Sci-Tech news

• Feeling of Optimism at Paris Climate Talks Despite Disagreement - TIME

  09-12-2015 23:43 via
  TIME
  Feeling of Optimism at Paris Climate Talks Despite Disagreement
  TIME
  Negotiations have come down to the wire in Paris with less than 48 hours remaining before talks aimed at producing history's strongest agreement to address climate change are scheduled to end. But despite large differences on several key issues, a mood ...
  The Latest: None satisfied with Paris draft, none rejects itWashington Post
  What Climate Change Looks Like: A Race to Save Frozen MummiesNew York Times
  Time for leaders
  

• Buckle Up for 'Super Mario Maker' Mercedes-Benz DLC - PC Magazine

  09-12-2015 23:33 via
  PC Magazine
  Buckle Up for 'Super Mario Maker' Mercedes-Benz DLC
  PC Magazine
  Mario is about to get a sweet new ride. Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with Nintendo to create new DLC for the Wii U game Super Mario Maker that puts Mario in the driver's seat of a GLA. Created by Mario fans at Mercedes-Benz, the DLC ...
  Nintendo's future lies in its 'Super Smash Bros.' updatesEngadget
  Mercedes-Benz Teams Up with Nintendo to Create Special Super Mario Maker LevelHardcore Gamer
  'Super
  

• As Beijing Shuts Down Over Smog Alert, Worse-Off Neighbors Carry On - New York Times

  09-12-2015 22:33 via
  New York Times
  As Beijing Shuts Down Over Smog Alert, Worse-Off Neighbors Carry On
  New York Times
  BEIJING — The Chinese capital endured another day under an air quality “red alert” on Wednesday, with schools still closed, half of all cars kept off the roads and factories shut. But in other cities across northern China, tens of millions of people ...
  China Pollution: How Bad Can the Air Get?Discovery News
  Smog-Choked Beijing Should Have Learned From New York's MistakesHuffingto
  

• Google's Quantum Computing Project Shows Promise - Android Headlines - Android News

  09-12-2015 22:23 via
  VentureBeat
  Google's Quantum Computing Project Shows Promise
  Android Headlines - Android News
  Quantum computing is based around the premise that computers will use individual atoms and molecules in order to process instructions and use memory. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a microprocessor doubles every eighteen months, ...
  Google: Our quantum computer is 100 million times faster than a conventional ...ExtremeTech
  What happens when NASA partners with Google? A quantu
  

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• Paleontologists discover new hornless 'horned dinosaur' species - UPI.com

  09-12-2015 22:13 via
  UPI.com
  Paleontologists discover new hornless 'horned dinosaur' species
  UPI.com
  Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis stood on its hind feet and wasn't much bigger than a cocker spaniel. Photo by Portia Sloan Rollings. WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- In a paper published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers have described a new ...
  Spaniel-Size Triceratops Cousin Walked on Its Two Hind LegsLive Science
  Triceratops gets a cousin: Researchers identify another horned dinosaur speciesPhys.Org
  'O
  

• Texting like this may make you seem insincere - CNBC

  09-12-2015 21:41 via
  CNBC
  Texting like this may make you seem insincere
  CNBC
  A team of researchers, headed by Celia Klin, an associate professor of psychology at Binghamton University, asked 126 undergraduates to read a series of exchanges that appeared either as a text message or were handwritten. "Texting is lacking many of ...
  Do You End Texts With Periods? Stop It, You MonsterPC Magazine
  Study: Ending your texts with a period makes you look like a jerkOrlando Sentinel
  Researchers confirm the best way to alienat
  

• Best Buy drops Apple Watch pricing to as low as $249 with new wave of $100 ... - Apple Insider

  09-12-2015 21:39 via
  Newsweek
  Best Buy drops Apple Watch pricing to as low as $249 with new wave of $100 ...
  Apple Insider
  Apple retail partner Best Buy kicked off major discounts on the Apple Watch on Wednesday, offering $100 off its inventory of Apple Watch Sport and stainless steel Apple Watch models for a limited time, marking the lowest price points yet for the wearable.
  Apple Watch is Selling for $100 Less, but is a New Model Coming?Fortune
  Apple Watch Deal: Why You Should (Or Shouldn't Buy) The Apple Inc. Sm
  

