The big-screen version of the Japanese manga series and the live-action adaptation of the popular video game once again go neck and neck in their second week at the domestic box office.

The promo that also celebrates the past MCU movies offers a look at Angelina Jolie's Thena, Richard Madden's Icarus, Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo and Gemma Chan's Sersi among other Eternals.

Setting the record straight about whether he will appear in the next 'Spider-Man' movie, the former Spidey depicter claims that he 'did not get a call' from the producers.

The upcoming Man of Steel project is said to be standalone like Matt Reeves' 'The Batman' and Todd Phillips' 'Joker', with a possibility of being a period piece.

Apple has recently activated a feature that enables the HomePod and HomePod mini smart speakers to recognize the sound of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send a notification alert to your iPhone or iPad. In this episode of our podcast, Thomas Domville walks us through the process of setting this up.

The Sound Recognition feature uses the always-on microphone inside the HomePod to listen out for a home's existing smoke and carbon monoxide detector. When it hears the alarm, the HomePod sends a notification to your iPhone or iPad via the Home app. This means you don't need to invest in new internet-connected smoke alarms systems, as the HomePod can simply enhance the utility of your existing "dumb" offline smoke alarms. If you have HomeKit-compatible security cameras in your house, the notification will include a live video feed so you can remotely assess what's happening.

To enable Sound Recognition, follow these simple steps: open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad, then navigate to the Home Settings -> Safety & Security screen. There, you can enable the Sound Recognition feature. In addition, you can manage critical notification alerts from supported safety and security devices in your home, and even allow home members to "check in" and listen to the sounds in the home. It's worth noting that the Sound Recognition settings can also be accessed via a HomePod's dedicated Settings. Simply perform a long press on the HomePod's tile in the Home app to access its settings.

(If the Safety & Security section is dimmed out, ensure your HomePod and all other Apple devices are up-to-date with the latest software.

In this episode, Majid Almaadeed gives us a demonstration of Cisco Packet Tracer for Mac, a versatile network simulation and visualization tool designed for learning and practicing networking concepts. It provides a virtual environment where users can create, configure, and simulate network topologies and devices, enabling them to gain hands-on experience with networking technologies without the need for physical hardware.

Cisco Packet Tracer for Mac allows individuals to design and simulate complex network setups. It supports a wide range of Cisco devices, such as routers, switches, and wireless access points, enabling users to configure and interconnect them to create functional networks. You can explore various networking concepts, including routing, switching, wireless communications, and network security. It facilitates the simulation of network protocols and their behaviors, allowing users to understand how data flows through different network layers and devices.

In addition to its simulation capabilities, Cisco Packet Tracer for Mac offers a range of learning resources and activities, making it an ideal tool for educational institutions and self-paced learning. It allows users to test their network configurations, troubleshoot issues, and visualize the impact of changes before implementing them in real-world scenarios.

In this month's edition of AppleVis Unleashed, Thomas Domville and Mike Malarsie are joined by Kevin Jones to discuss recent Apple news and other topics of interest. Topics featured in this episode include:

• Introduction (00:00:00)
• Vision Pro launch at retail stores is Apple’s most complex rollout ever, will require appointment to buy (00:02:11)
• Apple GPT is the company's answer to ChatGPT and it could arrive next year (00:09:49)
• Beats Studio Pro arrives with Spatial Audio, massive battery life (00:18:50)
• New EU regulations mandate user-replaceable batteries in Apple products (00:31:49)
• iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro rumored to feature big boost in battery sizes (00:39:05)
• Apple Watch could detect Parkinson's disease up to 7 years earlier (00:52:06)
• What's in this month AppleVis News (00:59:44)
• Closing (01:12:08)

Links:

• Vision Pro launch at retail stores is Apple’s most complex rollout ever, will require appointment to buy
• Apple GPT is the company's answer to ChatGPT and it could arrive next year
• Beats Studio Pro arrives with Spatial Audio, massive battery life
• New EU regulations mandate user-replaceable batteries in Apple products
• iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro rumored to feature big boost in battery sizes
• iPhone 15 battery upgrade could unlock 40W charging speeds and a big MagSafe boost
• The iPhone 15 might not arrive until October
• Apple Watch could detect Parkinson's disease up to 7 years earlier
• Perplexity - Ask Anything
• VoiceVista

If you have feedback or questions for the Unleashed team, you can reach them by email at unleashed@applevis.com or by leaving a voice message at 1-816-287-1482 (US number, call charges may apply).

