The robot revolution starts with data entry and small talk
Pepper the home robot is looking for work. According to Softbank, the Japanese company behind the humanoid bot that looks like a friendlier version of an anime villain, this is the year that robots start working for us. That said, businesses are keeping tasks simple. Easy, uncomplicated, dull, simple. So far Pepper has made its way into 500 companies. This week I toured Pepper’s early career options.
Facebook eyes ride-sharing feature for events pages
Facebook has been ramping up its Events pages as of late, and a recent patent application shows another use for those listings. In the paperwork, the social network explains how Events pages can also serve as a hub for ride sharing. Instead of the usual Going, Not Going, and Interested RSVPs on an event’s page, you would have the option to say whether or not you plan to drive. If you do, you can input details as to how many passengers you can take, if you just want to offer a ride to friends and what time you’ll be leaving.
As you might expect, Facebook can pair passengers and drivers based on personal details like common interests, where you went to school and more to decrease the chances of awkward silence. After your pals (or soon-to-be pals) are all locked in, you’ll receive navigation info to guide you to the pickup spots. While a patent app doesn’t mean the company will actually implement the feature, this makes a lot of sense for Facebook. Using the Events pages as a primary interface could allow the folks in Melo Park to include ride sharing and carpooling relatively easily. For now, though, you’ll have to rely on hailing an Uber through Messenger.
Via: Tech Insider
Source: USPTO
London Mayor Boris Johnson Asked Apple to Help Build Garden Bridge
London Mayor Boris Johnson tried to convince Apple to fund the UK capital’s project to build a “Garden Bridge” across the River Thames, as reported by Business Insider.
The report cites an article published today in The Architects’ Journal which details how Johnson secretly travelled to California in early 2013 to meet Apple executives and pitch the ambitious project, before he had received official backing for the scheme from his office.
Proposed design for Garden Bridge over the River Thames (Image: Arup)
Apple is well known for its intense interest in architectural design and its close attention to detail when planning and building its retail stores. However, it has little history of funding projects unrelated to its technology business, making Johnson’s attempts to woo the company seem ill-judged.
In a statement given to The Architect’s Journal, the London Mayor’s office confirmed a meeting indeed took place with Apple to discuss “investment opportunities in London.” However, Apple informed the publication that the company has “no involvement in this bridge project and is not considering getting involved.”
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Apple ends its free iTunes Radio service
As anticipated, Apple discontinued the free, ad-supported version of iTunes Radio today. If you used the service to create your own radio stations and want to continue to do so, you’ll need to join the paid, premium Apple Music service. Desktop and iOS users who try to access the service will instead be a redirected to an Apple Music signup screen. Similarly, if you’ve been filling in missing iTunes tracks with your own collection using Match, you’ll be unable to do so without joining Apple Music.
If you still need free music, the only way to get if now from Apple now is via Beats 1. By keeping that separate from Apple Music, which has no ad-supported option, Apple has been able to offer exclusive content from artists like Taylor Swift and Pharrell. As a reminder, the service costs $10 a month, though there’s a free, three-month trial available — just don’t forget to cancel it if you don’t want to be billed automatically after the trial expires.
Via: MacRumors
Source: Apple
Oppo intends to “Wow the World” at MWC 2016
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MWC 2016 is now under a month away and device manufacturers have started sending invites and teasers to the press to let them know what’s coming, or at the very least, get them interested. Oppo has opened its MWC 2016 campaign with a teaser that simply states “Wow the World”, followed by “Oppo’s breakthrough tech MWC media event”. What exactly this “breakthrough tech” could be is anyone’s guess, but you can see the general shape of a smartphone in the foreground, though it’s not enough to tell anything besides identifying it as a phone.
Oppo has increased its stature in the smartphone industry over the last 12 months and most recently reported selling 50 million handsets in 2015 – for those wondering, that’s an increase of 67% over its previous year’s performance, and puts it eight on the smartphone shipments ladder. It could be a breakout year for Oppo and the reveal of its new smartphone (or smartphones) at MWC 2016 could just be the start of it. The only thing we’re hoping is that they don’t market it the same way they did the Oppo F series.
What do you think about Oppo’s “Wow the World” teaser? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: TalkAndroid
The post Oppo intends to “Wow the World” at MWC 2016 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Win college tuition if you’re good at ‘Heroes of the Storm’
If you’re good at throwing, catching or hitting objects with sticks, then it’s possible to go to college for free on an athletic scholarship. Kids who spent warm summer days indoors working out how to trounce their foes online, on the other hand, get nothing more than a raised eyebrow and a sneer from the admissions tutor. ESPN and Blizzard are hoping to rectify that situation with its Heroes of the Dorm contest, which is coming back for a second year. The tournament matches teams from various colleges, with the members of the winning team earning free tuition for the rest of their degree.
2015 was a big year for eSports’ slow creep toward the mainstream and 2016 is already on course to be even better for gamers. A few weeks back, ESPN launched a dedicated section to the sport, and the CW will broadcast a Mortal Kombat tournament for the first time next month. If you’re a college-age Heroes of the Storm player and fancy participating, you can sign up between now and February 18th. The first matches will be broadcast on March 19th, with ESPN3, Twitch and YouTube all taking part in the fun.