• Volkswagen Terms One Emissions Problem Smaller Than Expected - New York Times

  09-12-2015 21:23 via
  New York Times
  Volkswagen Terms One Emissions Problem Smaller Than Expected
  New York Times
  WOLFSBURG, Germany — It was the corporate equivalent of saying “never mind.” Volkswagen, which has been on a public relations losing streak in recent months, said Wednesday that one of its admitted sins was not as egregious as the company had ...
  VW says CO2 emissions scandal not as bad as fearedReuters
  Why Volkswagen Is Going Electric at CESFortune
  New VW head for CMS is Volkwagen
  

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• What Climate Change Looks Like: A Race to Save Frozen Mummies - New York Times

  09-12-2015 21:17 via
  New York Times
  What Climate Change Looks Like: A Race to Save Frozen Mummies
  New York Times
  This week, we're featuring images that show the varied ways that global warming has affected the world. Scythian warriors, like the one seen on display above, have been buried within the Siberian permafrost for more than 2,000 years. Encased in icy ...
  Climate talks: Slimmed-down draft proposal still leaves major issues unresolvedLos Angeles Times
  US pledges more aid to poorer countries as Paris climate
  

• Google launches Play Music Family Plan: $15 for 6 people - ZDNet

  09-12-2015 21:15 via
  ZDNet
  Google launches Play Music Family Plan: $15 for 6 people
  ZDNet
  One of the key advantages Apple Music has held over Google Play Music is gone: Google is matching Apple's service with a family plan of its own. Google announced the Play Music Family Plan on Wednesday, explaining that the $14.99 a month subscription ...
  Google Play Music launches $14.99 family plan for up to six peopleThe Verge
  Google Play Music's family plan goes live this weekEngadget
  Google makes Play Music Family Pla
  

• In vitro fertilization goes to the dogs - Los Angeles Times

  09-12-2015 21:13 via
  Los Angeles Times
  In vitro fertilization goes to the dogs
  Los Angeles Times
  The first puppies born by in vitro fertilization included beagles and a cocker spaniel-beagle mix. The first puppies born by in vitro fertilization included beagles and a cocker spaniel-beagle mix. (Cornell University). Melissa HealyContact Reporter ...
  First litter of puppies born by in vitro fertilizationCBS News
  See the First-Ever IVF PuppiesTIME
  7 half-pound mutts become first test-tube puppies in worldWashington Po
  

• Nintendo's future lies in its 'Super Smash Bros.' updates - Engadget

  09-12-2015 21:01 via
  Tech Times
  Nintendo's future lies in its 'Super Smash Bros.' updates
  Engadget
  Nintendo will host the last "Direct" presentation for Super Smash Bros. (SSB) on December 15th at 5PM ET. As those that follow Directs will know, this is the third presentation dedicated solely to the brawler, alongside frequent SSB announcements ...
  'Super Mario Maker' Is Getting New Mercedes-Benz DLC TodayTech Times
  Super Mario Maker Revs Up with Free New Content Created by Mercedes-BenzGamasutra
  Super Mario Maker A
  

• Apple's TV Plans Fell Apart Over Content Owners' Resistance to Skinny Bundles - Mac Rumors

  09-12-2015 20:37 via
  Mac Rumors
  Apple's TV Plans Fell Apart Over Content Owners' Resistance to Skinny Bundles
  Mac Rumors
  Following comments made by CBS CEO Les Moonves on the state of Apple's rumored television service, news leaked confirming Apple has put plans for such a service on hold for the time being due to difficulties securing content deals. While Bloomberg ...
  Apple's streaming TV talks fell apart on push for 'skinny' channel bundle ...Apple Insider
  Apple reportedly halts plan to create live-TV subsc
  

• Netflix upgrades parental leave policy for its DVD workers

  09-12-2015 20:28
  
  Netflix is upgrading the parental leave policies covering hundreds of hourly workers in its DVD-by-mail division after being publicly skewered for extending far better baby benefits for the highly paid engineers and other employees in its more popular Internet video service.
  
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• Researchers study mindset of Hong Kong voters

  09-12-2015 20:20
  
  Two UT Dallas political scientists are studying voter behavior in Hong Kong elections, providing some of the first data on that city's public attitudes about electoral democracy.
  
