Steeped in the language of digital commerce, today's shoppers have developed a new standard of behaviors, preferences and expectations for all of their retail experiences. Responsible with meeting these elevated needs, retailers need to overcome the hurdles of legacy technology and captivate each of their customers on a 1:1 basis. In the past, consumer value expectations were centered on three variables: cost, choice and convenience. With instant gratification available at the push of the button, customers are looking to have more control of their purchase journey and are seeking out personalized shopping experiences. Real-Time Engagement Accustomed to the instant access of e-commerce shopping, customers are looking for opportunities to skip the line and have direct communication channels to ask, troubleshoot and, of course, shop.

So far, all of these virtual assistants are great at a handful of tasks. They can help you with scheduling meetings, browsing the web for answers to your questions, and calling up a friend, for example. However, their range of tasks is minimal in comparison to a trained human. In the future, the goal will be to advance the technology so that one virtual assistant will not only be able to handle a wide array of tasks, but it will be able to do it in a way that is surprisingly human.

"OK Google, tell Audible we're coming after you." It may not be worthy of a page-turner. But Google is indeed launching an audiobooks service on Google Play that is set to challenge the Audible service owned by Amazon. It'll be an uphill battle for sure. Audible is the largest seller of narrated books and spoken content, with more than 400,000 titles overall. While Google starts rolling out audiobooks on Google Play starting today in nine languages and 45 countries, the company wouldn't tell me how many titles will be made available at launch.

The HomePod speaker is photographed in a a showroom during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, June 5, 2017, in San Jose, Calif. We're about to find out if the Siri-infused voice-controlled wireless HomePod smart speaker that Apple -- following a lengthy delay -- finally starts shipping on Feb. 9 can lure listeners away from Amazon's Alexa, and to a lesser extent the Google Assistant. Apple starts taking preorders Friday. HomePod is positioned as a high-end speaker, and at $349 priced accordingly. But it is considerably higher than the $199 you'll pay for another sweet-sounding speaker, the Sonos One with Alexa.

The Google Play Store has sold just about every media type for years now, but there's one more category the company is getting into as of today: audiobooks. As a leaked image revealed a few days ago, audiobooks are now on sale from Google Play in 45 countries and nine languages. As with most other Google services, audiobooks are available on pretty much any device you would want to use: Android, iOS, the web and Google Home speakers. To play a book on your phone, you'll need to download the Google Play Books app, which until now has focused on text-only options. If you're a fan of using the Google Assistant, you can simply say "Hey Google, read my book" and your phone or speaker will continue reading the most recent book you were listening to.

Apple has joined the race to put a microphone in every home. The firm today announced that its £319 ($349) 'HomePad' smart speaker is finally set to go on sale on 9th February in the US, UK and Australia - just over a month later than initially planned. The wireless smart speaker uses spatial awareness technology to sense its place in a room and adjust audio output accordingly. The 7in speaker, first unveiled last year but whose release was delayed from December, will also house Apple's virtual assistant Siri, meaning it can be controlled using voice commands and also provide news and weather information when asked. It is fitted with six microphones to records owners' voice commands.

Apple's Siri-equipped HomePod smart speaker will be available starting Feb. 9, the company announced Tuesday. Preorders for the $349 device begin Jan. 26. The HomePod is Apple's entry into the highly competitive smart speaker space, first popularized by the Amazon Echo, later joined by the Google Home. At $349, the HomePod is far pricer than many rival devices -- the cheapest Echo, the Echo Dot, can be had for about $49. But Apple is pitching the device as a high-end home speaker more akin to devices like the Sonos PLAY lineup, although with voice-activated capabilities thanks to Siri integration.

The Apple HomePod was supposed to go on sale last month at the height of the holiday season, but Apple pushed back its release date to early 2018. Now, the tech giant has finally announced a HomePod release date. Apple announced in a press release today that the HomePod will be released Feb. 9. The company also confirmed customers will be able to pre-order the HomePod online starting Jan. 26. The Siri-powered smart speaker is also set to arrive in France and Germany this spring.

Hands up if your resourcing team sends you a timesheet meme each week? The internet is awash with timesheet memes that are regularly downloaded by frazzled HR staff, at their wits end trying to compel employees to do. And it's only one mundane task of many that take up valuable time and contribute to the slow torturous drip that is administration. If only there was a way to legitimately do less of it and concentrate on the good stuff. It's pretty well established, if not universally adopted, that chatbots can enhance customer service experiences.

Rumors have been swirling as of late that Apple is getting ready to release its new Amazon Echo and Google Home rival very soon, and now we have an official launch date for the HomePod. Apple on Tuesday announced that the $349 HomePod will hit store shelves on Feb. 9. The Cupertino tech giant will start taking pre-orders on its website this Friday, Jan. 26, in the US, UK, and Australia. The Siri-backed smart speaker is slated to arrive in France and Germany this spring. Getting to this point has already been a long road for Apple, which unveiled the HomePod in June and planned to start selling it in December, in time for the holidays.