"This could lead to an escalation in tensions, especially given that the US military believes that cyberattacks from foreign countries constitute acts of war."
I think having unique houses gives neighborhoods character. Also, I wonder what they will do about security, seeing as if they make it the same in all of the houses, you only need to break the system once before getting full access to everyone. (assuming it's done centrally like everything else mentioned in the article.)
I second that, in the case of actually hearing people online, I think it is highly overrated. I disable all that built-in voice crap myself. (like in SC2)
As for computers, until they can make computers able to promptly and accurately execute complex commands, the idea of voice communication with computers seems to be counterproductive.
Robots, unlike humans, do not all share the same basic build. While a human could conceivably learn from another human's experience, robots would likely need something a lot more complex to achieve the same functions between two peers.