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• Reilly Center releases its annual top 10 list of ethical dilemmas in science

  09-12-2015 20:20
  
  The John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values at the University of Notre Dame has released its fourth annual list of emerging ethical dilemmas and policy issues in science and technology for 2016. This list is designed to get people thinking about potential ethical dilemmas before controversial science or technology goes mainstream.
  
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• Invasive lizard takes up residence in Bermuda

  09-12-2015 20:20
  
  A non-native species of lizard has been discovered in Bermuda, a potential problem for the island's critically endangered Bermuda skink. The observation was made by Florida International University biology student James Stroud.
  
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• No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852, SETI reports

  09-12-2015 20:19
  
  The anomalous star KIC 8462852 has baffled astronomers with its erratic dimming, causing some to speculate that it's orbited by a massive structure built by an extraterrestrial civilization. To help evaluate that possibility, scientists searched for brief laser pulses from the distant star, but found none, as reported in a paper submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
  
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• New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins - Phys.Org

  09-12-2015 20:13 via
  Phys.Org
  New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins
  Phys.Org
  This representation of Ceres' Occator Crater in false colors shows differences in the surface composition. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. Ceres reveals some of its well-kept secrets in two new studies in the journal Nature, thanks to data ...
  Dawn Finds Evidence for Salty Spots, Morning Mist on CeresNational Geographic
  VIDEO: NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Provides New Clues To Ceres' Bright Spots and ...SpaceCoastDaily.com
  Scie
  

• New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins

  09-12-2015 20:13
  
  Ceres reveals some of its well-kept secrets in two new studies in the journal Nature, thanks to data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. They include highly anticipated insights about mysterious bright features found all over the dwarf planet's surface.
  
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• Triceratops gets a cousin: Researchers identify another horned dinosaur species

  09-12-2015 20:00
  
  The Ceratopsia family is growing again. Researchers have described a new species of plant-eating dinosaur, Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis, that stood on its hind feet and was about the size of a spaniel. It is similar in age to the oldest-known member of the "horned dinosaurs," Yinlong downsi, although both are hornless.
  
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• Teresensis' bromeliad treefrog found in Brazil

  09-12-2015 20:00
  
  A new tree frog species, Dendropsophus bromeliaceus, spends its tadpole stage in pooled water that collects in bromeliad plants in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, according to a study published December 9, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rodrigo Ferreira from the Utah State University and Universidade Vila Velha and colleagues.
  
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• Researchers re-analyze 15-million-year-old sperm whale fossil, find 'white whale'

  09-12-2015 20:00
  
  A 15 million year-old fossil sperm whale specimen from California belongs to a new genus, according to a study published December 9, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alexandra Boersma and Nicholas Pyenson from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
  
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• Research leads to first puppies born by in vitro fertilization

  09-12-2015 20:00
  
  For the first time, a litter of puppies was born by in vitro fertilization, thanks to work by Cornell University researchers.
  
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• Apple's streaming TV talks fell apart on push for 'skinny' channel bundle ... - Apple Insider

  09-12-2015 19:58 via
  Apple Insider
  Apple's streaming TV talks fell apart on push for 'skinny' channel bundle ...
  Apple Insider
  Apple's vision for the future of television is a basic streaming bundle with just a handful of channels for a low price — something content owners couldn't agree to, according to a new report. Dishing inside information on the failed negotiations ...
  Apple's TV Plans Fell Apart Over Content Owners' Resistance to Skinny BundlesMac Rumors
  Apple Reportedly Shelves Plans for Streaming TV
  

• Yahoo going back to the drawing board with Alibaba spinoff

  09-12-2015 19:50
  
  Yahoo's long-running identity crisis is spiraling in a new direction now that the company is abandoning a year's work on a tax-dodging spinoff to pursue an alternative path that will carve off its Internet business instead.
  
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• What is bitcoin? A look at the digital currency

  09-12-2015 19:40
  
  Australian police raided a home and office Wednesday that, according to technology websites, belongs to the founder of the virtual currency, bitcoin. However, the origin of the currency remains murky, as is the identity of the founder. Here's a brief explanation of what bitcoins are, how exchanging the digital money works and why it's popular among some denizens of the web.
  
