Microsoft is expanding its real-time Skype translation tool to cover calls made to mobile phones and landlines. The software giant has announced that Windows Insiders -- those who have signed up to access early builds of the Windows operating system -- can now access the new features through the Skype Preview app on Windows 10. Skype Translator was first introduced in English and Spanish back in December2014, and it has since expanded into a number of additional languages, including Mandarin, Italian, Russian, and Arabic. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as deep-learning to train artificial neural networks, and it should continuously improve as it listens to more conversations. Essentially, it can convert spoken chats in almost real time across nine languages in total, and more than 50 languages in text-based instant messaging.

The holding company that owns the Kansas-based Sprint Corp. has pledged to invest up to $50 billion in U.S. startup companies and acquisitions. This vow was made by Masayoshi Son, chief executive of SoftBank Group, which owns Sprint. Son made the promise following a 45-minute meeting with President-elect Donald Trump yesterday. Son (pictured above) said SoftBank will make the investment from a $100 billion technology fund that the company previously said it would raise in part using its own capital and commitments from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund. First announced in October, the SoftBank Vision Fund will create as many as 50,000 tech jobs in the U.S, according to Son.

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Huawei needs new tricks to differentiate its products from the crowd of Chinese phones permeating the US market, and it's turning to artificial intelligence to set it apart. The Mate 9 is a new Android device that offers a "Machine Learning Algorithm" that purports to learn your habits over time and optimize performance so that the device is more responsive. The Mate 9, which is expected to arrive in the US soon (although the exact timing is unknown), also has one of the largest displays on the market. We don't yet know how much it'll cost in the US, but we expect the Mate 9 to sell for about the same as it does in Europe (€699), which would make it slightly more affordable than other leading big-screen flagships too. That, along with the promised performance boost and supposedly safer battery tech, might be reason enough to consider the Mate 9 as your next large-screen smartphone.

Son (pictured above) said SoftBank will make the investment from a $100 billion technology fund that the company previously said it would raise in part using its own capital and commitments from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund. First announced in October, the SoftBank Vision Fund will create as many as 50,000 tech jobs in the U.S, according to Son. The fund will also invest in a number of other countries around the world. The investment described by Son represents more than 30 percent of the total amount all venture capital firms had available to invest as of the middle of this year. But can an investment as large as the one Son outlined generate as many jobs as he claimed?

In this special guest feature, Peter Cnudde, VP of Engineering at Yahoo, provides a bird's eye view for the many ways that Yahoo is using machine learning at scale. This concept is driven by the irrational, yet popular notion that one day, machines will take over the jobs of humans. As Vice President of Engineering for Yahoo, Peter oversees the company's big data and machine learning platforms. He is particularly interested in large scale machine learning and its impact on our society. In the past, Peter has worked at several wireless telecommunications companies including Alcatel and RF Micro Devices.

Samsung's next-generation Galaxy smartphone appears to be poised to beat Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 to the punch now that Bloomberg has corroborated much of SamMobile's report saying the Galaxy S8 will be a bezel-free device with a wraparound display featuring an in-screen Home button. The phone should be unveiled in February 2018 and launch in March. That way, the Samsung device should enjoy a six-month lead over the iPhone 8's expected fall arrival. However, the Korean giant is considering scrapping plans for a dual-camera on the Galaxy S8 due to "higher manufacturing costs", one of the sources told the news gathering organization. "Samsung will create an all-screen front for the Galaxy S8 smartphones coming out next year and scrap the physical Home button," people with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

Samsung is expected to release its first major smartphone since it recalled the Galaxy Note 7 sometime in early 2017. The phone, which will presumably called the Galaxy S8, is rumored to include a brand new design and a smarter digital assistant, among other new additions. Tech pundits and investors will be eyeing this launch closely as Samsung looks to recover lost ground from the Note 7 fiasco. Here's a look at what to expect based on the rumors and reports that have emerged so far. In years past, Samsung has unveiled its new Galaxy smartphones in February or March during Mobile World Congress, an annual tech conference in Barcelona.

It makes tomorrow different than yesterday. Technologies like IoT, AI, Cognitive, Cloud, Smart City, Connected Home, Mobile Pay, FinTech and more are all changing our world. Yesterday, they were a dream. Together, they are more powerful than you can imagine. In coming years, they will transform our world.

Samsung could use a big hit after its huge misstep with recent reports that some of its Galaxy Note 7s were catching fire and not in a cool Hunger Games kind of way. So, is artificial intelligence (AI) potentially one of the ways to recover? According to reports this week in The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, it very well could be one of the company's planned tactics. According to the WSJ, "people familiar with the matter" indicate that internal prototypes of the premium Galaxy S8 handset have a side button that can launch an advanced AI virtual assistant similar to Apple's Siri. Of course, the operative word in that sentence is "prototypes" so what actually comes to pass is not a guarantee.