Month: February 2018

New story in Technology from Time: Vero Is Taking On Instagram By Fixing the One Thing Everyone Hates About Instagram

If you’re a big Instagram fan, you may have noticed a bunch of people you follow talking about Vero lately. But what is Vero?

Vero is a new social media app trying to take on Instagram, Facebook and more. It’s ad-free and organized chronologically, as opposed to Facebook and Instagram’s algorithm-driven feeds. It’s also gaining steam just as many influential Instagram users are complaining about a drop in “likes” and other engagement in recent weeks.

Vero is the latest in a long line of would-be Instagram and Facebook killers, including the likes of Ello, Mastodon, Peach, and, most recently, Sarahah. But many of those apps faded into obscurity not long after first appearing on the scene. Facebook, the $500-billion-plus company that also owns Instagram, is unlikely to cede any ground to upstart competitors any time soon.

Does Vero have what it takes to stick around? Here’s what you need to know about Vero and what makes it different from Facebook, Instagram and so on.

What is Vero?

Vero is a new social media app boasting an ad-free and “more authentic” user experience. The app takes its name form the Italian word for “truth.”

The image- and video-focused app is similar to Instagram, drawing the attention of photographers, videographers and social media influencers popular there. It’s also drawing fans because posts are displayed in chronological order, instead of being sorted by an algorithm like the one Instagram recently adopted.

Vero officially launched in 2015, according to Slate. But the app is gaining popularity over the past couple of weeks thanks to word of mouth among hardcore social media users. It’s now the second most popular app in Apple’s App Store and sits at the top of Google Play’s free apps chart.

Does Vero cost money?

Vero previously said that its first million users will get free access to the app, then it would introduce a subscription fee. But after the app recently passed the million-user mark, Vero announced it would extend its “free for life” offer due to “service interruptions” until further notice. (Vero has had some technical trouble over the past several days, likely due to the sudden surge in interest.)

Vero has not yet said how much any future subscription plan might cost. But the company says that information will be available soon.

Vero’s subscription-based business model is meant to allow the app to remain ad-free, according to Vero. In its manifesto, Vero argues that its customers are users rather than advertisers. By contrast, most social media companies like Facebook and Instagram make money via advertising.

Who is the Vero CEO?

Vero’s CEO is Ayman Hariri, also a co-founder of the company. Hariri is a billionaire and the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005. According to a Vero spokesperson, Ayman Hariri was living in the United Sates at the time of the incident and afterwards went back to Saudi Arabia to support his family.

Ayman Hariri previously served as deputy CEO and deputy chairman of Saudi Oger, a construction company founded by his father. There were reports of Saudi Oger workers going unpaid and left stranded in cramped living quarters with little food money, water, or medical care, per Reuters. The Saudi Arabian government stepped in and the company shut down in 2017 due to “mismanagement,” according to Bloomberg.

A Vero spokesperson said Hariri left Saudi Oger in 2013 “to pursue other initiatives” and since then had no operational, management or board oversight of the company and was not involved in any decision making.

What’s the controversy surround Vero?

Putting aside the CEO’s past, several people have pointed out that some of Vero’s employees appear to be Russian. Given Russia’s attempts to use social media to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, some are questioning whether it’s wise to trust a social media app with potential Russian ties.

Others, meanwhile, have pointed out the lack of gender diversity on Vero’s team.

With these factors in mind, some people are already trying to delete their Vero accounts.

New story in Technology from Time: Amazon Is Expanding Into Home Security by Acquiring Video Doorbell Startup Ring

Amazon.com has agreed to buy connected-doorbell startup Ring for about $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.

The move helps Amazon expand further into the consumer market, including providing security for package deliveries. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. advised Ring on the sale, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

Amazon has been pushing for a bigger presence in homes through connected devices such as its Echo smart speaker with the voice-activated assistant named Alexa. Buying Ring gives the e-commerce giant another touch point with customers, said James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt & Co.

“For this specifically it A) builds connection for further strengthening trust between the brand and consumers, B) increases market for delivery, and in turn, frequency, C) moves company along path to same day/same hour efforts while everyone else is battling the two day war,” Cakmak said in an email.