In this episode, Thomas Domville will guide you through the process of enabling the Sound Curtain feature. Sound Curtain, an accessibility feature introduced in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, silences all audio on your device, including VoiceOver speech. This is particularly beneficial for Braille users who need to concentrate on their Braille display without any auditory distractions.

To enable Sound Curtain, Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille, and switch on the Sound Curtain toggle. Alternatively, Sound Curtain can be toggled on and off from VoiceOver Quick Settings, accessed by performing a two-finger quadruple-tap from anywhere in iOS and iPadOS.

In this episode, MarkSarch provides a comprehensive review, shares his insights, and demonstrates the features of the RAY-BAN META SMART GLASSES. He takes us from the initial unboxing through the exploration of their unique functions, detailing how they’re integrated into the glasses, and concludes with a live demonstration using the smart assistant

To learn more about the RAY-BAN META SMART GLASSES
https://www.ray-ban.com/usa/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello everybody.

My name is Marco and this audio I'm going to do unboxing, hardware description, demo and extra features of RayVan Meta Smart Glasses.

Unboxing.

Well, it looks like a classic recycle package, flat box, and I'm going to give you the package dimensions.

It's about seven inches length, about three and a half inches width, and about two inches height.

Okay.

I don't feel that has any tape on it, so which means so I don't have to cut anything.

So in order to open it and also I feel some something printed on it in highlights is on the top and on the sides, on the length sides and both sides.

Okay.

So I'm going to place the box with the length side closer to me in horizontal way.

It's sitting down on my desk and the way how open the box is from the left and from the right sides, which means the width sides.

So I'm going to start opening from the left side.

Once again, I don't have to cut anything.

Basically the only thing I need is use my fingernail in order to make some pressure.

You know, like pushing out, yeah, pushing down first and then pushing out and I'm going to open.

Here you go.

I did.

I'm going to open also the right side.

Once again, I'm going to use my finger and nail, push down and push out and this one is easier.

Okay.

So what's on it?

Well, the box has like a compartment in one of the sites and which is the, you know, the paper manuals, the user guide and everything in this case is on my right side.

And on the left side is the microfiber cloth and I feel the case on it.

Okay.

So in order to take out the case from the package, that I do is with my right hand, I'm going to feel it and make some, and I'm going to push it so to my left side.

So and with my left hand, I'm going to touch it and locate it and I'm going to twist it a little bit and the way, you know, how get out a little bit and here we go.

I'm going to start pushing once again with my right fingers and here we go.

I have it here.

Well, this is the box and on my hands.

Now I have the, the case and the glasses are inside.

Now I am going to open the case and it has on the front, some kind of magnet, which allows to attach to the case with the lid, that's I can tell and the glasses are inside.

On the middle, there is some plastic tape, which is in order to keep in place the glasses in the case.

So I have to cut it or just, yeah, cut it or push up and down in order to take out the glasses…

In this episode, Mark Sarch provides a follow-up to his previous introduction of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. He demonstrates several new features including music integration with Apple Music and Spotify, multilingual support for messaging services like WhatsApp, the new Meta AI visual assistance capabilities, and hands-free video calling with WhatsApp and Messenger.

Mark walks through enabling music services in the MetaView app and using voice commands to control playback. He shows how to send multilingual WhatsApp messages by voice. For the Meta AI visual assistance, Mark showcases its ability to describe objects, read text, identify colors, and more - highlighting its limitations as a mainstream device not optimized for comprehensive document reading.

He compares the Meta AI's output to a live video call demonstration with a human assistant reading details from a business card. Mark also explains the process for hands-free video calling on WhatsApp and Messenger by using the capture button and touchpad.

While not a dedicated assistive device, Mark highlights some potentially useful features for visual assistance and hands-free operation.

transcription:

Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello everybody, my name is Mark and I'm back once again to talk about Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses latest feature available only for US and Canada.

If you haven't heard before about this pair of smart glasses, I highly recommend listening to the episode I made, review of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, where I talk about unboxing, hardware description and basic tasks that you can do with the voice assistant.

In this episode, I will show 4 of the latest features available for hardware, V4.0, music integration, multilingual support for messenger services, Meta AI available for US and Canada only, and WhatsApp and Facebook messenger video call.

Let's talk first about music integration.

Now, Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses support Apple Music and Spotify completely hands-free.

To do this, you have to activate Apple Music or Spotify directly from the MetaView app.

