MacRumors

Researchers at Microsoft claim to have created a new speech recognition technology that transcribes conversational speech as well as a human does (via The Verge).

The system's word error rate is reportedly 5.9 percent, which is about equal to professional transcribers asked to work on the same recordings, according to Microsoft.

"We've reached human parity," said chief speech scientist Xuedong Huang in a statement, calling the milestone "an historic achievement".

To reach the milestone, the team used Microsoft’s Computational Network Toolkit, a homegrown system for deep learning that the research team has made available on GitHub via an open source license. The system uses neural network technology that groups similar words together, which allows the models to generalize efficiently from word to word.

The neural networks draw on large amounts of data called training sets to teach the transcribing computers to recognize syntactical patterns in the sounds. Microsoft plans to use the technology in Cortana, its personal voice assistant in Windows and Xbox One, as well as in speech-to-text transcription software.

But the technology still has a long way to go before it can claim to master meaning (semantics) and contextual awareness - key characteristics of everyday language use that need to be grasped for Siri-like personal assistants to process requests and act upon them in a helpful way.

"We are moving away from a world where people must understand computers to a world in which computers must understand us," said Harry Shum, who heads the Microsoft AI Research group. However it will be a long time before computers can understand the real meaning of what's being said, he cautioned. "True artificial intelligence is still on the distant horizon."

A couple weeks ago GSMArena reported that its tests showed that 32GB iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models had slower storage performance than 128GB and 256GB models. Today, Unbox Therapy's Lew Hilsenteger posted a video featuring several speed tests that confirm that 32GB iPhone 7 models have slower data write speeds than other configurations.

In the video, the free PerformanceTest Mobile [Direct Link] app is used to test the devices, a 32GB iPhone 7 and a 128GB iPhone 7. Both devices have similar read speeds, with the 32GB model reading at 656MB per second and the 128GB model reading at 856MB per second. However, there's a larger discrepancy in the model's write speeds. While the 128GB model writes at 341MB per second, the 32GB model writes at 42MB per second, nearly 8 times slower than the higher capacity model.

Hilsenteger then performed a real-world test more representative of what a user might encounter, using a MacBook and USB cable to transfer movies over to the two iPhone models. The 256GB model wrote the 4.2GB movie in 2 minutes and 34 seconds while the 32GB model wrote the same file in 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

Larger capacity SSDs often perform better than smaller capacity SSDs because its controller has access to more NAND flash memory chips, according to How-To Geek. Manufacturers have to place more NAND chips in higher capacity SSDs, and when they do they place them in parallel to each other. This means that the SSD controller has an easier time accessing more of the memory than a controller in a smaller capacity SSD, which wouldn't have the NAND chips in parallel to each other.

Back in August, Instagram introduced a new "Instagram Stories" feature, allowing Instagram users to post temporary images and videos to their profile. Content expires after 24 hours, giving users a chance to share more casual posts that won't be permanently available on Instagram.

Prior to today, Instagram users have only been able to see Stories from people they follow, but Instagram has added Stories to the "Explore" tab in the app, which will let users find interesting and popular story content from around the world.

A selection of Stories are now available at the top of the Explore page, denoted by small circles and a user name, which can be tapped to display the image and video content.

According to Instagram, the new Stories feature is personalized to each user's interests, much like the rest of the Explore tab.

Instagram can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

A conversation thread on Github between a few developers and Spotify project leader Samuel Erdtman has confirmed that the streaming music company isn't looking into developing an app for Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV "anytime soon" (via AppAdvice).

In the thread, which began as a feature request for the Spotify SDK to support tvOS, Erdtman eventually closed out the comments saying that building support for Spotify on Apple TV has been "down prioritized." That might not be an official confirmation that Spotify will never arrive on Apple's set-top box, but Erdtman's wording hints that it's far from Spotify's top priority at the moment.

To support tvOS has been down prioritized, You should not expect a release supporting it any time soon. I'm sorry about that.

Although Spotify users might like to take advantage of a tvOS app for Spotify, it's not entirely surprising that the two companies may never reach an agreement on how such an experience would work. Over the summer, Spotify and Apple quarreled over the 30 percent cut that Apple now takes from iOS App Store subscriptions, which has caused Spotify to charge $12.99 for subscriptions purchased through the App Store, a $3 premium over subscriptions purchased on the web and $3 more than the price of Apple Music.