Last year, Amazon introduced Amazon Key, a service that incorporates a smart lock that can open doors for verified delivery drivers to deposit packages directly into a shopper’s home. Package thefts from doorsteps have increased in recent years with the spread of online shopping and deliveries.

Ring makes video doorbells and security cameras that connect to users’ phones or computers, letting them see and speak to anyone on their property from afar. The company, based in Santa Monica, California also sells related products such as security systems and smoke detectors.

“Ring’s home security products and services have delighted customers since day one,” an Amazon representative said Tuesday in a joint statement with Ring. “We’re excited to work with this talented team and help them in their mission to keep homes safe and secure.”

A representative for J.P. Morgan declined to comment.

Nest, Honeywell

The acquisition puts Amazon in more direct competition with security camera makers such as Nest Labs Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Canary Connect Inc.

“We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon,” a representative for Ring said in the joint statement.

The video surveillance industry is seeing a spell of deals. Motorola Solutions Inc. agreed this month to buy commercial security camera and video analytics maker Avigilon for about $1 billion, including debt.

New story in Technology from Time: Review: Google’s Tiny New Camera Uses AI to Become Your Personal Photographer

The good: Compact and colorful design, Automatically takes photos when it detects a person or pet
The bad: Isn’t always easy to position, Short battery life
Who it’s for: Parents and pet owners who want to capture easy-to-miss moments

The latest smartphones have gotten much better at focusing quickly on subjects, making it easier for anyone to capture the perfect picture. But even the most advanced smartphone cameras still need a person to press the shutter button.

That’s not so with Google Clips, a miniature camera that uses artificial intelligence to learn exactly when to snap a photo. The search giant announced the camera during an event in October, and will begin selling it on Feb. 27 for $249. When turned on, the pocket-sized camera captures snippets of footage roughly seven seconds long and still shots whenever it detects faces or pets nearby.

Clips uses an amended version of algorithms that power the Google Photos app, which isn’t surprising considering the photo storage service can identify people, pets, and objects. Google also used its own dataset and had professional photographers work with its engineers to teach the technology about the characteristics that make for a good photo. The more the camera sees the same face, the more it understands that you may want photos and videos of this person or pet.

It’s this that distinguishes Clips from life-logging cameras that automatically take photos every few seconds or when tapped, like the Narrative Clips 2 or Ion SnapCam. Google isn’t positioning Clips as a replacement for your smartphone’s camera or a GoPro-like wearable action camera, either. Rather, it’s marketing Clips toward pet owners and parents who want to capture candid shots without constantly reaching for their phone or camera.

Read more: Samsung’s New Galaxy S9 Is All About Making the Camera Better

The Clips camera itself, a tiny square-shaped gadget with a brightly colored teal back and a 130-degree field of view, doesn’t require much handling. After I positioned the camera to my liking, often propped up on my coffee table or fastened to the back of a chair or a lamp shade, I twisted the lens to tell Clips to start capturing. There’s also a shutter button just below the lens for taking photos manually. A set of lights tell you what the camera’s up to: When the white light in the center pulses, the camera is recording. An amber center light means that the camera is running low on battery or storage.

Much of your interaction with the gadget happens within the Clips app, which provides a feed of content captured by the camera, a live preview mode to help with setting up your shot, and editing controls. Every photo and video taken with Clips is stored locally on the actual camera, meaning captured content doesn’t go anywhere unless you choose to save it to your phone. When wirelessly connecting the camera to your phone, Clips streams those photos and videos to the app over Wi-Fi Direct, where you can select the content you want to save to your mobile device.

Over the course of the week I used Clips in my home, it certainly fulfilled its job of capturing cute pet photos and videos. Whenever my two cats would sprint around my apartment or start playing with each other, I set up Clips to record the action. Of the 70 clips my camera captured automatically, only one ended up showing an empty frame. If you want to help Clips learn about who and what you want it to record, the company suggests holding the camera in front of that person or pet and pressing the shutter button. You can also choose to use your Google Photos library to teach Clips about the people close to you. In terms of image quality, Clips has a sensor with six to eight megapixels, which means the results probably won’t be as high-quality as if you were to take the same images with your smartphone. But in my experience they’ve been clear enough to accurately portray the subject.

