Apple's HomePod is not scheduled for release until December, but the Cupertino giant may have wanted to out more details about its Amazon Echo competitor. Tim Cook's company has released the device's firmware, and some developers have managed to get their hands on it to get new information about Apple's very own smart speaker. On Friday, Apple reportedly pushed out the HomePod's firmware, and this led developers like Steve Troughton-Smith to learn more about the new device. In his quest to unearth tidbits about Apple's smart speaker, Troughton-Smith found out that the HomePod is going to run the full iOS stack. This is an interesting detail as it suggests that the HomePod would pretty much be like an iPhone sans the screen, MacRumors has learned.

In the not-too-distant future, if you can't find your house keys, you'll know exactly where to look: In the Smithsonian. Thanks to Amazon, keys are on their way to becoming artifacts. Today, all you really need to lock and unlock your front door are vocal chords and a simple word: "Alexa." Amazon Smart Home, the company's home security program, has been around since 2014, but only recently has it started working with voice recognition. "Smart Home is something that's been around for a long time," said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Smart Home at Amazon, "but it turned out that customers had to fish in their pocket to control their home. Pull out the remote control, find the appropriate app, find the right page in the app and click a button just to do something as simple as turning on a light."

"The Emoji Movie" succeeded from its zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes Friday after one reviewer gave the film a certified-fresh review, bumping its score up to 3 percent. Betsy Bozdech is the first critic to give the movie a positive review. The reviewer responsible for the boosted score hails from Common Sense Media, claiming the 3D computer-animated comedy flick "isn't bad, but it isn't great, either. Common Sense Media aims to educate parents with quality reviews on the latest media and technology arrivals. The review on the Sony-Columbia Pictures collaboration evaluates the movie's educational value, positive messages, positive role models and language, among other factors. Bozdech came to the conclusion that the film's overall message "emphasizes the importance of being true to yourself, as well as the value of honesty and teamwork." Bozdech also cited the movie's protagonist Gene, voiced by "Silicon Valley" alum T.J. Miller, as a good role model for children viewers. "Gene starts out desperate to fit in and do what he's'supposed' to do, but he learns that his ability to be many things is what makes him special -- and he can be useful by being himself," she wrote. "Gene's parents love him, but at first they're also a bit embarrassed by him and his differences.

Apple unveiled its Siri-powered HomePod speaker hub at WWDC back in June, and despite a hefty $350 pricetag and the inevitable comparisons to Alexa devices, it actually sounds pretty good. In the lead up to its release this December, Apple pushed out the hub's firmware, revealing that it runs on iOS -- basically like a screenless iPhone or iPad. Just to cut off speculation: there doesn't seem to be any kind of provision in the HomePod OS shell for installing apps or extensions. Obviously, that's not to say the device never will. Since it runs on a full iOS stack through a shell app called "Soundboard," they could always patch in the ability for third parties to load up their software later.

Welcome once again to Video IRL, where several of our editors talk about what they've been watching in their spare time. This month brings a mixed bag; while one of us dived into season one of Starz' series American Gods; another is obsessed with a quirky UK game show that will make the jump to America soon; we've given anime another chance and last but not least, there's even some robot-enabled larceny. A decade after slowly drifting away from watching anime as a genre, I've somehow found myself with a Crunchyroll Premium subscription. It started when my wife wanted to watch the 2014 Sailor Moon reboot, continued as we stumbled into the addictive absurdity of Food Wars and became a paid subscription somewhere between starting Rin-ne and catching up on new episodes of Dragon Ball Super. Somehow, we became anime fans again. It's good to be back, too -- but it's not the high-profile, weekly simulcast adventures of Goku that keep me coming back to the anime streaming service.

Chatbots are "computer programs which conduct conversation through auditory or textual methods". Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Google Assistant, and Amazon's Alexa are four of the most popular conversational agents today. They can help you get directions, check the scores of sports games, call people in your address book, and can accidently make you order a $170 dollhouse. These products all have auditory interfaces where the agent converses with you through audio messages. In this post, we'll be looking more at chatbots that operate solely on the textual front.

Collaborative filtering (CF) and its modifications is one of the most commonly used recommendation algorithms. Even data scientist beginners can use it to build their personal movie recommender system, for example, for a resume project.

There are a ton of exciting new technologies on the way in the near future. These include the likes of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, IOT, personal assistants and more. We're taking tentative steps into the future and the next few years promise to be very exciting indeed for tech enthusiasts (that's you!). But when looking at these kinds of paradigm shifts, what's more important is the technology that lies beneath them. Keeping your ear to the floor and looking out for examples of new technology can therefore help you to better understand what might be around the corner.

Getting a pizza delivered just got easier, thanks to a new feature for the Alexa smart assistant. A deal signed between Domino's and Amazon means the firm's voice activated devices will now allow you to order your favourite items with a single command. GPS tracking in trial locations also means the service can tell you exactly how far away your delivery is, right down to the minute. Getting a pizza delivered just got a slice easier, thanks to a new feature for the Alexa smart assistant. A deal signed between Domino's and Amazon means the firm's voice activated devices (pictured) will now allow you to order your favourite items with a single command Pizza fans can now simply call for Alexa, who will take care of your order.

If you're a content creator, you're not just striving to do your best work. You want to make your best work better. At the SIGGRAPH conference, which runs July 31-Aug. From Siri to Smart Cars to Netflix recommendations, AI is infused in our daily lives. Now, thanks to the computational power of NVIDIA GPUs, new AI accelerated workflows are optimizing content creation, saving artists and studios time and money, and driving greater creativity.