Spotify claimed Apple was using such a tactic as a "weapon to harm competitors," while Apple accused Spotify of "resorting to rumors and half-truths" to gain public opinion in its favor. Apple's new music royalty proposal for streaming services also adversely affects the free tiers of companies like Spotify and YouTube.

A potential Spotify tvOS app would likely be a free download users could use as a companion app to stream their music, but with so much bad blood between the two companies, it still seems likely that Spotify will simply avoid creating an app for tvOS at all. Amazon is also refraining from launching an Amazon Prime Video app on Apple TV, reportedly until Apple presents it with "acceptable business terms."

For Spotify users frustrated with the news, Apple's AirPlay feature can still be used to stream music from Spotify on an iPhone or iPad through a connected Apple TV.

Update: As several readers have pointed out, Erdtman's comment pertains specifically to the SDK that allows third-party developers to incorporate Spotify functionality into their apps. Spotify is apparently not prioritizing Apple TV support for that SDK, but that does not necessarily mean the company has no plans for an Apple TV app of its own.

Hunter Fan Company has introduced a new Wi-Fi-connected and HomeKit-enabled ceiling fan called Apache, available now for $429 on its website. The 54-inch ceiling fan features curved propeller-like plastic blades with a bronze and oak finish.

The fan has what Hunter Fan calls a WhisperWind motor, which it says provides powerful air movement with whisper-quiet performance. The motor is reversible, allowing homeowners to change the direction of the fan from downdraft mode during the summer to updraft mode during the winter.

Apache has an integrated LED light, covered with Clear Holophane glass, eliminating the need for bulb replacement. A remote control is included for controlling the fan and light, including dimming the bulbs.

Like its two other HomeKit-enabled fans, the Signal and Symphony, iPhone users can control Apache with voice commands or the Home app on iOS 10.

A three-position mounting system allows for standard, angled, or low ceiling mounting, and a 5-inch downrod is included to ensure proper distance from the ceiling and optimized air movement.

Hunter Fan said the Symphony, a cheaper version of its Signal with white blades, will launch in late November for $329. Signal is available now for $379.

CBS has ordered mobile gaming app Candy Crush Saga to series as a one-hour, live action game show from executive producer Matt Kunitz, who's also been behind shows like Wipeout and Fear Factor. Images or an official debut for the show have yet to be announced by CBS or Candy Crush Saga developer King.

A few details hint that the game at the center of the adaptation will feature teams of two individuals who must use mental strategy and physicality "to compete on enormous, interactive game boards featuring next generation technology." The winning teams will "be crowned as champions," but prizes -- monetary or otherwise -- have also yet to be divulged.

“We are huge fans of Candy Crush and, like so many others, we know the ‘rush’ of advancing to the next level of the game,” said Glenn Geller, President, CBS Entertainment. “We’re excited to work with Lionsgate and King to adapt one of the world’s most popular and entertaining game franchises for television and make it available to its massive, passionate fan base who can watch and play along at home.”

Kunitz mentioned that the Candy Crush franchise "lends itself perfectly to the kind of larger-than-life, physical game shows that I love to produce." CBS and King are working closely with the interactive team at Lionsgate to oversee the transition of the Candy Crush IP from mobile game to television show, which Lionsgate Interactive Ventures and Games President Peter Levin calls "an exciting, visual switcher game with great characters" that should translate nicely into CBS's unscripted television division.

Although Pokémon Go recently bested Candy Crush Saga's daily active user records, King's game is now back at the top of the United States App Store top grossing charts. As of September 2016, 18 billion rounds of the game are played every month around the world. For the new game show, CBS said that more information, including who will host the series, is coming "at a later date."

Sprint has introduced a new unlimited data plan for tablets for $20 per month, but with some caveats to consider.

The fine print: video is optimized to 480p resolution, music streams at up to 500kbps, and online gaming streams are limited to up to 2Mbps. Data deprioritization also applies during times of network congestion.

iPad and other tablet users can choose to add HD video streaming at up to 1080p+ and HD music streaming at up to 1.5Mbps, and online gaming at up to 8Mbps for an additional $20/line/month.

To be eligible, customers must enroll in AutoPay automatic billing and have at least one active phone line on their account. The plan is available without an existing phone line for an additional $50/line/month.

The tablet must be purchased from Sprint's selection of available tablets, which includes the iPad lineup.

Following the launch of "Instagram Stories" in August, Facebook is now preparing to ape Snapchat in its own Messenger app, with a feature called "Messenger Day." Originally launched to users in Poland, Messenger Day is now expanding and gaining attention with Facebook users in Australia (via Mashable).