My biggest struggle had to do with framing my shots correctly. Because Clips is best for recording subjects three to eight feet away, I had some trouble finding tables and surfaces that were close enough to my pets that also allowed me to position the camera at the right angle. It also seemed like there was an occasional delay when displaying automatically captured photos and videos in the app, although this only happened on one or two occasions. Separately, in one instance I received a notification saying that the camera was getting too warm, which Google says can happen after using the Live Preview feature for an extended period of time. The company also said this isn’t a safety issue since the camera has built-in controls that scale back features before the device reaches a temperature that may cause damage. The camera also is not waterproof, meaning you’ll have to be careful when using Clips in the kitchen or by the pool.

Read more: The 5 Best Podcast Apps for iOS and Android

What I liked most about Clips was how easy it is to take these short videos and turn them into GIFs. After all, what good are adorable cat videos if you can’t do anything with them? By tapping the edit button underneath a clip in the app, you’ll be able to use a slider to cut the precise part of the clip you’d like to loop as a GIF and preview it before saving. In this same editing interface, you can save individual video frames as standalone stills too. Take a look at a couple of GIFs I captured through the Clips below:

Lisa EadiciccoA GIF captured using Google’s new Clips camera
Lisa EadiciccoA GIF captured using Google’s new Clips camera

I never worried about running out of storage during my time using Clips: my 72 snippets only filled up 4% of the camera’s 16GB of storage. Considering you’ll likely be saving and removing the clips you want to keep shortly after they’ve been recorded, I don’t imagine most users will be seeking more than 16GB of space.

But don’t plan on using the camera to record clips all night long at your next birthday bash or housewarming party. Google says the camera’s battery should last for about three hours while automatically capturing footage, adding that Clips is meant for intentional use rather than always-on recording. That seemed about accurate based on my usage: after roughly two hours and 10 minutes of capturing, the camera was down to 17%. I do wish the battery life lasted a bit longer, but not because I want to record for extensive periods of time. This is exactly the kind of device I could imagine leaving in my bag for long periods of time without remembering to plug it in.

What makes Clips fun to use is the surprise that comes from opening the app and seeing what the camera was able to capture. But even as a pet owner, I found myself struggling to remember to use it on a daily basis while reviewing it. I spent more time reminding myself what the camera isn’t for than what it is for. It’s not an action camera. It’s not a wearable camera, although you certainly can clip it to your clothing if you so desired. It’s not a smartphone camera replacement. It’s not a home security camera. It’s designed to be used in such a specific way that it was difficult to find moments when using Clips was better than just pulling out my phone and snapping a photo.

That being said, my experience may not reflect everyone’s situation. I could imagine Clips being helpful for parents who don’t want to miss their baby’s landmark moments because they were busy capturing them behind a camera. What’s more interesting than the product itself is what it says about cameras and how they’re getting better at understanding what’s actually happening in the world around us.

3.5 out of 5 stars

New story in Technology from Time: Samsung’s New Galaxy S9 Is All About Making the Camera Even Better

With its newly announced Galaxy S9, Samsung is making a simple statement: The future of the smartphone lies in the camera.

Samsung on Sunday unveiled the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, a new pair of flagship smartphones launching on March 16. As in the past, the biggest differences between the standard and plus Galaxy S9 models come down to screen size: the Galaxy S9 will have a nearly borderless 5.8-inch display, while the Galaxy S9+’s display will measure 6.2 inches. Both phones will be available for preorder starting on March 2; with the S9 priced at $719.99 and the S9+ costing $839.99.

Samsung is pushing the Galaxy S9’s revamped camera as its defining characteristic. The S9 has a slew of new camera features meant to help users take better photographs, more easily create GIFs and emojis, and discover more information about their real-world surroundings. At the heart of all this is an updated camera that includes a “super speed dual pixel” sensor and a mechanical dual aperture. The former is an improved version of the “dual pixel” technology Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S7 for faster and more accurate autofocusing. The speedier version in the Galaxy S9 will allow the camera to fixate on subjects even more quickly, Samsung says. The phone’s mechanical dual aperture shoots at f/1.5 and f/2.4, adjusting itself to let in more light when necessary. The company claims the new camera system should result in 30 percent noise reduction compared to the Galaxy S8.

