When the Google Home Mini debuted last year, it was available in a dark "Charcoal" grey, a lighter "Chalk" grey and a pinkish orange "Coral." Today, a week before Google's annual Pixel event, the company is unveiling a brand new hue of the Home Mini -- a minty blue "Aqua." "Coral is warm, Aqua is cool," said Isabelle Olsson, the head of industrial design for Google Home, to Engadget. "It's a soothing yet fresh option that could be used to either contrast or blend in." Google's Home Mini is undoubtedly one of the company's best selling products.

When you consider the timeline of artificial intelligence (AI), the emergence of the technology as a viable means to automate retail banking services has only come about in the last few years. Progress with machine learning algorithms, increases in computing capacity coupled with decreases in cost, as well as the generation of vast amounts of data have made the development of conversational AI possible. Many banks are only beginning to use this technology now, but over the coming years we are going to see a proliferation of AI-powered banking assistants. The first modern conversational AI-powered virtual assistant came in the form of Apple's Siri, which was introduced as a feature on the iPhone 4S in 2011. Today, Siri is used by 500 million monthly active users around the world.

According to Gartner, artificial intelligence (AI) is not defined by a single technology but by an array of capabilities and research, from advances in algorithms to abundant computing power and advanced analytical methods such as deep learning. It sounds like the voice that responds from a smart speaker when we ask about the weather or to tune into a podcast. A vast majority of CXOs are already relying on consumer technologies such as voice-activated digital assistants in their work, according to a recent survey by PwC. Imagine how much more powerful those virtual assistants could be with access to the collective knowledge of the enterprise and the ability to know individual users and what they need to work best. And imagine putting that power into the hands of users across the enterprise, in the meeting room, on a factory floor or in any device they use to do their jobs.

Search queries are appropriate when users have explicit intent, but they perform poorly when the intent is difficult to express or if the user is simply looking to be inspired. Visual browsing systems allow e-commerce platforms to address these scenarios while offering the user an engaging shopping experience. Here we explore extensions in the direction of adaptive personalization and item diversification within Stream, a new form of visual browsing and discovery by Amazon. Our system presents the user with a diverse set of interesting items while adapting to user interactions. Our solution consists of three components (1) a Bayesian regression model for scoring the relevance of items while leveraging uncertainty, (2) a submodular diversification framework that re-ranks the top scoring items based on category, and (3) personalized category preferences learned from the user's behavior. When tested on live traffic, our algorithms show a strong lift in click-through-rate and session duration.

Dating apps that allow users to filter their searches by race - or rely on algorithms that pair up people of the same race - reinforce racial divisions and biases, according to a new paper by Cornell University researchers. Researchers called for the apps to be redesigned, and for'racist' algorithms should be reprogrammed. Experts say that amid the huge rise in the usage of dating apps are meaning people are failing to meet diverse potential partners. Cornell researchers called for the apps to be redesigned, and for'racist' algorithms should be reprogrammed. The paper revealed how simple design decisions could decrease bias against people of all marginalized groups.

It seems like every day brings news of some new artificial intelligence (AI) application and/or deployment. In many cases -- like the Amazon Echo or Google Home -- the AI part of the system is performed in the cloud. When I say, "Alexa, turn the Prognostication Engine on," for example, although echo cancellation, noise reduction, and other pre-processing tasks are performed locally, the decoding of my speech by Alexa to decide what I'm waffling on about in order to perform the desired action -- which is to control one of my iClever smart plugs in this example (see "Limping Into the 21st Century with Smart Technology") -- is performed in the cloud on Amazon's servers. As an aside, I'd love to be able to say, "Alexa, activate the Prognostication Engine," but I don't know how to get her to understand that "activate" and "turn on" mean the same thing. In other cases, the AI is performed on a handheld device like a smartphone or tablet, like the multi-layered neural networks employed by the MyScript Nebo application running on my iPad Pro, for example (see "Artificial Intelligence-Based Handwriting Recognition").

Casual dining chains are leaving few technology stones unturned in the push to jumpstart their ailing businesses. Dine Brands Global, owner of U.S. restaurant brands IHOP and Applebees, is testing technologies that enable consumers to order from their homes by speaking to Google Assistant software or from their cars via General Motors' and Chevy's head units. Meanwhile, TGI Fridays is using AI and machine learning (ML) to help mix drinks and target consumers with highly personalized offers. These digital-based moves come as sales across most longstanding U.S.-based casual dining chains have softened over the past decade, thanks to shifting consumer preferences for fast-casual dining and newer, novel chains and independents.

Research firm Markets and Markets estimates that the AI market will reach $190 billion by 2025, mainly driven by increased adoption of cloud-based applications and services, growing big data, and increased demand for intelligent virtual assistants.

We've said the Google Home is better than the Amazon Echo in "almost every way," so adding one to your smart home always comes on high recommendation. But today, if you buy one for $129 at Best BuyRemove non-product link, you'll also get a free Google Home Mini, a savings of $49 from its list price. The Google Home brings the smarts of the excellent Google Assistant into a sleek smart speaker. You'll be able to search, check the weather, play music, control other smart devices, and more with just the sound of your voice, aided by a high-quality sound and a sensitive microphone. We gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 for its smart assistant and all-around stellar performance.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is in vogue. It's almost impossible to read an article in any media outlet that doesn't mention AI and the possibility it will reshape the world in which we live. In fact, according to research conducted by AT&T, AI has the potential to double GDP growth across geographies by 2035. Consumers are already interacting with a variety of low-level AI assistants, such as Siri, Cortana, and Alexa. With respect to the telecom sector, AI – supported by machine learning (ML) – is fundamental to controlling and operating communications networks of the future.