With the new feature in the Facebook Messenger iOS and Android apps, Messenger Day lets users post ephemeral updates to their friends, which last 24 hours before expiring, with the ability to doodle and add stickers to posts. Friend updates can be found atop the normal Facebook Messenger home page, and the interface is visually similar to the layout of Instagram Stories with a horizontal row of reverse-chronological updates.

"We know that people come to Messenger to share everyday moments with friends and family. In Poland we are running a small test of new ways for people to share those updates visually," a Messenger spokesperson told Mashable at the time.

For those who have used Messenger Day, the user interface and features have yet to impress, with one user mentioning that "(The user interface) is really poor, on every level — nothing like Instagram Stories." Most of the criticism so far seems to be focused on the simple fact that as companies introduce more of the same features into their mobile apps, it leaves users to choose only one service, which is still Snapchat for most, and ignore the rest.

Snapchat's growing popularity has resulted in other social networks (namely Facebook, which owns Instagram) attempting to combat its 24-hour posts with similar features. Although it's yet to introduce a time-locked post feature, Twitter has faced troubles recently as more and more younger users opt to check in with Snapchat and Instagram over Twitter.

Misfit today debuted its latest product, a new Phase hybrid smart watch that, like the company's line of fitness trackers, is compatible with the iPhone. The Misfit Phase combines a round, analog-style watch with a range of smart features.

It's able to track steps, distance, and sleep duration with a built-in accelerometer, and it delivers iPhone notifications and other information like activity and alarms using a combination of the watch hands, a small color window on the watch face, and vibrations.

Made of polished stainless steel covered by satin aluminum in several different shades, Misfit's Phase is waterproof up to 50 meters and includes a 6-month battery that does not need charging. It works with any field-style 20mm watch band, including many Misfit-designed bands.

The Misfit Phase can also be used as a remote for controlling music, snapping iPhone photos, advancing slides in a presentation, and more, functionality that's also found in the company's Ray and Shine activity trackers.

Misfit will begin selling the Misfit Phase on its website on November 7. Prices will start at $175.

Facebook recently announced that users are now able to select the "initial view" for 360-degree photos when uploading pictures to the iOS, Android, and Chrome for Desktop Facebook apps. Prior to the update, Facebook would randomly choose a section of the 360-degree photo to showcase on the service, so now users can personally select the best section to show their friends and family (via The Next Web).

To do this, before posting users simply have to drag around the photo on mobile, or select "Edit" on desktop, to find the area of the picture they want to be the initial viewpoint for anyone scrolling through their Facebook feed. Whenever the initial view is clicked on, the full 360-degree photo will be showcased with more detail.

"In the coming weeks," the company will also rollout album support for 360-degree photos, as well as the ability to post them into multimedia status updates, "i.e. when you want to post a combination of 360 photos, regular photos, 360 videos and regular videos at once."

We've heard you loud and clear and we're excited to roll out the ability to set the initial field of view on your 360 photo on iOS, Android and Chrome for desktop. To change the view, simply upload a 360 photo, then, before posting, move your photo around by dragging with your finger or select Edit on desktop and move the mouse until you've reached the desired view. Your friends will now see this angle of your photo when you post to Facebook. Please note, we have not enabled zoom with this feature.

Additionally, it was recently reported that the social network is running a beta test for a "data saver" feature on its separate Facebook Messenger app. When a user is on cellular data, and data saver is turned on, the mode acts as a barrier between the user and unwanted media downloads within messages by letting them tap and select every photo and video they want to download, and ignore the ones they don't.

Ordinary text messages are unaffected by the mode, which also includes a setting that tells the user how much data is being saved. Normally, Facebook Messenger downloads all content within a message without user consent, so Facebook hopes data saver could be a way for users on low-data plans to avoid going over their rates. Right now, data saver is being tested on Android, but the feature is expected to eventually make it to iOS as well.

A new Beats By Dre advertisement shared online recently depicts a group of celebrities wearing the company's new Solo3, BeatsX, and Powerbeats3 Wireless headphones. All three devices were announced during Apple's September 7 iPhone event, and are positioned as compatible options for users looking to purchase wireless headsets due to the iPhone 7's lack of a 3.5mm headphone port.

