Microsoft has delayed the release of its tools for connecting other services to the Cortana virtual assistant, a decision that could cause it to lose ground in a crowded industry. The tech titan announced the Cortana Skills Kit in December of last year, saying at the time that it would be released to the public in February. As Microsoft watcher Brad Sams noted on Twitter, Microsoft missed that deadline, and the Skills Kit remains locked in a private beta with a select group of partners. Microsoft didn't offer an explanation for the delay, saying in a statement that the kit will be coming soon. The Skills Kit is important for Microsoft in the virtual assistant market, since Cortana is competing with the likes of Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa.

Police departments are warning iPhone users to ignore posts urging them to say "108" to Apple's digital voice assistant Siri. Siri has been a part of Apple's iPhone since 2011. Some of the posts tell users to say "108" to Siri, then close their eyes. When a user says "108" to Siri, it automatically dials local emergency services. The posts ask users to close their eyes because there is a five-second window where a user can press cancel, in case a call was placed accidentally. The prank has prompted police departments to post warnings on Facebook and Twitter urging iPhone owners not to fall for it.

Ghosting is everywhere, and dating apps are desperate to put an end to this disappearing act. But ghosting doesn't need a solution -- it is the solution. If you didn't already know before plunging into the deep, dark depths that is online dating, you certainly learned quickly thereafter: dating is a numbers game. And when you're messaging with what turns out to be your third lamest match of the day, ghosting becomes a necessary tool to manage the exhaustion that is mining through the hundreds of (probably boring) people at your fingertips. But neither is the meat-market display of the swiping mechanism employed by the most popular apps.

A four-year old boy in the U.K. managed to call the police to aid his unconscious mother by using Touch ID and Siri, authorities said this week. The Metropolitan Police said the boy called 999, the U.K.'s emergency number, on March 7 and told the emergency operator he thought his mother was dead because "she's closing her eyes and she's not breathing." The operator then asked the child where he lived and sent police and an ambulance to the address. Emergency responders arrived 13 minutes after the call was made and broke into the house where they found the boy, his twin brother and a younger brother inside with the mother lying unconscious on the floor. Paramedics gave first aid to the mother at her house and regained consciousness afterwards.

You've spent years developing your personas and you're tasked with building a content strategy that will meet the distinct needs of each one. In true Pygmalion fashion, you've shaped their personalities, and you're even more familiar with the intimate details of these prototypical models than you are with your own family members. You've constructed their names, jobs, loved ones, joys, fears, habits, aspirations, and social activities. But here's the rub: while personas can help shape your initial strategy, they aren't enough to keep your audience engaged in the long term. Why? Abstract archetypes or personas don't buy our products and services or read our publications.

Amazon's Echo and Dot connected speakers are sold out, and 35 new products will have Alexa built-in this year. Did Alexa win over Siri, Cortana and Hey Google? LOS ANGELES -- Alexa is much better at Siri at so many things. But now that Amazon's Alexa personal digital assistant has joined Siri on the iPhone, we come to a sudden and unexpected realization. Siri, which has been maligned and criticized over the last five years, is actually more useful than Alexa on the phone.

Tech giants are in a race to see who can build the most powerful voice-activated assistant, but there's a side effect that we haven't considered: Kids who grow up asking Amazon's Alexa questions or summoning Siri might lose some social skills. What if artificial intelligence changes the way we talk? Experts in robotics, machine learning, and AI descended on Austin for South by Southwest this week, and the biggest questions were lifted straight from the film Her. Is it changing the way we interact with each other? Will kids think they can order around their friends the same way they tell Alexa to tell them a joke?

Google is making a play for a bigger piece of the voice-based search market and it is looking to use its ability to drive online and offline sales to gain market share. Google today at Shoptalk announced that it using artificial intelligence to make it easier for users of its voice-activated Google Home smart speaker devices to buy online. Among the features it is rolling out are the ability to buy multiple items from multiple merchants in a single transaction through the Google Assistant via Google Express, the search giant's delivery service that's available in an app and online. A consumer also has the ability to add items to her shopping list that's accessible across multiple surfaces such as her Home device and smartphone. Today's announcement comes a little more than four months after Google launched Google Home on Nov. 4 and a little more than a month after it initially enabled consumers to shop with the Google Assistant on Google Home.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is seemingly everywhere today. Whether it's using a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa, improving sales insights through analytics, or hiring the best talent with AI-based recruiting software, many businesses have already started incorporating this technology into their everyday processes. While you may not necessarily need to make artificial intelligence the core of your operations right now, most experts agree that AI's role and importance in business will only continue to grow. Nine members from Forbes Technology Council each shared a way that companies can begin preparing for AI right now. I think for smaller companies, it is too early to create a plan, but I do think it is important to stay updated on AI and how it is being implemented in an applicable industry.

There is no doubt the search industry has evolved. Just one look at how search engine results pages are currently laid out shows how things have changed. We have come a long way from 10 blue links. But have we gone far enough? At SXSW earlier this month, information access was a hot topic.