Alexa speaks Spanish
Americans will soon be able to speak to Alexa in Spanish. Amazon launched a new voice model that will let developers build skills for Spanish-speaking users, reports Engadget. The addition to the Alexa Skills Kit for developers comes months before Amazon plans to bring full Spanish-language support to all Alexa devices later this year. With a total of 48.6 million speakers, the U.S. is said to have the second largest concentration of Spanish speakers in the world next to Mexico.
Braille-enabled controller for Xbox
Microsoft has been leaning into accessibility in gaming lately, most visibly with its Adaptive Controller, and a new patent suggests another way the company may be accommodating disabled gamers, reports TechCrunch: an Xbox controller with a built-in Braille display. It is already quite hard for a visually impaired gamer to play some games, and although that difficulty can’t be entirely alleviated, there are definitely things worth doing. In many circumstances a screen reader is what a visually impaired person would use to interact with this kind of data, but often that text is relayed to them in audio form, which is far less appealing an option when you’re in-game. There are already some Braille display accessories for this kind of thing, but there’s nothing like having support direct from your console’s designer, and that’s what Microsoft has demonstrated with its patent for a Braille-enabled controller, according to the newsletter.
Something new: An affordable smartphone
Smartphones today can cost more than $1,000. Samsung’s Galaxy Fold is going for twice that. Now Google has introduced the Pixel 3A, a new version of its Pixel smartphone, for about $400 – half the price of its high-end phone. The New York Times tech editor recently wrote: “The Pixel 3A lacks some frills you may find in premium devices, like wireless charging and water resistance. But based on my tests, it is a great value. It’s fast and capable with a very good camera and a nice-looking screen – and, yes, especially for this price. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this phone to those who don’t mind going without some cutting-edge features. In fact, the Pixel 3A is so satisfying that at this point, I might hesitate to recommend its $800 counterpart, the Pixel 3, to people other than gear heads and tech enthusiasts. While I rated the Pixel 3 an excellent Android phone last fall, it is not two-times-the-cost better than the Pixel 3A.”
Foldable PC
Lenovo announced it will introduce a foldable PC – the newest addition to its flagship ThinkPad X1 family – sometime in 2020, reports Channel Futures. The foldable will run Microsoft Windows and will run on an Intel-based platform. Some specs: The device has a 13.3-inch folding OLED, 2K display with a 4:3 ratio, and weighs less than 2 pounds. Details regarding other specs, such as memory and storage, are still being worked out. Lenovo is targeting all-day battery life, or “workday” battery life. A company spokesman couldn’t provide more specifics.