MacRumors

Anki has revealed its fourth consumer product in the form of a home robot that it's calling "Vector," launching on Kickstarter today. Although the company has debuted a Kickstarter to give backers early access to the robot on October 9, it's promising that Vector will launch wide just a few days later, in stores on October 12, 2018.

The new robot looks visually similar to Anki's previous "Cozmo" robot, which teaches kids how to code through games and a compatible iOS app. Vector differs significantly in functionality, however, with the company explaining that Vector is a major step forward in robotics and is meant to be an always-on companion robot that follows you around your house to help in your daily routine.

Once you complete a one-time setup with the connected iOS or Android app, Anki says that all further interactions with Vector are done with eye contact and talking to the robot. Vector is fully autonomous, cloud-connected, and always-on, and has a personality, facial expressions, and animations ("around a thousand") created from a team of animators coming from major studios like Pixar.

Anki says that Vector is closer to the fantasy of at-home robot helpers than any company has yet to come:

When people imagine what their daily lives will be like with robots, many take inspiration from sci-fi novels, television shows, and films with high-spirited characters like R2-D2 from “Star Wars,” and Rosie in “The Jetsons.” Instead, the closest the world has come in the quest for affable, useful home robots are puck-like vacuum cleaners and lifeless cylindrical talking speakers. That’s about to change.

Anki CEO Boris Sofman: "For the first time, people will be living with a robot that is able to bring both a warm and joyful experience, as well as a new and characterful form of utility. This builds a bridge not just to a new category of home robots, but our own future product lines that will continue to expand on the level of capabilities that are possible."

Vector is outfitted with an HD camera with a 120-degree ultra-wide field of view to see your house and his users, and can even learn the name of everyone he sees. With four microphones to hear and detect commands (by saying "Hey Vector"), you can ask Vector about the weather, geography, nutrition, astronomy, sports, stocks, flights, time zones, unit conversion, currency conversion, and math equations.

The robot also supports setting timers and taking photos, and knows when to greet you at the door when you arrive home thanks to the onboard HD camera and microphones. The company says these features help Vector become a "more productive" member of the household, allowing users to set up additional timers from their other smart devices. The robot can also play a few games using an included "Cube" accessory, knows how to play Blackjack, and dances when he hears music.

When Vector is running low on battery, the robot will locate and travel back to the included charging cradle. Vector also has four cliff sensors with infrared emitters, ensuring that any trips the robot goes on won't end in spills over counter edges in your house.

Anki says that Vector was "designed with security and privacy in mind," with features installed that strengthen the device's security and minimize data collection. According to the company, it "does not store voice or audio in the cloud." Down the line, Anki also promises consistent over-the-air updates that will introduce new features, animations, and commands for Vector.

Currently, the Vector Kickstarter goal is $500,000 in 30 days, and early access backers can get the robot for $199.99 for an estimated arrival on October 9. The retail launch will then happen on October 12, when Vector will be priced at $249.99 and ship with one base charger and one interactive Cube.

After first launching direct grocery delivery from Whole Foods to its customers' doors earlier this year, Amazon today has begun a rollout of curbside grocery pickup at Whole Foods locations in Sacramento and Virginia Beach. At supported stores, grocery pickup will be available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.

The company explains that Prime members can now download the "Prime Now" app for iOS and Android, shop for items like fresh produce, bakery products, dairy, meat, seafood, floral, and everyday staples, and choose the pickup option at checkout. For orders over $35, customers can choose free pickup in as little as an hour, or pay $4.99 to get it in 30 minutes.

When arriving at a Whole Foods store, the supported locations will now have reserved pickup spots designated for curbside pickup customers. After parking, a Prime Now shopper will arrive and place the groceries in the customer's car "within minutes," and if customers tell the store that they are on their way in the Prime Now app, "groceries will be ready as they arrive."

“Pickup from Whole Foods Market is a perfect option for customers who want to grab healthy and organic groceries at their convenience, all without leaving their car,” said Stephenie Landry, Worldwide Vice President of Prime Now, AmazonFresh and Amazon Restaurants. “A customer can order at 5:00 p.m., pick up at 5:30 p.m., and we’ll have their groceries loaded into their car just minutes after arrival. For an even faster experience, customers can tell us they are on their way using the Prime Now app and groceries will be ready as they arrive.”

Outside of the new grocery pickup feature, Amazon's Prime Now iOS app [Direct Link] offers customers the ability to shop from Whole Foods and other local stores to get their items delivered to their door. In select cities, the app also allows for food delivery from restaurants like Red Lobster, P.F. Chang's, and Applebee's.

Amazon is continuously introducing exclusive features for Prime members into Whole Foods, following its acquisition of the grocery store chain in June 2017. Prime members shopping in the store now have the chance to save on exclusive "Prime member deals" and an extra 10 percent off certain designated items. Members can also opt to ship Amazon orders to delivery lockers located at select Whole Foods stores, and return Amazon orders there as well.