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• Google: Our quantum computer is 100 million times faster than a conventional ... - ExtremeTech

  09-12-2015 19:37 via
  ExtremeTech
  Google: Our quantum computer is 100 million times faster than a conventional ...
  ExtremeTech
  Ever since quantum computer manufacturer D-Wave announced that it had created an actual system, there have been skeptics. The primary concern was that D-Wave hadn't built a quantum computer as such, but instead constructed a system that happened ...
  What happens when NASA partners with Google? A quantum computerChristian Science Monitor
  Google: We have proof that our quantum computer re
  

• Researchers develop tool to determine function of MicroRNAs

  09-12-2015 19:34
  
  As microRNA biology has been implicated in everything from the development of cancer to virus infections, a new tool developed by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai holds tremendous potential to develop new therapies that involve these small regulatory fragments of RNA. The scientists' findings are detailed in a study, titled "MicroRNA Function is Limited to Cytokine Control in the Acute Response to Virus Infection," published in the December issue of Cell Host & Micro
  
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• Climate outlook may be worse than feared, global study suggests

  09-12-2015 19:29
  
  As world leaders hold climate talks in Paris, research shows that land surface temperatures may rise by an average of almost 8C by 2100, if significant efforts are not made to counteract climate change.
  
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• Music 'streaming search engine' to shut after copyright suit

  09-12-2015 19:23
  
  Aurous, an upstart music site that described itself as a search engine for the growing field of streaming, agreed Wednesday to shut down after copyright suits from major labels.
  
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• Iceland volcano's eruption shows how sulfur particles influence clouds

  09-12-2015 19:21
  
  It has long been suspected that sulfur emissions can brighten clouds. Water droplets tend to clump around particles of sulfuric acid, causing smaller droplets that form brighter, more reflective clouds.
  
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• Flushed resource restores ecosystem

  09-12-2015 19:19
  
  Every city has abandoned industrial sites. Encouraging life to return to these barren areas is a challenge. It requires a healthy topsoil for plants and animals to flourish. Cities, with their heavily compacted and often contaminated soils, often struggle to restore blighted spaces. Quality soil is necessary—but not abundant in cities. Enter biosolids.
  
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• Depressed Pinterest users suffer from lack of positive messages, study finds

  09-12-2015 19:17
  
  Despite the large number of posts on visual social media platforms that suggest—and fuel—depressing or suicidal thoughts, there aren't many for users to read and share that would help them cope with their mental state more proactively, a University of Georgia study finds.
  
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• NCAR to develop wildland fire prediction system for Colorado

  09-12-2015 19:10
  
  The state of Colorado is turning to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to establish the country's most advanced system for predicting wildland fire behavior, including where and how quickly the blazes will spread.
  
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• Mystery Solved? Ceres' Bright Spots Likely Made of Salt - Space.com

  09-12-2015 19:01 via
  Space.com
  Mystery Solved? Ceres' Bright Spots Likely Made of Salt
  Space.com
  The mysterious bright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres may be composed of the same basic stuff that makes a foot bath feel so good, a new study reports. Observations made by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the dwarf planet since March, ...
  Explanation for Ceres' mystery bright spotsBBC News
  New clues to Ceres' bright spots and originsPhys.Org
  We Finally Have the Full Story on Ceres' Mysterious Bright
  

• Satellite animation shows series of storms pummel Pacific Northwest

  09-12-2015 19:00
  
  An animation of satellite imagery over the course of 10 days shows a series of low pressure areas pummeling the Pacific Northwest. The video, created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland combined visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite.
  
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• Quantum physics problem proved unsolvable: Godel and Turing enter quantum physics

  09-12-2015 19:00
  
  A mathematical problem underlying fundamental questions in particle and quantum physics is provably unsolvable, according to scientists at UCL, Universidad Complutense de Madrid - ICMAT and Technical University of Munich.
  
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• New understanding of how shape and form develop in nature

  09-12-2015 19:00
  
  Researchers have developed a new method for generating complex shapes, and have found that the development of form in nature can be driven by the physical properties of materials themselves, in contrast with earlier findings. The results, reported in the journal Nature, could enable the construction of complex structures from simple components, with potential applications in pharmaceuticals, paints, cosmetics and household products such as shampoo.
  
