Apple has another tool to help make Siri smarter thanks to its recent purchase of Lattice Data. The company specializes in artificial intelligence and dark data, which ultimately could turn out to be as cool as it sounds. Apple's Lattice Data purchase means Siri is getting smarter Sources speaking with TechCrunch spilled the beans on the deal, which reportedly cost Apple around US$200 million. Apple offered up its usual noncommittal confirmation saying, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." The technology Lattice Data created aids with artificial intelligence by finding the structure in dark data, or data that otherwise doesn't seem connected.

Innovations in digitization, analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation are creating performance and productivity opportunities for business and the economy, even as they reshape employment and the future of work. Rapid technological advances in digitization and data and analytics have been reshaping the business landscape, supercharging performance, and enabling the emergence of new business innovations and new forms of competition. At the same time, the technology itself continues to evolve, bringing new waves of advances in robotics, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), and especially machine learning. Together they amount to a step change in technical capabilities that could have profound implications for business, for the economy, and more broadly, for society. Some companies are gaining a competitive edge with their use of data and analytics, which can enable faster and larger-scale evidence-based decision making, insight generation, and process optimization.

Amazon has started paying out cold hard cash to the developers making apps for Alexa, the virtual assistant built into the company's Echo smart speakers. The company described the program on a support webpage for Alexa developers. "We are exploring new ways to reward our developers," Amazon said on the page. "Starting May 2017, we are offering game skill developers the opportunity to earn money based on customer usage." The page doesn't say how much developers can expect to make. For now, Amazon said it is only paying developers who create game apps, or "skills," for Alexa.

If tapping your cheek to ask Siri a question isn't futuristic enough, Bragi's new "wireless ear computers" might impress you. The headphone maker has announced two new versions of its high-end Dash earbuds, the "Dash Pro" and the "Dash Pro tailored by Starkey" (a hearing-aid manufacturer). These wireless, in-ear devices will also be powered by a new operating system (OS). The Bragi OS3 will bring new features like real-time face-to-face translation, a hands-free gestural menu system, and AI built right into the earpieces. Existing Bragi Dash owners can also upgrade to BOS3 to get these tools.

It seems Apple has a few surprises in-stored for its fans this year – from the iPhone redesign to a new Siri-enabled device and now, the tech giant could update its laptop lineup. People familiar with the matter have revealed that the firm is set to release three new laptops at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose in June. The sources told Bloomberg that Apple the MacBook Pro will get a faster Kaby Lake processor from Intel, the 12-inch MacBook with a faster Intel chip and the 13-inch MacBook Air will be revamped with a new processor. Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Apple will unveil three new laptops at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference set to kick off in June. It is believed that the MacBook Pro will get a faster Kaby Lake processor from Intel, the 12-inch MacBook with a faster Intel chip and the 13-inch MacBook Air will be revamped with a new processor.

One of the most repeated phrases I heard at Mobile World Congress 2017 was "reinvention." It didn't matter whether the speaker was a CEO of a bank or a mobile manager of a retail company. All of them had the same view: we need to reinvent our businesses, or we won't survive. The only way to avoid disruption in the fintech industry is to look ahead and innovate faster than the competition. In this way, companies need to embrace rapid prototyping if they are to manage the fast-paced, agile environment in which every business needs to operate.

Amazon has been updating its line of voice-assistant devices to make them more user-friendly for a while. The Tap no longer needs a physical touch to activate it and your Echo devices can make calls and leave messages. Better yet, they'll will soon be able to whisper and have better wake word accuracy. According to a post on Amazon's developer site, Echo devices are getting another upgrade here, too: visual notifications for skills. When one of your notification-enabled skills get new information, you'll get a chime and a pulsing green light on your Echo, Dot, or Show device when there's new information.

You were once atop the smartphone heap, making some of the best-designed and most impressive Android devices on the planet. Then everyone else kept improving, and you didn't. Samsung, and Apple, and Xiaomi, and Oppo, and, well, just about everybody passed you by. You're trying to get back into the game. If you answered "throw a hundred ideas into a single phone and see what happens," congratulations! You just joined HTC's product team.

Rumors regarding Apple's Siri-enabled smart speaker have taken the internet by storm, as leakers have speculated the features that could be included in the design. Now, a new patent may give iOS fans the first look at the highly-anticipated device. The application has illustrated an'Electronic device with radially deployed components' that could boast lamps, displays, speaker, microphones and a range of sensors. The patent's illustrations appear to look like a cylinder-shaped device, which is thicker than Amazon's Echo, with action buttons on the side. News that Apple was designing a Siri-powered smart speaker first surfaced in September 2016, when anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the device had left the researcher and development lab and was being tested as a working prototype.

As a fan of smart home speakers, I can tell you that once you have one device, you start thinking about the best spot for a second one. Right now, Amazon and Best Buy are trying to help make that situation easier by offering a discounted two-pack of the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Both retailers are offering two Echo speakers for $80 off--or $280 total, instead of $360. We haven't looked at the Echo since mid-2015. In the meantime Alexa, the Echo's smart home assistant, has added numerous third-party integrations ("skills").