The month in tech: New emojis and the return of the walkman

The biggest tech-related news of July included Bluetooth cassette players, A.I. poker games, new emojis, coding boot camps, and new Google Maps features.

Ninm’s “It’s OK” cassette player

A portable cassette player took Kickstarter by storm at the beginning of the month. The Hong Kong based company, Nimn, are the latest to monetise 80s nostalgia with this walkman-inspired device called “It’s OK”. It is compatible with both Bluetooth 5.0 headphones or speakers and traditional headphones. The device also has the ability to record voice messages at a 60-minute capacity, a limit that they suggest will “teach us how to treasure”.

A.I. beats pros in six-player poker

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For the first time ever, an artificial intelligence programme, called Pluribus, has won a game of six-player Texas hold’em poker against a group of poker pros. Artificial intelligence bots have already conquered chess, checkers, and two-player poker, but six-player poker had previously been an unconquerable frontier for A.I. bots. Pluribus was developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Facebook’s A.I. research initiative.

Image credit: Free-Photos via Pixabay

New emojis teased on World Emoji Day

For World Emoji Day, 17th July, Apple revealed a select few of the emojis from the collection set to launch this autumn. There will be 59 new emojis that aim to increase diversity through the inclusion of service animals, disabilities, and more diverse couples. Among the emojis unveiled are a wheelchair user, a prosthetic arm, and a guide dog, as well as some additions to the animal collection such as a sloth, flamingo, and orangutan.

Image source: Apple via Inquirer.net

Junior coding boot camp launched in the Philippines

The Junior Academy for Coding Knowledge (JACK) and tech powerhouse Globe have successfully launched Coding for Kids, an initiative for the children of Globe employees. The three-week boot camp taught 40 children to ‘co-create and innovate’ and is part of the company’s Innovation Month.

Image credit: Pixabay/Pexels

Google Maps’ new bike-share feature released

Google has added a feature that allows users to access information on bike-sharing stations before they arrive. Users can now locate their nearest bike-sharing station, discover how many bikes it has, and if there’s room for their bike. It is now available in 24 cities around the world, including London, on iOS and Android.

Lead image credit: Free-Photos via Pixabay