Four leading car brands have announced deals with three tech giants to add virtual assistants to new cars. Microsoft's Cortana netted two of the deals, the others went to Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant. The announcements were made at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. One analyst said there would be a "battle of the giants" over the adoption of virtual assistants in 2017, since they can be built in to a variety of appliances. Nissan and BMW have opted to work with Microsoft to bring Cortana to selected vehicles in the near future.

Nvidia has announced a refresh of its Shield TV streaming and gaming set-top box at CES 2017. The new Nvidia Shield TV delivers better streaming quality, support for Google Assistant as well as better overall performance. The new Nvidia Shield TV now comes with 4K HDR video support. That feature will only be taken advantage of by people who have 4K HDR TVs as well as those subscribed to services that offer that type of streaming quality. Amazon Prime Video and Netflix already have some 4K HDR content, but users will also be able to stream regular 4K content from the likes of YouTube, Vudu and Google Play, as pointed out by Android Authority.

Nvidia Founder, President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang introduces the Nvidia Spot, a USD 49.95 microphone and speaker that will let owners use Google Assistant anywhere in a home, as he delivers a keynote address at CES 2017 (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS--Nvidia is best known for the high-end computer graphics cards prized by hardcore gamers. If co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang delivers on his bold vision, more people are likely to recognize Nvidia as the powerhouse behind artificial intelligence in your home and in your vehicle. Clad in his trademark black leather jacket, Huang delivered a high energy opening night keynote address Wednesday night at CES, assuming a prestigious speaking slot that for years was reserved for Microsoft's Bill Gates and later his successor Steve Ballmer. Nvidia (NVDA) is already a star on Wall Street. It is coming off a two-year hot streak, with a particularly sizzling 224% gain in 2016 that made it the top performing stock in the S&P 500.

It's a fair question in light of attempts by authorities investigating the slaying of an Arkansas man to obtain voice recordings collected by an Amazon Echo speaker and its Alexa digital assistant. Yet the popularity and capabilities of voice-enabled products such as the Echo continue to grow. At the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, which opened Thursday, Whirlpool, Samsung and other manufacturers are unveiling new ways to use voice services to control laundry machines, refrigerators and other home systems. John Herrington, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics America, unveils new refrigerators with Family Hub 2.0 during a Samsung news conference before CES International, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. Family Hub 2.0 features an interface on the refrigerator with apps that can be controlled by voice recognition.

If 2016 seemed politically tumultuous, 2017 promises to be equally tumultuous on the technology front. The pace of change is accelerating at a dizzying rate, with profound implications for the way we we work, play and communicate. So what are the big technology trends to watch out for in 2017? Cybersecurity will undoubtedly be the dominant theme of 2017, as all tech innovations could be undermined by data thefts, fraud and cyber propaganda. Forget Kim Kardashian, it's hacking that could break the internet - and much more besides.

First there was Alexa, Siri, Cortana and the Google Assistant. Now you can repare to add Aristotle to that growing list of voice-enabled assistants. Mattel's cheerful AI companion differs from the competition by focusing on children, first and foremost. It's been packaged inside a smart speaker (what else?) and promises to understand your little one's vocal ramblings, all the way from toddler to middle school. That's a bold promise, given most of the current offerings struggle with even the most eloquent adults.

Invoxia attended CES this year to showcase its successor to its Triby connected speaker. The new device, called Triby IO, is said to be a powerful hub for third-party smart home devices. The new Triby looks exactly the same as its portable predecessor, but it supports a wider range of smart devices compared to the latter. Invoxia said that its new smart portable speaker is basically "aimed at tech enthusiasts." It can be noted that when the company introduced the original Triby, it emphasized how it was a connected speaker for the kitchen, "where family life happens."

CES has turned into the first car show of the year, with major automakers choosing to show off upcoming features in Las Vegas. Microsoft wants to help make cars more intelligent, and it unveiled a new suite of services Thursday to do so. The Connected Vehicle Platform brings together a smorgasbord of services from Microsoft, including Azure IoT Hub, Cortana Intelligence Suite, Microsoft Dynamics and many others. In addition, Office 365, Skype for Business and Cortana can be integrated with the platform. Microsoft frequently packages cloud services as suites, then markets them for kick-starting particular applications.

Home appliances may not be the most exciting side of CES, but every year massive companies like LG and Samsung show off weird additions to the vast range of refrigerators, washing machines and other exciting devices. Take Samsung's "Family Hub 2.0" refrigerator, for example: this massive monolith has a 21.5-inch touchscreen built into it for playing video and audio, leaving your family notes and to-dos, ordering groceries, looking up recipes and much, much more. However, if Alexa and Google Home have taught us anything, the days of having to physically interact with our devices are coming to a close. Samsung is right on that curve: you can talk to the Family Hub 2.0 fridge and ask it to do a handful of tasks for you. You can add items to a grocery list or shopping cart in InstaCart and even check out using your voice, have it launch apps like Pandora, and have the fridge read back recipes to you.