A smart speaker is a type of loudspeaker and voice command device with an integrated virtual assistant (Intelligent Software Assistant) that offers interactive actions and hands-free activation with the help of one "hot word" (or several "hot words"). Some smart speakers can also act as a smart device that utilizes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other protocol standards to extend usage beyond audio playback, such as to control home automation devices. This can include, but is not limited to, features such as compatibility across a number of services and platforms, peer-to-peer connection through mesh networking, virtual assistants, and others. Each can have its own designated interface and features in-house, usually launched or controlled via application or home automation software.[1] Some smart speakers also include a screen to show the user a visual response. As of winter 2017, it is estimated by NPR and Edison Research that 39 million Americans (16% of the population over 18) own a smart speaker.[2] A smart speaker with a touchscreen is known as a smart display.[3][4] It is a smart Bluetooth device that integrates conversational user interface with display screens to augment voice interaction with images and video. They are powered by one of the common voice assistants and offer controls for smart home devices, feature streaming apps and web browsers with touch controls for selecting content. The first smart displays were introduced in 2017 by Amazon (Amazon Echo Show,[5] Amazon Echo Spot). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_speaker

Google Assistant is an artificial intelligence-powered[2] virtual assistant (IntelligentSoftwareAssistant) developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and smart home (smart speaker) devices. Unlike the company's previous virtual assistant, Google Now, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Assistant (more)

Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year. The hardware team is on pace to lose $10 billion this year. It sounds like Amazon is tired of burning through all that cash. (more)

Steve Denning: Explaining Agile. Organizations that have embraced Agile have three core characteristics. (more)

Steve Denning: Why Business Survival Requires Brand New Management. Most of today’s major corporations are suffering from a lethal disease. The disease is industrial-age management (more)

Perspective | How Big Tech monopoly made smart speakers dumber. I recently moved into a new home. But before I can get settled, I have to install a tech monopoly. Is it an Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri home? (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 2/2/23: The Emergency Ends on 5/11. Executive Summary: Covid emergency to end on May 11, 2023. Vaccine formulations all to be updated to bivalent composition. Other news will be covered in roundups soon. (more)

The New Skeuomorphism is in Your Voice Assistant. Killing skeuomorphism made us feel very smart about ourselves. We finally don’t need glossy buttons to understand something is tappable! (more)

Wirecutter: The Best Smart Home Devices to Help Seniors Age in Place. For this guide, I interviewed doctors and experts who specialize in smart-home technology for those aging in place. (more)

Google starts throwing cash at Google Assistant startups. Today, Google is launching a new investment program for early-stage startups working to broaden Google Assistant hardware or features. The new program provides financial resources, early access to Google features and tools, access to the Google Cloud Platform, and promotional support in efforts to bolster young companies.

Amazon's Echo Show Makes It Easy to Keep Family Together While Social Distancing. The Amazon Echo Show is one of our top-pick smart displays (we also recommend the Google Nest Hub Max). These are devices that sit on your desk, countertop, or table and let you use many of the same types of apps and features a tablet would. Their standout feature is voice-activated video calling, an easy way for families to stay connected with isolated relatives. (smart display) (more)

creator of Braid computer game

identify any food purely by the location of structural starch https://cuberule.com/ Pizza is Toast. A quesadilla is a sandwich. A hot dog is a taco. Pig-in-a-blanket is a sushi. Cheesecake is a quiche, so is a deep-dish pizza. A burrito is a calzone. Lasagna is Cake. Poutine is nachos. (more)

App from East Gate for developing HyperText narratives. (more)

Ash Maurya offers his template for documenting his Business Model hypotheses (Customer Development and others) for a WebApp-focused Lean Startup. He calls this his Lean Canvas. (more)

Walter Jackson Ong SJ (November 30, 1912 – August 12, 2003) was an American Jesuit priest, professor of English literature, cultural and religious historian, and philosopher. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality to literacy influenced culture and changed human consciousness. In 1978 he served as elected president of the Modern Language Association... In 1941 Ong earned a master's degree in English at Saint Louis University. His thesis on sprung rhythm in the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins[1] was supervised by the young Canadian Marshall McLuhan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_J._Ong

Autonomy is buying Verity. The two companies' technology approaches are radically different, and Autonomy will face significant challenges in integrating them. Autonomy's pattern-matching-based technology is most effective in analyzing large, richly structured bodies of information. By contrast, Verity is oriented more toward individual words and their explicit meanings.

co-founder and CEO at Every

IFTF: How to Use ChatGPT for Strategic Foresight: Limitations, Possibilities, and Workarounds. Over the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed impressive demonstrations of ChatGPT at work. We’ve seen it write code, do math homework, produce college essays and screenplays, answer complex questions on almost any topic (more)

AI Writing Tools Like ChatGPT Are the Future of Learning & No, It’s Not Cheating. Sally Brandon, a communications lecturer at Melbourne’s Deakin University, applied bot detection technology to 54 essays she marked over summer and found 10 had “significant, detectable bot assistance”. (more)