Amazon’s Alexa companion app is getting a much-needed redesign

The Alexa app, which acts as a piece of setup and companion software for Amazon’s Echo devices, just got a major visual redesign. The new app has a much-improved user interface with easier control over Alexa-enabled smart home devices.

Google Assistant now lets you compare rideshare prices and wait times

Google is making it a little easier to book a rideshare through Google Assistant. The company has announced a number of new features for Assistant that should help users look at rideshare pricing quickly and easily, though the actual booking of the service still needs to take place in the app itself.

Research finds the sound of chirping birds can be used to hack Alexa

That innocent-sounding bird singing out its morning song may not be so innocent after all. According to scientists at Ruhr-Universitaet in Bochum, Germany, manipulated audio waves from the sounds of birds chirping could be used to launch an attack against voice assistants.

Tile’s new lost item trackers offer replaceable batteries, subscription service

Nielsen: US smart speaker adoption grew to 24% in Q2 2018, 4 in 10 own more than one

In the second quarter, the adoption of smart speakers — like Amazon Echo and Google Home devices — grew to 24 percent in the U.S., up from 22 percent the prior quarter, according to new data from Nielsen, released this week. The measurement firm took a look at how consumers were using their speakers, when, as well as how many were buying multiple devices.

Amazon reportedly planning Alexa microwave, subwoofer, and more this year

Amazon is planning to introduce as many as eight new Alexa-powered smart home devices later this year, according to a report from CNBC today. Those devices will be a wide-ranging offering of voice-controlled gadgets: a microwave oven,

Can a bracelet really let you control your dreams?

We cover crowdfunding projects all the time at Digital Trends. Platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have given us outstanding products like the Formlabs 3D printer, Biolite campstove, and Onewheel electric skateboard thing.

What the Apple Watch’s FDA clearance actually means

Yesterday, Apple announced that the US Food and Drug Administration cleared two new features for the Apple Watch Series 4. One is an advanced method of monitoring the heart called an electrocardiogram (EKG),

First IoT security bill reaches governor's desk in California

The first Internet of Things (IoT) security bill in the US has been approved in California at the end of August and has now reached the Governor's desk to be signed into law. The bill, SB-327, was introduced in February 2017 and was the first legislation of its kind in the US.It even predated by almost six months the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017, a bill introduced in the US Senate by Sen. Mark Warner [D-VA].

How Apple Watch saved my life

As many of you know, I have always had a very critical view of Apple as a company and the way their business operates -- one that has mellowed from outright distaste to acknowledgement of their usefulness in the last eight years or so, since I became a regular iPhone and iPad customer, and an occasional but reluctant Mac user.