You don't have to wait for an Amazon Echo anymore (Photo: Amazon) If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. Our picks and opinions are independent from any business incentives. If you were wishing for an Amazon Echo for the holidays and had your hopes dashed, you weren't alone. Echo was such a popular holiday gift that Amazon had it on backorder since the beginning of December. Thankfully, Amazon's best, most versatile device is in stock and ready to ship immediately.

Every year there's a new technology which seems to dominate MWC, with seemingly constant announcements and big queues at any stand showing it off. At previous shows that role has been filled by VR, the connected home, wearables, and this year – surprising no one – it seems to be AI. AI is currently undergoing a renaissance, with Amazon's Alexa as its mainstream-friendly face, or rather voice, but the retail giant was notably absent from this morning's'Artificial Intelligence: Chatbots and Virtual Assistants' conference session. In its place were Google, talking about its rival offering, Assistant; SK Telecom, which admitted that it has been lucky Amazon hasn't entered the Korean market, giving it space to develop a localised answer to Echo, Nugu; and the company which seems to have put its full weight behind the technology, IBM. While the company doesn't have any stake in consumer-facing offerings like Echo, as IBM fellow Rob High acknowledged on stage, it wants to be the engine that powers those experiences, through its cognitive system Watson.

Have you noticed the accelerated pace of artificial intelligence in the world? Seventy-five percent of the movies watched on Netflix and one-third of product sales on Amazon are powered by AI. Voice activated devices such as iPhone Siri, Amazon Echo and Google Home are powered by AI. The medical industry is using AI to make better diagnoses. We revealed how companies can deliver a more personalized online experience using AI powered personalization, predictive analytics and autonomous delivery of content recommendations resulting in a better customer experience.

Tired of swiping right for muscly hunks who turn out to be nothing more than lazy couch potatoes? Then you might a fan of a new app that matches couples based on how many steps they take. Lime describes itself as'Tinder minus the lazy people', and is the first app to use data from Apple's Health app to help people find love. Lime, a new dating app, matches couples based on step count data from the iPhone's in-built Apple Health app The mobile dating service looks at its users step count by gathering data from the iPhone's in-built Apple Health app. The real-time step counts of the app's users are displayed on their dating profiles.

You can now book your dream holiday without lifting a finger, thanks to a new Alexa update. Amazon's virtual assistant has learnt a new'skill' that allows its users to search for and book holidays using just their voice. The feature lets users search through millions of travel options in a split second, developers have claimed. But the skill is still in its first edition and can so far only be used to book Virgin Holidays. Amazon Echo's virtual assistant Alexa can now be used to search for and book holidays without lifting a finger Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled smart speaker that works alongside a smartphone app.

It may be a month away from being officially launched, but we have the clearest visual of the Samsung Galaxy S8 yet and it confirms everything suspected about the South Korean flagship. Noted rumor-dealer Evan Blass has tweeted out what appears to be a press glamor image of the new Android-powered handset with a comment of "I think this is what you've been waiting for." Given Blass' track record in obtaining real world and marketing images, I'm very confident that these images are the real deal. Not only does it match up with the leaks and rumours from trusted sources, it also fits with the video images and the press invites released by Samsung. The minimal bezels on the left and right sides of the screen are clear.

I recently had the privilege of co-presenting a webcast with Joe Cothrel, Lithium Chief Community Officer. Our webcast was titled – The AI Powered Customer Experience – and it focused on three ways that artificial intelligence can be used to make the customer experience better. We began by reviewing the customer experience as the entire customer lifecycle ranging from awareness, through post purchase. The customer conducts research online long before a purchase is made. Brands must work hard to build awareness, loyalty and purchase intent repeatedly.

An official-looking press shot of the Samsung Galaxy S8 has just been leaked. Tech tipster Evan Blass posted the image, which includes no additional details about the upcoming smartphone, on Twitter. It matches up with the speculation surrounding the handset, providing the first clear look at the S8's so-called "infinity display", which is said to cover over 80% of its front panel. I think this is what you've been waiting for. Samsung has trimmed down the S8's bezels to help keep it relatively compact, but the move could prove problematic for customers.

Amazon is setting its sights on another industry, this time it's call centers. In doing so, the company plans to use Alexa, Lex and also Polly in the said market. According to an article at Geek Wire, Amazon Web Services is developing a suite of cloud-based tools to sell to the enterprises that would manage call centers. Aside from its big plans of invading the call center industry, the company plans to incorporate its digital assistant Alexa to answer some questions on the phone as well as via text message. Amazon also plans to employ Lex, a chatbox building service that uses deep-learning technology similar to Alexa, and a text-to-speech program named Polly as well.

X.ai's "Amy Ingram" aims to take the hassle out of arranging meetings. X.ai, the company behind the "Amy Ingram" personal assistant that helps eliminate the back-and-forth email exchange that comes with arranging meetings, is launching an enterprise edition. To use the virtual PA -- which also comes in an "Andrew Ingram" version and has been available to individuals since 2015 -- users link their calendars to the service and then CC amy@x.ai Amy or Andrew then take over and chat to the contact like a real PA in order to organize the most convenient rendezvous. As Business Insider has previously reported, many people on the receiving end of emails from the Ingrams have been fooled into thinking they were speaking to a real PA -- so much so that "Amy" has even been sent gifts.