LAS VEGAS--Cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are the keys to delivering richer, more sophisticated shopping experiences, eBay Chief Product Officer RJ Pittman said during a presentation Tuesday here at the Shoptalk 2016 retail conference. "I've yet to see great, personalized shopping experiences at scale," Pittman said. "We think there's huge opportunities to move forward through AI, machine learning and predictive modeling." Pittman cited the potential commerce benefits to be gained from AI technologies like natural language understanding, which enables software systems to understand human speech as it is spoken. For example, by processing the information in a shopper statement like "Going with my wife on a camping trip in Tahoe next month, need a tent," eBay would automatically suggest a tent large enough for two people that's also appropriate for Tahoe's altitude and average temperatures in June.

Google usually picks desserts including Marshmallow and Gingerbread. "Please don't call it Namey McNameface," says Burke.

A sneak peak of what the future holds for Android, Google's artificial intelligence pursuits, and virutal reality. Google announces messaging app Allo at I/O developer conference in Mountain View, Calif. Google debuted its new messaging app to rival Facebook Messenger at I/O, its annual software developers conference. The messaging app has a twist: It's not just for chatting with friends and family. You can ask Google questions the way you would a digital assistant such as Siri.

Google Home will take on Amazon Echo when the voice-activated device launches later this year. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google officially entered the voice-activated digital assistant race Wednesday with Google Home. The small device will compete directly with Amazon's popular Echo and should be available to consumers later this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the search company's annual developers conference. The move had been anticipated, as Google looks to put its mark on a coming age of artificial intelligence in which machines learn to interpret and answer human queries by leveraging the speed and scope of cloud competing. Project lead Mario Querioz held the device in his palm, revealing a design that was shorter and wider than Amazon's cylindrical Echo, which is powered by Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa.

Google has revealed a new smart AI assistant and will build it into everything from a new smart listening speaker to a new messaging app. The firm is aiming squarely at Amazon's Echo with the Home speaker, and WhatsApp and Snapchat with the Allo app. Sundar Pichai took to the stage at a giant outdoor amphitheatre holding 7,000 next to Google's Silicon Valley HQ to unveil the Google Assistant and Google Home speaker, alongside a new version of Android and a virtual reality headsets for mobile phones. Mario Queiroz showed off the new Google speaker, called Google Home, that will be released later this year. The tech giant is reportedly working on an update to its current entry-level Cardboard, and is expected to release a headset this year.

Google confirmed that it will have an Amazon Echo competitor, called Google Home. Announced during the keynote of Google I/O 2016, Home will serve as a hardware avatar of sorts for its new Google Assistant conversational language search tool. Google Home will be available later this year, executives said, for an undisclosed price. The company showed off the small, cylindrical device in white, but it will feature bases in custom colors. Google Home being held by Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management and a member of the Chromecast team.

Amazon has gone to great lengths in the past year or so to expand its Alexa voice assistant beyond the Echo connected speaker. On Tuesday, one of its other devices that taps the cloud-based Alexa--the Fire TV media streamer--got a whole lot better on Tuesday in an announcement that demonstrates how far behind Google's recently announced Google Home device already is. While the new features are not immediately available, Amazon will roll these out via software updates over the next few weeks. Among the key new features are Fire TV app-launching capabilities and the option to ask Alexa to play content from Amazon Video and any add-on subscription content, as well as the capability to find movie showtimes at nearby theaters, read Kindle ebooks, and local business search. The update is the most comprehensive for Alexa on Fire TV to date.

Google had some big announcements to make at its annual developers conference. Here's a quick rundown of what the firm unveiled onstage. Google Home: The company introduced a wireless speaker and smart appliance hub called Google Home, which will be released later this year. The product will be able to stream audio and video like Google's Chromecast devices, as well as control smart appliances. It will also work with smartphones -- you can tell Google Home to change your dinner reservations, and the device will be able to adjust your schedule accordingly.

Those two words are recognized worldwide as a way for any internet user to find an answer to nearly any question. But until now, it's mostly been about typing into a search bar. Now, Google wants you to speak up and chat with your mobile phone and other devices within your home, all powered by its own technology. The Mountain View, California, company revealed two projects, Google Assistant and Google Home, at its annual developer conference, Google I/O, in San Francisco Wednesday. Google Assistant is the company's effort to make search more personalized and efficient for users through machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Google has joined the war to be your digital butler. Speaking to a packed amphitheater of developers here, Alphabet's flagship company on Wednesday unveiled a hot-rodded personal assistant it says will let people control their homes, book movies, search the internet, ask follow up questions about an Italian restaurant, and sort through dog pictures using voice commands. The salvo places Google in the middle of a contest among technology giants to build an artificial intelligence that hold consumers' hands as they navigate the real world. Perhaps with an eye towards modern politics, Google declined to give its personal aide a gendered name. Its main physical form is a small, white, buttonless speaker called Google Home. It looks similar to Amazon's Echo, its own smart speaker powered by Alexa.