Read more: ‘We’re Going to Get Better at This.’ Samsung Is Still Betting Big on the Smart Home

Samsung’s new Galaxy phones will also have a slow motion feature called Super Slow-mo that can shoot at 960 frames per second, compared to the iPhone’s 240 frames/second maximum. The Galaxy S9 can then take that slow motion footage and condenses them into easily shareable GIFs in different styles. There’s also an automatic mode that captures a slow motion video whenever movement is detected within the frame.

Yet one Galaxy S9 camera feature in particular appears to be undeniably influenced by the iPhone: AR Emoji, which scans your face to create a three-dimensional avatar resembling you that matches your facial expressions as you talk (Apple offers a similar feature on the iPhone X called Animoji). Samsung’s feature worked decently in my experience, but the resulting emoji didn’t look a whole lot like me. It also thought a chunk of my hair was part of my face during the initial scan, which left a smudge on my AR emoji’s forehead. A Samsung representative said the phone I was using wasn’t running a final version of the software.

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Samsung’s Bixby virtual assistant, touted as one of the Galaxy S8’s headlining features last year, is getting some big improvements in the Galaxy S9. Bixby Vision, a feature that lets you wave the phone’s camera in front of real-world objects to learn more about them, will be able to provide new types of insight on the Galaxy S9. For example, the camera can be used to translate foreign language text in real time, similar to Google Translate. But Bixby can actually overlay the translated text on top of the image being viewed to make the new text seamlessly blend in with whatever you’re looking at. During my brief demo of the Galaxy S9, this worked instantly when translating a sign from English to Armenian.

Bixby Vision is getting a few other new tricks too. You can use it to apply virtual makeup to a selfie with the front-facing camera, then decide to purchase the corresponding cosmetics. It can display nutritional data for food, too — pointing the camera at a block of cheese revealed the caloric content of a slice of gouda, while it quickly identified grape tomatoes on a plate of veggies. But it struggled with foods that closely resemble other edibles — it mistook slices of yellow squash for french fries and sliced mangoes.

The Galaxy S9’s camera may be the star of the show, but it’s also worth noting that Samsung is holding onto legacy features at a time when rivals like Apple are eliminating them. Unlike many of today’s newest smartphones, such as the iPhone X and Google Pixel 2, both new Galaxy smartphones still have a 3.5mm headphone jack. For those who want a new phone but detest the idea of having to keep track of a tiny dongle or buy wireless headphones, this could make the Galaxy S9 a compelling option.

Read more: Apple’s HomePod Faces a Challenge the Company is Totally Unfamiliar With

Although the Galaxy S9 includes both facial and iris recognition (which Samsung has combined into one authentication feature called Intelligent Scan, although users can choose to use both separately), the company has also decided to keep the fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. Apple, comparatively, nixed the fingerprint reader from the iPhone X and replaced it with Face ID. But Samsung did make one small but important alteration, placing the fingerprint sensor underneath the rear camera instead of alongside it. This makes it much easier to reach the biometric scanner without accidentally swiping the camera, which was one my my biggest complaints when reviewing the Galaxy S8. Otherwise, the Galaxy S9 design largely remains unchanged compared to the Galaxy S8, which isn’t a bad thing considering the Galaxy S8’s aesthetic still feels relevant and fresh. It’s starting to feel like Samsung is adopting the “tick-tock” cycle Apple was once known for, in which the company would introduce major redesigns one year and then more refined incremental changes the next. For Samsung, that pattern is more or less true dating back to the Galaxy S6, which introduced a design that remained generally consistent until the Galaxy S8’s debut last year.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are similar to one another with very few key changes. Other than its larger screen, the Galaxy S9+ offers a larger 3,500 mAh battery compared to the S9’s 3,000 mAh capacity. The bigger Galaxy S9+ also includes a dual camera similar to that of the Note 8, and houses 6GB of RAM versus the S9’s 4GB of RAM. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will both run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor.

On the surface, the Galaxy S9 is a smart and safe move for the South Korean electronics giant. It’s evidence that Samsung is sticking with what works rather than loading its phones with gimmicky new features and redesigns for the sake of change. But in a broader sense, the Galaxy S9 proves that some of the most compelling new features on smartphones are found in the camera. Nearly all of the S9’s biggest changes center on the camera, even those that aren’t specifically tied to photography or videography, such as Bixby’s new smarts and its attempt at making emojis more realistic. Given the tech world’s excitement over camera-based features like augmented reality, it’s a safe bet this trend will only continue.

