SoftBank's New Robot Knows Exactly How You Feel

Global conglomerate SoftBank's first foray into robotics is a tripod-based robot that can read human emotions.

So perhaps the robot is able to tell that we're a little creeped out by it — as we are with most robots that are all too human.

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank, introduced the robot, Pepper, during a live press conference in Japan on Thursday. Standing at 4 feet tall and weighing in at roughly 61 pounds, Pepper was built in partnership with Aldebaran Robotics SAS and is designed to be an "affectionate" consumer automaton. With its giant eyes, childlike face and highly articulated head, arms and hands, the robot — at least from the chest up — looks even more humanlike than Honda's bipedal ASIMO.

Pepper will also, it seems, act more human. The robot is still under development, but will eventually be able to "read" human emotions by judging facial expression and tone of voice. It can then react autonomously, according to SoftBank.

At the heart of Pepper's cognitive powers will be an "emotional engine" and cloud-based artificial intelligence. The emotional engine — face and voice recognition — will help Pepper read a situation. It could, for example, recognize a smile and then report that emotional response back to the user: "Your child smiled when I read to her."

The cloud AI will allow Pepper to share learnings with cloud-based algorithms and pull down additional learning, so that its emotional intuition and response can continually improve. a technological breakthrough or the most terrifying robot advancement I've ever heard of.

"We have made a new entry into the robot business with the aim of developing affectionate robots that make people smile," Son said. "Using emotion engines and Cloud AI, which evolves with collective wisdom, we're making this happen.”

Pepper features touch sensors on its hands and head, as well as a 10-inch tablet-like screen attached to its chest. It can roll about on three wheels at up to 2 miles per hour, and is Wi-Fi-enabled; its sonar, laser and bumper sensors in its base let it autonomously navigate its environment. It can also operate for 12 hours on a single charge, according to SoftBank, though it's unclear how long it takes to charge.

Throughout a demonstration (see video below), Pepper appeared to look directly at Son, making sounds that were a combination of a childlike noises (oohs and ahhs) and various computer and robotics sounds.

"The emotional robot will create a new dimension in our lives and new ways of interacting with technology," said Bruno Maisonnier, founder and CEO of Aldebaran Robotics, in a statement. "It's just the beginning, but already a promising reality.”

Aldebaran will also provide a Pepper SDK, so third parties can build new applications for the sensitive robot.

While Pepper is designed for the home, it won't be available to consumers until 2015 at a list price of $2,000. In the meantime, SoftBank plans to install Pepper in a number of its retail locations throughout Japan.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Pebble Smartwatch Finally Gets Volume Controls

Pebble rolled out some updates Thursday that added small but significant improvements to its smartwatch — most significantly adding volume controls and the ability to reorganize apps from the watch's launcher.

Believe it or not, up until now Pebble owners could control music playback from their watches, but not the music's volume.

"It’s been a long time since we first demoed volume control in the Pebble Music app back in the day, so we’re really glad to be bringing this feature onboard," the company wrote in a blog post.

The update also added the ability to manually sort and reorganize apps in the watch's launcher. Previously, the order apps appeared was static and couldn't be customized. Now users can re-order items in the launcher by holding down the select button until the app starts shaking, then move it to the desired place on the list.

Both updates were added as part of a firmware update, meaning users will have to update their current smartphone app by selecting "check for updates" from the support menu. Pebble's iOS users will first need to update Pebble's iOS app before they can get the new firmware.

Pebble's iOS app was also recently updated to support the new firmware and add iBeacon support.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Facebook Moves to Single-Column Timelines for Pages

Facebook has announced a plan to revamp the look of Timelines on its Pages, moving to a one-column design more similar to the Timelines on individual profiles.

This is a little change, but it illustrates that Facebook is making a concerted push to give itself a streamlined, stripped down look. It also further blurs the line between a personal account and a Pages account, which makes sense. Facebook would prefer that its users treat their individual accounts more like Pages anyways, publicly posting and sharing content, so this will help reinforce the idea that Pages aren't so different than regular accounts (which is a lie, Pages are inferior).

In addition to giving Pages an easier-to-navigate makeover, Facebook also gave administrators more control over the look of their layout. The new design allows users to move sections around to create a custom look. Remember, this is the same Facebook that swore off giving users too much control over the look of their individual profiles to avoid people from cluttering their profiles with garish color schemes; it appears Facebook is more willing to cater to customization now.

Facebook is doing two things right here, by simplifying the design and giving users more control. The main Facebook service often feels overstuffed, so it's important that the site's scaffolding doesn't add another distraction. At the same time, even as the company looks for ways to make its design more elegant, allowing users a few options to put their own spin on the look keeps people engaged.

