Forget Black Mirror, nothing screams'we are headed towards the singularity' like a Big Mouth Billy Bass that responds to voice commands. The early 2000s Christmas present has long terrified us, even nearly provoking a panic attack in Tony Soprano. Today, a video is doing the rounds of an altered Billy who essentially has the brain of Alexa - Android's digital assistant answer to Apple's Siri. The fish even mimics the speech pattern of the disembodied voice, and is perhaps most chilling when initially springing to life to acknowledge its creator's weather request. Big Mouth Billy Bass is an enduring toy oddity much like the Furby, which is soon to be the subject of a big screen live-action/CGI adaptation for some reason.

Set to take on Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung has said it will launch its own artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. The announcement comes shortly after the Galaxy Note 7's collapse, which is expected to hit Samsung's profit by £4.4 billion ($5.4 billion). It is unclear what types of services will be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. Set to take on Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung has said it will launch its own artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone (artist's impression of what the device may look like) New renders of what could be Samsung Galaxy S8 have surfaced and they suggest the device will incorporate a dual-lens camera design and remove the home button for an edge-to-edge screen. It's speculated that Samsung could design a fingerprint-sensing display or place the feature behind the tempered glass.

As recently as two weeks ago, Samsung still hadn't figured out what made the explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7 go "boom," but on Sunday the smartphone maker announced an exciting new feature that will (hopefully) make you forget about all that: a digital assistant that might work better than Siri but who knows? In October, Samsung acquired Viv Labs, an artificial intelligence startup built by the creators of Siri and designed to work with third-party apps. According to Reuters, the company said this weekend that developers can expect "Viv" to ship with its upcoming Galaxy S8: Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7's collapse and differentiate its devices. The world's top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc's Siri voice assistant program. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017. Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.

If you are bored with Google Assistant and want to try a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) based app, then make up your plans for buying the next powerful smartphone from Samsung, because the company is working to add its AI app on its upcoming device. Yes, the Galaxy S8 will come with Samsung's own artificial intelligence service. According to the details, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer will add a voice-assistant called "Viv" into the Galaxy S8. The users will be able to control their home appliances and wearables by using this app. Moreover, this AI will let the users order food, add appointments to the calendar, set the alarm, and do a lot of other things on their Galaxy S8.

Samsung Electronics said Sunday it will offer an artificial intelligence assistant service in the upcoming flagship smartphone, as the South Korean firm seeks recovery from its global smartphone recalls. The Galaxy S8 will let users order food or perform other tasks without going through a third-party application but by simply asking the phone's virtual assistant, Samsung said in a statement. The artificial intelligence service will also be made available in Samsung's other consumer electronics products, such as refrigerators. The company declined to disclose what specific tasks the S8 phone will perform through its artificial intelligence feature. Samsung is expected to unveil the next iteration for its flagship Galaxy device in spring as it has typically done in the past.

Technology companies like to cite computer scientist Alan Kay's famous quote that "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." These days, Google's motto could be, "People who are really serious about AI should make their own hardware--and sell it at a premium." That appears to be the strategy behind the Pixel, the first Google-designed smartphone, which was released on October 20. Prior to the Pixel, Google offered a series of Nexus-branded smartphones that it developed with smartphone makers and sold online, at prices that essentially covered its costs. But while the Nexus phones supported the company's primary business of online advertising by getting more people to use Google services, the Pixel seems to be geared toward monetizing Google's AI initiatives, specifically its efforts to build a virtual assistant that will act as a user's "own personal Google" and provide a consistent experience across an entire line of Google-designed gadgets.

Rokid Corporation, Ltd., an artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics company, today announced that it has raised in excess of $50 million in Series B funding at a post-funding valuation of $450 million. Rokid is a smart home device featuring advanced AI and deep learning that enriches a consumer's life by delivering information on-demand and performing tasks via voice and visual interactions. Rokid's superior engineering and elegant design makes it an essential family companion. This latest infusion builds upon a successful Series A round raised in 2015, and will be used for product development and to expand its world-class team, with an emphasis on research, hardware/software development, design, and user experience in U.S. and China. This round was led by Advantech and existing investors, IDG Capital Partners and Walden International.

Microsoft has released a new software update for the Xbox One console, and it comes with fixes that improve the overall gaming experience. Unfortunately, this update is only available to preview members. According to DualShockers, the system software update has a build code of rs1_xbox_rel_1610.161103-1900. When it comes to Messaging, users who are unable to send messages will now see a dialog that contains information on why the message cannot be sent. The dialog will also direct users to Xbox Support.

Imagine a typical day in 2020: Your personal AI assistant wakes you up with a friendly greeting before preparing your favorite breakfast. During your morning workout, it plays new songs that perfectly match your musical tastes. For your driverless commute to work, it has pre-selected a few articles based on the duration of your commute and what you've read in the past. You read the news and realize the presidential election is coming up. Based on a predicted model that takes into account your previously expressed views and data on other voters in your state, your AI assistant recommends you vote for the Democratic candidate.