To start off, I don't think the battle between Amazon Echo and Google Home is as important as the one between Amazon Alexa, which is their voice assistance service, and the Google (Voice) Assistant. Both Amazon Echo and Google Home are speakers with voice assistance built into them. The speakers are fairly standard, as speakers go. The real magic happens in the voice assistants that sit in the cloud and do the heavy lifting on behalf of these devices. You can expect that, in the future, most of the devices you own will have voice assistance built into them.

The year of AI: Major developments in 2016 could pave the way for a future where'intelligent machines are omnipresent in our daily lives' Artificial intelligence or AI is getting a foothold in people's homes, starting with the Amazon devices like its Echo speaker (pictured) which links to a personal assistant'Alexa' to answer questions and control connected devices such as appliances or light bulbs Donald Trump claims torture ¿works¿ ¿ but what does the... South Korea comes a step closer to LIMITLESS energy:... Facebook Messenger launches an in-app camera and... The shoes that will tell you if you're too tired to run:... Donald Trump claims torture ¿works¿ ¿ but what does the... South Korea comes a step closer to LIMITLESS energy:... Facebook Messenger launches an in-app camera and... The shoes that will tell you if you're too tired to run:... Analyst Carolina Milanesi of the research firm Creative Strategies said that '2016 was the year about raising awareness, and exposing ...

As packages continue to arrive from this year's record-breaking Black Friday weekend, it's no doubt you're seeing Amazon packages complete with front-and-center ads for Amazon's Echo and Dot devices. You may even be one of the reported millions that ordered one that weekend. These are more than just devices -- they are Alexa-enabled and are helping Alexa further integrate into consumers' lives. And Alexa isn't alone: from Alexa to Google Now to Microsoft's Cortana to Apple's Siri, we have a budding class of intelligent agents (IAs) on the rise. In 2015, 45% of US online adults used at least one.

Last year's outlook for 2016 suggested that you keep your eye on the growing consumer control, the questions around AI and the excitement of virtual reality applications. The landscape has changed -- a lot. For the coming year, trends show a growing emphasis on a shifting local and global identity, the impact of intersectionality, and the real threat of cyber spying. As we enter 2017 are we more connected globally or not? A few years ago (or maybe just a month or two back?) globalism seemed like an inevitability.

Google wants its Home speaker and virtual assistant to make you forget about Alexa. To do so, the device will need to add a bunch of new features to catch up to Amazon's gadget. Just in time for your holiday binge watching, the company has added voice controls for Netflix. There's one big caveat though: You'll need to have a Chromecast connected to Home for your spoken commands to work. If you meet that criteria, saying "OK Google, play The Crown from Netflix on my TV" or "OK Google, play White Christmas on Netflix on my TV" will begin streaming your show or movie of choice.

AI is more present in our daily lives than many people realize. The world is on the cusp of an AI revolution. Companies around the world are already using the technology to help do everything from parse medical records to teach cars to drive themselves. At home, digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google Now, have put a conversational gloss on the burgeoning tech. In 2017, AI is likely to not only get smarter (natch) but also more humanlike.

Voice control is one of the most exciting new developments on the smart-home front. On Thursday, Comcast announced that it has added new voice commands to its Xfinity Home service--and subscribers won't need an Amazon Echo or Google Home digital assistant to use them. If you have an Xfinity Home system and any of Jasco's GE-branded in-wall smart light switches and plugs or Sengled's Element Touch smart bulbs, you can now hold down the mic button on the Xfinity remote and speak a command to turn your lights on and off. In-wall lighting controls deliver the most elegant smart-home experience, and they're the only way to go if your lighting is mostly in the ceiling. Smart plugs, on the other hand, are much easier to deploy if just need to control a lamp (or a small appliance) and you're not comfortable dealing with electrical wiring.

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There are plenty of headlines about how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming everything from smartphones to our cars, but understanding how exactly to benefit from AI as an investor can be a little harder. AI encompasses a lot of different technologies, like natural language processing (when Google Assistant understands what you're saying), machine vision (semi-autonomous cars knowing the difference between a lamppost and a pedestrian), and even suggesting the next show you should watch (although if an AI suggests HBO's Westworld, you should be suspicious). All of these examples are more than just algorithms that make decisions. They're computing systems that actually learn while they're working. To help you get started in your AI investments, here are five things you should know before jumping into the space.

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