The new feature from Amazon launches in the wake of similar curbside pickup services gaining popularity at retailers like Target, Walmart, and Sam's Club. These stores let customers shop in their respective mobile apps, choose curbside pickup during checkout, and then drive up to the location and wait for a team member to load the groceries into their car, saving time and money on delivery fees.

Amazon says that grocery pickup will be expanding to more cities throughout 2018, and those in Sacramento and Virginia Beach can download the Prime Now app today to start trying out the new service.

Bose has released an update for its QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones that adds Alexa support as a voice assistant feature.

Previously, the "Action" button on the popular noise-canceling cans was exclusively for invoking Google Assistant (Siri is accessed by holding down the multifunction play/pause button for two seconds).

However, after updating the software through the Bose Connect app, QC35 II owners can now opt to use Amazon's ubiquitous virtual assistant instead via the app's Options menu.

For those wondering, voice assistant support is the main difference between the Bose QC 35 Series II headphones and the original Quiet Comfort 35 Series I (reviewed here), although the later model does let you use the noise canceling feature in wired as well as wireless mode.

So if voice assistant support doesn't interest you and you're looking to go wireless, the Series I cans are definitely still worth a punt if you can find them online – and you just might save yourself a few dollars in the process.

Snapchat's controversial redesign, introduced last November, caused it to lose millions of subscribers according to data shared today in its second quarter earnings results.

Snap said it had 188 million daily active Snapchat users during the second quarter of 2018, down from 191 million during the first quarter of the year.

In prepared remarks [PDF] on Snapchat's performance, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that the two percent decline in daily active users was "primarily driven" by a lower frequency of use among the company's user base due to "the disruption caused by our redesign."

Spiegel said that Snapchat is working to iterate and improve the app based on community feedback, and he says that the major frustrations have been addressed.

While our Monthly Active Users continued to grow this quarter, we saw a 2 percent decline in our Daily Active Users. This was primarily driven by a slightly lower frequency of use among our user base due to the disruption caused by our redesign.

It has been approximately six months since we broadly rolled out the redesign of our application, and we have been working hard to iterate and improve Snapchat based on the feedback from our community. We feel that we have now addressed the biggest frustrations we've heard and are eager to make more progress on the tremendous opportunity we now have to show more of the right content to the right people.

Following the release of the redesigned app, more than 1.2 million users signed a petition asking for the change to be reversed.

In response, Snap rolled back some of the design changes, reverting Snaps and Chats back to chronological order and re-adding Stories from friends to the right side of the app. Snap also reintroduced the feature that allowed it to open up in camera mode, and users can again swipe left to view posts from friends.

The redesign of the app was initially aimed at appealing to a broader demographic and expanding Snapchat's user base, but Snapchat users were not prepared for the drastic change and did not become accustomed to the redesign as Snap had hoped.

Despite the fact that it's number of daily active users dropped, Snapchat brought in $262 million in revenue, an increase of 44 percent year-over-year.

The Gmail app for iOS was today updated with an option to turn off the threaded conversation view that some users have been unhappy with.

Toggling off "Conversation View" in the Settings menu in the Gmail app will now let users see each of their emails listed individually in their inbox rather than grouped up in an "easier to digest and follow" format, as Google puts it.

Gmail on the desktop has long allowed users to turn off Conversation View, and today's update introduces feature parity on mobile devices.

Your Conversation View settings are synced across devices, so if Conversation View is disabled on desktop, it will be disabled on mobile and vice versa.

Google says the toggle for disabling Conversation View is rolling out to all iOS and Android users, but it could take up to 15 days for the feature to be visible to everyone.

Read-it-later app Instapaper today announced that it is relaunching "Instapaper Premium" as part of the company's new initiative that's looking towards "the next ten years of Instapaper and beyond." Instapaper is hoping to generate revenue after it became an independent company last month through a deal with parent company Pinterest.

Instapaper Premium costs $2.99/month or $29.99/year and offers full text search for all articles, unlimited notes, text-to-speech playlists on mobile, speed reading, an ad-free website, and a "send to kindle" feature. The company ensures that there will still be a non-Premium version of Instapaper and these users "will continue with a standard free account without access to Premium features."

In addition to getting access to Premium features, your Instapaper Premium subscription will help ensure that we can continue developing and operating Instapaper. Our goal is to build a long-term sustainable product and business, without venture capital, and we need your help to achieve that goal.

In addition to the subscription news, the company announced that it is bringing Instapaper back to users in the European Union. Just over two months ago, Instapaper temporarily suspended user access to its service across Europe as it faced issues implementing the EU's GDPR laws.

