At Google I/O last May, the tech giant announced its own voice-powered hub to rival Amazon's Echo: the Home, which would be powered by their AI helper, Assistant. The Siri-like software was promoted as a standard feature on the search titan's first phone, the Pixel, which came out later in fall. But Google announced a plan weeks ago to bring the hub and the help back together, promising to bring some of Home's connected device control to the company's smartphone line. Today, they started rolling out Home Control for some versions of their mobile platform, allowing users to use voice commands to fiddle with their network of connected home devices. It's a little unclear which software can access the feature: 9to5Google and AndroidPolice got it working on Pixel phones running Android 7.1.2,

Major smartphone makers are following Apple and Google into the smartphone trend of 2017: artificial intelligence. LG's G6 could feature Google Assistant, Samsung said its Galaxy S8 will feature its own AI assistant, and Huawei's Mate 9 is the first phone with Amazon's Alexa. The Chinese conglomerate has been especially vocal about AI in their smartphones--unusual for top smartphone makers, who are normally secretive about their latest devices. Huawei said they will have an AI-focused "Superphone" in 2020--just a year before their goal to be the world's top smartphone maker. The Chinese tech giant has been sitting at No. 3 since last year, behind Samsung and Apple.

When you think of artificial intelligence (AI), do you imagine Will Smith battling humanoid robots? Well, think again…did you know that AI is already being applied in the Internet, helping you go about your daily life without drawing attention to itself? Artificial intelligence simulates traditionally human processes like learning, reasoning and self-correction. Unlike traditional programs, AI-based applications don't need to be continually fed data or manually coded to make changes to their functionality and output. AI can be (and already is) immensely useful to B2B professionals in all industries. Most people tend to think of "strong" AI examples like IBM's Watson, but "weak" or "narrow" AI is more common and useful to our businesses and everyday lives.

Most people have an Amazon Echo in their kitchen or living room - but the CEO of Amazon keeps one in his bathroom. In a recent interview with Billboard, Jeff Bezos revealed there is a smart speaker in every room of his house, including his water closet. The tech tycoon moved a device into the room after being frustrated when he could not ask Alexa about the weather while on the toilet. Most people keep an Amazon Echo in their kitchen or living room, but the CEO of Amazon has one in his bathroom. Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled smart speaker that works alongside a smartphone app.

Artificial intelligence is a young field full of nearly unlimited potential that remains largely misunderstood by most people. We've come a long way since Watson won Jeopardy in 2011 and IBM formed the business unit with over $1 billion in investments. AI is no longer a one-trick pony. AI technology from IBM Watson and multiple companies such as WayBlazer and SparkCognition has moved firmly into the real world. We have no doubt come a good distance on what is indeed a very long road.

Microsoft virtual assistant Cortana began holding people to their promises on Thursday. 'Now, Cortana can help you remember things you've said you would do in your emails - without you even having to ask,' partner group program manager Marcus Ash said in a blog post. An update to Cortana -- Microsoft's digital assistant infused with artificial intelligence -- enables it to recognize and make note when people promise in messages to tend to tasks To check the feature out for yourself, make sure you're signed in to Cortana, and have given communications consent. Then check that either an Outlook.com or Office 365 work or school account is connected through the connected services section in your Cortana notebook. Try emailing yourself a commitment like'I will send you the report by Friday' and look out for that suggested reminder from Cortana.

Innovation in the white-hot digital performance management (DPM) market continues to accelerate, and it was clear from this week's Perform conference in Las Vegas that Dynatrace is setting the pace. In fact, Dynatrace's innovations are so cutting-edge and so flashy that on first glance they may seem to be gimmicks. For example, there's Dynatrace UFO, a saucer-shaped device with flashing lights that one might confuse with a drone. But instead of flying, it provides status reports with patterns of red and green lights. If normal-sized screens are good, the reasoning might go, then large ones would be better, right?

If you've ever said you'd do something in an email then whiffed on adding it to your calendar, Cortana can now help. As it previewed last year, Microsoft's assistant will check your emails and, using machine learning tech, pick out things you say you'll do. It'll then remind you later with no effort on your part. For instance, if you tell you're boss "I'll send this report," it'll save that as a suggested reminder. If you specified a date and time, it'll automatically ping you and add it to Microsoft's Action Center.

Machine Learning (ML) algorithms can learn from data and improve themselves. In a way, that learning process is akin to the way the humans learn from daily experience and improve their own skill sets. "So, together AI and ML are capable of delivering smart robots who can learn from daily experience and keep refining their abilities. Businesses typically have about 65 to 70 percent of their programming tasks that the staff workers conduct by themselves. When all these tasks become automated through Machine Learning powered Artificial Intelligence, about three quarters of the employed manpower may potentially lose their jobs, or their jobs will have to be restructured in different ways.

Up to now, the portable Bluetooth and WiFi-enabled Amazon Tap speaker has required you to press a microphone button to summon Amazon's popular digital assistant Alexa. By contrast, with Amazon's Echo and Dot speakers you merely had to bark out the wake word "Alexa" to ask her to play music, deliver the news, answer questions and more--those devices are always listening. On Thursday, Amazon announced a free over-the-air software update that will let you similarly exploit all Alexa can do hands-free with the "Alexa" wake word, so long as Tap is connected to Wi-Fi. You'll be able to enable this hands-free mode via a setting inside the Alexa app on your phone. From there, you can ask away: "Alexa, what's the weather in New York?" "Alexa, play Stevie Wonder," "Alexa, tell me a joke" and so on.