Starting this fall, some students at Northeastern University in Boston will be given the option of getting an Echo Dot smart speaker linked to their university accounts. They'll be able to ask Amazon's Alexa what time their classes are, how much money's left on their food card and even how much they owe the bursar's office. The program gives students instant access to information they would have to call or go online for, as well as taking pressure off the school's offices. It also makes Amazon's digital assistant a go-to source for a generation who will inhabit a world in which talking to computers is commonplace and who will soon have paychecks to spend. At the same time, it raises questions about security and privacy for young adults living in close quarters, often on their own for the first time.

Google has launched a dedicated podcast app for Android smartphones -- to rival a similar application bundled with Apple's iOS operating system since 2012. The Google Podcast app is now available to download free for users worldwide and supports 47 different languages. The new app syncs playback across devices, allowing Android users to pause on their smartphone, and immediately pick-up the episode from the same point on their Google Home smart speaker. Google has pledged to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the app over time, promising the version of Podcasts available today is'just the beginning'. Google Podcasts is available as a free download on Android smartphones and tablets.

With a report by Tractica forecasting that native speech recognition will grow from 45% of all mobile devices to 82% by 2020, there seems to be nothing stopping the technology from reaching virtually everyone. How can a technology that individuals have grown to rely on for instant information move into other industries with ease? The use of voice activation technology has its place at the helm of business, providing the assistance that workers need to manage the customer experience and boost productivity all around. Its use is growing, and soon it will be a part of the daily workplace, offering a plethora of support and resources that were previously unavailable. To give you an idea of what to expect from the technology, 12 members of Forbes Technology Council weigh in on the way they are using (or are excited about the prospect of using) voice-activated technology in the workplace.

Over the years, TouchPal has remained one of the most popular Android keyboards with its generous bundle of features, including gesture typing, neural network-powered prediction, multilingual support, GIF search, themes and more; though some of these have also become standard on other keyboards, such as Google's very own Gboard. As an attempt to stay on top of the game, the company has finally pushed its new TouchPal Keyboard Pro out of beta to debut "Talia," its AI personal assistant. Talia is designed in such a way that it delivers quick suggestions in a bubble as you type, but also in a way that doesn't overburden you. These include simple offerings like one-tap paste aka "Swift Paste," very basic calculations (with no more than two numbers for convenience's sake) and currency conversion, as well as something a little more advanced like smart replies, GIF predictions, weather forecast and dining recommendations -- part of this relies on Yelp, so availability depends on your region. I've been using TouchPal Keyboard Pro over the last few days, and overall, these features do make my life easier by saving me a few taps.

Google has released its standalone Podcasts app for Android and is available worldwide in the Play Store. The Google Podcasts app will have Assistant integrated so that the app will be able to provide personalized recommendations. "Integrated with the Google Assistant across your devices and packed with personalized recommendations, Google Podcasts is designed to make it easier than ever for Android users to discover and listen to podcasts," Google said in its blog post. "We're also announcing a partnership with industry experts to improve diversity in podcast creation, and sharing a peek at how AI can help transform podcasting for the better." The Google Podcasts app for Android features a home screen that will display a carousel of shows that the user is already subscribed to.

In case you needed another sign that we're at the height of this console cycle, Sony is rolling out a greatest hits lineup for the PS4. At the same time, GameStop is looking over its options, and Google finally has a podcast app for Android. We'll give them $4.50 cash and five dollars in store credit.GameStop confirms buyout talks as downloads take their toll In the wake of a Reuters leak, GameStop has confirmed it's in talks about a "potential transaction." While the retail chain is shy about what those discussions involve and isn't promising a deal, the sources claimed the chats were in response to "buyout interest" from private equity companies like Sycamore Partners. Just recently, luxury automaker Porsche teased its electric Mission E sports car, showing its shadowy silhouette that's not unlike its other non-EV cars.

Big banks and financial companies have started to offer banking through virtual assistants -- Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google's Assistant -- in a way that will allow customers to check their balances, pay bills and, in the near future, send money just with their voice. And with the rapid adoption of Zelle, a bank-to-bank transfer system, it soon could be possible to send money to friends or family instantly with voice commands.

While you are busy giving Alexa commands to play your favourite song or book an Uber, the intelligent virtual assistant from Amazon is helping the US space agency organise daily tasks while making sense of intrinsic data-sets. According to Tom Soderstrom, IT Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), voice as a platform will become the next big thing once we learn to talk to digital assistants and chatbots in a fashion we do with friends and family. "If you have Alexa-controlled Amazon Echo smart speaker at home, tell her to enable the'NASA Mars' app. Once done, ask Alexa anything about the Red Planet and she will come back with all the right answers," Soderstrom said during the Amazon Web Services' (AWS) public sector summit in Washington. "This enables serverless computing where we don't need to build for scale but for real-life work cases and get the desired results in a much cheaper way. Remember that voice as a platform is poised to give 10 times faster results," Soderstrom noted on the inaugural "Earth and Space Day".

Mumbai: If you think that your artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual assistant like Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Samsung's Bixby or Microsoft's Cortana are smart just because they can respond to your "wake" messages and answer your questions, you may want to think again. On 18 June, an artificial intelligence (AI) system engaged in the first ever live, public debates with humans. At an event held at International Business Machines Corp.'s (IBM) Watson West site in San Francisco, a champion debater and IBM's AI system, Project Debater, began by preparing arguments for and against the statement: "We should subsidize space exploration." Both sides then delivered a four-minute opening statement, a four-minute rebuttal, and a two-minute summary. "Just think about that for a moment. An AI system engaged with an expert human debater, listened to her argument, and responded convincingly with its own, unscripted reasoning to persuade an audience to consider its position on a controversial topic," said Arvind Krishna, director at IBM Research, in an 18 June blog.

The search giant is building alliances as it races Amazon to develop new ways for people to shop, from voice-enabled smart speakers to faster and more convenient home grocery delivery. Google last year teamed up with Walmart Inc. WMT 0.73% to let users order a selection of the retailer's products on Google's virtual assistant and speakers, a challenge to Amazon's Alexa service. Earlier this month, Google joined with Carrefour SA, Europe's largest retailer, to offer same-day delivery of perishable groceries to people's homes in France. The deal announced Monday also could help Google boost advertising revenue, which has been threatened by Amazon recently as businesses increasingly shift ads to the internet shopping site. The JD investment comes as Google seeks to strengthen its connections in China.