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Only a few years ago, talking to your phone or computer felt really weird. These days, thanks to Alexa, the Google Assistant and (for its three users) Cortana and Bixby, it’s becoming the norm. At this year’s Disrupt SF 2018, we’ll sit down with AISense founder and CEO Sam Liang and Google’s Cathy Pearl to discuss the past, present and future of voice — both for interacting with computers but also as a way to help us capture and organize information. It’s probably a fair guess that you’ve heard of Google, and Cathy Pearl has literally written the book on designing voice user interfaces . You’re probably also quite familiar with the Google Assistant. AISense, on the other hand, may not be a household name yet, but it’s flagship product, Otter.ai , is quickly gaining a following. Otter.ai is a mobile and web app that automatically transcribes phone calls, lectures, interviews and meetings in real time. The team built its own voice recognition tech that can distinguish between...

Ashley Carman / The Verge : Twitter's director of product management tweets pics of changes being weighed to make Twitter more “conversational”: improved reply threads, status indicators   —  No thanks  —  Sara Haider, Twitter's director of product management, tweeted a couple screenshots today showing off changes … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2N6ghEk

Mehedi Hassan / Thurrott.com : Microsoft says it is updating Skype to restore simplicity and familiarity, will kill its Stories-like feature called Highlights, which launched last year   —  Microsoft just announced a number of changes the company is rolling out to restore Skype's simplicity and familiarity. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NA1DlD

Listen, if you’re the kind of person who wants to watch a rap video about scooters, here’s a rap video about scooters. You’re welcome. Also, if you make it to the end, you might as well stick around for the credits. For one thing, you’ll learn that it was directed by Andrew Oleck, the man who created that fake Mark Zuckerberg video , “A World Without Facebook.” And there’s this disclaimer: “This video is not an advertisement. It is comedic satire. Bayview Drive Films is not endorsed, affiliated or otherwise sponsored by Bird .” It’s the kind of message that raises more questions than it answers. Like: What’s the joke here? Is the video pro-scooter, anti-scooter, neither, both? Was I supposed to laugh? I mean, I chuckled a little at the rubber chicken, but mostly I cringed. Is that normal? Would I have gotten more out of the video if I listened to more rap? Or if I’d ever been on a scooter? Right now, in the year 2018, is “satire” even possible? In related news, here’s a a synth-po...

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet : Microsoft quietly ends its Surface Plus hardware subscription program that allowed trade-in upgrades after 18 months and no-interest financing for two years   —  Microsoft is ending its Surface Plus financing program for consumers and students today, August 31, just a little over a year after announcing it. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2C3TQuW

Disrupt SF (Sept 5-7) approaches with just a few days until things kick off. We have an all-star lineup that only TechCrunch can assemble, and we’re expecting our largest number of attendees yet. Check out our star-packed agenda here , and keep reading to find out everything you need to make for a stellar conference experience. Pre-Event Badge Pick Up Disrupt is 3x the size as previous years! Skip the Wednesday rush by picking up your badge early on Tuesday, September 4th from 12pm – 4pm at Moscone West. Please have your Universe ticket confirmation email and a government-issued photo ID on you. You can also pick up your badge at the WeWork Welcome Reception, also on Tuesday from 5:30pm – 7:30pm at their Montgomery Street location (44 Montgomery St.). Space is limited. Please register your interest here . Please have your ticket and a government-issued photo ID on you. Event Registration & Badge Pick Up Universe is the official ticketing platform of Disrupt. If you sig...

The Bitfi cryptocurrency wallet, backed by John McAfee, had already caused controversy. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/2wzaRr8