Author: Clinton

Amazon and Microsoft have been teaming up and it is for the benefit of end users.  The Seattle based eRetailer (and now grocery store owner) has announced a new skill for Amazon Alexa, the company’s personal assistant, that will allow you to access Microsoft Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant, from your Amazon Echo.

It may sound a little confusing but it is a big win for the some 145 million active monthly users of Cortana.  Essentially, it works like this:  If you have an Amazon Echo, you can say “Alexa, Open Cortana” and then give Cortana a command.  This will allow you to access specific information that you have in Cortana but don’t necessarily want to have to duplicate in Alexa if you are a marginal Echo user.

Eventually, both Amazon and Microsoft want to get the integration to the point where users won’t have to specifically call out Cortana but rather the Echo device itself determine which personal assistant can provide the best answer on-the-fly and leverage it automatically.

Microsoft’s personal assistant, Microsoft Cortana, has a new update rolling out in the beta channel this morning.  The new beta build is version 2.9.3 and while it doesn’t bring new features, it does bring a lot of performance improvements and stability to the app.

The update outlines three key areas of focus in the release notes:

• Improved app performance
• Stabilized the app
• Fixed several crash bugs

While that isn’t overly exciting, the fact is that Microsoft has been working pretty hard on getting Cortana solid for Android.  Having tested out this new beta build this morning, I can say it is much faster than the current stable channel build and seems to be far more reliable.

Today’s Deal is another great accessory from the folks over at AUKEY.  Now through September 1st, you can pick up the AUKEY Mini Bluetooth Speaker for $16.99 over at Amazon.  This 5W speaker measures just 65 x 67 x 67mm, or 2.56” x 2.64” x 2.64” in old money, so it is perfect to take along with you on road trips, having in your office, or outside as you work or play.

The special price comes thanks to a coupon code from AUKEY for ClintonFitch.com readers.  When you check out, use the code AUKEYSP7 when you check out.  The price will drop from the normal $24.99 down to the special price.

The AUKEY Mini Bluetooth Speaker offers 5W of full range sound with up to 10 hours of battery life between charges.  It connects to your phone via Bluetooth 4.2 so you can use it up to 33′ away and it automatically reconnects to your phone when it is in range.

OnePlus has begun the process of rolling out an update to OxygenOS for the OnePlus 3 and 3T.  The updated version is 4.1.7 and brings a handful of fixes, security improvements and optimizations to the Android-based platform.

The August 2017 Android Security Update is included in the 4.1.7 build, bringing it up from the May 2017 patch, the last time the OnePlus 3 and 3T so an OS update.  This makes the 3 and 3T one of just a handful of phones outside of Google’s own Nexus or Pixel devices that have the August update.

OnePlus has also optimized the battery and improved overall system fluidity which should make these devices a feel a bit snappier when you are using them.  What exactly was improved here was not outlined in the release notes but users are reporting that these are positive steps in usability.

This weekend, Hurricane Harvey struck the state of Texas here in the US, leaving a path of complete destruction.  The death toll as of this morning sits at six but with another 24″ of rain expected in some areas, that is likely to rise.  Once the waters recede from the Texas coast, the billions of dollars in damage will be revealed and it is going to be very high.

The American Red Cross is already in the area helping victims of the storm and Google is helping their efforts.  Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, has grant donation of $250,000 to the American Red Cross and Google employees themselves have donated another $250,000.  This will help the ARC continue their work in the area, who will be active for a long time after Hurricane Harvey is no more.

Microsoft OneDrive for Android has a new update rolling out that brings some significant improvements to key features within the storage app.  The updated build is rolling out in the Play Store now and should be landing on devices that have it installed via an OTA update over the course of the next few days.

The first big improvement in this update is around the Scan feature.  Microsoft OneDrive has had a scanning feature built in for a while now but it was pretty limited.  Now they have essentially taken the Office Lens app and integrated it with OneDrive to give you a far superior experience.  You can now crop and clean up scanned documents within OneDrive which is a direct leveraging of Office Lens’ features.