Over the summer Instapaper took "a number of actions" to address the GDPR and will now return for users in the EU with a newly updated privacy policy that includes the rights afforded to EU users under GDPR. The company is also offering six months of Instapaper Premium to all EU users affected by the outage.

Those interested can sign up for Instapaper Premium on the company's website.

Mazda this week introduced the 2019 CX-9, its second vehicle to be equipped with CarPlay in the United States, alongside the 2018 Mazda6.

CarPlay and Android Auto come factory installed in Touring, Touring Premium, Grand Touring, and Signature trims of the 2019 CX-9, as part of the MAZDA CONNECT infotainment system with an eight-inch display. The software platforms do not appear to be an option in the base Sport trim at this time.

Mazda says the 2019 CX-9 will begin to arrive at select dealerships in the United States this month, with nationwide availability in September. Pricing for CarPlay-equipped packages starts at $35,330.

As for the 2018 Mazda6, existing owners of the Touring trim and above will be able to have a Mazda dealership install CarPlay and Android Auto at no extra cost, starting in September. Then, starting in November, CarPlay and Android Auto will come factory installed in brand new 2018 Mazda6 vehicles.

Accordingly, while the 2019 CX-9 is Mazda's second CarPlay vehicle to be announced, it will be the first to roll off the lot brand new with factory-installed CarPlay and Android Auto in the United States.

CarPlay will enable iPhone users to access a range of apps from the MAZDA CONNECT infotainment system, such as Messages, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Radio, Pandora, WhatsApp, Downcast, Slacker Radio, Stitcher, and, starting with iOS 12, Google Maps and Waze.

Earlier this year, on its Canadian website, Mazda said CarPlay and Android Auto will be available as a genuine retrofit for MAZDA CONNECT systems starting this fall, suggesting that Mazda vehicles released as early as 2014 could eventually support the platforms, but exact rollout plans often vary by country.

Mazda is one of the last major automakers in the United States to offer CarPlay, after Toyota and Lexus announced support earlier this year.

Apple Music appears to be rolling out an all-new weekly playlist called "Friends Mix" to a few subscribers today. According to Reddit user Reesyy, the new curated playlist will be filled with songs that your Apple Music friends are listening to.

In order to keep track of which friend listened to each song, the playlist will include a profile picture on the songs as well. Friends Mix will update on Monday every week and include 25 tracks in each update, similar to the other Apple Music weekly playlists.

Friends Mix is making new use out of the social features that Apple debuted in iOS 11 last year, which lets users build their own Apple Music profiles and show friends the playlists and albums that they're listening to. This information is then displayed on a playlist or album's information page and within the "Friends Are Listening To" section in For You, and now it'll also be used to fill up the new Friends Mix.

Friends Mix is joining Favorites Mix (which updates on Tuesdays), New Music Mix (Fridays), and Chill Mix (Sundays) as the fourth Apple Music weekly playlist. Apple originally launched versions of New Music Mix and Favorites Mix in the iOS 10 public beta in September 2016, followed by Chill mix in June 2017, so it's been well over a year since we've seen a new weekly playlist debut.

Like the other playlists, you'll be able to find Friends Mix sitting atop the "For You" tab in Apple Music. It's unclear on which version of iOS Apple is rolling out the playlist, but the poster on Reddit does reference being on the iOS 12 public beta.

Otherwise, Apple Music isn't getting much of an overhaul in iOS 12, which is expected to launch in September. Subscribers will notice updated artist profiles with larger portraits on the iOS app, and Apple has already opened up a new "Coming Soon" section for users on iOS 11 as well.

Apple Pay Cash is the highest-rated mobile peer-to-peer payments service on the market, according to a review by Consumer Reports.

In the first comparison of its kind, the Consumer Reports publication looked at the relative pros and cons of Apple Pay Cash, Zelle, Square Cash, Venmo and Facebook Messenger P2P payments. Google Pay's new money-sending feature wasn't included in the group test, however.

The five services were rated worse or better in terms of payment authentication, data security, data privacy, customer support, and broad access (use not limited to those with a bank account or particular mobile device).

All five services were rated good enough to use, but Apple Pay Cash came out the winner with a higher overall score, mainly because of its stronger privacy and security measures.

Apple Pay was the only service that got top marks from CR for data privacy, because its policies state that it limits the information it collects and shares on users and their transactions. It doesn't store credit card or debit card numbers, and it states in the terms and conditions that it doesn't sell users' personal information to third parties, CR found.

The requirement of later-generation Apple hardware and software was classed as the only major drawback of Apple Pay Cash, as per the "broad access" category described above.

Venmo, Facebook Messenger, and Square Cash all rated above average in most categories barring privacy. Zelle was downrated for poor clarity in its data policies, and failed to offer a way to confirm payments in its mobile app, although the company said the feature would be included by late October.

After a brief delay, Apple Pay Cash arrived on iOS devices in December 2017, although it's currently only available to users in the United States.