#$tech

Story and sequence

The social media giant just launched Workplace by Facebook.

The new platform was designed specifically for interactions with colleagues, clients, and partners.

It looks and feels a lot like the Facebook we all know and love, with newsfeeds, walls, and groups, but it’s not connected to your personal account at all.

Tools like high-def video conferencing, along with video and audio chats and even automatic translation features, will be easy to use since billions of people have already been using Facebook for years.

Competitors like Slack, Yammer, and Jive have already been used at work for some time, so it will be interesting to see how Workplace stands up against the others.

Workplace is already available, so you could find out for yourself very soon.

I text my wife a lot. What can I say? She’s awesome.

But it takes a lot of steps.

Unlock the phone, go to the Home screen, hit Messages, find her name, etc.

Not anymore!

In iOS 10, you can designate someone as a Favorite — and you can initiate a text to that person right from your start screen.

Step 1: Designate the favorite. Open the person’s Contacts card and hit Add to Favorites.

Now the phone asks, which kind of contact do you want to add to favorites? I’m going to select Message.

Step 2: Open the widgets screen — it’s to the left of the Home screen.

Scroll down to Edit. Find Favorites. Hit the + button.

Drag it to the top.

From now on, without even unlocking your phone, you can pick it up, swipe and see your four favorites.

Or your eight favorites, for example, if you expand your list.

Google announced its new home assistant to compete with the Amazon Echo and it offers so much more.

Home has all the same features that it launched with Google Assistant back in May but now includes smart home controls.

You can play music, get answers from Google, manage tasks and control other devices all with your voice.

Google wants you to think of Home as the “hub” for the connected home.

Google now makes smartphones. The company announced Tuesday they have designed their own lineup of phones, called Pixel and Pixel XL, and they’re already available for preorder. Prices start at $649.

With a polished aluminum casing, the Pixel and Pixel XL come in black, blue, and silver. The Pixel has a 5-inch display, while the Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch display. Both have storage options of 32GB or 128GB.

And get this: Google is giving unlimited cloud storage for full-solution images and videos. And virtual-reality fans will love the Pixel’s compatibility with the just-announced Daydream View VR headset.

The Apple Watch Series 2 is faster than before, has built-in GPS, and is swimproof.

But it’s also even thicker than before (slightly), and still can’t make it more than a day per battery charge.

In this Facebook Live presentation, David Pogue unboxes the watch, dunks it in water, and answers viewer questions in real time.

  For more Pogue content:

The Sony a6300 camera: Stunning photos and videos in a tiny package

Pogue’s Basics: Screen rotation lock

Pogue’s Basics: Let Google translate large numbers for you

Pogue’s Car Hacks

What is the Internet of Things?

Yuneec Breeze: The idiotproof $500 drone with 4K video

Now I Get It: Why Apple took away the headphone jack from the iPhone 7

My quest for the world’s best e-bike

Pogue’s Facebook Live — e-bike roundup

Pogue’s Basics: How to retrieve every tweet you’ve ever made

Pogue’s Basics: Un-pinching videos

Pogue’s Basics: Download YouTube videos

What to expect when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update installs itself on your computer