AI voice, synthetic speech company LOVO gets $4.5M pre-series A funding – TechCrunch

AI voice, synthetic speech company LOVO gets $4.5M pre-series A funding – TechCrunch

Voice skins have become a very popular feature for AI-based voice assistants to personalize some of the more anodyne aspects of helpful, but also boring and robotic speaking voices that you get from services like Alexa. Now, a startup developing voice skins for various companies to use in their services, as well as third parties … Read more

Death sentence for Charleston church shooter upheld

Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby, NC on June 18, 2015.  Roof is a suspect in the shooting of several people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

RICHMOND, Virginia – The U.S. Fourth Court of Appeals has upheld the death sentence of Dylann Roof, the white racist responsible for the 2015 Charleston Church massacre. Roof appealed his conviction and death sentence in January 2020, arguing that he had schizophrenia and other mental disorders. On his appeal, Roof’s attorneys argued that he was … Read more

‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ wants you to know it’s okay to like ‘Voyager’

"We'll Always Have Tom Paris” -- Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris of the Paramount+ series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo: PARAMOUNT+ ©2021 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved **Best Possible Screen Grab**

This article contains minor spoilers for season two, episode three of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’. This week’s episode of Lower Decks, “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” manages to put two references in its title: an episode from the first season of The Next Generation called “We’ll Always Have Paris” and the name of one Main … Read more

In First Interview From Jail, an Upbeat Navalny Discusses Prison Life

In First Interview From Jail, an Upbeat Navalny Discusses Prison Life

MOSCOW – Russia’s most famous prisoner, opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny, spends a lot of time tidying up his cell block, reading letters and attending mass for dinner, with porridge often on the menu. But perhaps the most terrifying thing, he said, is being forced to watch Russian state television and selected propaganda films for … Read more

Cloud wars: Former Amazon Web Services leader Charlie Bell reportedly joins rival Microsoft

Amazon senior cloud exec Charlie Bell is leaving the company after more than 23 years

Charlie Bell (LinkedIn Photo) Long-time Amazon Web Services boss Charlie Bell has reportedly taken a job at Microsoft. Bell, a member of Amazon’s senior leadership team and long-time lynchpin of the company’s cloud business, left the Seattle company this month after more than 23 years. Business Insider reported Wednesday that Bell was joining Microsoft. The … Read more

Why the Citi Premier should be your first Citi credit card

Why the Citi Premier should be your first Citi credit card

CNN — CNN Underscored überprüft Finanzprodukte wie Kreditkarten und Bankkonten anhand ihres Gesamtwertes. Wir erhalten möglicherweise eine Provision über das LendingTree-Partnernetzwerk, wenn Sie eine Karte beantragen und genehmigt werden, aber unsere Berichterstattung ist immer unabhängig und objektiv. Während unsere Wahl für die beste Kreditkarte für erste Reiseprämien seit langem die Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ist, … Read more

Inspired by Airbnb, Hims & Hers offers 10,000 free medical visits to displaced Afghan refugees – TechCrunch

Inspired by Airbnb, Hims & Hers offers 10,000 free medical visits to displaced Afghan refugees – TechCrunch

Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO Andrew Dudum said Thursday his company was in the process of distributing 10,000 primary care and mental health visits to displaced Afghan refugees. Founded in 2017, San Francisco-based Hims & Hers has built a multi-specialty telemedicine platform connecting consumers with licensed healthcare professionals. In one blog entry, Dudum wrote … Read more

President Biden is meeting with Apple, Google and Microsoft on cybersecurity

Jon Fingas

The US has suffered a spate of major cyberattacks targeting everyone from federal prosecutors to meat suppliers, and the White House is hoping some talks with key companies will lead to long-term security solutions. The Washington Post reports that President Biden, certain cabinet members and relevant security officials are holding talks with technology giants ADP, … Read more

Analysis: Cloud gaming on Xbox illustrates Microsoft’s console strategy versus Sony

Analysis: Cloud gaming on Xbox illustrates Microsoft’s console strategy versus Sony

(Microsoft photo) Microsoft announced Tuesday morning that the long-awaited debut of its cloud gaming service on the Xbox family of consoles is slated for this holiday season, following previous releases from Xbox Cloud Gaming on PCs and mobile devices. Console owners who subscribe to the Ultimate version of the Game Pass service can play compatible … Read more