Even though Samsung has established a cause for those Galaxy Note 7 flare-ups, the device's story is not over. Korean outlet Hankyung reports that the company will sell the "refurbished" phones, but with smaller, less-explodey batteries inside. It doesn't sound like the devices will be returning to US or European markets (it's tough to imagine regulators reversing course on bans after the first recall and reissue), but they could be sold in India or Vietnam instead. According to the report, Samsung has some 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7s left over after using 20,000 or so up in testing to determine the cause of the problem. The refurbished devices will have new cases, and batteries with a capacity between 3,000 and 3,200mAh (the phones initially contained a 3,500mAh battery).

In this study, the authors develop a structural model that combines a macro diffusion model with a micro choice model to control for the effect of social influence on the mobile app choices of customers over app stores. Social influence refers to the density of adopters within the proximity of other customers. Using a large data set from an African app store and Bayesian estimation methods, the authors quantify the effect of social influence and investigate the impact of ignoring this process in estimating customer choices. The findings show that customer choices in the app store are explained better by offline than online density of adopters and that ignoring social influence in estimations results in biased estimates. Furthermore, the findings show that the mobile app adoption process is similar to adoption of music CDs, among all other classic economy goods. A counterfactual analysis shows that the app store can increase its revenue by 13.6% through a viral marketing policy (e.g., a sharing with friends and family button).

Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Google's (GOOG) artificial intelligence (AI) assistant is failing to catch on. A Bloomberg report this morning states that Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei, which uses Google's Android operating system for its phones, is developing its own voice-activated AI assistant. According to the report, Huawei's AI assistant, which will use local languages in China for communication, is targeted at the Chinese market and is intended to compete with the likes of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) Siri and Amazon.com, This is the second such announcement after Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (SSNLF), which also uses Google's mobile operating system in its phones, announced its own digital assistant last year. While Samsung has the largest number of mobile phone shipments, Huawei is ranked third. Huawei has also announced that it will pre-install Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant, on its Mate 9 phones.

In the hope of bringing internet access to even the most remote corners of the globe, Google parent Alphabet's'Loon' project has taken a big step closer. Alphabet said artificial intelligence-infused navigation software has significantly sped up plans, helping to smartly guide high-altitude balloons to improve coverage. While the firm has not said when it expects the balloons to be up and running, Astro Teller, head of the team at Alphabet unit X said: 'We are looking to move quickly, but to move thoughtfully.' Alphabet said artificial intelligence-infused navigation software has significantly sped up plans, helping to smartly guide high-altitude balloons to improve coverage. Teller said: 'Our timelines are starting to move up on how we can do more for the world sooner.'

As consumer devices become more capable, with voice control assistants such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana and Google's Assistant, it is only natural to expect these artificial intelligence (AI) applications to move into more business settings. These capabilities could emerge in a number of areas, such as voice control-style interfaces on common productivity applications and voice output to warn IT managers of potential infrastructure faults or breaches. This makes sense -- after all, there is already an AI-enabled toothbrush that learns exactly how you clean your teeth and offers ways to improve your dental hygiene. It is just a matter of time before major industry players develop B2B apps with similar smart features. Today, voice-enabled products can be used for mundane tasks, such as dictating emails or text messages, querying internet searches or playing music and TV shows.

That's because these chatty device are thought to be adding the ability to handle voice calls. Both devices need to continue to earn their place in your home, and according to the Wall Street Journal, adding the ability to make and receive calls is high up the list of forthcoming features. If it happens, it's going to happen this year. The big difference between Google and Amazon in this regard is that Google does have an advantage in the form of Google Voice. Voice already offers voice calls, text messaging, voicemail, and call forwarding features, so Google could just hook Voice up to Home devices. Amazon does not have an equivalent service to simply bolt on.

In the voice assistant market, Apple has Siri, Google has Google Assistant, Microsoft has Cortana. There are also voice assistants that aren't natively integrated into phones or computers, such as SoundHound's Hound and Amazon's Alexa. We have also heard that Samsung is planning their own voice assistant called "Bixby". This is why it doesn't really come as a complete surprise to learn that Huawei could be working on their own voice assistant platform as well. This comes from a report from Bloomberg in which people familiar with the matter told the publication about Huawei's plans.

Huawei, the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, is reportedly working on its own digital voice-activated assistant. The company's AI assistant will soon be competing with Apple's Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Huawei has formed a team with over 100 engineers in Shenzhen, China which is currently in early stages of development for the new digital smart assistant, according to one of Bloomberg. Huawei's digital assistant will be aimed at Chinese customers meaning it will communicate in Chinese languages. One of Bloomberg's sources claimed that Huawei will continue to work with Google and Amazon when it comes to providing other services to its phones internationally.

Last year, Huawei leapfrogged a couple of fellow Chinese hardware companies to secure its spot as the third largest smartphone maker worldwide. As the company takes aim at the number two spot, it's apparently working to differentiate itself even more from the competition by developing more proprietary tech, adding to a list of components that already includes its own in-house chips. According to a new report from Bloomberg, a smart assistant is the next step. The company is said to be hard at work on a Siri/Alexa/Google Assistant competitor, employing a team of more than 100 people tasked with its creation in Shenzhen. If true, the company would join Samsung in a growing list of Android handset makers opting not to go with Google's assistant – though the Galaxy maker sped up the process a bit with its recent acquisition of Viv Labs.

It may soon be possible to make or answer phone calls through an Amazon Echo or Google Home, The Wall Street Journal reports. Both Amazon and Google are reportedly working on new features that would enable their Internet-connected speakers to work as telephones. The functionality could launch sometime this year. Still, there are a number of concerns to overcome before Google and Amazon can integrate phone calls into their devices, the Journal notes, mostly around privacy, telecom involvement, and emergency services. For one, people may be uncomfortable having phone conversations on a device that's capable of recording speech.