From InfoWorld: Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant is getting a facelift on iOS and Android aimed at making it more useful for users, and also bringing a bit of brightness to what’s currently a rather dour interface.

The app’s biggest change is the launch of a button that lets users quickly...

From CNET: Google Assistant is about to get a bit smarter, thanks to third-party developers.

The Alphabet-owned company said Thursday it is opening up its digital assistant with new tools for developers who want to interact with customers through Google Home, its always-listening smart home speaker...

From PC World: Windows is the indisputable platform of choice for gaming and VR, but Linux is catching up fast as graphics companies ramp up driver and hardware support for the OS.

AMD is showing more love for Linux than ever before. The company on Thursday announced some hardware and driver...

From CNET: It looks like the musical mashup of Spotify and SoundCloud won't be happening after all.

The Financial Times reported in September that music-streaming service Spotify was in "advanced talks" to acquire rival streaming service SoundCloud. However, months of discussions between the two...

From InfoWorld: Samsung’s recall of Galaxy Note7 smartphones because of exploding batteries is far from complete, with some users—for example, in Canada—still not turning in their devices for a refund or exchange.

The South Korean company has now decided to cut these phones from the network...

From CNET: HTC today announced Vive Studios, a new branch of the consumer electronics company dedicated to expanding its virtual reality content. According to the official press release, HTC plans to work internally on these projects, as well as with outside publishers and developers.

Along with...

From PC World: There’s a chill in the air, and the leaves are falling off the trees en masse. You know what that means: It’s time for AMD’s huge annual Radeon software update. Like 2014’s Catalyst Omega and 2015’s Radeon Software Crimson, this year’s refresh packs in some huge new features and...

From CNET: Can't wait to shop at an Amazon supermarket? Well, you may have to wait a very, very long time.

Two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon plans to open "more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under its name," the company knocked down the idea as false.

"It's...

From InfoWorld: With Bluemix, IBM set out to create a cloud environment rich with tools that developers could then harness to their benefit. Next step for IBM: Make it easy to string together and use those tools in common workflows, without reinventing the wheel with each new project.

That’s the...

From CNET: Sprint is giving Pokemon trainers a reason to come into its stores.

The nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier is partnering with Niantic, the developer behind the smash hit Pokemon Go, to turn more than 10,500 Sprint, Boost Mobile and Sprint-RadioShack stores into PokeStops and Gyms...