and it’s as loud and full sounding as the first gen. The Echo Show 8 can fill a small room with sound surprisingly well, and its bass response is better than expected. At times, it might even sound too bassy, but you can adjust the EQ in the Alexa app easily enough to compensate for that. Unfortunately, Amazon dropped the 3.5mm output jack on the back of the new model, so it’s not possible to hook it up to a larger speaker system with a wire.

You can watch Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix on the Echo Show, but Disney Plus, Peacock, HBO Max, and many other streaming services aren’t available. YouTube is available through the Echo Show’s Silk browser, but it’s not as seamless of an experience as available on Google’s Nest Hub, and you can’t easily cast videos from your phone to the Show’s screen.

The Echo Show 8’s software is the same as what debuted on the Echo Show 10 earlier this year. Amazon is starting to make better use of the display, with split screens that show weather data alongside news, but it still feels very much like a voice-first device. Though the new Echo Show 8 is faster, it’s still a chore to tap through all of the screens to get to the smart home controls, and managing what shows up in the rotating information screens on the display requires a lot of menu diving and trial and error to get what you want. (And even then, you’ll still probably get nagged about new Alexa Skills or other Amazon promotions you don’t care about.)

There are of course many, many other things you can do with an Echo Show smart display — far too many to cover in the scope of this review. The things that I find it most useful for are weather reports, managing a grocery shopping list, and viewing the video feed from a doorbell or security camera.

The Echo Show 8’s main competition is the second-gen Nest Hub from Google, which has a slightly smaller seven-inch screen and costs $30 less. The Nest Hub supports more video streaming services, has a more useful touch interface, can track your sleep, and works with the Google Assistant instead of Alexa. But it doesn’t have a camera for video calling, its single speaker is blown away by the Echo Show’s dual speakers, and it’s much slower and laggy to use. Ultimately, the choice comes down to how you want to use the smart display and which smart assistant you prefer.

Facebook’s 10-inch Portal is another option if you plan to use a smart display primarily for video calling, but it loses to the Echo Show 8 in effectively every other aspect.

If you do prefer Alexa, the new Echo Show 8 remains the best smart display to get, as it has a big enough screen to read from across the room, doubles as a great speaker, and comes with a host of camera-related features, including the aforementioned video calling and security camera features. It’s also over $100 less than the motorized Echo Show 10, while still providing many of the same features and capabilities. And given Amazon’s frequent discounts, you’ll likely be able to find the new Echo Show 8 for less than its sticker price quite often.

The new Echo Show 8 doesn’t redefine what a smart display can be, but it’s still a very good virtual assistant with a screen for an attractive price.

Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge

huge-web-outage-takes-reddit,-twitch,-and-other-big-sites-offline-for-an-hour

Huge web outage takes Reddit, Twitch, and other big sites offline for an hour

A huge global web outage swept across the internet this morning, taking out popular sites including Amazon, Twitch, and Reddit. The outages started at around 5:30AM ET, with a large number of sites affected. The Fastly content delivery network (CDN) was the source of the issues, which lasted for more than an hour.

Major news sites like CNN, The New York Times, The Guardian, and the Financial Times were also affected. The Verge was also down for more than an hour, forcing us to head into Google Docs to share the outage news with readers.

Vast chunks of the internet are offline, including The Verge. Until we’re back, we’re reporting to you live out of Google Docs. Here’s what we know so far about the outage: https://t.co/4b1p2qhYif

— The Verge (@verge) June 8, 2021

The issues also affected UK government websites, so British citizens were unable to renew passports, apply for tax allowances, or obtain driving licenses during the outage.

Fastly hasn’t commented fully on the issues other than an outage message on the company’s status page. “The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented,” said Fastly at 6:44AM ET.

apple-introduces-siri-for-third-party-devices

Apple introduces Siri for third-party devices

Siri is finally coming to third-party devices. Apple announced at its WWDC keynote that HomeKit accessory makers will be able to integrate Siri voice control into their products starting later this year. The voice assistant will be routed through a HomePod if the devices are connected to your network.

Apple hasn’t released a comprehensive list of devices and brands that will support Siri. The company demoed it on an Ecobee thermostat during its WWDC keynote presentation. It also announced support for Matter — a new interoperability standard that has big players like Amazon, Google, and Samsung on board — will come with iOS 15.

Apple also revealed a number of smaller smart home features. Home Keys, which allow you to remotely lock and unlock doors by tapping your iPhone or Apple Watch, are coming to Wallet app, as are work keys and hotel keys.

