Amazon Echo's Alexa has helped people do all sorts of tasks. Although Alexa now has more than 15,000 so-called "skills," critics say that many of Amazon's skills are low-quality.

Amazon wants to make Alexa a more formidable competitor to Google Assistant and Siri by letting you put it on your face and take it anywhere, according to a Financial Times report (paywall). The company is said to be developing a pair of normal-looking eyeglasses that tether to your smartphone and allow you hear, and presumably speak to, Alexa via a bone-conduction audio system. Though the lack of a screen and camera would seem to neuter the glasses, dropping them would dramatically improve its battery life. And in any case, the idea is not to have Google Glass-like vision, but to give users a direct line to Alexa on a smartphone without having to open an app, as is currently the case. That would make them much more useful in a vehicle or on the street, especially if they can be incorporated into comfortable, daily-worn eyeglasses. On top of that, the lack of a screen would simplify the development process considerably, reducing the time to market and increasing its chances of success.

The impacts are contributing by automating repetitive task, creating efficiencies, ubiquitously improving user experience, and creating ways for humans to improve our cognition. From a business perspective, enterprise executives are most optimistic about the potential of AI technologies to increase efficiencies via automated communications and alerts to enable more proactive approaches (70%) business challenges. Additionally, our surveyed execs believe virtual personal assistants and automated data analysts are the AI solutions they see most impacting their businesses. Business execs also see potential for AI managers to improve life for employees.

Apple's new Control Center lets you mix and match your favorite shortcuts in iOS11 (Photo: Apple) MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif -- You don't have to go out and spend $700 on a swanky new iPhone. The latest mobile operating system upgrade, iOS 11, was released Tuesday, and it has "hundreds" of new features, according to Apple. If you go to Settings, Control Center, you can choose what shortcuts you'd like to be in there. The iOS11 operating system upgrade lets you mark up screen shots.

Google's Pixel 2 handsets have been leaked ahead on its unveiling on October 4th, it has been claimed. Droid Life claims to have images of the new handset, alongside a new mini wireless speaker, and images of an updated Daydream VR headset. Two versions of the handset will be launched, a Pixel and a Pixel XL. The LG-made Pixel 2 XL will come in a'Black & White' and'Just Black' colors and be available with 64GB or 128GB storage, according to the latest leaks The smaller Pixel 2 will be available in Kinda Blue, Just Black, and Clearly White, and will be sold with 64GB and 128GB of storage and priced at $649 and $749, respectively, according to the site. The larger LG-made Pixel 2 XL will come in a Black & White and Just Black colors and be available with 64GB or 128GB storage.

As companies begin to understand the vast potential of their data, the question they face is: How does our business make the most of it? The answer lies in getting real-time insights that enable better business decisions and accelerated product development. But what if the insights were used not just by humans, but by the systems themselves, leading to ongoing optimization at previously inconceivable speed and accuracy? That's the promise of adaptive intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which are already impacting consumer experience with personalized shopping, self-driving vehicles, online wealth management, and virtual assistants. Here, we'll look at how data is driving the coming AI revolution.

Did you notice that Siri sounds a little more sprightly today? Apple's ubiquitous virtual assistant has had a little virtual work done on her virtual vocal cords, and her newly dulcet-ized tones went live today as part of iOS 11. (Check out a few more lesser-known iOS 11 features here.) It turns out a lot of work went into this little upgrade. The old methods of creating speech from text produced the familiar but stilted voices we're all familiar with from the last decade or two. Basically you took a big library of voice sounds -- "ah," "ess," etc. -- and stuck them together to make words.

Apple released iOS 11 Tuesday, and with it came major changes to iPhones and iPads. The update comes with improvements to Siri, Apple Pay, Do Not Disturb and Maps. Here are some new changes on iOS 11. The update came with a new design for icons of many apps, including the Music App, App Store, Calculator, Messages, Contacts, Photos, iTunes Store, as well as Siri. The Messages app comes with a big "Messages" display on the top of the screen, and the apps to communicate on iMessage, like GIFs and games, are now aligned on the bottom of the screen when clicking on it to converse with contacts. The design for switching keyboards has also changed, bringing on Keyboard Settings and different keyboard placements as options.

Tired of your coupled or married friends offering you condescending dating advice? Well now, with the help of Hinge Matchmaker, your friends can get in on the app-swiping game they potentially missed out on before finding true love. Hinge, the dating app founded by Justin McLeod and launched in 2013, looks to take its friend-of-a-friend approach to the next level by allowing people in relationships to bestow recommendations for potential matches to their mutual friends. The standalone Hinge Matchmaker app, available today in a beta version on the iOS App Store, relies on Facebook friend connections and even phone contacts to allow both single and romantically involved mutual friends to embrace their Cupid role. "Always wanted to choose matches for your friends? Have two friends that you think might be perfect for one another? Or are you single and want to have your friends set you up?" the iOS App Store description reads.

Google is set to unveil a new mini smart speaker alongside its new Pixel handsets on October 4th, it is believed. According to Droid Life, the new Google Mini Home speaker, which will take on Amazon's tiny Echo Dot, will cost just $49 when it goes on sale - making the two the same price. It will use the same Google Assistant software as the larger Google home speaker, and be available in Chalk, Charcoal, and Coral colors. The Google Mini Home is expected to be unveiled on October 4th, and go on sale soon after. 'The Google Home Mini will be powered rather than wireless, at least according to the images here,' Droid Life said.