In the ad, celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Amber Rose, Rebel Wilson, Juno Temple, Steve Buscemi, and more, all sing along to "I've Got No Strings" from Disney's Pinocchio. Most of the people in the commercial are seen sporting the company's newer model, the BeatsX, which it aims as a more mobile and everyday pair of headphones. That's in contrast to the over-the-head Solo3 and activity-focused Powerbeats3.

All three Beats devices include Apple's W1 chip, which allows the new headphones -- like Apple's new AirPods -- to take advantage of easy, instant pairing to an iPhone. They also come with Fast Fuel, a fast-charging solution that can deliver more power with 5 minutes of charging. 5 minutes of charging delivers 3 hours of playback for the Solo3, 2 hours of playback for the BeatsX and an hour of playback for the Powerbeats3.

The Solo3 has been available to purchase for $299 on Apple.com since the September 7 event, but the Powerbeats3 ($199) and BeatsX ($149) won't be coming out until sometime later in the year, likely to coincide with the holiday shopping season.

Samsung has coordinated with aviation officials around the world to set up exchange booths in "high traffic" airport terminals for owners of recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones (via The Verge).

The booths first appeared in South Korean airports, with similar exchange sites set to open across Australia and the U.S. for travelers to hand in the potentially dangerous devices.

According to one reporter, a Samsung exchange desk manned by the company's staff is already operational at San Francisco's international airport.

It's now a federal crime to board a flight with a Note 7 phone, following two global recalls by Samsung that failed to stem reports of the devices setting on fire, which caused property damage and injuries. Anyone caught with a Note 7 on a plane risks facing fines and up to 10 years' imprisonment.

Samsung is said to have cut its third quarter operating profit by $2.3 billion and adjusted profit expectations from $6.9 billion to $4.6 billion, following its discontinuation of the ill-fated Note 7.

The company is set to overhaul its mobile strategy next year to ensure product quality, according to one report. A supply source told the Korea Herald that the company is likely to scrap its annual two-flagship models strategy in favor of focusing on a single device.

Speculation suggests that would be the Galaxy S8, expected to launch in late February 2017, although Samsung will probably shake up its marketing strategy before then, meaning the new phone could be rebranded.

Netflix has reported surprisingly strong third quarter results, sending the company's share prices soaring 20 percent in late trade (via Reuters).

The streaming content company added over 50 percent more subscribers than expected, owing to original shows like Stranger Things and Narcos drawing significant numbers of new international viewers and retaining U.S. customers despite a price hike. The news led to a share price rise to $119.82 in extended trade from a close of $99.80.

The company's performance signaled a distinct turnaround from its previous quarter, which indicated largely disappointing subscription growth. Netflix said it was on course to start collecting yields on its global profits next year, even though it was increasing spending on original programming.

Netflix said it had added about 3.2 million subscribers in Q3, far higher than a 2 million average estimate. In the U.S., the company added 370,000 subscribers, also above analysts' estimate of 309,000.

Netflix has expanded into more than 130 markets worldwide, including most major countries, except China. It said on Monday it was temporarily dropping plans to launch a service in China in the near term, opting instead to license its shows for "modest" revenue.

The company plans to increase spending on original TV shows and movies from last year by $1 billion, for a total of $6 billion earmarked for 2017.

Netflix's shares have surged in the past few years, thanks to rapid growth as the company achieved a significant shift in television watching habits. However, stock was down 12.7 percent this year as investors worried about slowing growth in the U.S. market and increasing competition from the likes of HBO Now, Amazon Video, and Hulu.

Amazon today launched a new Prime Photos feature called "Family Vault", which extends the unlimited photo storage that Amazon Prime subscribers get to their friends and family members (via TechCrunch).

For those unfamiliar with Amazon Prime, a $99 per year subscription includes free two-day shipping, unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows and music, and unlimited photo storage, among other benefits. With the arrival of Family Vault, Prime subscribers can now invite up to five family members or friends to join their online account, where they can combine photos and each get another 5GB of storage for uploading videos and other files.

The thinking behind Family Vault is to allow close friends and families to see each other's photos and videos in a single location, and be able to access them on their own devices, at no cost to those added by the Prime account holder.

The Family Plan announcement also ushers in some new search technology for Prime Photos users, including keyword-related searches for photos with a specific theme or subject (e.g. cat, wedding, beach, and so on) and a face-finding feature called "People".

Amazon is also formally announcing a new low-cost photo printing service, with prints starting at 9 cents, with free shipping for Prime members.

Further details of all of the company's newly announced features can be found on Amazon's Photos minisite or through the Amazon Photos mobile app.