New story in Technology from Time: Tech Startups Are Suing the FCC to Save Net Neutrality

Mozilla Corp. and Vimeo Inc. filed legal challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules, attacking the agency’s gutting of Obama-era policy.

Regulations the FCC passed in December were published Thursday in the Federal Register, setting in motion legal and legislative challenges, while leaving unclear when the rules would come into effect.

In Congress, lawmakers were considering publication as opening a window for a Democratic-led effort to vote to rescind the FCC’s new rules — a long shot, considering that Republicans hold a majority in each chamber and President Donald Trump could veto a challenge to his chosen FCC chairman’s action.

Other filings attacking the repeal are expected on Thursday, including one from many state attorneys general.

The Republican-led FCC with its 3-2 vote in December removed Obama-era prohibitions on blocking web traffic, slowing it or demanding payment for faster passage via their networks. Over objections from its Democrats, the FCC gave up most authority over broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. and handed enforcement to other agencies.

“It is time for us to restore internet freedom,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who dissented when the FCC adopted net neutrality under Democratic leadership in 2015, said at the time. “We are restoring the light-touch framework that has governed the internet for most of its existence.”

Pai may benefit from a legal doctrine that gives regulatory agencies the benefit of the doubt in legal questions. The so-called Chevron deference was named after the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that birthed the concept.

Eliminating the regulations frees broadband providers to begin charging websites for smooth passage over their networks. Critics said that threatens to pose barriers for smaller companies and startups, which can’t afford fees that established web companies may pay to broadband providers, or won’t have the heft to brush aside demands for payment. Broadband providers said they have no plans for anti-competitive “fast lanes,” since consumers demand unfettered web access.

The FCC’s rules still can’t take effect until they undergo a review, which could take months, of the burden they impose on reporting requirements for broadband providers. That leaves uncertain the exact date the package takes legal effect.

New story in Technology from Time: Kylie Jenner Tweeted About Snapchat. Then Its Stock Lost $1.3 Billion in Value

Snap Inc.’s flagship platform has lost some luster, at least according to one social-media influencer in the Kardashian-Jenner clan.

The Snapchat parent’s shares sank as much as 7.2 percent Thursday, wiping out $1.3 billion in market value, on the heels of a tweet from Kylie Jenner, who said she doesn’t open the app anymore. Whether it’s the demands of her newfound motherhood, or the recent app redesign, the testament drew similar replies from her 24.5 million followers. Wall Street analysts too, have begun to notice, citing recent user engagement trends noticed since the platform’s redesign.

Citigroup analyst Mark May downgraded the stock to sell from neutral earlier this week after seeing a “significant jump” in negative reviews of the app’s redesign. He expects the reviews could cause user engagement to fall, hurting financial results.

Meanwhile, as the app takes criticism, Chief Executive Evan Spiegel may become one of the highest paid executives in the U.S. After the company’s IPO last March, Spiegel got a $636.6 million stock grant that will be payable through 2020.

“Still love you tho snap,” Jenner hedged in a later tweet.

New story in Technology from Time: ‘Abhorrent’ Hoax Facebook Posts Are Claiming the Florida School Shooting Survivors Are ‘Crisis Actors’

Facebook said Wednesday that it will remove posts circulating on the social network wrongly claiming that survivors of last week’s deadly Florida school shooting are “crisis actors” working on behalf of a liberal agenda.

“Hoax images that attack the victims of last week’s tragedy in Florida are abhorrent,” Tessa Lyons, a product manager at Facebook, said in a statement reported by CNET. “We are removing this content from Facebook.”

A number of posts on the website have targeted 17-year-old survivor, David Hogg, saying the student who has been publicly advocating for gun control in the wake of the shooting is the son of a “liberal FBI agent.”

Facebook is not the only platform where similar content has been posted. Both Twitter and YouTube have provided a breeding ground for such conspiracy theories, with a video accusing Hogg of being a crisis actor rising to the No. 1 trending spot Wednesday on YouTube with more 200,000 views. YouTube acknowledged Wednesday that its algorithm had not worked properly in surfacing the video prominently.

