Samsung has been bundling Microsoft apps like Skype, OneDrive, OneNote and more on its phones and tablets for a while now. However, when it comes to the Galaxy S8, the two companies are taking their partnership a step further. Microsoft is selling a Samsung Galaxy S8 Microsoft Edition and it's accepting pre-orders starting today at its retail stores in the US ahead of the April 21st launch. As you might expect, the customized S8 will come loaded with Microsoft's apps and services like Office, OneDrive, Outlook and Cortana. It's interesting that Microsoft's virtual assistant would be included given that these two new handsets are the big debut of Samsung's Bixby.

Xiaoice is Microsoft's latest piece of artificial intelligence. She has a'cute' voice, can instantly comment on weather data and big news events, and now, she has a job on morning TV. The Chinese live program, 'Morning News,' introduced the AI on Tuesday, making Xiaoice the first robot to take on a job of this kind. Her voice sounds more like a human's than any other AI's to date, and Xioice's success now has people questioning the future of their careers. Xiaoice is an artificial intelligence software.

Microsoft is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) with the creation at the end of September of a new AI and Research Group. This newly formed group brings together Microsoft's research organization and more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers focused on AI and is now the fourth major division in the company, on par with the Windows, Office and Cloud divisions. Harnessing AI through agents such as Cortana, the company's digital personal assistant Infusing AI into Skype, Office 365 and every other Microsoft application Making cognitive capabilities such as vision and speech and machine analytics available to external developers Using Azure to build a powerful AI supercomputer in the cloud to provide "AI as a Service" Using Azure to build a powerful AI supercomputer in the cloud to provide "AI as a Service" When Microsoft talks of "infusing" every application with AI, it's reminiscent of the famous "Internet Tidal Wave" email Bill Gates sent to all staff in 1995. In it, Gates outlined his desire to focus the company's efforts on the internet with immediate effect and told them to "assign the internet the highest level of importance" in everything that they did henceforth. Is the creation of the AI and research group effectively a "tidal wave" message?