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• It's all about polarity: Researchers discover a mechanism behind asymmetric cell division

  09-12-2015 19:00
  
  The concept of sharing is a basic social principle that most of us are taught from an early age on. In general, we are told to share equally with each other. Sharing is also a concept that applies to cells; they need to share information during cell division to function properly. But in the case of cells, the exchange of information does not always have to be equal. During asymmetric cell division, so-called endosomes, vesicles that store signalling molecules, only go to one daughter cell. Resea
  
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• Study points to metal powders as potential replacement for fossil fuels

  09-12-2015 18:59
  
  Can you imagine a future where your car is fueled by iron powder instead of gasoline?
  
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• Nanostructured metal coatings let the light through for electronic devices

  09-12-2015 18:58
  
  Light and electricity dance a complicated tango in devices like LEDs, solar cells and sensors. A new anti-reflection coating developed by engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, lets light through without hampering the flow of electricity, a step that could increase efficiency in such devices.
  
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• Study measures drag from fishing gear entanglements on North Atlantic right whales

  09-12-2015 18:53
  
  Entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of death for North Atlantic right whales—one of the most endangered of all the large whale species. Their migratory routes take them through some of the busiest commercial fishing areas along the East Coast of the United States and into Canada.
  
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• Well-preserved skeleton reveals the ecology and evolution of early carnivorous mammals

  09-12-2015 18:35
  
  Prior to the rise of modern day mammalian carnivores (lions and tigers and bears, as well as weasels, raccoons, wolves and other members of the order Carnivora), North America was dominated by a now extinct group of mammalian carnivores - the hyaenodontids. While fossils of hyaenodontids are relatively common from the early Eocene (between 50 and 55 million years ago), most of these are specimens of teeth. A new find of a nearly complete skeleton, described in the most recent issue of the Journa
  
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• 'Al dente' fibers could make bulletproof vests stronger and 'greener'

  09-12-2015 18:33
  
  Bulletproof vests and other super-strong materials could soon become even tougher and more environmentally friendly at the same time with the help of extra firm, or "al dente," fibers. Researchers report in ACS' journal Macromolecules an innovative way to spin high-performance polyethylene fibers from natural fats, such as oils from olives and peanuts.
  
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• Low wages not education to blame for skills gap

  09-12-2015 18:29
  
  Low wages rather than inadequate training are to blame for the STEM skills gap, according to research from the University of Warwick.
  
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• Feeding food waste to pigs could save vast swathes of threatened forest and savannah

  09-12-2015 18:28
  
  A new study shows that if the European Union lifted the pigswill ban imposed following 2001's foot-and-mouth disease epidemic, and harnessed technologies developed in East Asian countries for 'heat-treating' our food waste to safely turn it into pig feed, around 1.8 million hectares of land could be saved from being stripped for grain and soybean-based pig feed production—including over quarter of a million hectares of Brazilian forest and savannah.
  
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• Virtually there: the hard reality of the Gear VR - The Verge

  09-12-2015 18:11 via
  The Verge
  Virtually there: the hard reality of the Gear VR
  The Verge
  Releasing the Gear VR headset the weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday in the US was one of the smartest decisions Oculus and Samsung ever made. For a medium that's stereotypically asocial, virtual reality turns out to be a fantastic form of family ...
  Flickr's Gear VR app takes you inside 360-degree photosEngadget
  First Look at 'Flickr VR', High Quality User-Generated 360 Photos on Gear VRRoad to VR
  Flickr launches vi
  

• Bacteria Can Be Spatially Excluded from the Exchange of Amino Acids

  09-12-2015 17:52 via scitechdaily.com
  
  New research shows that bacteria, which reciprocally exchange amino acids, stabilize their partnership on two-dimensional surfaces and limit the access of non-cooperating bacteria to the exchanged nutrients. In natural microbial communities, different bacterial species often exchange nutrients by releasing amino acids and vitamins into their growth environment, thus feeding other bacterial cells. Even though the […]
  The post Bacteria Can Be Spatially Excluded from the Exchange of Amino Ac
  
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• Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant launches on iPhone and Android - PCWorld

  09-12-2015 17:45 via
  PCWorld
  Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant launches on iPhone and Android
  PCWorld
  After a brief beta testing period, Microsoft's Cortana assistant is available for everyone on the iPhone and Android phones. Though Cortana lacks the deep operating system hooks of Android's Google Now and iOS's Siri, it could still be a useful ...
  Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana lands on Android and the iPhoneCNET
  Cortana Is Now Available In More Devices In The US And ChinaAndroid Headlines - Android New
  

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