The home of the future will have high-definition moving picture screens instead of windows, smart beds that track your sleeping patterns, landscape monitoring systems that use weather forecasts to tell you when to water your lawn, and door locks that can be operated with your smartphone. These technologies were on display Wednesday outside the Statehouse on a three-story bus that also showcased automotive, health, wearable and city-planning innovations. The visit was part of the Smarter World Tour sponsored by the Ohio Telecom Association and NXP Semiconductors.

Federal agencies are spending more money on sensor-driven technology, a new report shows. NASA uses the connected network of sensors and devices to observe earth and space patterns. The Homeland Security Department uses the same kind of network to surveil the U.S. border. The Pentagon uses that system, known as the internet of things, to help soldiers gain situational awareness. The government spent $8.8 billion on the internet of things in fiscal 2015, driven mostly by defense spending, according a report from research analysis firm Govini. (Govini and Nextgov's parent organization, Government Executive Media Group have a data-sharing partnership.)

If the cars of the future are all going to be connected to the internet, there's a pretty good chance they'll be talking to networks built by Cisco Systems. Speaking onstage at the Code Conference on Wednesday with Recode's Kara Swisher, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said that its Internet of Things platform run by Jasper, a company it acquired earlier this year, is tracking 28 million active devices, and is adding about one million devices every month. "Most of them are cars," Robbins said. Jasper's automotive customers include GM, Ford, Nissan, Daimler and BMW.

London has unseated New York as the global city best able to attract and retain global capital, people and ideas, according to an A.T. Kearney report. Since 2008 the United Kingdom’s capital has played runner-up to New York, but their positions have now switched, the only change from last year’s top 10. As some economists and political scientists point to cities as replacements for nation-states as the world’s primary drivers in light of urbanization, a city-specific and localized approach to business could be a sensible and more precise alternative to current models.

At Computex 2016 show in Taiwan this week, Qualcomm announced the launch of a new chip, the Snapdragon Wear 1100 processor, which offers a low-power and smart-sensing technology, along with software support for Google Android and Android Wear platforms. The chips will be aimed at the wearable device market for devices such as fitness trackers, smart headsets, and wearable accessories like smartwatches. It also complements the Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, which is designed for multi-purpose wearables.

Despite the hype growing around smart homes - from fridges that can tell you what items you've run out of, to controlling your lights from a smartphone - the majority of people don't have much interest in the new technology, new research reveals. Almost three quarters of consumers are not bothered about having smart technology in their homes in the coming years, according to a survey of more than 2,000 people by PwC. However, of those who do already have smart tech in their homes, nearly all of them - 95 per cent - said they saw the benefits of smart devices.

Apple, Amazon, and Google say their virtual helpers—Siri, Alexa, and the less snappily named Google Assistant—can make our lives easier by acting on our commands to book cabs, order pizza, or check the weather. But like all the other free-to-use goodies that tech giants offer up, these new personal assistants must also earn their keep. The companies aren’t saying much about exactly how their automated personas can boost their bottom lines, but they have clear potential to open up new lines of revenue. Perhaps most importantly, they could significantly increase the data that companies have on our preferences and everyday …

Swedish home furnishings retailer Ikea this month opened a temporary, highly digital, kitchen-focused store. The goal, the retailer says, is to challenge visitors to rethink how they look at food and cooking. The store, which Ikea Canada is operating for two weeks on a highly trafficked corner in downtown Toronto, features about 50 products. But there are no handbaskets or carts. Instead, when consumers enter the pop-up shop, a staff member hands them a wooden spoon with a RFID chip embedded in it, explains the store concept and provides instructions on how to shop. If a shopper wants to purchase …

Will Amazon invest more heavily in Amazon Studios, which is producing original video content for Prime Video, or its Alexa voice assistant? Only time will tell, CEO Jeff Bezos told attendees of Recode’s Code Conference, this week. At least at the moment, Amazon already has more than 1,000 people working on the artificial intelligence that is baked directly into Alexa, Venture Beat reports.

With a focus on mixed-reality displays and devices, Microsoft is opening up its Windows Holographic platform to select partners. “Microsoft's HoloLens goggles are an example of an augmented reality (AR) device that is centered around Windows Holographic,” ZDNet reports. “Mixed reality encompasses a spectrum of experiences -- from virtual reality (VR) enhanced with holograms, to holographic computing devices enhanced with "real" life images.