Despite what tech makers would have us believe, it's not a forgone conclusion that voice assistants are going to upend the mobile landscape. Ok, maybe it is. (I mean, why wouldn't we ultimately prefer a form of communication we've already been working on for the past 100,000 years?) But, at the moment, Amazon and Google seem more excited about the trend than do most consumers.

Apps may seem very 2010, but it's hard to overstate the opportunities that lie ahead for enterprising developers. Worldwide, the app economy will mushroom from $1.3 trillion last year to $6.3 trillion in 2021, according to a fresh forecast from App Annie.

Snap just announced a two-year content-development deal with Time Warner, yet analysts say it's less about awesome content for the "camera company" and more about TV networks trying to keep up with increasingly scattered audiences.

As its star has risen, Instagram has become a hotbed of shady marketing tactics, and influencers who specialize in blurring the line between their personal and paid-for product preferences. The problem is so bad that the Federal Trade Commission recently urged 90 or so Instagram influencers to step up their transparency game. Taking the matter seriously, Instagram will now require influencers to accompany sponsored posts and stories with a "Paid partnership with" tag.

Akamai surveyed 62 countries and considered usage from various devices that connect to the Web through mobile network providers. The U.S. ranked 28th in mobile Web speeds.

Led by China, Asia-Pacific countries are at the forefront of mobile ad growth globally. Much of the growth is thanks to the Chinese/Lunar New Year, which fell on January 28, and drove 18% higher ad revenue (on average) than neighboring non-celebrating countries.

Lack of opportunity is the main reason for not having tried virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR), according to a new study. Yet consumers have high expectations for VR and AR, with more than half (55%) expecting it to become as popular as smartphones in years to come.

Responding to fresh revelations about its content policy, Facebook is further conceding that, yes, policing about a billion people's daily interactions is hard.

Surprising no one, Snap's first earnings report is eliciting mixed feelings from analysts and company watchers. Among other issues, Jessica Liu, senior analyst at Forrester, believes the "camera company" has yet to prove itself in the key areas of ad tracking and measurement.

At least the for time being, Amazon dominates this new category. Yet with Apple's eventual entry into the marketplace and Google's continued investment in the space, eMarketer doesn't expect Amazon to rule the smart-speaker roost forever.