I will show you how to do it.

MetaView Open MetaView MetaView From the bottom you have a few tabs, click on settings, and then from here you have to see Apple Music Button Spotify Button If you listen to my voice not too loud, it's because I have placed the microphone really close to my ear, where you will be able to listen to the music completely hands-free.

Using only your voice, where you can request commands as resume the music, change to the next song, change to the previous song, and also pause.

Just you have to say the magic phrase and it will sound like this.

Hey Meta, resume music.

Hey Meta, next.

Hey Meta, previous.

Hey Meta, pause.

Great, I think you get some idea how this thing works.

Now, I'm going to show you something, but in order to do this request, you have to place the finger on the touchpad.

It's to change to the next radio station.

Press and hold using one finger on the touchpad for two seconds, will change to the next radio station.

Resuming, this is…

In this episode, Thomas Domville provides a detailed walkthrough of the ElevenLabs Reader for iOS. This versatile app transforms any text content into natural, expressive speech using advanced AI-generated voices. Perfect for articles, ePubs, PDFs, and more, it enables users to enjoy their favorite content on the go. With an extensive and ever-growing library of voices, the app offers a personalized listening experience tailored to any mood or occasion.

ElevenLabs Reader: AI Audio on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/elevenlabs-reader-ai-audio/id6479373050

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello and welcome.

My name is Thomas Domville, also known as AnonyMouse.

I'm going to introduce you to an app called 11 Labs Reader, and it's spelled just as it sounds like.

So 11 Labs is one word, E-L-E-V-E-N-L-A-B-S, 11 Labs, space, reader.

This is an amazing app that you definitely want to check out if there's something that interests you, of course.

So I'm going to do a nice little review and walk through and show you a demonstration how to use 11 Labs Reader.

Now before I do that, 11 Labs should sound familiar for most of you out there.

If you haven't heard of 11 Labs, no problem.

11 Labs has been around for some time now, and what they're known for is being able to take any text and convert it into audio for you to listen.

It's incredible technology.

It sounds marvelous, and it's trying to do its best to sound as natural as possible.

And I personally think they're getting really close to that moment where we will be able to say, wow, this is definitely a hit on their hands.

And I think this app is no doubt going to be something that's going to be popular by some of you out there.

Now I have used other apps.

I won't mention those names.

They will take various files like text files or probably PDFs or EPUBs and try to read it out using whatever voice over voices that we have now.

And as you know, well, for myself, I'm not a big fan of those things.

And it's really kind of hard to read books or listen to articles with those voices, especially when I come back in a background where I'm not used to using older voices such as eloquence and such things like that.

It just sounds very unnatural, very robotic.

So I'm really more into more natural sounding speech.

So this is no doubt one of the big app that I definitely going to keep on my main home screen from now on.

Now it's saying that there are some quirks and issues with this app.

Yeah, for the most part, it is accessible and usable.

Now there are some things that if you need to do, it can be difficult.

So I won't be pointing that out.

But I'm hoping that there's definitely going to be some update to this app and to making things more efficient for voice over users.

Overall, I think this app definitely has potential and it definitely is going to be something I'm going to be using a lot.

So let's go ahead and…

In her debut podcast, Tarja will showcase AudioCat for iOS. AudioCat is an accessible audiogames platform designed exclusively for iOS, focusing on immersive audio experiences. The app includes a virtual cat companion that users can name and care for, adding to the interactive fun. Currently, AudioCat features two audiogames: “Wordy,” a word-guessing game, and “Echoes of Valor,” an adventure RPG that delves into moral dilemmas. Players can earn coins and XP by playing these games, which can be used to feed their virtual pet and unlock additional content.

AudioCat on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/audiocat/id6502510097

Welcome to AppleVis Extra 101, where Dave Nason is joined by Xiaoran Wang and Huasong Cao from Agiga, the team behind the upcoming Echo Vision smart glasses. Check out some early demos, with more to come, on their YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@AgigaAi/videos And learn more on their website at: https://echovision.agiga.ai/ The team would love to hear your feedback, so please comment below, or contact them through the website.

Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by Aiko, an AI-powered transcription app. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello there and welcome to the AppleVis Extra.

This is episode number 101.

My name is David Nason and I'm delighted to be joined by two fantastic guests from Agiga.

We have Xiaoran Wang and HuaSong Cao

Is that correct, guys?

Thank you, David.

Thank you for having us.

