A link has been sent to your friend's email address. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Out in September, the 2019 Lexus ES 350 (from $39,500) supports Amazon Alexa, therefore you can use your voice to talk to the popular A.I. assistant and even control your smart home devices while on the road. The only thing worse than a driver distracted by a phone call is when their eyes aren't on the road and both hands aren't on the wheel. We see it almost every day now – someone beside you on the road is texting, emailing or instant messaging, all the while driving a 4,000-pound vehicle. While safety experts agree the best thing to do is to simply wait until you're not behind the wheel, many are turning to technology to remain productive while commuting to and from the office. In fact, there are a few ways you can hear your messages in a human-like voice, and in many cases these tools allow you to reply using your voice.

A customer examines the iPhone X at an Apple Store in Atlanta on Nov. 3 2017. The iPhone only listens to users when triggered by the phrase "Hey Siri," Apple said in a letter to lawmakers explaining how it guards consumer privacy. The letter was written in response to a one sent by leaders of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee seeking answers on how the tech giant safeguards privacy. A similar letter was sent to Larry Page, the CEO of Google parent company Alphabet, which produces the Android operating system. The letter from lawmakers sought information on how Apple collects and uses consumer data, as well as how the microphones work on iPhones.

In my many years testing all sorts of gadgets, few things have elicited as much spontaneous joy as Anki's Cozmo, its adorable robot for kids. Mostly, that was because it had a personality. Behind all of the sensors, cameras and other hardware, there was a team of animators breathing life into it. Now, Anki is taking everything it learned from Cozmo and putting it in a bigger, more powerful home robot: Vector. And unlike Cozmo, you won't need a phone to play with it.

Last month, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee fired off a letter to Apple following reports that phones and other devices, such as smart speakers, can listen in on conversations. Now, the tech giant has sent the Representatives its response: iPhones, it says, don't listen to people's conversations and don't share people's spoken words with third-parties. In what could be interpreted as a dig at its staunchest competitors, Cupertino explains in the letter (courtesy of CNET) that the customer is not its product and that its business model "does not depend on collecting vast amounts of personally identifiable information to enrich targeted profiles marketed to advertisers." In the original letter the lawmakers sent, they specifically noted reports that third-party apps could access the data devices supposedly collect while listening for their "trigger words," such as "Hey, Siri, "OK Google" and "Hey, Alexa." During Facebook's congressional hearing back in April, Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) even asked Mark Zuckerberg whether the social network listens in on people through their phone mics in order to serve relevant ads.

Avocado toast is the hottest lunch trend to hit my apartment in years, and Lenovo just kicked it to a new level. After sticking Lenovo's Smart Display in my kitchen this week, my snack of choice has only gotten better, and I couldn't be happier. With the screen's built-in recipe search and step-by-step guide to cooking, I learned that rubbing the bread with some cut garlic adds a lot of flavor, and finishing it off with a sprinkling of parsley, lime, and chopped tomatoes does wonders. I may even toss a fried egg on my green toast this week. I could have looked up all these avocado toast recipes on my Android phone, but I never did.

If you had your very own home robot, what would you want it to do, exactly? Yeah, me too, but that kind of robot is a long, long ways off. Consider Jibo, essentially a dancing Amazon Alexa. And Kuri, a miniaturized R2-D2 that roams around your house taking pictures. If that doesn't sound particularly impressive to you, well, the market felt the same way.

Your questions will never go unanswered again by Alexa. Amazon is rolling out a feature called'Answer Update' that notifies users when Alexa learns the answer to a question that it didn't know right away. The feature, which was first spotted by Voicebot, should start appearing for users in the coming days. Amazon is launching a feature called'Answer Update' that notifies users when Alexa learns the answer to a question it didn't know right away. Users can opt in to the feature by asking their Echo device to'turn on Answer Update.' Alexa will then respond by explaining what the feature is.

Bose revealed that its QuietComfort 35 IIs would get outfitted with Google Assistant last September. Starting today, owners have another voice assistant option: The wireless headphones now support Amazon Alexa. Users must open their paired Bose Connect app and update its software. Then, an option to use Alexa will appear under the app's See My Options tab. Users will have to pair their headphones to the Alexa app, too.

Marriott recently teamed up with Amazon to offer a hospitality version of the e-commerce giant's Echo devices in select hotel rooms. Now, when guests want to order room service or housekeeping, they can simply ask Alexa, the voice of their disembodied personal concierge. Travelers with an Alexa device at home can book a car rental or hotel through Expedia and Kayak. Similarly, Google Assistant, which can be used via Google Home devices, smartphones, or smartwatches, can track flight prices and status, suggest nearby restaurants, convert currency, give directions, and provide same-day updates on traffic to airports. On many fronts, artificial intelligence-powered smart speakers and apps seem poised to become the world's virtual travel agents. If consumers start turning regularly to smart speakers for their travel needs, they could end up interacting less and less with traditional airline, hotel, and even online travel agency brands.