Imagine if the things around your house could respond to your voice even when you were shouting over a smoke alarm, keep track of each individual wandering through the house, unlock your front door just by identifying your voice, and even identify your emotions. Those are all capabilities that Microsoft is preparing to add to its Project Oxford, a set of cloud-based machine learning services introduced last May at Microsoft's Build conference. Ars took a deep dive on Project Oxford's first wave of machine learning-based services last year. Those services performed a number of image processing and recognition tasks, offered text-to-speech and speech recognition services, and even converted natural language into intent-based commands for applications. The services are the same technology used in Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant and the Skype Translator service, which translates voice calls in six languages (and text messages in 50 languages) in real-time.

Over the past three years, building intelligent apps -- apps powered by machine learning that continuously improve as they ingest new data -- has become easier and easier. Given the continued rise of machine learning, where are venture capitalists looking for the next set of investment opportunities? Generally, we see the core machine learning tools and building block services maturing, and now we are most interested in companies that are "moving up" the stack toward vertical applications, "moving down" the stack toward purpose-built hardware, and "moving out" of the data center toward intelligence at the edge. Here are four categories which we have been investing in and tracking closely because we believe they will play meaningful parts in the future of intelligent apps. As machine learning becomes more prevalent, cloud providers have raced to offer the latest GPUs for training machine learning models.

As a result, the field can lag behind when it comes to adopting the latest digital or IoT technologies. Patient privacy is a major issue, so all new technologies must be adopted carefully while adhering to various data compliance obligations that apply both to companies in general as well as healthcare organisations specifically. Managing clinics and hospitals is complex, and it's expensive. Many healthcare organizations rely on multiple computer and networking systems. Through smart bracelets, administrators can better track patient movement, and they can determine how often patients meet with their doctors.

Not too long ago, people got creeped out by Amazon's Alexa devices randomly laughing at them. Now Jeff Bezos' digital assistant is offering folks the chance to put a sock in its mouth. Reddit users first noticed that when asked to turn light on, Alexa would complete the task and then append the exchange by saying it'd be the last time it would use a verbal confirmation. Instead, it'd beep upon a task's completion from that point forward, noting that this was a new feature called "Brief Mode" that'd curtail its speech. That was with a first-gen Echo.

Asking Alexa to do something results in a vocal response (unless she's lost her voice), but that's not always really necessary and Amazon is experimenting with replacing Alexa's voice with other sounds to convey a response. As The Verge reports, the change in Alexa's behavior was first discussed on Reddit. One user explained that, after asking Alexa to turn on the lights, she gave the usual "OK" response, but went on to say it would be the last time she would. In future, a beep sound would replace the "OK." It's this switch to non-speech responses that Amazon is calling Brief Mode.

Smart speakers have become one of the hottest markets in consumer tech. Amazon Echos and Google Homes were among the most popular gifts this past holiday season, and that sales bump solidified Amazon as the leader in the space. Apple has since struggled to catch up, with its recently launched HomePod, but other hardware makers have rushed to get in on the hype, integrating Alexa and Google Assistant into their own headphones, wearables, and speakers. Each of the three big smart-speaker platforms includes its own integrated music player--Amazon Prime Music, Google Play Music, and Apple Music. But for 159 million music lovers, another app is their player of choice: Spotify.

Machine Learning ("ML") has been a relatively niche field for decades, with interest stemming mainly from academia and the life sciences. In recent years however, the development of ML technology has started to disrupt and, in some cases, reshape industries. This is evident in the hedge fund sector, which has seen a plethora of ML funds launching, or expected to launch, in the first half of 2018. ML can generally be defined as a subset of artificial intelligence. It involves using statistical techniques on large amounts of data to learn how to perform a specific task or find patterns in order to make predictions and solve problems. In reality however, the term "machine learning" is as broad as the fields of mathematics or statistics.

In this special guest feature, Joanna Eliopoulos, Growth Marketing Manager at Clickback, discusses the ways in which AI and machine learning are impacting B2B companies. Today's business owners expect companies to anticipate their specific needs, and act accordingly. Those who aren't streamlining this decision-making process using AI will fall behind. Joanna is a B2B marketer who is fanatically obsessed with growing a company's leads and revenues. What sets her apart from other marketers is her intellectual capital to think like a scientist, testing hunches and hypothesis' through data-driven metrics and analytics. Ironically, taking this approach not only makes "marketing" more fun, but it also helps the company improve its product offerings and unit economics.

Voice shopping accounted for $2bn in spend last year but this is expected to jump to $40bn in 2022, as the number of smart speakers in homes more than quadruples within the same timeframe. The number of homes using smart speakers will rise from 13 per cent today to 55 per cent by 2022, according to management consulting firm OC&C Strategy Consultants. Despite this, only 39 per cent of consumers trust the'personalised' product selection of smart speakers. The three most commonly shopped categories are groceries, entertainment and electronics – representing 20 per cent, 19 per cent, and 17 per cent of voice purchases respectively. This is followed by clothing at eight per cent.

Amazon's popular Echo family of devices keeps growing. From the first can-shaped Echo, to the big-screen Echo Show, and even the cute Echo Dot, you can get Alexa into your home any number of ways. These Echo products can answer your questions, help you order essentials for your home, play all sorts of audio content, and even function as the control hub for your burgeoning smart home. These are our favorite Amazon Echos for every home and every budget. The Echo Plus is the best-sounding Echo.