Image: Apple

The HomePod Mini will support lossless audio in Apple Music later this year and will be able to function as a speaker for the Apple TV 4K (as does the discontinued full-size HomePod). Apple also announced that the HomePod Mini will ship to more countries this month — including Austria, Ireland, and New Zealand — as well as Italy by the end of the year.

HomePods also now support commands for the Apple TV (so you can ask Siri to play shows), and SharePlay now works with Apple TV, which will enable you to watch shows synchronously with friends over FaceTime.

Speaking of Apple TV, tvOS now includes a “Share with You” row, where friends can share shows with each other via text messages. Another new row called “For All Of You” is intended to help families find shows to watch together — it will curate suggestions that combine every user’s viewing history.

Apple

And the Apple Watch now supports the HomePod’s intercom feature, which will allow you to talk to HomeKit-enabled doorbells and access package detection from your wrist. You’ll be able to control nearby HomeKit accessories in camera view.

Related:

apple’s-live-text-is-going-to-read-all-the-text-in-all-your-photos-with-ai

Apple’s Live Text is going to read all the text in all your photos with AI

Apple has announced a new feature called Live Text, which will digitize the text in all your photos. This unlocks a slew of handy functions, from turning handwritten notes into emails and messages to searching your camera roll for receipts or recipes you’ve photographed.

This is certainly not a new feature for smartphones, and we’ve seen companies like Samsung and Google offer similar tools in the past. But Apple’s implementation does look typically smooth. With Live Text, for example, you can tap on the text in any photo in your camera roll or viewfinder and immediately take action from it. You can copy and paste that text, search for it on the web, or — if it’s a phone number — call that number.

Apple says the feature is enabled using “deep neural networks” and “on-device intelligence,” with the latter being the company’s preferred phrasing for machine learning. (It stresses Apple’s privacy-heavy approach to AI, which focuses on processing data on-device rather than sending it to the cloud.)

Live Text works across iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers and supports seven languages.

In addition to extracting text from photos, iOS 15 will also allow users to search visually — a feature that sounds exactly the same as Google Lens.

Apple didn’t go into much detail about this feature during its presentation at WWDC, but said the new tool would recognize “art, books, nature, pets, and landmarks” in photos. We’ll have to test it out in person to see exactly how well it performs, but it sounds like Apple is doing much more to apply AI to users’ photos and make that information useful.

Developing… we’re adding more to this post, but you can follow along with our WWDC 2021 live blog to get the news even faster.

google-stadia-is-coming-to-chromecast-with-google-tv-and-android-tv-on-june-23rd

Google Stadia is coming to Chromecast with Google TV and Android TV on June 23rd

Google is expanding the availability of its Stadia game streaming service to more TVs and streaming devices later this month. The first version of Stadia on Chromecast with Google TV is launching on June 23rd, more than eight months after the device launched without official Stadia support.

Alongside Chromecast with Google TV support, Stadia will also be available on a number of Android TV devices on June 23rd. Not every Android TV device is supported, but Nvidia’s Shield TV devices have made the list. Here’s the official support list:

  • Chromecast with Google TV
  • Hisense Android Smart TVs (U7G, U8G, U9G)
  • Nvidia Shield TV
  • Nvidia Shield TV Pro
  • Onn FHD Streaming Stick and UHD Streaming Device
  • Philips 8215, 8505, and OLED 935 / 805 Series Android TVs
  • Xiaomi MIBOX3 and MIBOX4

If you don’t see your Android TV device listed, you may still be able to get Stadia running. You can opt into experimental support to play Stadia, just by installing the Stadia app from the Play Store and hitting continue on the opt-in screen. Android TV devices will need a compatible Bluetooth controller or Google’s own Stadia Controller to play Stadia.

first-official-images-of-honor-50-look-weirdly-like-huawei’s-p50

First official images of Honor 50 look weirdly like Huawei’s P50

Honor has released a couple of official images for its upcoming 50 series smartphone via its Weibo page and Twitter. The images focus on the rear of the phone, showing an eye-catching pair of circular camera bumps. The Honor 50 series is currently due to be announced on June 16th.

Amidst a sea of square and rectangular camera bumps, the dual circle design is an interesting look for Honor’s next flagship. It’s also a style that Honor’s former parent company Huawei is planning to use for its next flagship, the similarly-named P50. It’s possible that the two companies finalized their designs before Huawei sold off Honor late last year, but it’ll be strange to see such similar looking devices released from two distinct manufacturers within such close proximity to one another.

From the images it appears as though Honor’s next handset will have four rear cameras in total. The upper camera circle has one large lens, and it’s joined by three more on the lower bump. In contrast, Huawei’s P50 appears to have three lenses on the upper circle, and a single camera paired with a flash on the bottom.

