Google brought its AI assistant to Android Wear 2.0 last year, and has been adding features like Routines and Custom Device Actions ever since. Now the company is bringing a few new features to Assistant on Wear OS (as it's now called), including contextually aware conversation suggestions, auditory answers to your questions and actions for connected devices. You can already tell Google Assistant to control your smart home devices like, say, setting the temperature of your LG fridge. Now this feature is coming to your Wear OS device, too, which means you'll get to talk to you wrist to set your thermostat or turn on the Hue lights in your bedroom. Hearing the answer to a question via your watch speaker or Bluetooth-connected headphones can be more convenient than having to lift your wrist to see a visual response, too, and pre-set response suggestions will offer up things you might not think of when asking Assistant for the weather, for example.

Now that it's easier to ask Amazon's Alexa follow-up questions, it's only natural that its shopping options are getting a boost. Soon you'll be able to ask Alexa to buy even more things, as Amazon opened up in-skill purchasing to all developers today. While some microtransaction applications are obvious -- buying items in games, for example -- others could be upgrading from a free to a paid tier or, heck, simply browsing goods. In-skill purchasing was first announced back in November but only available for a few game publishers like Jeopardy! and The Ellen's Show's Heads Up, along with limited options in Best Buy's application. Once developers set it up within their skill, they select what products and prices for customers to sift through -- and if they see something they like, pay for it using their Amazon account's payment information.

Since the Windows 10 April update, some users have been dealing with frozen systems when they're running apps including Chrome or using the "Hey, Cortana" command. The good news is Microsoft's working on a fix, which may be ready in time for next week's scheduled patch. The monthly Windows 10 updates typically include new features, like the recent Timeline activity log, and seek to squash bugs, such as the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities Microsoft added defenses for in March. Sometimes, as with the update Microsoft rolled out on April 30th, the patches unintentionally add more problems. Until it can deploy a fix for the Chrome bug, Microsoft suggested those whose systems are locking up can try a workaround key sequence.

If you've experienced issues with Google's Chrome browser freezing or becoming unresponsive after installing Microsoft's Windows 10 April 2018 Update, you're not alone. Microsoft has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix. Certain apps, including Cortana and Google's Chrome browser, may hang or freeze when using them, Microsoft acknowledged in a support post on Wednesday, as noted earlier by The Verge. A Reddit post, which became the unofficial repository for users complaining about the problem, also noted that users had had the same problem while working within Visual Studio. According to Microsoft, the company is working on a patch that it plans to ship on the next Patch Tuesday, currently scheduled for May 8. Microsoft reportedly delayed the April 2018 Update because of "Blue Screens of Death" that the update triggered.

The retail industry has benefited greatly from the advancements of machine learning (ML), which have the ability to improve a company's bottom line. The technology can do so by improving the retail experience for consumers with a better user interface, a personalized recommendation engine, the optimization of stocking and inventory and to more accurately price an object. Many companies have already shifted towards a more digitized platform in order to have a better understanding of when to push products more aggressively and when to use more tact with customers. There's no telling how far ML will go in revolutionizing the retail world, but a recent study by McKinsey suggests that U.S. retailers that have adopted data and analytics into their supply chain have experienced up to a 10% increase in operating margin over the last five year. Attaining data and developing the right smart solutions platform with predictive capabilities have been key to boosting businesses' ROIs.

Google Assistant is gaining ground in the smart home. The search giant said on Thursday that its artificial intelligence-infused voice assistant now works with more than 5,000 smart home devices. Google Assistant is gaining ground in the smart home. Tripling the number of devices that Google Assistant is compatible with should give the firm a strong foothold in the ongoing smart home wars. Big tech firms ranging from Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung have all launched their respective smart speakers and digital assistants, but making sure they're compatible with a plethora of internet of things products around the home is no easy feat. To this end, Google says its digital assistant works with a variety of smart cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, vacuums and locks, among many other technologies.

Google will be holding its annual I/O conference next week and it's already giving its voice Assistant a big push just before the upcoming event. The company announced today that Google Assistant is now able to work with 5,000 smart home devices. "Over the past year, we've made great progress ensuring that the Google Assistant can work with all types of connected devices, and now every major device brand works with the Assistant in the U.S.," the company said in a blog post. "Today, the Google Assistant can connect with more than 5,000 devices for your home--up from 1,500 this January. That includes cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, switches, vacuums, washers, fans, locks, sensors, heaters, AC units, air purifiers, refrigerators, ovens … we can keep on going!" The number of smart home devices that can work with Google Assistant is also expected to grow even further in the coming months.

The smart home assistant battle has shifted. No longer is it about how well your speaker can understand what you're saying, it's about how many devices can understand what it's telling them to do. And Google Assistant just made a big leap in that department. Google has announced that Assistant can connect with more than 5,000 devices for your home, an increase of nearly 250 percent from January's 1,500 devices. That includes many of Google's own devices such as Chromecast, Nest thermostats and cameras, as well as popular smart home devices from a variety of manufacturers.

Lonely hearts out there, rejoice--soon Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, OkCupid, and The League won't be your only options for frittering awaytime in your search for love. At its annual developer conference on Tuesday, Facebook revealed that the social media giant is entering the already crowded field of dating apps. "This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships -- not just for hookups," CEO Mark Zuckerberg joked, seemingly side-eyeing everyone's favorite time-suck, Tinder. While "Dating for Facebook" will be opt-in only, the rollout of a plan for a dating app amid the company's huge privacy scandal managed to raise some eyebrows. In an apparent effort to ward off criticism, Zuckerberg immediately addressed concerns that might arise around melding the app you use to see photos of your third cousin's new baby with your dating profile.

From The Terminator to Blade Runner, pop culture has always leaned towards a chilling depiction of artificial intelligence (AI) and our future with AI at the helm. Recent headlines about Facebook panicking because their AI bots developed a language of their own have us hitting the alarm button once again. Should we really feel unsettled with an AI future? News flash: that future is here. If you ask Siri, the helpful assistant who magically lives inside your phone, to read text messages and emails to you, find the nearest pizza place or call your mother for you, then you've made AI a part of your everyday life.