It's common knowledge that Barack Obama met the woman who eventually became his wife, Michelle Robinson, when he came to work at her law firm as a summer associate. George W. Bush met the future Mrs. Bush, who was Laura Welch back then, at a barbecue and took her mini-golfing the next day. And we all remember that Bill and Hillary Clinton were law school sweethearts. The historical record is full of these president-and-first-lady origin stories: Harry Truman was just 6 when he met the woman he would go on to marry, in church. So it's only natural to ask how the current crop of presidential candidates' how-they-met stories stack up.

If you want to summon Google Assistant in your car, you basically have two options: Enable "Hey Google" and Smart Lock on your Android phone or launch Android Auto (should you be lucky enough to have a car with it built in). But with the new Roav Bolt, Anker gives us a third option, and even iPhone users can get in on it. Like the Alexa-powered Roav Viva, the Bolt plugs into your car's 12V socket and connects via Bluetooth or an auxiliary jack. A pair of USB ports lets you keep your phone charged while driving, and a single button on the front lets you manually summon Google Assistant. Otherwise, the Bolt is all about its noise-canceling microphones, which should provide better voice pick-up than the mic on your phone.

Your message has been sent. There was an error emailing this page. You don't need to live in a smart home to benefit from a Wi-Fi-connected smart speaker. Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana, and other digital assistants can help you in dozens of ways, and you don't have to lift a finger to summon them--just speak their names. If you already know you want a smart speaker, scroll down for our top recommendations.

Smart lights still tend to offer a rude awakening if you tie them to your alarm, but Google wants to fix that. It's delivering a promised Gentle Sleep & Wake feature for Home speakers that gradually dims or brightens your Philips Hue lights to provide a more natural rest. Say the right command (such as "turn on Gentle Wake Up," "wake up my lights" or "sleep my lights") and the lights will change over the course of half an hour. You can set specific times if you intend to use it as part of your daily routine. The feature won't be widely available, at least not for a while.

Facebook might introduce its own voice assistant à la Siri and Alexa in the future. According to CNBC, the social network's augmented and virtual reality team led by Ira Snyder has been developing a voice AI since 2018. The team has even started contacting smart speaker vendors, presumably to forge partnerships that would lead to devices powered by the new assistant. Based on what a spokesperson told Reuters, though, Facebook is mainly developing the assistant for its Oculus headsets, its Portal smart display and future AR/VR devices. "We are working to develop voice and AI assistant technologies that may work across our family of AR/VR products including Portal, Oculus and future products."

Apple is notorious for not playing nice with other platforms. They have traditionally made access to even the most in-demand services like Google Assistant impossible to iPhone users even though it's widely accepted that "Hey Google" is superior to Siri. Now, thanks to Apple's Shortcuts, the frustration of not having voice access to Google on your iPhone is a thing of the past. Shortcuts is an app on iOS that allows users to basically program their own Siri commands. The list of Shortcuts-compatible apps is growing with time, and while the possibilities are endless if you're willing to tinker with the app, there are lots of great shortcuts to choose from in the app's gallery and across the web.

There are lots of options when it comes to smart lighting, but if you want to do it right, you've got to go with a smart dimmer switch. Even the best smart bulbs become dumb with the accidental flick of a light switch, but these dimmers always stay powered since they have a direct power line. After all of our testing, it's clear that Lutron's Caséta Wireless system (available at Amazon for $99.95) is the best dimmer around. While dimmers, and even smart dimmers, have existed for decades, these new models are taking off thanks to smart assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google Home, which allow for voice control and remote usage from cell phones and tablets. Even though pretty much all dimmers work the same, there can be big differences in the quality of their app-connected smarts.

Microsoft could be entering the wireless headphone market. The tech giant is reportedly developing'Surface Buds' in an effort to take on Apple's wildly successful AirPods, Thurrott reported, citing sources close to the situation. The device is being developed as part of a secret project, codenamed'Morrison,' and could be coming as soon as later this year. Microsoft could be entering the wireless headphone market. The tech giant is reportedly developing'Surface Buds' in an effort to take on Apple's wildly successful AirPods It's not year clear how Microsoft intends to differentiate its earbuds from others that are currently available from competitors.

Hundreds of human reviewers across the globe, from Romania to Venezuela, listen to audio clips recorded from Amazon Echo speakers, usually without owners' knowledge, Bloomberg reported last week. We knew Alexa was listening; now we know someone else is, too. This global review team fine-tunes the Amazon Echo's software by listening to clips of users asking Alexa questions or issuing commands, and then verifying whether Alexa responded appropriately. The team also annotates specific words the device struggles with when it's addressed in different accents. According to Amazon, users can opt out of the service, but they seem to be enrolled automatically.

Logitech's Harmony division makes better universal remote controls than just about anybody. Its latest model, the $250 Harmony Express, might be its most practical, even if it's not the company's most powerful. The Harmony Express doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the company's top-of-the-line Harmony Elite ($350 MSRP), which Logitech will continue to sell. The Express doesn't have a touch-sensitive display, it doesn't have as many programmable buttons, and it can't execute complex macros that incorporate both home entertainment gear and smart home devices. The Express can do much of what the Elite can for a lot less money, and--since it has Amazon's Alexa onboard--it can do some things the Elite can't.