When was the idea of a brand born? Maybe it's always been with us--or even before us. The show has some irresistibly charming pieces on view, from human-sized Starbucks cups to a blinding neon sign reading "Bitch, you're a fan" (a reference to Madonna's Instagram account). But perhaps the most provocative piece is a comprehensive timeline of branding, all the way from 1 BC to today. The time line begins with a simple argument: that the world has always been branded.

Google will this week launch the first smartphones that carry its own brand and design, as part of a batch of new devices aimed at competing in markets with Apple and Amazon. The new gadgets, which will include a voice-responsive "smart speaker" modeled on Amazon's Echo, are the first products of a new hardware division set up earlier this year. Google has in the past mainly developed hardware to show off its software and services and to encourage other consumer tech companies to create a mass market for the technology. But like Microsoft, whose Surface has become the leading product in a new category of tablet/laptop hybrids, Google has been drawn deeper into developing its own distinctive products. The new devices are about Google "owning more of the hardware category", said Jan Dawson, senior analyst at Jackdaw Research, though the main impetus will still be "about showing partners the way forward".

Ahead of Google's Oct. 4 event, the Pixel and Pixel XL that are expected to go head-to-head with the iPhone 7 handsets and Samsung Galaxy Note 7 have been accidentally leaked online. Google's new smartphones branded as Pixel, which marks the end of the Nexus line, appear to sport noteworthy specs and features. Over the weekend, Canadian carriers Bell and Telus accidentally published the pages for the new devices but immediately took them down after tech sites and consumers noticed. Despite, taking the pages down, GSM Arena reports some Reddit users managed to capture the renders of the smartphones. What's noticeable in the leaked renders is the presence of a different Google search widget.

Five years of owning smartphones has conditioned my thumbs to navigate tiny virtual keyboards with speed and precision. I imagine many feel the same way, given smartphone owners worldwide are spending between 50 and 200 minutes every week using messaging apps. Yet an increasing number of voice dictation apps are making it easier than ever to communicate not with our thumbs, but with our voices. The latest example of such an app is TalkType, an Android keyboard created by Baidu Research and launching Monday. What separates TalkType from the myriad other smartphone keyboards out there is that its users aren't greeted with a QWERTY typing pad, but rather a round microphone icon.

Relink, a recruitment technology startup based in Copenhagen, has launched the beta version of the Goodwin API, the API powering the Goodwin recruitment data service. Currently in beta, Goodwin is a free service provided by Relink that recruiters can use to search for and obtain hiring information and insights for specialized job roles. Goodwin provides job role data such as most important skills, previous positions, educational background, time spent in the position, and next position. Relink is a startup that is building and providing a recruitment technology platform for HR and recruitment software vendors. The Relink platform uses machine learning and recommendation algorithms to analyze job descriptions and profile data in order to provide recruiters a fast and intelligent recruitment experience.

Apple's intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator allows users of its devices to send messages, schedule meetings and make phone calls. The voice-activated, interactive system has been incorporated into Apple's mobile operating systems since 2011 with iOS 5. Microsoft's primary intelligent personal assistant, which was developed in time for the launch of the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system in 2014, is now integrated into Windows 10. The system can be used to track package deliveries, find files on a PC and set reminders. Google's intelligent personal assistant is available for use on its own Android-operated mobile devices and via Google Search apps downloadable on Apple devices. First launched in 2012, it can answer queries, warn users of bad traffic, and provide reminders of dinner dates and flight times.

When Jeff Bezos revealed in May that Amazon employed more than 1,000 people working on Echo and Alexa products, he warned: "It's just the tip of the iceberg." The Echo and Alexa groups are currently looking to fill 400 positions, according to Amazon's Alexa job page. The open positions run the gamut from data engineers to product managers to machine learning scientists. And the job locations are as varied: From Amazon's headquarters in Seattle to other U.S. cities like Tempe, Ariz.; Cambridge, Mass.; and Sunnyvale, Calif. Overseas, Amazon's voice technology groups are also hiring in places like Gdansk, Poland.

Silicon Valley powerhouses are trying to calm public fears about the rise of artificial intelligence. A new non-profit coalition that counts Google, Facebook and Amazon as members is hoping to demystify the emerging technology -- one tech giants believe has the potential to transform their businesses. "They care how these technologies will influence people and [about] the social and societal consequences more broadly." Artificial intelligence is a field that encompasses many different technological developments. It's seen in innovations like self-driving cars, helping them navigate the roads, and in the personal assistant apps on smartphones that answer queries, organize calendars and more.

SAN FRANCISCO – A high-profile Google event Tuesday is widely expected to highlight a new emphasis on hardware, challenging rivals Apple and Amazon and launching a new strategy for the online giant. While the company has offered no official preview, it is expected to unveil a new line of Google-branded smartphones, a tablet and a home virtual assistant. Analysts anticipate that the internet titan will expand on a vision laid out by chief Sundar Pichai at its developers conference early this year. The strategy would seek to take Google's strength in software and merge that with its devices as Apple, Amazon and smartphone leader Samsung all work to get a tighter grip on consumers. Google fired off a Twitter message with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone.

Nicole White grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and then spent four years at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she got a degree in economics with a minor in mathematics. She then went to the University of Texas at Austin where she got her masters degree in analytics, and it was during this time that she found Neo4j and began playing around with it. When she's not graphing all the things, she spends her time playing card games and board games. Your email address will not be published.