Smart speakers are taking over British homes. A recent UK Gov survey found the number had doubled in three months, with around 10% of Brits owning one – and that 75% of these were Amazon Echo devices. The overwhelming majority are used for basic tasks like playing music and answering general knowledge questions – but with the right tips, tricks, skills and accessories you can get the Echo's digital assistant Alexa to do just about anything… Privacy please You can always mute the mics on an Echo device to stop it listening, but if you're concerned you've been over-sharing, deleting your recordings and query history is the next step. Doing so is easy: you can select individual recordings in the Alexa app, or take the nuclear option and delete your daily, weekly, monthly or entire history through the Alexa privacy settings on the Amazon website. If you have multiple Alexa devices you can use them as an intercom in your home.

The arrival of Artificial Intelligence into the hotel Industry has transformed the way guests communicate with hotels before, during and after their stay. This is a trend prevailing over the industry and it is not stopping anytime soon. Due to the evolution of technology, Artificial Intelligence has the capacity to store a large number of data and information in their memory banks, which can be pulled out anytime. This is very helpful for companies to improve their guest experience and satisfaction as it will be giving their clients what they actually want. This is in addition to overall guest satisfaction in the hotel industry.

An illustration from an Amazon skill that runs an hour-long tape of people talking, to fool burglars into thinking a home is occupied. SAN FRANCISCO -- Homeowners have always come up with clever ways to scare away potential burglars. They leave the television on while they're away, install dummy cameras or plant the classic "BEWARE OF DOG" sign in the front yard, even though it's just a teacup poodle in the backyard. A new "skill" for Amazon's Echo smart speaker takes things a step further: Away Mode attempts to trick potential burglars into thinking somebody is home by playing long audio clips that sound like real -- albeit absurd -- conversations that could be happening inside. The skill, created by Hippo Insurance, a San Francisco-based home insurance company, includes about a half-dozen conversations. Users can ask Alexa to play Away Mode, and it will play recorded conversations like a couple breaking up while trying to watch TV, a frustrated mom explaining to her daughter how to assemble IKEA furniture over the phone or two average guys talking about what makes them unique because they want to start a podcast.

While nuances separate their individual capabilities, they all take roughly the same form: a human-like voice embedded into a smart speaker, mobile phone, automobile, or similar piece of hardware. Japanese messaging giant Line, however, wants to give virtual assistants a more human form. The company this week opened preorders for the latest iteration of the Gatebox virtual home robot, a holographic character that is designed to provide companionship to its owner. The Gatebox is a little table lamp-sized glass case that uses projections and sensors to create a life-like character, called Hikari Azuma, that the user can interact with. By way of a quick recap, the Gatebox was originally developed by a Japanese firm called Vinclu, which launched a limited run of 300 units in 2016, priced at the equivalent of around $2,670 each. It followed up a year later with another run of 39 units before Line acquired a majority stake in the company.

The relationship between the MarTech industry and artificial intelligence (AI) is basically a sci-fi romance right now, with the entire industry delighted by robots in much the same way Joaquin Phoenix fell for his operating system in the movie Her. Amidst predictions that AI could generate $3.5-$5.8 The average consumer's perception of AI seems to range somewhere from thinking its "creepy" to fears that children's playthings are spies. Yet, paradoxically, consumers actually seem to enjoy the ways that AI improves their communication with brands. Most are pretty comfortable talking to Alexa and even prefer a chatbot on Facebook Messenger if it means faster, more effective service.

The relationship between the MarTech industry and artificial intelligence (AI) is basically a sci-fi romance right now, with the entire industry delighted by robots in much the same way Joaquin Phoenix fell for his operating system in the movie Her. Amidst predictions that AI could generate $3.5-$5.8 The average consumer's perception of AI seems to range somewhere from thinking its "creepy" to fears that children's playthings are spies. Yet, paradoxically, consumers actually seem to enjoy the ways that AI improves their communication with brands. Most are pretty comfortable talking to Alexa and even prefer a chatbot on Facebook Messenger if it means faster, more effective service.

It's no surprise by now that voice assistants like Google Home and Amazon Echo were some of the biggest sellers of the latest holiday season. In addition, people are using Siri on their Apple iPhones to ask questions and receive answers. And some people now prefer to ask Google questions directly with their voice while working on a laptop or desktop rather than type in a question. So how can you get out in front of this voice search trend? Your first step should be to think in terms of the long tail keywords that people are actually using in their voice queries.

As Sonos stock changed hands on NASDAQ Thursday, during its first day as a public company, I spoke with the company's vice president of product management, Chris Kallai, about where the company is headed. Kallai oversees the entire product development process at the speaker manufacturer, working in conjunction with its software engineers and lead designers, as well as Sonos Sound Experience Leader and record producer Giles Martin (son of the late George Martin, the famed Beatles producer). We eased into the interview with a question about Sonos' latest product, the Sonos Beam. "It really hit our goals that we were trying to develop," Kallai said. He was especially pleased about the level of user enthusiasm for the new product.

The fintech industry has been revolutionizing the sector in the past few years, with disruptive technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, social data intelligence and blockchain, which are proving to be enablers in solving critical business problems. According to fintech experts, robos are already doing 75 percent of the distributor's job. For instance, these automated advisers ask you your age and a few questions about risk, goals and your time horizon. Then the platform runs your choices through their algorithms. Next, you are assigned a risk level ranging from conservative to aggressive.

The U.S. installed base of smart speakers has hit 50 million, according to a new report released today by research group CIRP. Amazon invented this market in 2015 and still has a majority market share: 70%, according to the study. Google, however, which has seen sales leadership in some quarters, has 24% market share. And Apple, which launched HomePod earlier this year, now has 6% of the market, according to CIRP. One caveat: the CIRP study is small, only 500 households.