Daimler's all-new Mercedes A-Class includes the automaker's own machine-learning and voice recognition technology in one of the industry's boldest attempts so far to take on its competitors. The Mercedes "MBUX" dashboard system is capable of understanding what you say, and even more importantly, what you mean, similar to Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri or Alphabet's Google Assistant. The vehicle also uses artificial intelligence to make sense of commands and even anticipate them by learning the preferences and habits of up to eight different users. Voice instructions can command everything from navigation to infotainment. One big difference is that unlike its cloud-based rivals that are available only when online, the Mercedes assistant uses embedded software from Nuance Communications to continue functioning when data connections fail.Continue reading for another video, more pictures and information.

Remember just a decade ago when buzzwords like "mobile," "social" and "the cloud" were still fairly new and exciting? These innovations forced businesses to re-evaluate their priorities and rethink how to use technology to engage their audiences. Now, technology develops faster than business can implement it. This rapid pace of innovation begs the question: What's next? In 2018, a few major trends are expected to reach their peak.

So it's been an interesting first few weeks with the Echo and am happy to say Echo 2nd Gen has finally delivered on its promise of improved sound quality over 1st Gen Echo, with the 3rd firmware since launch. If you are confused about a lot of the negative reviews, old firmware is the likely cause of most of them regarding poor sound quality. Want to keep this short and spare all the gory details, but there was a bug in the launch version of the firmware, which was fixed after a few days, but the first fix, while satisfying some, was not, in my opinion a full fix and left the mid-range frequencies muted and tinny. Today I noticed that Alexa's voice in this unit sounded much more like Alexa's voice on Gen 1 Echo's I own and, after playing some music, suspected they had upgraded the firmware again, and indeed they have. The current firmware is 592452720 and it's a massive improvement over both the original and updated version 592452420.

Marketers have been talking about artificial intelligence (AI) marketing for some time now. But many are still wondering, what exactly can AI marketing do for us right now? To find out, Econsultancy recently held a gathering of over 400 marketers for Digital Outlook 2018 in Singapore and invited subject matter experts to speak on AI marketing and other topics trending in digital. In his talk, Chandra Kumar, CEO WiselyWise, stated that, despite many setbacks over its long history, AI marketing may now be ready for mass adoption. He proceeded to describe four concrete things that marketers can use AI for right now.

Cross-industry collaboration Announced in a blog post today, Microsoft said the institute will look for ways to directly integrate AI research into Cortana. The organisation is being co-funded by Microsoft Research, Cortana Research and the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. The Institute is unique in its intention to directly combine research with real-world implementation. Currently, AI researchers tend to operate independently of the engineers building applications such as Cortana. The Cortana Intelligence Institute will bridge the gap, providing researchers and engineers with a two-way link to each other.

Sexual harassment has made plenty of headlines in recent months, but more often than not, bad behavior doesn't happen in the spotlight. As Oprah said in her Golden Globes Lifetime Achievement speech, sexual harassment happens in factories and in fields everywhere, to people of all colors, classes, and creeds. In the modern office, there is one type of harassment that HR teams could solve using the very same innovation that enables it. I'm speaking, of course, of the kind that happens regularly online over Slack, Skype, or work computers. For sexual harassment that occurs in cyberspace -- and, like bullying, it often does -- technological solutions like AI could be the savior victims didn't know they needed.

The biggest football game of the year is just days away now. But it's not too late to start making preparations for the best Big Game party any of your friends have ever thrown. If you've got a Google Home ($129.00 at Walmart) speaker tucked away in the corner of the room, you can put it to work for you. Below are 27 commands you can use with Google Home to help prepare you for your upcoming wingding. Before kickoff, Google Home can help around the kitchen, help you build a grocery list and make sure you're on time for the party.

I liked your iPhone X review quite a lot. Its also good that you are making more videos. But during the videos there is one thing you should do, say fewer words & show more video of the products. I love your in depth reviews on iMore, but on YouTube,I think it should be for more general folks,so that you can introduce them to the iMore brand.

This article originally appeared in the Motley Fool. Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting a lot of attention from investors these days and with good reason. It's a technology with the potential to transform everything from transportation to cloud computing. Many companies are betting that AI will influence not just their products and services, but nearly every aspect of their business. Read on to discover nine things you may not have to know about this burgeoning technology. Artificial intelligence is often used as a catch-all to describe computer systems that can learn.

Want to know how to choose the best virtual assistant, outsmart hackers, and block texts? Q: I read that hackers are going after routers and when they do, they can record keystrokes and steal from you. How can I make sure hackers are not in my router? A: You've described one of the most terrifying scenarios in the cyber security world, right after ransomware or identity theft: The hackers' ability to covertly track the precise characters you type, and thereby deducing all your passwords and private messages. The threat is real and it could happen to anyone who doesn't take the proper precautions. Routers are a vulnerable part of any network because most people don't even think about them.