Google executive Mario Queiroz shows Google Home during the company's annual I/O conference for software developers in Mountain View, Calif., last May. SAN FRANCISCO -- When Christine Ha's techie husband ordered the Amazon Echo, she says she rolled her eyes skeptically, expecting another device to begin collecting dust in a forgotten corner of their Houston home. Then they plugged in the Echo on the counter ledge between their kitchen and living room and Alexa spoke to Ha. Ha, the vision-impaired contestant who won season three of the amateur cooking show MasterChef on FOX, routinely asks Alexa, the Echo's digital voice assistant, for an assist with everyday tasks. No screens to touch or buttons to push, Alexa can play jazz riffs or convert one U.S. dollar into Japanese yen. When Ha's making homemade ice cream, she can set a two-minute timer for the eggs she's whisking while monitoring the cream and milk heating on the stove.

When Christine Ha's techie husband ordered the Amazon Echo, she says she rolled her eyes skeptically, expecting another device to begin collecting dust in a forgotten corner of their Houston home. Then they plugged in the Echo on the counter ledge between their kitchen and living room and Alexa spoke to Ha. Ha, the vision-impaired contestant who won season three of the amateur cooking show MasterChef on FOX, routinely asks Alexa, the Echo's digital voice assistant, for an assist with everyday tasks. No screens to touch or buttons to push, Alexa can play jazz riffs or convert one U.S. dollar into Japanese yen. When Ha's making homemade ice cream, she can set a two-minute timer for the eggs she's whisking while monitoring the cream and milk heating on the stove. Ha's Nest thermostat is now voice controlled by Alexa, too, as are the lights, even the coffee maker.

'We're trying to separate the hype from the client need,' said Aditya Bhasin, BofA's CIO for consumer and wealth management technology.

WILMOT, N.H. -- A New Hampshire man who was injured in a house explosion is thanking "Siri" for saving his life. Christopher Beaucher says he was checking on his mother's vacant cottage in Wilmot on May 1 when he saw something suspicious and went inside.

WILMOT, NEW HAMPSHIRE – A New Hampshire man who was injured in a house explosion is thanking Siri for saving his life. Christopher Beaucher says he was checking on his mother's vacant cottage in Wilmot on May 1 when he saw something suspicious and went inside. He told WMUR-TV (bit.ly/2pNoixW) when he switched on a light, the house exploded into flames. Beaucher's face and hands were badly burned. He grabbed his cellphone but was unable to dial due to his injuries.

A New Hampshire man who was injured in a house explosion is thanking "Siri" for saving his life. Christopher Beaucher says he was checking on his mother's vacant cottage in Wilmot on 1 May when he saw something suspicious and went inside. He tells WMUR-TV when he switched on a light, the house exploded into flames. Beaucher's face and hands were badly burned. He grabbed his cellphone, but was unable to dial due to his injuries.

Raspberry Pi and Alphabet have teamed up to bring Artificial Intelligence capabilities to the matchbox-sized computer. Google's new initiative, called "Artificial Intelligence Yourself" or AIY (a pun referring to Raspberry Pi's popularity with DIY enthusiasts), will add natural language processing features to Raspberry Pi 3, thanks to a "Voice HAT" (Hardware Accessory on Top) add-on, and a speaker. HAT is being given for free with Mag Pi, the £5.99 official Raspberry Pi magazine, alongside a microphone, a speaker and cables. It is understood that the suite might be re-released on the market at a later date, but no further details are known. Powering the HAT will be Google Assistant's SDK, Alphabet's natural language-understanding API, first introduced in 2016 as a potential rival for Apple's Siri.

Nokia unveiled new machine learning capabilities and expertise to help service providers strengthen the digital customer experience. Nokia's new products include Nokia Autonomous Customer Care and Nokia Cognitive Analytics for Crowd Insight software, and the Nokia Analytics Office Services suite, each targeting high-growth segments of the software and services market. Nokia Autonomous Customer Care software targets the customer interaction market, the fastest-growing sub-segment of customer care. Available in Q3, the software provides customers deep machine learning capabilities that help them resolve service-impacting issues, before they ever happen. Building upon Nokia's deep digital network and services expertise, the software offers interactive care bots with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and Nokia Bell Labs machine learning algorithms.

Beaucher's face and hands were badly burned. He grabbed his cellphone, but was unable to dial due to his injuries. He says he somehow asked his IPhone's voice-controlled virtual assistant Siri to call 911, believing he was going into shock.

Amazon's latest consumer product is a $200 Echo Look that enables fashion lovers a new way to capture, compare and let machine learning into their wardrobe. Echo Look is an oval-shaped good looking devices with LED lights and the voice-controlled camera we'd expect. Echo Look is basically an upgraded Amazon Echo; but is also able to take full-body shots and videos to help you with "style check" features and a pocket fashion guide. Who needs Facebook; when you have your Look Book assistant right beside you. Gone are the days Alexa only helps you with the news and the weather; now before you run off to work (or school), there's a smart mirror in your room.