As artificial intelligence gains traction as a preferred method for communicating with consumers, debt collectors must adapt to new contact methods to maintain a competitive edge. Professionals from Diversified Consultants Inc. (DCI) and Enhanced Resource Center (ERC), two of the first agencies that have deployed Intelligent Virtual Assistants to interact with their consumers as an alternative to live agents, can help you learn to use this technology during a Hot Topic Seminar July 18. Gordon Beck III, CEO of DCI and Marty Sarim, CEO of ERC, will lead the seminar: Preparing for AI & Evolving Consumer Preferences, sponsored by Interactions Corporation. Sign up today to gain access to the latest information to help you communicate with consumers. Follow ACA International on Twitter @ACAIntl and @acacollector, Facebook and request to join our LinkedIn group for news and event updates. ACA International members are welcome to submit news items for possible publication to comm@acainternational.org.

There are smart speakers, which connect wirelessly to other devices, and then there's the new era of smart speakers, designed to offer services through voice-controlled virtual assistants. Sonos, for a long time, was all about the former, having been a pioneer of high-quality, WiFi-connected speaker systems. Now it's entered the next era with products like Sonos One and Sonos Beam, which work with Amazon's Alexa and other virtual assistants. But Sonos' partners are also rivals, and Sonos' reliance on companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple makes it vulnerable, as it revealed in filing for an initial public offering Friday. To cite one example: Amazon can disable Alexa on Sonos devices any time, with "limited notice," according to the filing.

A car is never just a car. Yes, there's the engine, windshield, and axle; these parts have been fundamental to cars since they were known as "horseless carriages." But the modern automobile is heavily computerized, with oxygen sensors, a stability controller, a powertrain module, and a vast network of other functions. Now, cars are more sophisticated than ever: Bluetooth, rear-view cameras, and zoned temperature controls are standard features in 2018 models. Too many people don't think about the vast amount of data collection that happens.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both come standard on the 2018 Crosstrek (Photo: Reviewed.com A car is never just a car. Yes, there's the engine, windshield, and axle; these parts have been fundamental to cars since they were known as "horseless carriages." But the modern automobile is heavily computerized, with oxygen sensors, a stability controller, a powertrain module, and a vast network of other functions. Now, cars are more sophisticated than ever: Bluetooth, rear-view cameras, and zoned temperature controls are standard features in 2018 models.

SAN FRANCISCO: Google's voice-calling "Duplex" - which lets Artificial Intelligence (AI) mimic a human voice to make appointments and book tables through phone calls - may soon enter call centres assisting humans with customer queries. According to a report in The Information late on Thursday, an unnamed insurance company has shown interest in "Duplex" which could "handle simple and repetitive customer calls" before taking help from a human if the conversation gets complicated. Google, however, said in a statement that the company is not testing "Duplex" with any enterprise clients. "We're currently focused on consumer use cases for the'Duplex' technology and we aren't testing'Duplex' with any enterprise clients," a Google spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. "'Duplex' is designed to operate in very specific use cases, and currently we're focused on testing with restaurant reservations, hair salon booking and holiday hours with a limited set of trusted testers," the company added.

CES 2017 was a breakout year for Amazon's Alexa digital assistant. The helpful, disembodied entity showed up in everything from speakers to appliances. The 2018 show proved a similar opportunity for the Google Assistant. One of the big promises on the Google Assistant front was a wave of "smart displays" from companies like JBL and LG, but those products are only just getting ready to trickle out here in July. Smart screens have also busted out of their small frames a bit since CES 2018, too.

According to a recent survey, shopping by voice is expected to grow from $2 billion to $40 billion in the next four years. How far along are smart speakers right now? USA TODAY Sonos' smart speakers are a good fit for audiophiles with a penchant for technology. Speaker company Sonos has filed to go public. The company plans to list shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SONO," according to filings. It didn't specify how many shares would be up for sale or list an estimated offering price.

All three a virtual tie, but each had questions they couldn't answer. Tune in to find out where Apple, Google and Amazon fell down. An Amazon Echo Dot is displayed on Sept. 27, 2017, in Seattle. You're probably thinking that the last person I wanted to endure a heat wave with last week was my 91-year-old father. But I drove out to Long Island anyway, leaving the oppressive heat of the Garden State for the the unrelenting crankiness of dear old Dad.

With little fanfare, smart speaker company Sonos has just announced it plans to go public. Sonos plans to raise $100 million in its IPO, but noted that amount was "estimated as a placeholder." Along with the announcement, the company released the requisite S-1 form through the SEC, and that contains a host of other info about the state of the company. In it, the company starts by making it clear why it thinks it can be a long-term success: "The proliferation of streaming services and the rapid adoption of voice assistants are significantly changing audio consumption habits and how consumers interact with the internet. As the leading home sound system for consumers, content partners and developers, Sonos is poised to capitalize on the large market opportunity created by these dynamics."

There is a long history in sci-fi of robots accompanying humans in space. These robots' ambitions have run the gamut, from those that try to embrace their humanity (like Data from "Star Trek") to others that try to kill us (like HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey"). But before we can know whether real-life robots will help us or turn on us in space, we have get them up there. Enter CIMON, short for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion. It arrived on the International Space Station on the back of a SpaceX rocket on Monday.