So yeah, delighted.

And the product you're going to talk to us about is the Echo Vision.

So before we get into that, though, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourselves, the company, what you do, really, and how it all came about?

Sure.

My name is Xiaoran.

I'm the CEO, and before doing this company, actually, I had long experience building and shaping intelligent devices.

I started my career at Amazon Level 26.

That's the first place of the world's first Kindle and also the world's first Alexa.

And I was actually in the early team that developed Alexa devices.

And this experience gave me good exposure and got me enough experience on how to build a good intelligent device.

I think that's one of the confidence I brought in when I was doing this company that we can build a great product for the community.

Brilliant, and obviously, Alexa, a device that's very popular, being a voice-first product, very popular in the blind and visually impaired community.

So yeah, that's really cool.

And tell us about yourself, Hua Song.

Yeah, thanks, David.

So my name is Hua Song, and I'm an engineer by training.

Before I started this company with Xiaoran, I was with Google for about nine to ten years.

I did various software projects, and the latest one is Google Assistant, the voice assistant similar to Amazon counterparts.

Yeah, I've been enjoying doing software, building stuff, both hardware and software.

And with Giga, what we are trying to do is really to use our expertise built prior to this company and take that to something that we can really use to help everyone.

That's brilliant.

So do you want to quickly tell us what the product is, and then we can delve into a bit more detail.

Yeah, so the product is called EchoVision.

By looking, it looks like a normal pair of glasses.

The key feature is to articulate visual information into voices.

Think about it.

If you can't see this, and there's someone next to you, how will this person help you?

So basically, he or she is going to describe it for you, like read it out for you.

And that's how we envision our product, basically.

It's like an assistant, a virtual assistant that does this work for you.

Well, I was going to…

Richard Lutz takes his pew at the Royal Shakespeare Theatrefor that most famous of revenge plays.

Book of poems will raise funds for anti-racism venture.

Jasmine Gardosi to write a new anthem for Birmingham.

Festivals and photography exhibition set to celebrate the city's poetry and spoken word scene.

Jessica Harris goes along to watch.

Iconic studios honoured by local heroes.

Transport lobbyists call for alterations to Wolverhampton extension.

Top comics and raising awareness in Wolverhampton.

A taste of Italy comes to the Black Country.

Homeless Battersea dog named in honour of Commonwealth champion.

Pawprint ID technology employed as Hound Pound set to be new purchasing power.

Leaders from some of Europe’s largest companies will be gathering in Birmingham to discuss the role that open innovation and collaboration can play in boosting the economy

Financial advisers from across the West Midlands attended a course on auto enrolment yesterday – the new regime for workplace pensions that has begun to roll out.

How can men feel more confident in front of the camera?

Tudor Grange date for visually impaired swimmers.

Free art exhibition set to make waves at Moseley Road Baths.

Young swimmers compete and learn at Tudor Grange.

Moseley Road Baths receives money from Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage.

Get creative this Easter and design a new logo for swimming campaign.

50 reasons why the region is a global centre of innovation.

Walsall’s Labour group claim that after, what they describe as, three years of failed promises and unsuccessful negotiations, Walsall Council has committed £8 million to a flagship retail project with less than 24 hours notice.

Labour councillors are opposing a move by Walsall council to discuss a tax-funded, multi-million pound project in secret session away from the eyes of the public and press.

Celebrating the life of a once vibrant lane, soon to be lost due to development.

Join the people of Stirchley in a celebratory walk and laying of floral tributes commemorating the life of a once vibrant street.

The Midlands Racing Club are holding their Grand National Preview on Tuesday

Richard Lutz takes his pew for a story about power and the inability to compromise.

Walsall councilors donate to needy.

Proposed budget "political cowardice" claim.

Labour group say "bar set far too high".

Change of meeting "prevents council change" - claim.

PP Electrical Systems worker is Young Engineer of the Year.

Olympians Geraint Thomas and Steven Burke attended the Black Country University Technical College’s ‘Accelerate Live’ event last weekend, inspiring students to learn about science and engineering.

Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming has pledged his support for renewable energy and green jobs across the West Midlands

Alan Clawley on the impending closure of Birmingham Central Library in June - but ideas are still being proposed for its future

Dave Woodhall sees Villa win at Wycombe in the Carabao Cup.

Dave Woodhall witnesses a memorable night as Villa beat Bayern Munich.

Dave Woodhall sees Villa draw with Manchester United.