As one of our mobility analysts at Blue Hill, I get (perhaps unduly) excited over any shiny new gadget, even though I've recently been disappointed by what seems like a lack of innovation in the mobile market (cue the "I miss the old Apple" rant). That's why I was excited, but skeptical, to cover Google's October 4th product announcement of its long anticipated "first" smartphone. But it's really not the hardware Google is focusing on with its most recent product launch, though it could certainly seem that way from its unveiling of the Pixel (the first Google branded smartphone), the Daydream View virtual reality (VR) headset, and the Google Home smart hub. No, it hasn't been about hardware for the past few years for mobile device manufacturers it certainly seems, with only small incremental changes being made to hardware (or, in the case of Apple's removal of the headphone jack, gigantic leaps and bounds of courage … but that's another story). Most of the focus of smartphone innovation instead has been coming from within: with the software, and most recently, artificial intelligence.

Google is just getting started when it comes to selling its own hardware. Another rumor from the usually accurate Evan Blass points to a pair of Google-built watches that will come early next year. Google's two smartwatches will be released with Android Wear 2.0 in Q1 2017 [image courtesy of: https://t.co/so8uJyEZCy] We've heard this before, but we have a lot more context now after attending the "Made by Google" hardware event, where the company showed off the Pixel, DayDream View headset, Chromecast Ultra, Google WiFi, and Google Home. The tenor of the gathering and the new shift by Google told us this wasn't a one-off event.

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In the past two weeks, Amazon has added benefit after benefit to Prime. First, the company announced that Prime subscribers, who pay 99 a year for free two-day shipping on a vast selection of Amazon products, would get access to 1,000 free e-books and magazines. Then the Wall Street Journal reported Amazon would develop real-life convenience stores meant to serve its Amazon Fresh customers, who all subscribe to the grocery delivery service for an extra 14.99 a month through Prime. Finally, on Wednesday Amazon launched Amazon Music Unlimited. The streaming service meant to rival Spotify and Apple Music comes with a 2 a month discount for Prime members, undercutting Spotify's 9.99 price with a 7.99 option.

Google is planning to release its own smartwatch to take on the Apple Watch soon, according to leaks. The company will make two of its own watches, according to new leaks. They're expected to be released at the beginning of 2017. The leak follows Google's launch of the Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Those are the first that Google made itself – and as such bake in an artificially intelligent assistant that isn't available to any other Android users.

Three key guiding philosophies were presented across the reports: AI needs to augment humanity instead of replacing it, AI needs to be ethical, and there must be an equal opportunity for everyone to develop these systems. Human-machine collaboration in its many forms is major theme in the reports, titled "Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence" and "National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan." "The walls between humans and AI systems are slowly beginning to erode, with AI systems augmenting and enhancing human capabilities," the Strategic Plan report says. The White House imagines virtual personal assistants housed in smart glasses, automated factories that assist humans in complex building tasks, and systems that provide better data for farmers, all in the context that these could be job creators and not job stealers.

Mark Zuckerberg says he's ready to voice the Jarvis artificial intelligence system (AI) he built to run his home. One apparently willing candidate stands out -- Iron Man himself. Jarvis, of course, is the AI character that assists Tony Stark's Iron Man in the mega-successful "Iron Man" film franchise based on the Marvel Comics character. Jarvis, which in Marvel's universe is an acronym for "just a rather very intelligent system," is a bit more human as the butler in "Marvel's The Avengers." In response to Zuckerberg's Facebook ask, Robert Downey, Jr., who plays Stark/Iron Man, says he'd do it, with a few altruistic conditions. English actor Paul Bettany voiced Jarvis.

If you're building Iron Man's virtual assistant, who better to help than Iron Man himself? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who's been working on the virtual assistant as part of his New Year's resolution from earlier this year, posted on his social network Thursday that he was looking for someone to voice his latest creation. Robert Downey Jr., who famously plays Iron Man in the Marvel Studios franchise, jumped at the chance to contribute. In a response to the Facebook founder, Downey Jr. said he'd "do it in a heartbeat" if the fees go to Paul Bettany, the voice of Iron Man's virtual assistant Jarvis in the hit movies. Not forgoing a chance to further publicize the Marvel universe, Downey Jr. continued saying that Bettany would then have to donate the funds to a charity "of Cumberbatch's choosing." Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Stephen Strange, the latest Marvel superhero set to hit theaters in his own blockbuster film next month, Doctor Strange.

Google wants its Assistant to be more than just an order-taking robot -- so it hired some clever writers from outside the company to help make it happen. A new story from the Wall Street Journal's Christopher Mims details the advancements of different artificial intelligence devices like Amazon Echo and Google's rival product Home, and how they're comforting for those who live alone thanks to how personable the AI's have become. For Google, that friendly personality is thanks to a team of writers from Pixar and The Onion who helped make the Assistant -- which powers Google's Home device -- sound more like a human and less like a robot, according to the Journal. Google's eventual goal is to help users build an emotional connection with the Assistant, the Journal reports. Google unveiled its Assistant-enabled Home device last week, a direct competitor to other AI-powered hardware devices like Amazon's Echo.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a reality, and want it or not, it soon will be part of our daily lives. In a recent study, Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicted that the artificial intelligence market will blossom to 153 billion over the next five years: 83 billion for robots and 70 billion for artificial intelligence-based systems. Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that virtual robots powered by artificial intelligence are bound to transform the way companies interact with their customers. In a world where disruption has become the norm, super-intelligent machines have the potential to revolutionize businesses while benefiting users and society in general. But as these smart personal assistants blend into our environment, many questions arise.