“In 2017, we started rolling out changes to better surface authoritative news sources in search results, particularly around breaking news events,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve seen improvements, but in some circumstances these changes are not working quickly enough. In addition, last year we updated the application of our harassment policy to include hoax videos that target the victims of these tragedies. Any video flagged to us that violates this policy is reviewed and then removed. We’re committed to making more improvements throughout 2018 to make these tools faster, better and more useful to users.”

On Tuesday, Hogg told CNN that he is “not a crisis actor,” adding: “I’m someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that.”

New story in Technology from Time: YouTube Prominently Featured a Video Promoting a Florida School Shooting Conspiracy Theory

Just months after YouTube promised to clamp down on “bad actors,” a video promoting a conspiracy theory about a Parkland, Florida school shooting survivor was briefly the top trending item on the site Wednesday morning.

The video shows a local news clip about a confrontation between beachgoers and a lifeguard near Los Angeles. Appearing in the video is a young man identified as David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting who has since emerged as a leader in the student-driven gun control advocacy movement.

But the version of the video featured prominently on YouTube suggested Hogg is a “crisis actor,” or a person paid by anti-gun groups to travel to scenes of shootings and promote gun control. Such conspiracy theories are being widely shared by fringe media outlets this week.

The video was removed by 12 p.m. ET Wednesday, hours after first appearing on YouTube’s “Trending” page, a highly-trafficked portal which lists popular videos on the site. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has not responded to requests for comment. (The original version of the video, uploaded last year, is still on YouTube.)

YouTube

The baseless conspiracy theories surrounding Hogg have been amplified by several influential people in conservative media and politics. President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., “liked” a pair of tweets making such claims about Hogg, The New York Times reported. Some people have even claimed Hogg is working alongside his father and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where his father once worked as an agent.

Hogg addressed the allegations in an appearance on CNN Tuesday night.

“These people saying this is absolutely disturbing,” Hogg said. “I am not an actor in any sense, way, shape or form. I am the son of a former FBI agent, and that is true. But as such, it is also true that I go to Stoneman Douglas High School, and I was a witness to this. I’m not a crisis actor. I’m somebody that had to witness this and live through this.”

Hogg added that Trump, Jr. liking a post making such allegations is “disgusting” and “false.” Hogg also retweeted another student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who posted, “he moved from California our freshman year and hasn’t transferred since. I’ve worked with him in many tv production project and sorry @davidhogg111 but he isn’t that great of an actor. Everything you see is real.”

That a video promoting a conspiracy theory about the survivor of a school shooting that claimed 17 lives will complicate matters for YouTube, which, along with other social media platforms, is in the midst of a soul-searching moment regarding how to deal with material that is abusive, defamatory or even the work of a foreign power attempting to destabilize the politics of another nation. For its part, YouTube recently said it would hire 10,000 people to address “problematic content.”

“I’ve seen how some bad actors are exploiting our openness to mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said in a December blog post promising action on the matter.

New story in Technology from Time: You Can Now Talk to Your Nest Security Camera

If Google made one point at this year’s CES conference, it was that it’s putting the Google Assistant in all sorts of devices, from TVs to speakers, in an effort to oust Amazon’s Alexa as the most important digital helper in your home. Now, the Google Assistant is coming to yet another home device: the Nest Cam IQ indoor security camera.

Those who own the camera will have the option to add the Google Assistant via a software update starting Wednesday. Using the Google Assistant through the Nest Cam IQ indoor camera will be very similar to how one would use it through the Google Home or any other compatible device. Owners will be able to verbally ask their Nest camera for the weather, questions about their calendar, and to control smart home devices, among other queries. Owners will also be able to ask the Nest Cam IQ indoor to cast its stream to a TV.

There are a few Google Assistant features that won’t work on Nest’s camera, however, such as the ability to make phone calls, get the news, or play music and podcasts.

