On paper, Google has all the ingredients to deliver a killer streaming TV player. It has a powerful software platform in Android, a first-rate voice assistant in Google Assistant, and a knack for designing slick software and hardware. What we've ended up with instead is Android TV, a platform that's gotten some traction on smart TVs and cable boxes, but hasn't been a hit on standalone streaming players. Devices like the Nvidia Shield TV and the Xiaomi Mi Box S offer some niche appeal, and Android TV has always offered some interesting ideas, but it's never met its potential as Google put more energy into Chromecast as a consumer streaming option. This will change in 2019, says Shalini Govil-Pai, Google's senior director of product management for Android TV.

As CES comes to a close, two things are certain: We won't be able to afford one of LG's jaw-dropping roll-up OLED TVs and Android is poised for another big year. While we might not have gotten a look at Samsung's folding phone yet (though we did get our hands on Royale's), there were plenty of low-key announcements in Las Vegas that could have a big impact on the rest of the year. From Google Assistant to Android TV, here are eight CES announcements that might have slipped under your radar. Google didn't bring its heavily rumored Pixel 3 Lite to CES, but it did bring a bunch of new Google Assistant tricks. Along with a new Interpreter Mode on Google Homes and Smart Displays that offers real-time translation of conversations in dozens of languages, you'll be able to check your flight info and get your boarding pass using Assistant on your Android phone.

Tinder is back online after the love lives of hundreds of users was thrown into disarray amidst reports they were unable to access the site for several hours. The app is the most popular dating platform in the world and users took to social media to seek an explanation for the mystery outage. Singletons complained of being unable to log in and receive or send messages. A peak of more than 800 complaints flooded social media as people scrabbled for an explanation. Users in the UK and Europe as well as parts of the US were having difficulty with the app and found they were unable to swipe left or right.

Google is going all in on its AI assistant. In an elaborate exhibit at CES, complete with a Disneyland-style ride, the firm showed off a slew of impressive new functions for Google Assistant, including Interpreter Mode to translate dozens of languages in real-time, and integration with its Maps app. Google also showed off the new Lenovo Smart Clock, which can set alarms based on your daily habits or calendar appointments, and wake you with a gentle light. The Silicon Valley giant took the wraps off the latest updates to Assistant on Tuesday as it officially opened its 18,000-square-foot booth, which relies on an amusement park-style ride designed in the style of Disney's'A Small World' to illustrate how Google Assistant can make daily tasks simpler. Try out the 360-degree video of Google's Disneyland-style ride below This is only Google's second year exhibiting at CES.

Gus, a 19-year-old homeschooled Christian from Joliet, Illinois, is trawling Facebook. He's just recovered from a debilitating bout of depression, and he's looking for someone to talk to. Through an online personality test, he finds a match: Jiyun, a 20-year-old from Korea, who moved to New York City with her family for her brother's cancer treatment. Gus messages her, and they begin chatting. "I started to fall for him when I saw these tagged videos on Facebook," Jiyun reveals in Nancy Schwartzman's short documentary, xoxosms.

Google made a huge splash at CES 2018, taking over the parking lot with a giant interactive booth. This year, the company was back, and everything was bigger. I mean, the entire second floor of the booth was a Google Assistant Ride, basically the company's version of Disney's iconic "It's a Small World" ride. But, you know, as a marketing stunt rather than inspirational experience. The company will hit 1 billion active Assistant devices by the end of the month, up from 400 million the year before.

How do virtual assistants like Alexa affect children's learning experiences? Some experts say easy answers delivered by technology can hurt the development of problem-solving skills in kids. How do virtual assistants like Alexa affect children's learning experiences? Some experts say easy answers delivered by technology can hurt the development of problem-solving skills in kids. A 6-year-old boy recently asked that question in a video, which went viral on Twitter with more than 8.5 million views.

The application of machine learning techniques to large-scale personalized recommendation problems is a challenging task. Such systems must make sense of enormous amounts of implicit feedback in order to understand user preferences across numerous product categories. This paper presents a deep learning based solution to this problem within the collaborative filtering with implicit feedback framework. Our approach combines neural attention mechanisms, which allow for context dependent weighting of past behavioral signals, with representation learning techniques to produce models which obtain extremely high coverage, can easily incorporate new information as it becomes available, and are computationally efficient. Offline experiments demonstrate significant performance improvements when compared to several alternative methods from the literature. Results from an online setting show that the approach compares favorably with current production techniques used to produce personalized product recommendations.

Google is cramming Assistant into everything from headphones to a pressure cooker as it inches toward getting the smart helper into a billion devices. Aside from the weirder collabs (Assistant in a shower anyone?) one of the places the AI would actually be helpful is in your car, especially if you don't want to fork out for an Android Auto infotainment system. To that end, Google is teaming up with accessories-maker Anker -- which is also bringing Alexa to older vehicles inside its upcoming $50 Bluetooth charger -- on a new in-car receiver that plays nice with the digital brainiac. The new "Roav Bolt" is a small, unassuming device that connects your phone to your vehicle's stereo to let you talk to Assistant, allowing you to keep your eyes glued to the road and your phone in your pocket (or with the kids in the backseat). Just plug the Bolt into your car's lighter socket and hook up your phone via Bluetooth or AUX to play music, get directions, or answer the phone through the speakers.

Razer is about to make it considerably easier to control your RGB-lit gaming rig. The company has unveiled plans to introduce Amazon Alexa control through its Synapse 3 software, letting you voice control devices that support its Chroma Connected Devices Program through Razer headsets and microphones. That includes legions of Razer's own mice, keyboards and audio devices, but it also includes PC cases, cooling fans, motherboards and other peripherals. Want to turn your setup blood red for a round of Doom? You'd just have to ask Alexa to change your lighting profile.