Dating apps "must take more responsibility" for protecting their users' safety on dates, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has said. It comes after Stephen Port was found guilty of murdering four men he had met through such apps and websites. Chief Constable Jane Sawyers, police lead for LGBT issues, said apps should provide safety messages. One app, Grindr, did not reply to a request for comment. Tinder said it took users' safety "very seriously".

I recently bought an Amazon Echo to "experiment with developments on the frontier of technology to see what the future of IT holds for us." Playing around with the device--a hands-free speaker you control with your voice--got me thinking about the role that vocal computing might play in enterprise IT going forward. Vocal computing is not appropriate for every interaction, but it is seductively convenient for certain interactions. For example, it works beautifully to connect Echo and the Alexa Voice Service to play music, or to provide information such as news and weather. And I was pleasantly surprised by Alexa's quality of vocal interpretation.

The holidays have traditionally been an important time for the consumer tech world, with electronics makers placing big bets that shoppers will venture into Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales with open minds and open wallets. But for some manufacturers, this year might be more important than others. Products in categories that consumers aren't yet familiar with -- think digital home assistants, like Amazon's Echo -- tend to bank the most on a successful holiday season, according to retail analysts. But those encountering competition for the first time -- again, think Amazon's Echo -- face a double whammy. First, they need to convince the public their product is more than a novelty, then they convince the public to choose theirs and not its rivals.

Alexa, the voice control assistant living inside Amazon's Echo, Echo Dot and Tap speakers, is extremely versatile. She can adjust your thermostat, give you news headlines from around the world and even start your robot vacuum. But can she help when your Aunt Shirley starts talking about her stamp collection during Thanksgiving dinner? Actually, we think she can. Here are our favorite tips and tricks for overcoming awkward family conversations during the holiday season -- with Amazon's Alexa.

It's been more than a decade now since I wrote the first edition of "David's guide to surviving Thanksgiving" as an article for my web site. It deals with the mix of dark meat turkey, Jedi family management skills, and a little tech. It was one of my most popular articles ever. A few years later, I updated it and ran a version of it on CNN.com, and it was again quite popular. Since then, I've evolved and refined the techniques each year and published it here on ZDNet. We normally don't run previously-published content (even in earlier, beta form), but this is an evolving work of such societal importance that it can transform lives and transcend barriers amongst eaters and cooks, mothers and sons, and those who love dark meat and those other people. This year, I talk about the power of giving thanks and why avoiding politics at the turkey table can keep food off the walls.

This Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, photo shows a damaged Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on a table in Richmond, Va., after it caught fire earlier in the day. Samsung Electronics said Tuesday, Oct. 11, that it is discontinuing production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones permanently, a day after stopping global sales of the ill-fated devices. LOS ANGELES -- What's worse, a phone that explodes in your face or a drone that falls from the skies? It's a question worth pondering as we embark on our annual list of the top tech turkeys of the year. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7. The Samsung Note 7 received rave reviews for wireless charging, water resistant design and the ability to unlock the phone with your iris.

Right after you've given thanks for friends and family, and eaten an excessive amount of food, it's time for that other holiday: Black Friday. As fashionable as it is to say you're not interested and would rather do something else, it's hard not at least be mildly curious if there are some good deals to be found. If so, make sure you grab your smartphone and get it ready for all the shopping madness. You'll want to tap into the best shopping apps and some Google services to survive this day. Here's a brief guide that will help you find deals you didn't know you needed and navigate through the chaos so you don't spend all day in a fruitless chase.

You can now take control of every single light of your house. Bring voice-controlled AI into your house with the first speaker to have Google Assistant inside. Buy one of these bad boys and get a free, six-month YouTube Red subscription. Too eager to wait for the Series 2 prices to drop? Get the next best thing: the Series 1. With the latest software updates, it's fast enough to run the new Watch apps.

NEW YORK--Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 might have claimed a spot on the tastiest products to consider this holiday season -- but we all know how that one turned out. After receiving high praise during its late-summer debut, the twice-recalled and ultimately discontinued phablet phone had a tendency to catch on fire. Fortunately, the products on this list might be deemed hot for another reason. They've left a (mostly) positive impression these past 12 months. The cameras are excellent, certainly on par with the equally fine iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7 shooters.

Ritika Gunnar is vice president of offering management, data and analytics at IBM. She has also served as a software engineer and as vice president for information integration and governance in IBM's platform analytics group. In this exclusive interview with SearchCloudApplications, she discusses the evolution of the data science industry and the skills that developers must possess to flourish in a data-driven world. Bringing development and IT ops together can help you address many app deployment challenges. Our expert guide highlights the benefits of a DevOps approach. Explore how you can successfully integrate your teams to improve collaboration, streamline testing, and more.