Waking up your PC from sleep is as easy as tapping the touchscreen, moving the mouse or pressing a button on the keyboard -- but if you have a Microsoft Surface Studio, it just got even easier. As long as you have the Windows 10 Creator Update and the latest patch, all you have to do is say the assistant's keywords: "Hey Cortana." Until now, the wake phrase would only turn the screen on while it was fullly powered up -- but the new update allows the user to call the machine out of a lower power sleep mode, making it easier to use Cortana as an in-home voice assistant for casual searches.

Starting today, your Google Home device will be able to identify up to six distinct voices. Starting today, your Google Home device can identify as many as six voices, and summon information based on each person's calendars, services, and preferences. In doing so, Google's speaker-bound personal assistant becomes truly personal, unlocking the true potential of the most promising new category of consumer tech to come along in years. Oh, and it gives Google an important edge in the race with Amazon's Alexa to own the next generation of interfaces.

The Echo has been out on the market for much longer than Google Home, but we're still surprised about the latest trick that Amazon's voice-controlled speaker just picked up. As of today, you can integrate your professional G Suite calendar with the Echo. Once you set up your G Suite account in the Echo app, you can ask Alexa to add events to your calendar or read your agenda. Alexa also already works with Gmail, Outlook and Office 365 calendars as well. The surprising thing here is that Google Home doesn't yet work with G Suite accounts, nor does it even let you add events to your Google Calendar.

Among the first things you might ask the cloud-based voice activated Google Assistant inside Google Home is to "tell me about my day." Google Assistant will then rattle off the local weather, upcoming appointments, and connect you to preferred news sources. Until now, though, the standalone artificial intelligence-infused $129 speaker--Google's rival to Amazon's popular Alexa voice-based Echo speaker--couldn't distinguish your voice from that of a spouse, partner or roommate. On Wednesday, Google began rolling out a feature to remedy the situation in households with a shared Google Home unit: the ability for up to six people to connect their account to that unit and, following a brief training period, have the speaker recognize each person's voice independently. Google Home can then deliver their commute times, calendars, playlists, and so on--not yours.

Burger King's latest marketing stunt not only resulted in some less-than-flattering descriptions of its Whopper sandwich online but now Wikipedia is calling on the fast food chain to apologize. On April 12, the chain unveiled a 15-second TV spot designed to trigger Google Home devices into reciting the definition of a Whopper, pulled from the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia. "You're watching a 15-second Burger King ad, which is unfortunately not enough time to explain all the fresh ingredients in the Whopper sandwich," an actor playing a Burger King employee says directly into the camera. Any Google Home devices set to respond to voice commands were then set off when the actor said, "OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?" At some point, public users changed the burger's definition and added "cyanide" as an ingredient in one version.

There's only so much you can tell about a person from their online dating profile--and until you really get to know someone, even a real-life encounter is kind of a gamble. No matter how tough your selection process is when you're swiping left and right, at some point you're bound to end up on a date with someone you really don't want to be with. On the one hand, you don't owe a near-stranger your time--especially if they've said or done something that, to you, is a dealbreaker. On the other, you probably wouldn't like it if your date just up and bounced. According to psychologist, dating coach, and relationship expert Dr. Paulette Sherman, the appropriate response will vary based on what exactly your issue is with your date.

A majority of consumers are confused about what artificial intelligence really does, and have misplaced fears that inhibit them from embracing AI-based technology, according to a new study. Despite that, "these fears are often eased once they gain firsthand AI experience – which ironically many enjoy today without even realizing it," notes the study, conducted by Pegasystems Inc. In a survey of 6,000 customers in six countries, Pegasystems found that consumers appear hesitant to fully embrace AI devices and services. Only one in three (36 percent) are comfortable with businesses using AI to engage with them – even if this typically results in a better customer experience. "Almost three quarters (72 percent) express some sort of fear about AI, with one quarter (24 percent) of respondents even worried about robots taking over the world," the study finds.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will "significantly transform" the insurance industry in the next three years, with insurers investing in AI to empower agents, brokers and employees to enhance the customer experience with automated personalized services, faster claims handling and individual risk-based underwriting processes, according to a new report from Accenture. The Technology Vision for Insurance 2017 report, called Technology for People, released on Wednesday by the global professional services company, found that while the technology will be empowering, insurers face challenges integrating AI into their existing technology. Insurers cite issues such as data quality, privacy and infrastructure compatibility. The report is based on the insights of a technology advisory board, interviews with industry technologists and a survey of more than 550 insurance executives across 31 countries in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America, Accenture noted in a press release. The goal of the survey was to identify the key issues and priorities for technology adoption and investment.

Google Home is finally getting a feature that its users have been clamoring for since it launched last year: it can now distinguish between different voices and respond with personalized responses. Until now, you could only connect a single account to a Google Home, and that meant you could only get info about one person's calendar, for example. If you're single or don't have roommates, that's perfectly fine, but the moment you live with somebody else, that's a pretty obvious problem. With today's update, which should be rolling out in the U.S. as you read this (and which is coming to the U.K. in the coming months), up to six people can share a Google Home. So now, when you ask your morning commute, you'll get the info about your route and not your spouse's.

The assistants in our living rooms are supposed to be as personal as they are on our phones, but it's never really felt that way. Anyone who walks into our homes can say, "OK, Google," or "Hey, Alexa" and get access to whatever they want, from upcoming appointments to the kind of music we like, even addressing them by your name. But a new feature rolling out to Google Home looks to add a personal touch to the impersonal home speaker. Instead of being tied to a single account, Google will now let you set up multiple accounts on your Home device (up to six in all), so you'll be able to get specific results from Google Assistant. And what's more, it will recognize your voice so you won't have to ask it to switch from a different account.