Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Personal Assistant Systems


Google Home device goes mad during Super Bowl advert

Daily Mail - Science & tech

During last night's Super Bowl, Google's advert for its Home device was one of the most talked-about of the event. But viewers with their own Google Home were left annoyed by the advert, as their home system thought the TV was trying to communicate with them. Users took to Twitter to complain, with one person saying the advert had made his Google Home go'bonkers.' Google Home is continually listening for commands. Google says nothing gets passed back to them until the speakers hear the keywords -- 'Hey Google' or'OK, Google'.


We're so tired of dating apps but we just can't quit them

Mashable

Is your relationship with your many dating apps starting to turn sour? The results of Match's annual Singles in America survey have just been released and they reveal a population that is increasingly burned out on hunting for love online. The data shows that 15 percent of the 5,509 single people surveyed describe themselves as addicted to dating apps. Not just, like, I use them a lot -- fully addicted. As in I can't put them down, even though the thrill is gone and they're driving me crazy.


New Samsung Patents Reveal Foldable Phone Design

Forbes - Tech

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Samsung is edging closer to its final foldable phone design according to recently submitted patents. The designs, dated by the US Patents Office as the 31st January 2017 and spotted by PhoneArena, reveal a flexible display device that folds in the middle.


Deep dreaming of AI in education and using data to improve teaching

#artificialintelligence

Every year some 35,000 people from around 140 countries working in the education sector gather to experience and observe ideas, practices and technologies that allow educators and learners to fulfil their potential. This year, as to be expected, it did not disappoint, with some very exciting talks and lots of great new products and technologies. Where else can you listen to Heston Blumenthal discuss how food and cooking can unleash creativity in the classroom, and see Sir Tony Robinson share stories about his love of history and his personal quest for learning, not before enjoying a talk by Sir Ken Robinson about his views on the necessity for new approaches in the education system. Where else can you listen to Heston Blumenthal discuss how food and cooking can unleash creativity in the classroom? At this year's event, Microsoft vice-president of worldwide education said: 'We've got to make technology available, but to bring it all together we have to raise the bar for how we can drive innovation and transformation', a statement that we at Jisc fully support.


Google Home Super Bowl ad caused some Google Homes to go bonkers

Mashable

Creating a TV ad for a smart speaker is a toughie. The easiest way to show what it can do is to have people invoke it with voice commands, but then you risk activating the speakers of TV viewers who actually own them. This appears to have happened to Google, whose Super Bowl ad for Google Home caused a great deal of confusion in many users' homes. "OK Google, turn on the hall lights." "OK Google, turn off the music."


How Smart Apps Will Change The Mobile Marketing Game In 2017

Forbes - Tech

Understanding how customers interact with their favorite apps is crucial for predicting engagement -- and with prediction comes personalization. With this intelligence, mobile-savvy brands can communicate more effectively with users. In 2016, my mobile marketing company analyzed millions of mobile interactions, and our data showed that personalized content inside push notifications boosts engagement four times. What's more, personalized send times lifted retention seven times. The modern app is smarter than its predecessors, able to personalize content down to the individual user rather than broad segments.


Now, An Artificial Intelligence Can Do Your Taxes For You

#artificialintelligence

IBM understands the unique nature of its artificial intelligence (AI) software assistant Watson, and so they are not taking the direct consumer approach of Siri, Cortana, Alexa, or Google's Assistant. In partnership with H&R Block, Watson is being trained "on the language of taxes," according to IBM's press release announcing Watson's new role as the world's first AI tax preparation assistant.


Hard numbers: The mathematical architectures of Artificial Intelligence

#artificialintelligence

Pity the 34 staff of Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance in Japan, diligently calculating insurance payouts and brutally replaced by an AI system. If you believe the reports from January, the AI revolution is here. In my opinion, the goings-on in Japan cannot possibly qualify as AI, but, in order to explain why, I have to explain what I think AI means. In one way, this attempt will be doomed to failure because there is no unified definition of AI. But I can, hopefully, provide a framework of understanding about the topic that may help.


The state of the Apple HomeKit market: Apple's smart-home ecosystem has yet to coalesce

PCWorld

Apple announced its smart-home control system, HomeKit, in 2014 at its annual developers conference. It started enabling it in iOS in mid 2015 and had a more complete rollout later that year. With iOS 10 in September 2016, HomeKit finally got its own app and better integration. But HomeKit remains an immature technology with few choices even for diehard Apple equipment owners. This was emphasized at CES, a trade show at which Apple never exhibits, but where products from third parties aimed at the ecosystem often get their debut.


Tim Cook Talks iPhone 8, Siri, Home Automation, CarPlay In Apple Investor Call: Expected Product Developments in 2017

International Business Times

Tim Cook had indicated a lot of developments from Apple in his quarterly earnings call last week. He indicated that the company's flagship smartphone, the iPhone still had much more technological evolution to go for. Here is the range of products that the Apple CEO talked about and based on how they are expected to develop in 2017. "I think the smartphone is still in the early innings of the game," Cook said about the iPhone. Could this be an indication of some new technological changes coming to the device so as to keep it in "the game?" Apple generally launches just one phone per year compared to its competitors such as Samsung and LG, which have devices at various price ranges and have round the year launches.