Virtual aides battled to rule "smart homes" on the eve of the official opening of the Consumer Electronics show gadget gala here. Samsung, LG Electronics, Panasonic and others touted a future in which homes, cars and pockets brim with technology that collaborates to make lives easier. Google and Amazon are key players in the trend, with their rival Assistant and Alexa voice-commanded virtual aides being woven deeper into consumer electronics and vehicles. Samsung meanwhile is playing catch-up with its Bixby assistant. "The biggest theme is the fight for the connected home between Google and Amazon," said Patrick Moorhead, of Moor Insights & Strategy, during a CES press briefing.

It seems strange in a world where Facebook users believe the social network listens to their private spoken conversations -- and produces related adverts -- that smart, learning and always-listening devices with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are suddenly so popular. At CES 2017, Alexa ruled the nascent smart speaker roost, as the personal assistant appeared on devices beyond those of Amazon's own Echo range. Google countered with the Google Assistant, and at CES 2018 we have seen both spread far and wide. Finding Alexa or Google Assistant (or even both) inside a television or speaker is no longer a surprise. But as the smart home of the future finally becomes an attainable reality, artificial intelligence is appearing everywhere. At CES it was in fridges and ovens, washing machines, dryers and even light switches.

One of the most intriguing ecommerce trends to watch in the coming year is "voice shopping." Amazon and Google are accelerating the adoption of home assistants/speakers that let users interact with them and order items they need to purchase by simply uttering a command. Among the major voice technologies that are powering all kinds of devices (including automobiles) are Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana. Facebook is also looking to get in on the action with its own hardware device code-named Portal, according to a report from Cheddar. If you're a micro seller that relies on marketplaces to generate sales, you're counting on those platforms to provide state-of-the-art features so you aren't left behind.

Facebook recently announced it was shutting down M, it's virtual personal assistant, causing some people to wonder if the decision meant chatbots were not as useful as they first seemed. The technology behind M was not perfect, but it's important to remember that it could serve as a learning tool to aid decisions made by chatbot developers in the future. Below, let's explore how M worked and the lessons learned from its less-than-ideal characteristics. M worked with the help of machine learning. It detected meaningful fragments of conversations people had with each other in Messenger, then made suggestions of the next actions to take.

Now available in new colors and with Dell Mobile Connect, which lets you wirelessly tether a smartphone, the Dell XPS 13 is the smallest and most powerful 13-inch laptop in the world. LAS VEGAS--What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas -- at least hopefully not for a bunch of the products showcased here last week. Some of the technology that debuts at CES, the annual consumer electronics show, turns out to be "vaporware," that is, it will never make a commercial debut for one reason or another. But the following ten products should have a chance vying for space in your home or driveway. Beginning this summer, Lenovo's VR headset doesn't require a connection to a device, like a smartphone, laptop, or game console.

Seriously, are you not bored of people like Elon Musk or Stephen Hawking, who are frequently claiming that artificial intelligence (AI) is a big threat to human society? Those discussions let people think AI is going to steal everyone's job and start the next world war. Even worse, it fuels expectations to a point that the general public is getting the idea that AI research has recently made quantum leaps. And thanks to raising these expectations we could easily run into an AI winter again. Keep calm: we are far away from creating a super-intelligence Musk and Hawking are talking about or what Hollywood is showing us with movies like Ex Machina, Her or AI.

Each January, tech companies from around the world gather in Las Vegas to show off their latest efforts at CES, formerly called the Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest gadget show of the year. While the products and demos showcased at CES don't always reflect the technology you'll be able to buy in the near future, the show does offer some insight into where tech giants are putting their time and resources. This year was all about improving communication between smart home gadgets, making the car feel more personal, and putting screens everywhere imaginable. Here's a look at some of the coolest products we came across on the CES showroom floor. L'Oréal's UV Sense is a tiny sensor capable of detecting ultraviolet exposure that's small enough to wear comfortably on your fingernail. The sensor itself is battery-free and includes an NFC antenna, a temperature sensor, and a UV sensor.

That crazy booth in the Convention Center parking lot seemed like a terrible idea on Tuesday when the rains opened up and swallowed it whole -- but a day later, when the lights went out on CES for a few hours, everyone came running to Google and its free donuts. Our own booth at the Sands, meanwhile, where a number of us were posted up for much of the week, was way too close to the giant Google gumball machine.

Semiconductor giant MediaTek announced several new products and partnerships at CES 2018. These include a partnership with Alibaba AI Labs, new chips for UHD Smart TV platforms, portfolio of Wi-Fi chipsets for IoT devices, solutions for smart home devices, and AI solutions for cross platform devices. Partnership with Alibaba AI Labs At CES 2018, MediaTek announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba's AI division. Under this partnership, the companies will work on smart home standards, customised IoT chips, and AI smart hardware. The partnership also revealed a Smartmesh connectivity solution in China that will help increase adoption in smart home settings. Smartmesh will enable smart home devices to pair with Tmall Genie, Alibaba's voice-controlled virtual assistant.

At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), technology companies from around the world unveil and showcase their latest and greatest inventions. This year, Intel announced a new 49-qubit chip, HTC released a new virtual reality (VR) headset, and Fisker revealed an electric car with a 644-km (400-mi) range. In addition, home assistants, health improvement gadgets, and domestic help robots dominated the scene in Las Vegas. CES is the genesis of many transformative tech trends, and 2018 is no exception. This year the CES venue was inundated with Amazon's Alexa devices.