Read more: The 5 Best Podcast Apps for Android and iPhone

It’s the first security camera to have the Google Assistant built-in, coming several months after Amazon announced its own Cloud Cam, which works with Alexa to stream camera footage to Amazon TV Fire TVs, Fire tablets, and Echo devices with screens. The Nest Cam IQ indoor has supported the Google Assistant before Wednesday’s announcement, but users would need to own a separate device that has Google’s virtual helper built into it in order to control the camera via voice.

Nest’s announcement also comes after the company said earlier this month that it would merge its hardware team with Google’s.

New story in Technology from Time: The 5 Best Podcast Apps For Android and iPhone

From true crime murder mysteries like S-Town to shows that provide smart commentary on culture, technology, and business like Still Processing, there’s reason to believe we’re in the golden age of podcasts.

But without podcast apps to organize your podcasts and easily discover new favorites, digging into the best podcasts can quickly become overwhelming.

Here’s a list of some of the best podcast apps you can get for Android and iOS.

Stitcher

podcast apps android ios
Phone: Getty Images

Price: Free
Platform: iOS and Android

Stitcher Radio’s clean and intuitive interface makes it one of the best podcast apps to use whether you’re looking for something new or just want to keep track of your favorite shows.

The main feed, which Stitcher calls the front page, offers up a stream of episodes from podcasts it thinks you’ll enjoy based on the topics you’ve chosen when creating your account. You can also browse through individual topics to find new podcasts, build a playlist of your favorite shows, and connect with other friends that use Stitcher to see what they’re listening to.

The app’s home screen is flexible too, offering the option to either set the front page, your favorites playlist, or saved episodes as the default page upon opening the app. The basic version of Stitcher is free, while the $4.99-per-month premium version includes ad-free listening, access to bonus episodes of certain shows, and original exclusive shows.

Spreaker Podcast Radio

podcast apps android ios
Phone: Getty Images

Price: Free
Platform: iOS and Android

Podcast fans who prefer to sample several shows at once rather than diving deeply into one series at a time may want to check out Spreaker. The app includes channels that curate a stream of episodes from different podcasts all centered around a specific theme, like comedy, U.S. news, financial news, and technology, among other topics.

As is the case with similar podcast apps, you can also explore different podcasts based on categories and topics. But Spreaker sorts shows into ultra-specific, Netflix-style categories, like Man Cave, Podcasts for Entrepreneurs, and Scary Storie, in addition to more common subjects like Education, Fitness, Technology, and Popular Shows, making it one of the best podcasts apps around.

Overcast

podcast apps android ios
Phone: Getty Images

Price: Free
Platform: iOS

Overcast stands out for its sleek and minimalist design, which can feel refreshing compared to the sometimes cluttered interfaces found in many podcast apps. The first thing you see when opening the app is a list of the podcasts you currently follow. Tapping the plus icon in the upper right corner allows you to browse for new podcasts based on categories and topics such as comedy, technology, business, arts, news and politics, and most recommended.

There isn’t much else to Overcast, which is exactly why we think it’s one of the best podcast apps. But don’t let the app’s basic design fool you: There are several features here that other podcast apps lack, such as a Voice Boost for ensuring that speech volume is consistent and 3D Touch support for viewing episode details without being redirected to a new page. You can also choose to pay $9.99 per year for the premium ad-free version of Overcast.

Podbean

podcast apps android ios
Phone: Getty Images

Price: Free
Platform: iOS and Android

Podbean feels more an app store than it does a media player. With recommendations, top episodes, featured shows, and plenty of other categories prominently featured on the home screen, it’s clear that Podbean is focusing on putting curation front and center. Otherwise, Podbean has all of the basic features and playback controls to make it one of the best podcast apps, including options that let you adjust how many seconds to skip ahead when fast-forwarding and a setting for automatically downloading new episodes of podcasts you follow.

Pocket Casts

podcast apps android ios
Phone: Getty Images

Price: $3.99
Platform: iOS and Android

Pocket Casts is another user-friendly podcast app that makes it easy to find new podcasts based on shows that are popular and trending. Since the Discover page displays categories in a list format rather than as a carousel with thumbnail images, the app feels a bit neater than some alternatives. Pocket Casts’ main menu also has a section that houses all of your in-progress episodes in one place, and offers options to create new filters for sorting your podcasts based on a variety of factors, such as whether or not the episode has been downloaded, when the episode was released, and whether or not the episode is a video or audio show.