Saint Louis University (SLU) recently introduced 2,300 Amazon Echo Dot assistants to its student living spaces in an effort to make information more readily available on demand.  These devices have been customized to be able to answer specific questions about the university, such as library hours, and there are plans to expand their implementation into classrooms, offices, and meeting rooms.

URLs have become ubiquitous in our time - nearly every company and individual has some sort of online presence - all with associated URLs.  And, while URLs for the biggest names are generally easy to guess (simply add a .com to their name) - that's not always the case, as is such with nissan.com and companies that use .biz or .info top level domain names.  Worse yet, a wrong guess can land you on a webpage that you definitely don't want to be on.  Google wants to take the guesswork out of URLs.

Believe it or not, your bank is among the experts in fraud detection.  Many of us have experienced urgent phone calls from the bank when we make a larger-than-normal purchase, and this is a good thing.  The bank's systems constantly track customers' card use - amount, locations, day of time, etc. to develop a map of your spending habits - and it's when something wanders out of this map that they alert customers before serious damage can be done.  Doing so gives customers a chance to interrupt fraud as it happens, as well as minimizing losses for the bank.

Europe-based HSBC bank offered some revealing insights into the future of your interaction with banking.  As many know, more and more banking can be done remotely or even through branch ATMs, reducing the demand for in-person branch tellers for all but the most complicated banking transactions.  Artificial intelligence and mobile technologies are fueling the progression.  Because of this, HSBC is investigating new technology roles within the company to carry tech-fueled banking forward.

Police have long been relied on to stop crime - either by their presence discouraging would-be criminals, or by putting their efforts into solving crimes and handing the responsible parties over to the courts.  With an endless to do list of police work, it'd seem that departments around the world would embrace as much technology as they could to help fight and solve crime.  However, that doesn't seem to be the case, especially in the UK.  Why?  Policing is a "human business" that relies heavily on face to face work, and technology hasn't been so easy to utilize out on the beat.

Alexa, the popular smart home speaker, is moving into new verticals - like your hotel stay.  The recently introduced Alexa for Hospitality program is partnering with leading hotel chains to place customized Alexa devices in hotel rooms to aid guests with front desk needs, local restaurant and attraction suggestions, and even ordering deodorant because you left yours on the bathroom counter at home.  The devices can even control room lighting and other functions, keeping you from fumbling for a light switch as you enter your room.  Alexa for Hospitality's launch partner is Marriott Internati

SpaceX, the brainchild of Tesla founder Elon Musk, recently secured permission from the Federal Communications Commission to provide global satellite broadband services.  This approval, the first of its kind, involves a fleet of 4,425 low earth satellites that utilize new technologies, far more than the 1,419 active satellites than are orbiting the Earth today.  The system is intended to bring high speed broadband service to residential, commercial, institutional, governmental, and educational users worldwide, and even stands to get internet services into remote areas of the world.

Amazon was recently in the news for its new grocery store concept called Amazon Go in Seattle.  This store, the first of its kind and a technology testbed for Amazon, uses a variety of cameras and sensors to track items shoppers select, and then automatically charge their credit cards once they leave the store.  All the customers have to do is check in via smartphone at a kiosk at the entrance.  No waiting in lines, no cashiers, just grab your items and leave (which, admittedly, feels wrong for many shopper

Malaysia Airports is in the midst of a five year business plan to improve passenger efficiency and experience at its main airport, Kuala Lumpur.  Among these plans is the Total Airport Experience strategic pillar - a project that involves an immense data analytics and digital platform and PaperFree partner OpenText has been chosen as the technology partner for this endeavor.  OpenText will be involved with developing intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and expanded digital services for passengers at the airport, which is one of the busiest in Southeast Asia with 52 million passeng

Los Angeles is known for its soul-crushing commutes, but strangely enough, its residents largely don't rely on public transportation to ease the crunch.  This is likely because gas prices are still low, and the fact that busses sit in the very same traffic as everyone else.  And, light rail and underground metro systems in the area can't hold a candle to the more accessible systems of other large cities like London and Tokyo.  Given this, it's easy to see why the average Angelino still reaches for the car keys every morning.