Facebook is reportedly working on an Amazon Echo and Google Home killer, codenamed Aloha, which would pair a video chat service with an AI assistant. Now, thanks to some clever reverse engineering, we've got a sense for what this will look like. Jane Manchun Wong, a prodigous reverse engineer who has uncovered hidden gems in popular apps like Slack and Facebook, stumbled across this feature within the standard Android Facebook Messenger app. The only thing that works is the UI, along with some pretty rudimentary speech-to-text recognition. Speaking to TNW, Manchun Wong hypothesized that Aloha's full features are only available to those who can authenticate with a Facebook employee account.

The news has always played an essential role in our lives, keeping us informed about the world and the issues we care about. But the fact is, while there is a sea bad news, there is also a plethora of "good news" happening where people are making progress solving real issues. The Google Assistant is now making this kind of news easier to find. "Tell me something good" is a new experimental feature for Assistant users in the US that delivers your daily dose of good news. Just say "Hey Google, tell me something good" to receive a brief news summary about people who are solving problems for our communities and our world, the company said in a blog post.

Google may have been caught being less than clear about how, when, and where it tracks your location, but the company isn't actually doing anything about it. Aside from a clearer explanation on its privacy page about what Location History means and doesn't mean, it's business as usual with your Google account. But if Google's tracking treachery rankles you, you can do something about it--and you don't have to delete Google from your life entirely to do so (tempting as that sounds). You might not know it, but you have a surprising amount of control over your Google account, as long as you know where to find all the switches. Here's everything you need to know about Google's privacy settings: where to find them, what you can turn off, and how it all affects your phone.

Apple has become the world's first publicly traded company to be valued at $1 trillion, the financial fruit of stylish technology that has redefined what we expect from our gadgets. Apple's new 175-acre "spaceship" campus dubbed Apple Park. It was designed by Lord Norman Foster and cost roughly $5 billion. It will house 12,000 employees in over 2.8 million square feet of office space and will have nearly 80 acres of parking to accommodate 11,000 cars. SAN FRANCISCO – In a few weeks, Apple will unveil its newest iPhone.

It's hard to make a case for the "sudden" development of something that has been a formal topic of research for more than 60 years. Attending presentations on Artificial Intelligence (AI) at three recent conferences and following that up with extensive reading does, however, suggest that all of us engaged in teaching-training-learning need to be familiar with recent AI developments and projects that are rapidly changing our world. The April 2018 Unconference for Dreamers, Doers, and Drivers Shaping the Future of Learning, held on an Arizona State University campus and previously discussed here on the Top of Mind blog by The Tambellini Group Senior Analyst Alex Freeman, paid ample attention to AI. Developments in all three areas are continuing to open doors to potential collaborations between learning facilitators, learners, and machines in ways that may foster more dynamic, engaging, and results-oriented learning experiences for those we serve in our lifelong-learning environments. Examples cited by Keller include customizable learning experiences, student-persistence prediction, unbiased grading systems, more sophisticated and useful teacher-student performance analytics, suggested learning paths, better ways of matching students and teachers in learners' moments of need, and detecting fraudulent activity in the learning process. Unconference participants walked away from Keller's presentation and their subsequent explorations of the topic with a commitment to "design blueprints for an AI-enabled virtual assistant for teaching, learning and advising, factoring in expanded functionalities over the next 5, 10, and 20 years," the ShapingEDU "10 Actions to Shape the Future of Education" communique confirms.

Tinder is launching a students-only version of its popular dating app. Called'Tinder U,' the app will only be available to college students at four-year, accredited, not-for-profit universities in the US, the firm announced in a blog post. Students can use the app for more than just dating, with the ability to find new friends, study buddies and more. Tinder is launching a students only version of its popular dating app. Called'Tinder U,' the app will be available to students at four-year, accredited, not-for-profit universities in the US'Tinder U is a new feature that makes it easier to connect with other students around you - putting their profiles first as you swipe,' the firm said.

Artificial intelligence and "biohacking" will be among the key trends guiding the future of technology, according to one of Gartner Inc.'s most eagerly anticipated reports. The report, released Monday, is based on Gartner's famous "hype cycle," which plots the lifespan of new technologies as they emerge from mere concepts, all the way through to their mass adoption, at which point they're finally considered to be mainstream. But that only happens if they survive what is typically a roller-coaster ride. In this year's report, Gartner's researchers are pretty confident that AI, at least, will emerge from the hype cycle unscathed. And it won't be just data scientists and other nerdy types who get to enjoy it, as Gartner is confidently predicting that the "democratization" of AI will take place within the next few years.

Back in 2016, Sony introduced a new smart light that had humidity, motion, luminance and temperature detectors, along with an infrared controller, memory card slot, microphone and speaker. It really was the light that could do it all, and it's very customizable, meaning you can program it to do pretty much whatever you want it to. Since then, Sony has announced more integrations for the Multifunctional Light. Now, the company has announced that it's compatible with Google Assistant. The updates will start rolling out tomorrow, August 22nd.

We've called Amazon's $50 Echo Dot "the Echo most people should buy," and right now you can get a few on a deep discount--when you add three Echo Dots to your cart and enter the code DOT3PACK, you'll save $75Remove non-product link, 50 percent off the list price and the lowest price we've seen. Like other Echo devices, the Dot lets you use just your voice to check the weather, play music, shop on Amazon, get news updates and of course, control smart devices, while its seven far-field microphones are designed to pick up your voice from anywhere in the room. Its small form factor means it can fit anywhere, and if you want better sound, you can easily add an external speaker using either Bluetooth or a 3.5mm audio cable. We gave the Echo Dot 4 stars out of 5 for its affordability (even before this discount), broad compatibility with other devices, and compact size. And we know our Echo devices--check out our buyer's guide for a complete roundup of everything Alexa.

With the G7 ThinQ smartphone, LG cemented its commitment to Google's AI, and now it's doing the same with its neck-worn Tone headphone lineup. The LG Tone Platinum SE supports Google Assistant via a dedicated button, letting you get information or a translation without the need to pull out your smartphone or say "OK Google." LG didn't specify, but it appears to be just a button and not full Google Assistant integration like you'll find on certain Sony headphone models, for example. Both models have in-ear headphones, but the Tone Ultra SE (below) also packs a speaker, much like the Tone Studio that launched in 2016. The idea is that you can listen to music without blocking ambient sounds, which helps when you need to be aware of your surroundings.