Microsoft's vision for the smart home is finally taking shape. Following a demonstration of how its Cortana virtual assistant would work in cars and living rooms last May, the company just revealed it's working on a smart thermostat called GLAS. The device was built by Johnson Controls and is powered by Microsoft technologies like its Azure cloud platform, Cortana voice helper and Windows IoT core, a version of Windows 10 that's optimized for smaller devices. The company unveiled GLAS in a new YouTube video that offers a brief overview of what it's up to. Contrasted with rivals like the Nest Learning Thermostat and Honeywell Lyric, both of which have round shapes that resemble more traditional thermostats, GLAS appears to be a sleek, transparent touchscreen mounted on a wall.

A new handset designed to take on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy could be launched in the UK before 2017 is out. Essential, founded by Android inventor Andy Rubin, hopes to take on the industry leaders and has secured £230 million ($300 million) to make it happen. The technology firm has held talks with major network operators to secure a launch date for the minimalist mobile in the UK, Japan and western Europe. Customers in the US who pre-ordered the handset, however, are still waiting for theirs to arrive and there have been rumours of trouble at the startup. A new handset designed to take on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy could be launched in a number of major markets before 2017 is out. Dubbed the'Essential Phone PH-1', the phone is based on the Android operating system and will be shipped without any apps A new handset designed to take on the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy could be launched in a number of major markets before 2017 is out.

When he was in school, Michael Hingson created a Braille computer terminal so he could study like all the other students. Fresh out of college, he worked on the development of the Kurzweil Reading Machine for the Blind, the first commercial text-to-speech machine for the visually impaired. He's used white canes and guide dogs, voice controls on his smartphone and virtual assistants like Alexa, all in the name of doing things on his own despite being blind since birth. Until recently, that just seemed impossible. So when Hingson talks about the time he assembled a piece of furniture with Ikea-style pictorial directions, it's as if he's scaled a mountain.

FILE - In this May 17, 2017 file photo, an Amazon Alexa device is switched on for a demonstration of its use in a ballpark suite before a Seattle Mariners baseball game in Seattle. Struggling retailer Sears is looking to get a hand from Amazon, announcing that it will start offering its Kenmore products on the online powerhouse's website. Sears, which runs Kmart and its namesake stores, said that Kenmore Smart appliances will also be fully integrated with Amazon's Alexa. This will allow consumers to control products, like Kenmore Smart air conditioners, by making a request to Alexa. Shares of Sears Holdings, based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, surged more than 8 percent in Thursday, July 20, premarket trading.

Back in July 2015, Amazon announced a Chromecast-like feature for its own Fire TV streaming box and Fire TV Stick. The feature was called Amazon Fling, and it would allow existing phone and tablet apps to play media on a nearby television, just like Chromecast can. But over the last two years, that effort has languished. I can't find a single high-profile streaming service that supports Fling, and when I asked several streaming companies about it, their responses generally ranged from no comment to no interest. Amazon hasn't put much weight behind Fling, either.

Samsung Electronics America has finally confirmed speculations that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 will have another color option. The release date of the Coral Blue versions of the two flagship smartphones has also been revealed. On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics America announced via Samsung Newsroom the addition of the Coral Blue option into the mix of color variants of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 handsets. Interested consumers will get the chance to own any of the two starting this Friday, July 21. Samsung has tapped Best Buy to sell the blue colored Android flagship phones.

Another insight in the Report is that digital transformation is not just about adopting the technologies of the past: 62% of research participants expect to have technology such as virtual advisors in their organisations within the next two years. In addition, 58% expect to start actively investing in technology that powers virtual advisors in the next two years. Today, the digital workplace is no longer just made up of managers and those managed; co-workers collaborating with one another to complete projects; and employees interacting with customers and partners. It's increasingly populated by'virtual employees' who do not exist in a physical sense, but nonetheless play an important role in the organisation. While artificial intelligence (AI) technology is still in its infancy, it is sufficiently advanced to be working its way into companies in the form of virtual assistants, and, in certain industries such as banking, virtual tellers and virtual advisors.

Microsoft now employs over 7,000 Artificial Intelligence (AI) research scientists and development engineers around the world under Microsoft Research (MSR) Executive VP Harry Shum, who shared the company's vision and strategy during the keynote address. The event was clearly intended to promote Microsoft as a thought leader in the developing science and technology of AI, as the execs focused on the company's lofty goals and initiatives, sprinkled with customer and product examples that showcased the company's innovations. Head of Microsoft Research and AI Harry Shum kicked off the intimate event in London. While companies like,, and tend to grab more attention and headlines for their AI efforts, Microsoft has been quietly building an impressive portfolio of scientific advances, products, features and AI cloud services. However, during this and other recent corporate events, Microsoft has been more aggressively positioning itself, and indeed AI, as a force for good, where machines will be used to "amplify human ingenuity", making the world a better place.

Clara Labs, creator of the Clara AI assistant, is announcing a $7 million Series A this morning led by Basis Set Ventures. Slack Fund also joined in the round, alongside existing investors Sequoia and First Round. The startup will be looking to further differentiate within the crowded field of email-centric personal assistants by building in features and integrations to address the needs of enterprise teams. Founded in 2014, Clara Labs has spent much of the last three years trying to fix email. When CC-ed on emails, the Clara assistant can automatically schedule meetings -- reasoning around preferences like location and time.

About a year and half ago I started using a digital assistant to help manage my calendar. Her name was Edi Allen, and she was in the Beta stage of her launch. At first, I was a little skeptical about the potential error rate and overall impact Edi would have on the candidate experience. Working in talent acquisition you find yourself on the phone or in meetings many hours of the day; so, getting some assistance seemed like a conducive solution to optimize my time in arranging these meetings. Initially, I used Edi to schedule time with my colleagues.