Hogar Controls has unveiled the Google Assistant-powered Milo Smart Home Speaker with a built-in home hub that supports the Z-Wave Plus and Zigbee home automation standards. The versatile device can get you the news and weather from Google's AI, stream music across Bluetooth and WiFi, and control your blinds, lights, locks, thermostats and other devices via the hub. Other features include a touch controller, a three-microphone array that allows voice recognition even when you're not close to it, a speaker with a 2-inch driver plus dual two-inch passive radiators for "clear highs and deep bass," and an aluminum and fabric design, in light gray or black. Hogar said the Milo is the first-ever smart speaker with Z-Wave Plus, but Toshiba recently released its own smart speaker/hub combo, the Symbio, with that feature (the Symbio also includes a camera). Nevertheless, the products highlight a bit of a trend at CES this year to put home hub features in smart speakers, since they're often sitting in a central spot in your house.

This CES, the company has more substantial changes to reveal. The new Thinkpad X1 series now come with microSIM card slots and e-SIM technology, so they'll remain "always on, always connected," per Microsoft's marketing language. The X1 Carbon laptop and X1 Yoga convertible are also the first PCs announced to sport screens with Dolby's Vision HDR technology, and feature built-in privacy shutters for the webcam. All three X1s are also equipped with twin far-field microphones that can hear you from up to four meters (about 13 feet) away, so you can shout at Cortana from across the room if you wish. At my demo here in Vegas, the Thinkpad X1 Yoga was able to hear me and Lenovo's reps from at least 12 feet away.

Last year Sony kicked off the year by adding OLED and HDR to its lineup, then later pushed Google's Assistant AI as an upgrade for its Android TV platform. In 2018 the company is sticking to those basics on its latest 4K TVs with a few tweaks. It will once again offer OLED TVs in 55- and 65-inch sizes, this time with an updated version of its technology that broadcasts sound directly from the display itself. Now dubbed "Acoustic Surface," this A8F series appears to pack the upgraded version of Crystal Sound that LG Display is showing off, with support for 3.1 channels of audio instead of the A1E's 2.1. There's no word yet on price, but last year's models launched at $5,000 and $6,500, and currently sell for around $3,000/$4,000.

Google is at CES in a big way this year -- no, seriously -- and it's mostly centered around one product: Google Assistant. The search giant is incorporating its personal assistant AI into more devices than ever. They run the gamut from smart speakers (some of which have displays), smart earbuds and yes, even cars. If CES 2017 was the Alexa show, then CES 2018 just might very well be the Google show. "We think Assistant is more useful if it's available across all devices and contexts," said Scott Huffman, Google's VP of Engineering in charge of Google Assistant. "It's not just phones or speakers or laptops; it's all kinds of things."

While Amazon might have been the first to come to market with a smart display -- the Echo Show and the Echo Spot, respectively -- it's now no longer the only ones. At this year's CES, Google is announcing a slew of smart displays from several companies, and one of them is the JBL Link View from Harman International. Think of it as a Google Home, but with a touch screen. Measuring 13 by 5.9 by 3.9 inches, the overall Link View looks a bit like a halved football, but with a display set in the middle. That display measures 8 inches across and features a HD 1280 x 720 resolution.

In case you hadn't heard, Google's Assistant doesn't just live in phones, speakers and televisions anymore. You'll see the Assistant pop up in small, connected screens meant for use around the house later this year, and we just spent a little time with Lenovo's first efforts: the 8-inch and 10-inch Smart Displays. It's hard not to think of them as just a pair of surprisingly handsome tablets, but after getting a sense of how the Google Assistant works on a purpose-built screen, it's clear that Amazon's Echo Show has some serious competition. The 8-inch screen on the smaller Smart Display runs at 1,200x800, while the larger version's 10-inch panel runs at 1,920x1,200. Other than that, the two versions of the Smart Display are essentially the same.

It's difficult to remember now, but there was a moment in early 2016 when many in the tech industry believed chatbots--automated text-based virtual assistants--would be the next big platform. Messaging app Kik staked its company's future on bots and "chatvertising." Startup studio Betaworks launched an accelerator program called Botcamp. And at its 2016 F8 conference, Facebook pitched bots to developers as the best way to connect with 900 million Messenger users. Few expected that voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant would thrive and text-based chatbots would become a punchline.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks are words that are often seen in today's business technology headlines. Are robots taking over the world? Or are they just here to help you find the best hotel for your next holiday? Artificial intelligence may seem like the bane of some futuristic, dystopian society but you've probably already come into contact with it in something as simple as booking a hotel or flight. If you have ever binged watched a series or two on Netflix, you've seen the'what to watch next' recommendations pop up on the screen.

LG has unveiled a new artificial intelligence brand set to take over its smart devices, connecting everything from TVs and smart speakers to your car and washing machine. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the firm revealed ThinQ and Deep ThinQ AI, which will allow LG's connected devices to communicate with each other, and get smarter with time. And, Google Assistant is coming to LG's home devices for hands-free voice control. LG also introduced a number of updates to its OLED TV and Super UHD TV lineups, promising better image quality and more advanced processors, and showed off three new customer service robots. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the firm revealed ThinQ and Deep ThinQ AI, which will allow LG's connected devices to communicate with each other, and get smarter with time. And, Google Assistant is coming to LG's home devices for hands-free voice control LG introduced its new AI brand, ThinQ at CES in Las Vegas.

Apple's delayed $349 'HomePod' smart speaker is finally set to go on sale within weeks, it has been claimed. The gadget will battle Amazon's Echo and Google Home for the lucrative smart speaker market, using Apple music and Siri to do everything from play music to give news and traffic updates - but was delayed from its inital launch date of November. The firm said it needed'a little more time before it's ready' - and now, a leading analyst says the firm is ready. The new $349 smart'HomePod' home speaker will go on sale later this year, and use Siri to aplay music and answer questions. Apple also unveiled iOS 11 and new iPads at the event.