The Essential phone, designed to take on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy, has gone into full production, according to its creator. Android inventor Andy Rubin took to Twitter to make the announcement, fuelling speculation about when it might be ready for release. New pictures appear to show the assembly lines, where the titanium body of the handset is being milled. An announcement on where and when fans can buy the firm's first model, the PH-1, is expected next week. A new handset designed to take on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy has gone into full production, according to its creator. Startup firm Essential says it has raised raised over $300 million (£231 million) in new funding and signed up retailers to sell its first device.

We live in fascinating times. For decades we have seen an explosive exponential growth of technology, and the effects of this growth are only now beginning to surface. As a result, what seemed like science fiction even just a few years ago is rapidly becoming reality. Particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence, which has recently hit a new level of sophistication and usability, as seen in highly capable "digital assistants" like Siri, Cortana, and Google Now. It is an age of technological miracles, and the repercussions for the future are only beginning to make themselves known.

Artificial intelligence means many different things to many different people. One thing that is certain is that it is coming and with it, it brings both opportunities and threats. Understanding both is essential, because already, artificial intelligence is working its way into many aspects of our lives, from search engines and personal assistants, to algorithms monitoring and controlling everything from energy consumption to traffic. Simply put, artificial intelligence is a computer capable of exhibiting intelligence. This is done through processes such as learning and problem solving.

In 1977, the Eagles released "Hotel California", a song about drugs and the effects an addiction has on people. Putting "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device" in the context of our today's digital lifestyle we find a lot of truth. There is a reason why Google provides most of its services for free or why Amazon wants us to have an Echo in every home or why Facebook has become our directory of "friends". What looks pretty convenient is a threat. It is a threat to the end consumers but also a threat to the established economy. And even if we have the choice to check out any time – we will never leave.

In terms of its adoption of robo advice the US got the drop on Europe and the early arrivals at the robo advisors ball are now looking ahead at a whole raft of ways in which to engage an audience in cyberspace. Start-ups such as Wealthfront and Betterment were the pioneers in the robo advice space aiming to democratise investment by offering simple, low cost automated investment advice. More recently, big banks there including Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have joined the fray, attracted by the ability to serve customers at a lower cost than with human wealth advisers. Whereas one of the key challenges facing the start-ups is the cost of customer acquisition, incumbents already have a large client base to market additional services to, and the advent of cyborg or hybrid advisers has breathed new life into the financial adviser sector that many feared could be wiped out by automated advice. Robo-advisers account for a small piece of the US wealth management industry, currently overseeing roughly $200 billion of client assets; however, it is predicted that figure will mushroom to $2.2 trillion by 2020, with a supportive regulatory environment and cost pressures on traditional advice.

August 12, 2017 Wishful Thinking Artificial intelligence means many different things to many different people. One thing that is certain is that it is coming and with it, it brings both opportunities and threats. Understanding both is essential, because already, artificial intelligence is working its way into many aspects of our lives, from search engines and personal assistants, to algorithms monitoring and controlling everything from energy consumption to traffic. Simply put, artificial intelligence is a computer capable of exhibiting intelligence. This is done through processes such as learning and problem solving.

The steady decline in business profitability across the retail industry threatens to erode future investment, innovation and shareholder value. Fortunately, the age of AI-powered retail is upon us, promising an unprecedented amount of data and information that, if used in the right way, can help retailers grow their businesses and at the same time revolutionize the customer experience. Thanks to Amazon's Alexa and Google Home, the technology is becoming more pervasive. It's changing how we shop, how we experience brands and how we live our everyday lives. As AI becomes normal for today's consumers, it's hard to believe that, as recently as the turn of the Millennium, the technology was mostly restricted to science fiction and the horizon-scans of the most forward-thinking companies.

In an effort to curb unwanted sexual images from being sent to others, the platform announced this week its special pledge for members. People sending harassing or unwanted sexually explicit messages will be banned." A survey last year said 61 percent of women received unwanted sexually explicit images, while 40 percent said they received it more than once. Now, the question remains as to whether the pledge will actually stop users from sending unwanted sexually explicit photos.

It's been a little over a year since our Digital Banking Tracker heralded the "Dawn of Banking Voice Technology." Santander U.K. started the trend by launching a voice assistant within SmartBank, its mobile banking app for students, before rolling it out to the general public. In the early days, adopters of the new technology mostly used it to check card spend at the end of the week or month. By winter, customers were able to move beyond simply asking questions and begin conducting actual transactions using their voice -- although they still had to log in to the app using a password. Meanwhile, it's been exactly a year since Barclays announced news that it was doing away with passwords and replacing them with voice recognition technology for identity verification.

LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 04: Tim Baxter, President and Chief Operating Officer of Samsung Electronics America, speaks during a press event for CES 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on January 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Almost 250 years after James Watt filed his first patent in 1769, we have reached a turning point in this new industrial revolution, as ecosystem evolutions enable a new wave of innovative products to come to life. Based on analysis of over 200 hardware startups, the HAX Hardware Trends Report has identified six key ways the world of connected devices has evolved and will impact our lives in the coming years. If Internet was a revolution, it was only the beginning: the physical world is being re-invented and every industry is being affected, from construction to insurance. Investment is booming with 36 startups having raised over US$100M (there were only 8 of them three years ago) and there are 18 unicorns (private companies with a valuation above US$1B), representing close to 10% of the global blessing.