Google Assistant is about to get seriously smart. At the search giant's annual I/O developer conference, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled a new technology called'Duplex' that enables its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with actual humans. It can book a hair appointment and reserve a table for you at your favorite restaurant, among other things. That's on top of a slew of other tools that Google says can make it easier than ever for you to interact with your smart devices. At Google's I/O developer conference, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled a new technology called'Duplex' that enables its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with actual humans Duplex, which Pichai says the firm has been working on'for many years', will be rolling out to a limited number of users for now.

Google said it is rolling out its visual assistant, which brings ups information as well as ways to interact with apps with a Google Assistant voice request in a full-screen experience, to Android phones this summer. When an Android user makes a query through Google Assistant, Google will provide a more interactive visual experience on the phone. That includes ways to interact with smart home products, like thermostats, or interacting directly with apps like the Starbucks app. Google's visual assistant is coming to iOS devices this year. You can make a voice query such as "what is the temperature right now," and a display shows up with a way to change the temperature.

At the annual I/O developers conference on Tuesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that users now have six additional options for their Assistant's voice, one of which is that of famed singer/songwriter John Legend. The new voices arrive thanks to the company's work with Wavenet technology over the last year. They'll be available for both mobile and the Google Home beginning later today. Click here to catch up on the latest news from Google I/O 2018!

The Google Assistant has been the star of the past few I/O developer conferences, so we're not surprised to see new features being announced today. One of the biggest is "continued conversation" -- essentially, you won't need to say "Hey Google" every single time you want to ask the Assistant a question. In a demo, Google showed someone asking what the score of the last Golden State Warriors game. From there, he was able to follow up and say "when are they playing next" without having to say "hey Google" again to activate it. In the same vein, Google also talked about "multiple actions," which lets you ask more than one question or do more than one thing at once. For example, you could say "tell me the weather in New York City and San Francisco" or "turn off my lights and turn on the popcorn maker."

We pose 150 questions to Siri, Google and Alexa to see which one has more correct answers. OK Google, we get it. You are smarter than the other assistants. This has been the subtext of recent Google I/O developer conferences. The latest edition kicks off today in Mountain View, California, where the Internet giant is expected to announce several updates to the Google Home line, its answer to the Amazon Echo connected speaker.

The Kinect will never die. Microsoft debuted its motion-sensing camera on June 1st, 2009, showing off a handful of gimmicky applications for the Xbox 360; it promised easy, controller-free gaming for the whole family. Back then, Kinect was called Project Natal, and Microsoft envisioned a future where its blocky camera would expand the gaming landscape, bringing everyday communication and entertainment applications to the Xbox 360, such as video calling, shopping and binge-watching. This was the first indication that Microsoft's plans for Kinect stretched far beyond the video game industry. With Kinect, Microsoft popularized the idea of yelling at our appliances -- or, as it's known today, the IoT market.

When it comes to compact smart speakers, Google and Amazon lead the pack--and right now the dueling companies are offering their most popular tiny speakers on sale. Across many retailers, including the Google Store and Best Buy, the Google Home Mini is on offer for $39, a savings of $10, or you can save $40 when you buy two. Either way, you'll be able to access the Google Assistant (probably the smartest of all digital assistants) via voice control to do everything from querying Google's search engine to controlling various smart home devices. With a 3.86-inch diameter and a 1.65-inch height, this tiny speaker has a soft, modern aesthetic, and can blend into any room. We gave it 4 stars out of 5 for its sleek design and sophisticated smart assistant.

SAP is continuing to add smart features to its cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution - S/4HANA Cloud - as it looks to help customers automate processes and react faster to information held in their core systems. It has also integrated S/4HANA with CoPilot, its digital assistant, allowing users to take action through a natural language interface, like Microsoft's Cortana. The 1805 release of S/4HANA Cloud, which is out today, will include 12 new'scenarios' to help customers optimise common processes. Nine of these are machine learning solutions and three are CoPilot'conversational UI scenarios'. Read next: S/4HANA: What does SAP's next generation ERP mean for customers?

Shopping shouldn't feel like a chore. It should be fun and convenient, delighting the customer at every turn. The next generation of AI will anticipate your needs before you do. Imagine the perfect blazer arriving to your doorstep just-in-time for your cocktail reception. This may seem like a hi-tech fantasy, but thanks to the powerful combination of artificial intelligence and mobile technology, seeing is more than believing, it is a mechanism for brands to drive value-based shopping experiences.

First revealed at CES 2018, Google Assistant is now live on LG's AI TV lineup with ThinQ AI, and LG has more details about how it works. The new tech is available on all of LG's OLED and Super UHD TVs with Thinq AI, including the Signature W8, C8, E8 and B8 OLED lineup and SK9500, SK9000 and SK8000 Super UHD TVs. The ThinQ tech is more about controlling your TV and connections. For instance, you can use it to change the picture mode, turn the TV off at a set time or switch to a game console or soundbar by saying "connect to soundbar." You can also search for content, channels, and desired films by title, name of an actor and other parameters, or give commands like "search for the soundtrack of this movie."