A survey of over 1,000 Americans concluded smart speaker ownership is at about 1 in 5, an astounding feat for a three-year-old market. Among other data the report reveals, Amazon is clearly leading the market with 71.9 percent market share to Google’s 18.4 percent. The survey also has some interesting revelations about people who don’t own smart speakers, notably that 50 percent of them plan to buy one this year. It’s incredible to think how quickly the smart speaker market has exploded. When you remember that Amazon Echo first went on sale in June 2015, it illuminates just how fast-paced the smart home market has become.According to a new survey of over 1,000 Americans released by Voicebot, in collaboration with PullString and RAIN, the amount of American adults who own at least one smart speaker is 19.7 percent. If you extrapolate that number to the U.S. population, it means there are about 47 million smart speaker owners in the country. Not bad for … [Read more...] about Report: Google way behind in American smart speaker user base at 18.4%
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Most Americans think artificial intelligence will destroy other people’s jobs, not theirs
AI is a problem for jobs, say the majority of Americans, but it’s someone else’s problem. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of US adults believe artificial intelligence will “eliminate more jobs than it creates,” according to a Gallup survey. But, the same survey found that less than a quarter (23 percent) of people were “worried” or “very worried” automation would affect them personally. Notably, these figures vary depending on education. For respondents with only a four-year college degree or less, 28 percent were worried about AI taking their job; for people with at least a bachelor degree, that figure was 15 percent. These numbers tell a familiar story. They come from a Gallup survey of more than 3,000 individuals on automation and AI. New details were released this week, but they echo the findings of earlier reports. One survey conducted by Quartz last year found that 90 percent of respondents thought that up to half of all jobs … [Read more...] about Most Americans think artificial intelligence will destroy other people’s jobs, not theirs
How Medicine’s Long, Thin Supply Chain Threatens Americans
On the website of the Food and Drug Administration, there’s a page where the agency lists drugs that are in short supply in the United States. Last week, there were 90 entries on the list: antibiotics, drugs for anesthesia, compounds to light up veins and organs for imaging, immunosuppressives to prevent organ rejection, tube-feeding solutions, sedatives. For every type of medical problem, an important drug is off the market or in short supply—and this is routine. In the fall, after Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico, something new joined the list, not a drug but a category of medical equipment: bags of sterile salt water. When the territory’s electrical grid went down, it took out several plants that make bagged saline for US manufacturer Baxter International. Few noticed at first, until this winter’s flu season got bad. One of the first things you do when someone arrives at a hospital weak and feverish is plug them into a quart bag of saline to rehydrate … [Read more...] about How Medicine’s Long, Thin Supply Chain Threatens Americans
Apple picks Sony’s Angelica Guerra to head up Latin American video programming
By Roger Fingas Friday, March 02, 2018, 01:23 pm PT (04:23 pm ET) The latest executive recruit for Apple's worldwide video division is Angelica Guerra, who will take charge of Latin American programming, according to a report on Friday. Guerra is starting this month, and will report to head of international creative development Morgan Wandell, Variety said on Friday. Previously Guerra was Sony Pictures Television's senior vice president and managing director of production for Latin America and U.S. Hispanic. While many of Guerra's credits may not be familiar to English-speaking audiences, one of them is "Metastasis," a Spanish-language version of AMC's "Breaking Bad." Sony has been very fertile recruiting ground for Apple. Some past hires include development executives Max Aronson and Ali Woodruff, documentary series chief Kim Rozenfeld, and the people ultimately in charge of Apple's original video, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg. Although Apple was once reported to be working on … [Read more...] about Apple picks Sony’s Angelica Guerra to head up Latin American video programming
Ancient Native American Burial Site Discovered Off the Coast of Florida
A 7,000-year-old Native American burial site has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Venice, Florida, state officials announced yesterday (Feb. 28). The underwater site wasn't at the bottom of the ocean when it was created. The near-shore burial site was an inland "peat-bottomed freshwater pond thousands of years ago," before the fluid Florida coastline shifted as sea levels rose, according to a statement. State officials stressed that they're taking pains to preserve the site. [In Photos: Human Skeleton Sheds Light on First Americans] "Out of respect for the ancient people buried there and their living descendants, divers and other interested individuals are prohibited from disturbing the site. The site is protected under Florida law and it is illegal to excavate and/or remove any material or human remains from the site," according to a statement from the Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Archaeological Research. Divers first discovered possible … [Read more...] about Ancient Native American Burial Site Discovered Off the Coast of Florida