"We see AI making smart devices even smarter with improved user experiences," says Ian Fogg (pictured right), director of mobile and telecom analysis at IHS Markit. "Existing AI agents like Apple's Siri and Google Assistant will expand across the industry, complemented by embedded AI in all parts of mobile devices from cameras, to audio, to machine." "Smartphones will both be the interface for AI and deliver the vast amount of data technology companies need to train AI systems," Fogg says. Software investments and partnerships are critical for hardware companies to create smarter AI-enabled experiences, says the IHS Markit white paper. Vendors such as Google, Apple, Sony, Microsoft and Samsung have heavily invested in the development of their own AI and voice-assistant capabilities.

If you have an Android phone running Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and above, check it, you might have a new feature available -- the Google Assistant is now rolling out to all such devices. It is different from Google's previous voice offerings such as Google Now since it not only lets user conduct conversations with it, but also evolves according to usage. The rollout, which will occur in the form of a Google Play Services update, was announced last week. Gummi Hafsteinsson, Google Assistant product lead, said in the company's official press release issued on Sunday: "Our goal is to make the Assistant available anywhere you need it. It came to Android Wear 2.0--via new smartwatches--just a few weeks ago and, as we previewed in January, the Assistant is also coming to TVs and cars. With this update, hundreds of millions of Android users will now be able to try out the Google Assistant."

For some people, the idea of seeing a robot doctor might be discomfiting, but artificial intelligence (AI) is already making its way into the healthcare industry. Researchers aren't so much interested in replacing doctors (the human touch is still a big part of healthcare), but in finding ways to enhance and expedite healthcare. We're a long way from automation and AI occupying every clinic and hospital, but changes are coming. Here are 6 uses of artificial intelligence that are helping to transform the healthcare industry. You're sitting in the doctor's office at 10:55, and your appointment is at 11. 11:30 passes by, and you're still waiting.

Aldous Huxley claimed that "most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted." While Huxley wasn't writing about voice-assisted devices, his understanding of our propensity to cheerlead new technology without fully acknowledging what we sacrifice perfectly captures the new world of voice interfaces ushered in by Amazon's Echo and Google Home. Scientific advancement is valued in a world fueled by willful ignorance and collective complacency about what's being left behind. Although published in the early 1930s, his book raises questions that are still important. Considering the evolution of voice-based smart home devices, it's worth asking: What exactly are we getting into here?

Japanese-based messaging app Line is wildly popular in other parts of the world and the company has even expanded from a simple chat app to a full-service mobile carrier. According to a new report from the Financial Times, Line is branching out again and developing its own digital assistant called Clova to compete with the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant, complete with its own line of smart speakers. Clova isn't scheduled for release until sometime in "early summer" of this year, but Line views the platform, which is being developed with help from Sony and LG, as the next logical step for its messaging service. The platform will include the sort of features you might expect from a digital assistance in 2017 -- like easy access to news, weather, calendars and online purchases -- but Line is also promising Clova will be able to handle "complicated questions" and include a facial recognition aspect similar to Apple's rumored iPhone features. Outside of phones, Clova is designed to work in third-party apps and hardware, but the first devices to support it will be a standalone Clova app, a smart speaker called Wave and a "smart display" called Face.

As millions of American families buy robotic voice assistants to turn off lights, order pizzas and fetch movie times, children are eagerly co-opting the gadgets to settle dinner table disputes, answer homework questions and entertain friends at sleepover parties. Many parents have been startled and intrigued by the way these disembodied, know-it-all voices -- Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, Microsoft's Cortana -- are impacting their kids' behavior, making them more curious but also, at times, far less polite. In just two years, the promise of the technology has already exceeded the marketing come-ons. The disabled are using voice assistants to control their homes, order groceries and listen to books. Caregivers to the elderly say the devices help with dementia, reminding users what day it is or when to take medicine.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the current big thing in the ever-evolving world of technology and it now seems the popular messaging app Line wants a piece of the action as well. Following in the footsteps of Apple with Siri, Amazon with Alexa, and Google with the Google Assistant – which on a side note is now in the process of being rolled out to more devices. According to the information coming through, the Japanese messaging company's AI will be called'Clova' and is likely designed to be included in devices from LG Electronics and Sony. The new AI will have all the features one might expect with a virtual assistant, including the ability to pull weather and news, stream music, or update agendas. Likewise, this AI will reportedly make use of a now-typical use of speech recognition and an ability to understand natural language. Although, it is suggested that the team behind Clova also wants to include face recognition, as well as the ability to understand difficult questions.

Google is about to make more Androids even smarter. The tech giant is rolling out its Google Assistant to devices running on the Nougat and Marshmallow versions of its Android software. The firm first revealed the expansion at the Mobile World Congress and users in the US will be the first to receive the update – Australia, Canada, the UK and Germany are set to follow. Google is rolling out its Google Assistant to devices running on Nougat and Marshmallow. The firm first revealed the expansion at the Mobile World Congress and users in the US will be the first to receive the update – Australia, Canada, the UK and Germany are set to follow. Google has yet to reveal a detailed list of Android devices that are eligible to download Google Assistant.

It appears Google is working on a new feature for its voice-activated smart speaker Google Home. A teardown of its latest update reveals multiple account support is underway. Meanwhile, Amazon could be releasing a voice-activated Alexa camera soon. On Thursday, Android Police reported about what it found after looking into the APK of Google Home's latest update. The teardown revealed a couple of empty strings that act as placeholders for what Google is working on.

Users will need to be running Android M or N on a phone with Google Play services and at least 1.5GB of RAM and a 720p screen to get Assistant's new features. The rollout will also be staggered so that English language users in the US will see it show up first, followed by another wave of rollouts to Canadians and Australians. German users will also get the service in their native tongue, but other languages aren't expected until "the coming year." While the LG G6 gets to claim the title of first non-Google device to ship with Assistant, we can expect other manufacturers with recently released devices to start touting the new bonus feature soon.