Google has just pushed an update to its Home smart speaker that lets you make calls to any phone number in the US and Canada for free. As with its other features, you can place a call with your voice: just say, "Hey Google, Call Abhimanyu," or whoever else you've been dying to talk to, and it'll do your bidding instantly over Wi-Fi. It'll recognize your voice to load your own contacts, so when you ask it to "Call Dad," it'll phone your father and not someone else's. Plus, you can also ask Home to ring businesses by name, even if they aren't stored in your contact list. With that, Google might have just replaced your landline and beat Amazon et al to the punch as well. Echo speakers can currently talk to each other, but not to phones; Apple and Microsoft are yet to introduce these features in their upcoming smart speakers.

We're only just over halfway through 2017, but the world of web design moves pretty darned quickly, so it's a good time to step back and take stock of the trends that have emerged so far. In this post, we identify five of the top trends dominating web design right now, and where to go for further reading on each subject. If there's one thread that unites them all it's the idea that in 2017, as Chris Coyier put it in this article, "We're not building pages, we're building systems." In other words, as things like style guides, design systems and pattern libraries become more important than the visual layout of individual pages, we're seeing a seismic shift in what web design actually involves. And these five trends can all be seen, in different ways, as part of that overall transition.

Dating app Hinge is rewarding couples who meet on the app with free gifts. Couples who have made it to various relationship milestones - from early ones such as the first sleepover to more serious ones like having a baby - can claim gifts from the'Hinge Milestone Market,' including everything from an electric toothbrush to a $200 vibrator. The company partnered with sponsors like Casper, Plated, Minibar and Rent the Runway to provide rewards for the 11 milestones. Dating app Hinge is rewarding couples who meet on the app with free gifts. 'Hinge's Milestone Marketplace is a pop-up online store designed to celebrate and reward major relationship milestones - from the very first sleepover to engagements, weddings and babies,' Hinge said. The store - which will be live for seven days through August 23 - will operate on a first-come, first served basis.

Which is better: the Alexa powered Echo or Google's first attempt at a smart home speaker? Kim Komando has the answers. Google Home is coming to a host of new appliances. Google Home, the Internet giant's answer to the Amazon Echo-connected speaker, is ready to start making phone calls. The feature first announced in May means the Home speaker can now make free phone calls to folks in your Google contact list in the U.S. and Canada.

Google's Home assistant speaker is getting more features for users and the latest will make it easier to get in touch with others. In a post, Google confirmed that voice calls would coming to Home users within the next few days. The feature works similarly to other Google Home commands. By using the "Ok, Google" command, users will be able to make outgoing calls to businesses and others in their Google Contacts. Plus, domestic users will have another advantage if they use the home speaker for calls. Google will use Wi-Fi to carry calls, so they'll be free for users in the U.S. and Canada.

"You are worse than a fool; you have no care for your species. For thousands of years men dreamed of pacts with demons. Only now are such things possible." When William Gibson wrote those words in his groundbreaking 1984, novel Neuromancer, artificial intelligence remained almost entirely within the realm of science fiction. Today, however, the convergence of complex algorithms, big data, and exponential increases in computational power has resulted in a world where AI raises significant ethical and human rights dilemmas, involving rights ranging from the right to privacy to due process.

Its upscale Genesis brand has introduced Google Assistant support that gives you voice control over your vehicle as long as it's hooked into Genesis Connected Services. If you need to warm up your car on a winter morning, send a destination for your trip or lock the doors, you just have to talk to Assistant (through Home or your phone) instead of venturing outside. The Assistant app is ready to use today. There's a good chance that using this won't come at any extra cost, since all Genesis cars come with 3 years of free Connected Services access. Just remember that you'll have to pay after that -- otherwise, you might have to control your car the old-fashioned way.

Using your voice to control things around your home is one of the cooler aspects of the future we live in. But, unless you have the right phone or smart speaker, that functionality can be crippled or nonexistent. Platform-agnostic devices for smart homes are all too rare, which is why iDevices' dimmer switch is so intriguing. The company's hardware works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri right out of the box. No, I never thought I'd say a dimmer switch would be interesting either, but here we are.

Dating apps have been slow to adopt video functionality. Big shot Tinder bought a video service in February but hasn't announced plans to add its functionality, while Hinge just included user-made movie clips for profiles -- a feature that Badoo launched last year. Today, the UK-based dating service is taking another step forward and adding video chat straight into the app, so users can move past text and talk in real-time. You'll have to exchange at least one message each before video chats become available, so at least users won't get spammed with calls from randos they haven't chatted with. Badoo is pitching it as an added layer of security, giving folks the opportunity to see if anybody sets off their creep alarms before meeting in person.

First announced at I/O in May, Google is ready to launch hands-free calling via its voice-activated Home speaker, letting you get in touch with anyone in the U.S. or Canada without lifting a finger--and for free. Starting Wednesday, you'll be able to use your Home speaker to place a call to virtually any person in your contacts or business across the U.S. or Canada, but there's a catch: The recipient won't know who's calling. Since Google Home uses its own number to place the call, the recipient will see "Unknown" or "No Caller ID" on their end. Google says it hopes to allow users to link their mobile numbers by the end of the year. Once the feature becomes available on your device, you won't have to do much to get it to work.