Now if only Facebook would consider offering an option to browse without a News Feed… right now you have to use an obscure script called "Quiet Facebook" to remove the cluttered stream from your profile-creeping experience.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Chrome Is Now More Popular Than Internet Explorer

Google Chrome has edged out Microsoft's Internet Explorer in the ongoing battle of the browsers, according to Adobe Digital Report (ADI) data.

The report shows Chrome making up 31.8% of all browser usage on the web, while Internet Explorer holds 30.9% — a small but significant margin. This is the first time ever that Google surpassed Microsoft in terms of browser popularity for overall mobile and desktop software.

But it gets even more interesting in the individual breakdowns of mobile and desktop browsers. While Chrome rules the roost in terms of mobile shares (14.3%), Internet Explorer is still dominating desktops with 13% ahead of Google. The disparity between the two platforms can be largely traced back to both Microsoft's grip on traditional computers and Google's consistent interface across multiple mobile devices.

"Internet Explorer leverages its Windows OS dominance to gain share as the default Web browser for the majority of people online," ADI analyst Tyler White said in a press release. "Today mobile OS is more important, giving Google and Apple a leg up with default status on Android and iOS."

The third most widely used browser in the U.S. is Mozilla Firefox, which has dipped almost 12% over the past two years due to its virtual absence from the mobile market.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Woman Gets The World’s First 3D Printed Skull Implant

Woman Gets The World’s First 3D Printed Skull Implant

We predicted that 3D printing was capable of executing miracles and that it would soon become the talk of the day. Recently, a woman received world’s first 3D Printed implant for her skull.

So why did she need the implant in first place? 3 months ago, a 22 year old Dutch woman was brought to UMC Utrecht hospital with a rare disease. The disease thickens the patient’s skull and adds pressure to the brain. The woman in question was losing her eyesight when she was brought to the hospital and was unable to control her face. Bon Verweij is a surgeon at UMC Utrecht and according to him, when the patient was brought to hospital; her skull was 5 cm thick which was basically 3.5 cm thicker than the average human. Owing to her condition, immediate operation was critical.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Right to be forgotten: Google gets 12,000 requests on first day

Right to be forgotten: Google gets 12,000 requests on first day.

Google received 12,000 requests from people seeking to be "forgotten" by the world's leading search engine on the first day it offered the service, a company spokesman in Germany said Saturday.

The requests, submitted on Friday, came after Google set up an online form to allow Europeans to request the removal of results about them from internet searches.

The number confirms earlier estimates given by the German daily Der Spiegel and reported in other media.

Earlier in May the European Court of Justice ruled that individuals have the right to have links to information about them deleted from searches in certain circumstances, such as if the data is outdated or inaccurate.

Google said that each request would be examined individually to gauge whether it met the ruling's criteria.

The US-based internet giant declined to estimate how long it might take for the links to disappear, saying factors such as whether requests are clear-cut will affect how long it takes.

The ruling on the right to be forgotten comes amid growing concern in Europe about individuals' ability to protect their personal data and manage their reputations online.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Some Moto G units facing network issues, Flipkart offers refund

Some Moto G units facing network issues, Flipkart offers refund

It looks like a number of Motorola Moto G phone units shipped by Flipkart are facing issues while connecting to mobile networks.

Motorola has acknowledged that some users are not being able to activate their 16GB Moto G phones as a batch of these devices has been shipped with IMEI numbers that are not yet registered with mobile carriers.

IMEI numbers are 15-digit unique codes that help mobile networks whitelist and identify valid phones.

In a statement on its Facebook page, Motorola has said that "it is working around the clock to resolve this," and impacted users have been sent an email with more information.

Nikhil Pai, one of the affected buyers, told The Times Of India that Flipkart had indeed sent an email on behalf of Motorola, informing that it is offering a wallet credit of Rs 1,200 which can be used for any purchase on the e-commerce website, to pacify unhappy consumers. Affected users also have the option to exchange their faulty phone for an operational unit or return it for a full refund. Though the request will be processed after a week, as per Flipkart.

In the email communication, Flipkart and Motorola have specified that Moto G phones with IMEI numbers starting with '3533' might be 'incapable of connecting to the network right now because of a programming error on its part' and that it could take a few more days for the company to resolve the issue.

"It may take several days before your phone will connect to the network. You can find your IMEI number listed on the box or behind the back cover. At this stage, our understanding is that this only affects the 16GB version of Moto G. We are working around the clock with our network partners to ensure your device is listed properly in their system. Because of the complex process to activate, your device could begin working as early as Tuesday or it may take a few days after that for your specific device to begin working properly," said Flipkart in the communication.

Posted by : Gizmeon