voice assistants

At the 2019 Mobile World Congress, McAfee released its newest Mobile Threat Report. This latest report revealed a few startling stats about 2018’s malware threats and announced an unsettling prediction for 2019’s threats. McAfee has deemed 2019 as “the year of everywhere malware.”

This year's results are in for Loup Ventures' annual Smart Speaker IQ test. The test, which consists of 800 annually updated questions, measures how well the digital voice assistant employed by each device understands each question and answers each question correctly. Who won? Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, or Cortana?

A new survey of more than 1,000 American consumers about voice assistants and smart speakers offers dramatic new intelligence about shopping, adoption rates, types of usage, and a widening diversity of voice activities that reflect an expansion beyond music and weather.

Microsoft and Amazon announced a public preview of Cortana and Alexa integration. U.S. customers can now open Cortana with Alexa and vice versa. Basic functions such as checking calendars, email, and shopping lists are available with the preview, and in time the digital assistants will add more.

Voice-enabled bathroom appliances and fixtures join the growing list of smart home devices controlled by voice assistants. Amazon Alexa has the most skills today, but apps for Apple Siri and Google Home Assistant are catching up. Vendors build apps and devices that follow consumer preferences, even to the bathroom.

Google’s Duplex technology enables the Google Assistant to make calls, so you can ask it to book a reservation at a restaurant or schedule a haircut, and it’ll do all the work for you. We spent some time with the team behind Duplex to learn more about how it works, and to take a call from the Assistant.

Amazon is reportedly developing home robotics products at its Lab126 hardware research and development division. People with insider knowledge of the robotics work reportedly said they could be on the market as early as 2019.

Researchers at MIT have created the AlterEgo, an incredible wearable device that reads "subvocalizations," or words we say to ourselves in our head, and it could change the way we interact with voice assistants and mobile devices.

Remember Cortana, Microsoft's voice assistant? She's back and better than ever, and she now takes full advantage of the iPad's larger screen.

Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa dominated CES 2018, through compatibility with nearly every smarthome device we saw. But Apple HomeKit and Siri were barely seen. What gives?

At CES 2018, Google stole the show. Its ads for the Google Assistant were everywhere, from the monorail to large-scale digital ads.

Uh oh, Cortana, you've got company. Looks like Amazon's Alexa will be installed on new devices from Asus, Acer, and HP later this year.

Microsoft and Amazon are collaborating to make Cortana and Alexa work together. Later this year, the assistants will gain tight integration.

German Autolabs' Chris, a digital co-driver, responds to voice and gestures to help with entertainment, communication, and navigation.