Beyond its design, Honor’s next flagship will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G processor, will feature 100W fast charging, and will also come with a “hypercurved screen.” It may also mark the return of Google’s apps and services to Honor’s devices (including the Google Play Store) if a now-deleted tweet from the company’s German Twitter account is to be believed. Honor was prevented from including Google’s software because of sanctions placed on its former parent company Huawei, but these are believed to not apply since it became independent.

A spokesperson from Honor previously declined to comment to The Verge as to whether or not Google’s software would be available on the upcoming 50 series. But with an official launch just round the corner, we won’t have long to wait to find out.

how-to-fix-critical-process-died-errors-in-windows

How to Fix CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED Errors in Windows

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED is one of the few Windows BSODs (Blue Screens of Death) that anyone can provoke at will. If you kill the process named svchost.exe in Windows 10 (right-click in Task Manager, and pick “End process tree” from the pop-up menu), it will immediately cause the machine to crash with this very error code. Among other things, that means Windows won’t run unless the generic system process that hooks Windows services up with dynamic link libraries (DLLs) is operating. Because this is a fundamental part of how the Windows OS operates, the OS won’t work unless one (usually more) instance of this service is running (at least one for each DLL in use, in fact). 

In essence CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED signals that some process necessary to Windows proper operation has ended abruptly and unexpectedly (to the OS, anyway). I don’t recommend that users try killing svchost.exe unless they’ve saved their work, closed all open applications, and are ready for their PC to restart after the BSOD appears and the post-crash dump files are saved. 

Most Common Causes for CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED Error 

When this error occurs, numerous potential causes are worth investigating. As with most BSODs, your clearest guide to further such investigation is to consider what changed on your PC recently. Statistically, the most frequent cause of this particular stop code is a rogue update, followed by system file corruption that causes the executable for some critical system process (of which svchost.exe is a great example) to die. The list of potential causes includes:

  • Rogue update: this is a term that describes a (usually recent) Windows update such as a Cumulative Update, a security update, or some other update, that causes unwanted side effects on some PCs. If you can identify the update involved – there will usually be helpful notes in the update release notes from Microsoft. To that end, please check the update’s Knowledge Base number and read what you can find from Microsoft about that string.

    Thus, for example, you could use Google to find useful information for KB5003173 with the string: “site:Microsoft.com KB5003173” where this

    Microsoft Support note is your primary focus for follow-up. It includes a section heading that reads “Known issues in this update” where you’ll find information about known issues and potential or actual resolutions or workarounds. Third-party sources are also sometimes of interest, because they may document fixes or workarounds that Microsoft has not yet vetted and published.

    To see what updates you’ve installed recently, go to the old Windows control panel, launch Programs and Features and click  “View installed updates,” which shows you a list of all updates in order of install. If you need to uninstall one, right click it and select “uninstall.”

    If that doesn’t work, you can boot from the Windows Recovery environment and use the DISM command to uninstall an offline image at the command line. That’s a fairly complex operation that’s documented in Option 6 of Shawn Brink’s excellent TenForums tutorial Uninstall Windows Update in Windows 10. It is also the best known method for removing a rogue Windows 10 update.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
  • Corrupt system files: These are best addressed using the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth command (run at an administrative command prompt or in an administrative PowerShell session). If this command finds anything to report, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to clean things up. Next, run the system file checker until it reports nothing found or fixed (this sometimes takes 2 or 3 iterations): SFC /SCANNOW. If it works, this will often fix the IRQL error as well. 

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
  • Incompatible device drivers: If you’ve recently updated a driver, you should probably use the “Roll Back Driver” option on that device’s Driver tab in Device Manager. If the tab is greyed out, you may have to uninstall the current driver and install the previous version manually. 

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Try a Clean Boot to Resolve CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED Errors 

If you still can’t figure out what is causing your CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED errors, a Windows 10 clean boot should be your next step. A clean boot starts Windows 10 with the barest minimum set of drivers and startup programs. It seeks to eliminate possible causes of trouble that have been added to the startup environment over time.  See our article on how to perform a clean boot in Windows 10 for instructions.

Make Use of Recent Reporting to Solve CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED Errors 

If you visit TenForums.com, BleepingComputer.com, Answers.Microsoft.com or the Tom’s Hardware Forums and search for the CRTICIAL_PROCESS_DIED error string you will see how often the error has been reported lately. 

You will also get some excellent insight on how others have approached diagnosis of the underlying cause, and what fixes they’ve applied. It’s especially helpful to read through fixes that claim success because these might work for you, too. On the other hand, unsuccessful fixes can be informative, too, because they tell you which repairs to try later rather than sooner (or not at all).