Samsung needs a break badly. And so they are probably working very hard on the upcoming new flagship on what we suppose will be the Galaxy S8. This will be a major test for them, to see if the smartphone will be good enough for people to forgive them for the whole Galaxy Note 7 debacle. One of the things they have confirmed is that they will be launching an artificial intelligence digital assistant as part of the flagship. Just last month, Samsung announced that they were acquiring Viv Labs Inc, which was actually run by someone highly familiar with voice assistant programs, as he was the co-creator of Apple's Siri.

Samsung dominates the smartphone industry so much so that one in every five handsets sold worldwide come from the South Korean technology giant. But the firm is still reeling from the recall of millions of its big-screen Galaxy Note 7 devices, which suffered from a battery issue that could cause the device to overheat and, in some cases, explode. That recall left Samsung without a flashy new smartphone to go head-to-head with Apple's iPhone 7 and Google's Pixel as the all-important holiday shopping season approaches. "In a market that is otherwise maturing, Christmas has come early for vendors looking to capitalize with large-screened flagship alternatives like the Apple iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel," said IDC analyst Melissa Chau in a report accompanying the research firm's latest smartphone sales estimates. With the Note 7 dead and buried, Samsung must look towards the future for salvation.

SEOUL-- Samsung Electronics Co. is looking to give its Siri-like virtual assistant a big promotion. The South Korean smartphone giant is considering a hardware revamp for its next flagship smartphone that could add a dedicated button for an improved artificial-intelligence feature, people familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to woo smartphone users after a disastrous product recall last month. The latest internal prototypes of the premium Galaxy S8 handset include a button on the side edge of the smartphone that would be used to launch a beefed-up virtual assistant based on artificial intelligence, akin to Apple Inc.'s Siri, according to these people, who cautioned that the prototypes aren't final and could change. Samsung will have more time than usual to tinker with the Galaxy S8 after it was forced to discontinue its premium Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last month, following reports of phones catching fire. The embarrassing fiasco damaged the company's brand and engineers still don't know exactly what caused the devices to overheat.

Anti-drone defense systems are about to become big business. T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom has confirmed to Welt am Sonntag that it's developing an anti-drone defense system that should launch this year. It's not discussing details, but it would be offered as a security feature for airports, stadiums and other venues where robotic flyers are unwelcome or outright dangerous. Reportedly, car manufacturers are particularly eager for Deutsche Telekom's help -- they're annoyed by journalists (and no doubt competitors) using drones to snap photos of pre-production cars. Welt sources understand that the system (which was tested in July) involves technology from multiple companies, including US-based Dedrone.

Samsung has announced that the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone will include the company's own digital assistant. Executive Vice President Rhee Injong told Reuters that the acquisition of Viv Labs will power the new platform, which will also expand into the wearables and other smart home devices. Injon hinted that third-party services will also be able to connect to the platform, which is a key part of making AI more useful. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," she said. "Even if Samsung doesn't do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease."

Google has finally launched an own-brand smartphone, the Pixel, to challenge Apple head on and provide a premium Android experience with the hardware tailored to the software by the people who actually make it.. The new smartphone succeeds Google's Nexus line of devices and the company claims that the Pixel is now 100% Google, unlike the Nexus devices where Google provided the software and had some input into the devices but not total control. The Pixel phone joins the Pixel C Android tablet and Chromebook Pixel as Google's first in-house devices. But for Google, the Pixel isn't just a smartphone, it's a referendum on whether Google as a brand sells. With an all-metal body, all-glass display, rock-solid build, fingerprint scanner and headphones socket, the Pixel ticks most of the boxes expected of top-end smartphone, except for a lack of waterproofing. How attractive it is as a design divides opinion.

Set to take on Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung has said it will launch its own artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. The announcement comes shortly after the Galaxy Note 7's collapse, which is expected to hit Samsung's profit by £4.4 billion ($5.4 billion). It is unclear what types of services will be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. Set to take on Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung has said it will launch its own artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone (artist's impression of what the device may look like) New renders of what could be Samsung Galaxy S8 have surfaced and they suggest the device will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen. It's speculated that Samsung could design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass.

As recently as two weeks ago, Samsung still hadn't figured out what made the explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 go "boom," but on Sunday the smartphone maker announced an exciting new feature that will (hopefully) make you forget about all that: a digital assistant that might work better than Siri but who knows? In October, Samsung acquired Viv Labs, an artificial intelligence startup built by the creators of Siri and designed to work with third-party apps. According to Reuters, the company said this weekend that developers can expect "Viv" to ship with its upcoming Galaxy S8: Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

Information overload is a fact of modern life, creating a tyranny of choice often resulting in analysis paralysis. Too many options makes it difficult to understand any one option deeply enough to make an informed decision. That's a problem, because the whole point of Ubiquitous Computing – a term coined by Xerox PARC in the 80s to represent a dream of the time – was to make our lives and businesses better and more efficient. Thankfully, amid the enormity of data lies the means to manage it. Our computing infrastructure has now reached a level of data and connectivity where it's possible for computers to recognize patterns and prioritize options, so it's easier for humans to make informed decisions.

SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7's collapse and differentiate its devices. The world's top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc's Siri voice assistant program. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017. Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.