Microsoft tipster Walking Cat spotted a new feature that could be coming to Windows. Called'Follow Me,' it will allow the voice assistant Cortana to verbally walk users through processes, like configuring settings or installing software. While the video in Walking Cat's original tweet isn't available to watch in some regions, another was uploaded to YouTube demonstrating the new feature. The video shows Cortana helping a user hook up a Bluetooth device to Windows. There's no indication when the feature will get added to the voice assistant's repertoire, but with the Windows Fall Update possibly coming next week, here's hoping it's included.

Google is to kill off a key feature of its new $49 smart home speaker after it was revealed a design flaw meant that the gadget was constantly monitoring and recording some user's speech. The Home Mini is meant to bring the convenience of the firm's smart assistant to any room at an affordable price, but it may have been doing more than just that. Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii first uncovered the bug, which relates to the long-press gesture function built into the Home Mini. Privacy is a growing concern in an increasingly connected world and a design flaw with Google's latest smart speaker may ring alarm bells for some. Google launched the Home Mini, along with a raft of new products, at an official unveiling event last week.

Parks Associates today announced new research showing that 40% of smart light bulb owners use Amazon Echo or Google Home to control their devices. The international research firm will examine how voice control improves the smart home experience and can drive consumer adoption and usage at the 12th-annual CONNECTIONS Summit: IoT and the Smart Home, taking place January 9, 2018, at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. "U.S. consumers bought an estimated 14 million voice-controlled smart speakers with personal assistants in 2016," said Dina Abdelrazik, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Voice interfaces supported by personal assistants--like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana--seek to connect all the moving parts of a connected lifestyle and are simplifying the user experience. In every vertical, whether it be connected entertainment or the connected car, voice has the ability to unify devices to provide a coherent experience and drive greater adoption of IoT technologies. Simplicity, improved user engagement, and personalization will all lead to a stickier consumer."

Target is jumping into voice-activated shopping as it deepens its relationship with Google, offering thousands of items found in the store except for perishables like fruit and milk. The move is happening as Google says shopping will be available later this year through Google Assistant on iPhone and Android phones, joining its Google Home device and Android TV. So shoppers can shout out orders to their phone while they're running around doing errands or just walking. TTarget is jumping into voice-activated shopping as it deepens its relationship with Google, offering thousands of items found in the store except for perishables like fruit and milk. The move is happening as Google says shopping will be available later in 2017 through Google Assistant on iPhone and Android phones, joining its Google Home device and Android TV.

Samsung's Bixby digital assistant hasn't been received well by Galaxy S8, S8 and Note 8 users. And now Samsung is reportedly replacing the head of the Bixby team and might even launch a new version of the assistant next week. Samsung's Rhee In-jong is being replaced as the head of development of the Bixby digital voice assistant by Chung Eui-seok, the head of service intelligence at the company's South Korean headquarters, according to The Investor. The Chung's service group is in charge of developing Bixby and other services related to artificial intelligence. Chung worked for Ericsson before joining Samsung in 2011 and is credited for being the software specialist behind Samsung's security program Knox and Samsung Pay.

This is because it can be hooked up to multiple Google accounts and is capable of recognising the different users' voices. As well as being good for privacy, this means each member of a household gets an experience that has been personalised to their preferences and interests. To add an account to Home, open the Google Home app, make sure your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the Google Home you want to connect to, tap the Menu icon, Devices and find the device card of the Google Home you'd like to link to your voice. From the device card, tap the blue banner labelled Multi User is Now Available or Link Your Account, hit Continue and follow the prompts to teach Google Home to recognise your voice. To invite other people to link their Google Account & voice for tailored results, tap Invite.

For the past few years, Target has been testing the Google Express service in California and New York City. Now, the service is expanding nationwide. Starting today, you can now use Google's same-day home delivery service at Targets all across the continental US (but not Alaska or Hawaii). You can also use Google Assistant to shop with your voice; it's coming soon to eligible Android and iPhone devices and available now on Google Home devices and Android TV. Google Express is a delivery service that is somewhat of a competitor to Amazon Prime. You can shop from local stores and pay a per-order delivery fee, rather than Amazon's flat yearly fee.

Target's higher minimum wage aims to attract and retain good staffers. See how much other big retailers are paying. This May 3, 2017, photo shows the Target logo on a store in Upper Saint Clair, Pa. Target is jumping into voice-activated shopping as it deepens its relationship with Google, offering thousands of items found in the store except for perishables like fruit and milk. The move is happening as Google says shopping will be available later in 2017 through Google Assistant on iPhone and Android phones, joining its Google Home device and Android TV.

Deep inside the Googleplex, a small group of writers is huddling around a whiteboard that is plastered with ideas. These read like notes-to-self that Jack Skellington might've made: "Halloween survival kit," "How to defeat monsters." "People did not like'smell my feet' last year," he says, laughing. "It was trick or treat, and one response was'smell my feet.' Germick has spent the afternoon bouncing between brainstorming meetings like this one, in which Googlers debate life's big questions, like whether the sound of a bubbling cauldron or distant howling is spookier. All of which is part of his job as principal personality designer for Google Assistant, the company's voice-activated helper found on a wide range of smartphones and its Home smart speaker, which first went on sale last fall. It's August, but Germick's team is grappling with what users might ask Google on Halloween and why. Or will they want to hear a seasonally appropriate joke?

Many years ago (don't ask me how I know this!) the hamburger chain Burger King began branding themselves with this slogan: "Have it your way!" It was pure marketing genius! The idea that you could order something, in this case a hamburger, at a fast food dispensary that would be tailor-made to your specific personal tastes was revolutionary – it set them apart from their competitors. Something similar happened when Amazon.com, one of the first major online stores in the Internet era, began suggesting books (and other products) to their customers that were an amazingly good match to each individual's personal tastes. Of course, Amazon accommodated its customers with this value-added service by invoking a scientific procedure, data science applied to customer data, not by asking customers directly (as did Burger King).