Ikea isn't the first name that comes to mind for smart home products, but the Swedish home furnishings magnate has been making a steady push into the space since 2015. First came its Qi wireless charging accessories, which made sense: One of the benefits of wireless charging is that charging pads can be built into furniture, desktop, and countertop accessories, minimizing the number of unsightly wires hanging around--not to mention the growing number of compatible smartphones. Next came smart lighting, which arrived late last year. While reviews are mixed, the company already sold its own lightbulbs, so it may as well offer shoppers a smart alternative. Now, Ikea has made its latest move into the smart home with connected speakers.

Apple's HomePod is in trouble. Apple Stores have seen their inventories of the flagship smart speaker gather dust as demand has slowed, according to Bloomberg. The $349 home speaker -- which has Apple's Siri voice assistant built in and is meant to compete with Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo speakers -- has seen such bad sales that Apple has cut orders from its Chinese suppliers, according to Bloomberg. The HomePod, which was released in January, captured only 10 percent of the smart speaker market during its first 10 weeks in stores, according to market research firm Slice Intelligence, while Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo line captured 73 percent and the Google Home speaker took 14 percent. The report cited Apple Store workers who said some locations sell fewer than 10 HomePod speakers a day.

Fintech startups around the world are changing the way people manage their money. Apps are reshaping entire payment systems, people are learning to live with chatbots, and innovative interfaces are challenging the way banking gets done. Much is happening abroad, but the impact of these trends on the U.S. market is very hard to predict. Our financial system is far more complex and well entrenched than systems in other countries, with thousands of institutions and a complex regulatory environment featuring countless state-level authorities and multiple federal agencies. U.S. banks tend to be slower to adopt technology, in part because of the gargantuan task of updating old, siloed systems.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage right now and there is little chance of it dying down anytime soon. We all have knowingly or unknowingly incorporated artificial intelligence into our day-to-day activities like communication, transportation, and operations. In this article, we shall talk about the 5 trending Artificial Intelligence technologies in the year of 2018. For the uninitiated, Artificial Intelligence is the science of developing machines to interact like humans. This paper by Stanford describes the AI technology as "the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior" or'an agent's ability to achieve goals in a wide range of environments".

Over the last couple years, voice and text-based assistants in our pockets have become the part and parcel of our lives and now, we're at point where we are comfortable with AI controlling our homes. Given the kind of whirlwind of changes that the hospitality industry is going through, the time isn't far when we see Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in hotels used at scale. Using AI's inherent capability along with predictive analytics and natural language processing, the entire information management system is getting synchronised and highly optimised to deliver exceptional customer service. Intelligent hotel system is where all the data channels are linked together just like human arteries and veins, forming a superlative, productive and high-performance structure that resembles the future vision of automated hotel system. IoT-enabled connections of motion sensors, room control, and smart voice control are poised to change the way hotels function.

Cortana for Android has just made it easier to use your phone hands-free -- so long as you're a beta tester for the voice assistant on the platform, that is. Microsoft has given Cortana's beta version the power to read text messages aloud, less than a month after the stable version of the app got the ability to text messages using your voice. Combined, the two features make it possible to communicate back and forth even while you're driving, cooking or doing any other task that requires the use of both hands. The tech giant chose to launch the feature quietly and only announced it on its private Google community for beta users. According to Thurrott and Windows Central, though, you can take the feature for a spin by toggling on the new "Read incoming messages aloud" option in the Settings menu.

It has only been a few months since Apple entered the smart speaker market with its $349 HomePod, but a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests it's not selling as well as the company hoped. The report cites sources close to suppliers for some of its components, Apple Store workers and industry analysts who report that between its relatively high price, late entry to the market after the holiday season and somewhat limited AI capabilities, the HomePod isn't making much of a dent. With all of those elements going against it, it's not hard to see why the speaker might not be flying off the shelf, with its current position as a high-priced iPhone accessory instead of a truly smart standalone unit. Most of the issues we noted in our original review, while others like its tendency to mark certain types of wood, came up later. Apple's hiring push and the addition of a new AI lead suggest it's making Siri improvements a priority, and we have some ideas about what that should look like.

Give users new ways to interact with your product by building engaging voice and text-based conversational interfaces powered by AI.

In 2017, Slice, a New York tech company that builds software solutions for independent pizzerias, had a management problem. The company's tech staff is based in Macedonia, where high unemployment rates mean most of their new hires have never held a formal job prior to Slice. "We have a lot of first-time managers who need coaching," said Rick Pereira, chief people officer. Instead of moving to Macedonia himself, Pereira implemented Butterfly.ai, The tools uses anonymous employee survey results and past performance data to rate managers' performance, then offers tips and training content to help them improve.

For most, the term Artificial Intelligence evokes thoughts of futuristic technologies, of C-3PO and Asimov's "I,Robot." We think of walking, sentient robots that look like us – or at least we imagine they appear like us. What we don't generally think of is a glorified speakerbox, or a supercomputer tasked to create recipes. But that's where AI starts – with small steps and incremental advances in technology. These small steps gradually lead to giant leaps forward; think of a narrow canyon off in the distance: you're pretty sure you can jump the canyon, but first you need to get there.