Source: Activision, Heroes of the Dorm
The TappLock smart padlock opens with a fingerprint
Still fiddling with a key or combination to lock up your stuff? Get with the times, man! A company called Pishon Lab has launched a smart padlock that you can open with your fingerprint, in much the same way you unlock a smartphone. The TappLock comes in two flavors, a larger version that lasts three years and can charge up your phone, and the smaller TappLock Lite, with a six-month battery life. Thanks to iOS and Android apps, you can also unlock the device using your smartphone and store up to 100 fingerprints, letting friends use it too.
The concept of a biometric padlock isn’t new. Another company called iFingerLock has a model that runs about $100 on Amazon, for instance. There are also Bluetooth models like the Noke. Naturally, the biggest fear with any such device is that it will fail to open, leaving you on the outside looking in. However, the company said it uses the FPC 1020 sensor “typically used in high-end smartphones” like the Huawei Mate 7. The company also promises a quick unlock time of about 0.8 seconds. If the lock is cut, an alarm will go off, though the company admits that it has to be completely cut through and that the video representation (below) isn’t accurate.
That brings us to the main gotcha with TappLock — it’s launching on Indiegogo, making the purchase risky. However, the company went the fixed goal crowdfunding route, meaning it won’t go ahead unless it receives the full $40,000 it’s requesting. (It’s 93 percent of the way to its goal with 28 days remaining.) In addition, you can risk as little as $29 on the early-bird TappLock Lite model or $49 on the larger model, so it won’t be a tragedy if the product fails to ship. Pishon Lab says the TappLock will start shipping by September. 2016.
Source: Indiegogo
Apple Ceases Free iTunes Radio Streaming Worldwide
Apple today officially ended free streaming of its iTunes Radio channels worldwide, incorporating the catalogue of stations into its subscription-based Apple Music service.
The change follows Apple’s announcement earlier this month that its free radio-listening feature would be discontinued at the end of January but would remain available to Apple Music subscribers.
As of this morning, iOS Music app users who tap on a radio station are bounced to a screen prompting them to join Apple’s premium streaming music service.
Likewise, iTunes users on a Mac who attempt to access the stations or create their own are met with a dialog window asking them to “Get on Our Wavelength” and join Apple Music.
Users with an iTunes Match subscription are also no longer able to access the stations. However, Apple’s Beats 1 radio channel remains available to iTunes users worldwide as a free listening option.
Apple had quietly continued to offer ad-supported iTunes Radio stations in the United States and Australia even after the launch of Apple Music on June 30, 2015. However, after the company’s decision to wind down its mobile iAd platform, the feature was already being limited in other regions to those who pay for Apple’s streaming music service.
iTunes Radio was originally released with iTunes 11.1 and iOS 7 as a free ad-supported service, offering music discovery through featured and genre stations provided by Apple or through the creation of new stations based on a specific artist or song.
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Amazon reports 20% sales growth: Prime, Prime Video and Prime Music all booming
Amazon released its fourth quarter earnings yesterday and the report painted a very nice picture for the company. Amazon’s Q4, 2015 earnings increased by 22% over the same quarter in 2014 and yearly sales increased by 20% for the calendar year. Amazon Prime enjoyed a 51% growth rate, Prime Video doubled its streaming customers and Prime Music tripled its streaming hours in the U.S..
Amazon’s net sales for 2015 were $107 billion, up from $89 billion in 2014. Operating income grew a staggering 1250% from $178 million in 2014 to 2.2 billion in 2015. As Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, stated: “Twenty years ago I was driving the packages to the post office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers.”
The meteoric increase in Amazon’s sales figures in the last year is very impressive, and the company’s compelling range of services have enjoyed equal success. In the U.S. Alone, Amazon Prime grew by 47%, with a global growth rate of 51%. In the U.S., Prime Music streaming tripled over the course of the year and Prime Video subscribers globally increased by almost 100%.
AMAZON PRODUCT REVIEWS:
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Prime Same Day, Prime Pantry (for grocery deliveries from Amazon) and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) all spread to new markets in 2015. Pay with Amazon volume grew by 150% as Amazon shoppers eagerly adopted the more secure way to pay and Fire TV and the Fire Tablet are currently best sellers on the site. With this kind of widespread success, it’s hard to understand why the Amazon Fire Phone got it so incredibly wrong. At least Amazon Prime is awesome.
How often do you buy from Amazon? What Amazon services do you use?
Sony image sensor and smartphone sales take a hit
It’s no secret that Sony has been struggling to make a breakthrough in the smartphone market in the last year or so, but its slowing handset sales have previously been offset by its other stronger business segments. However, the company’s latest quarterly financial results reveal that even Sony’s historically strong image sensor division is feeling the strain from the competitive smartphone market.
Overall though, Sony is making more money this year, net profit grew 33 percent over the year to reach ¥120.1 billion ($1 billion). While sales revenue remained mostly flat at ¥2.58 trillion ($21.5 billion) for the quarter, operating profits grew by 11 percent to ¥202.1 billion ($1.69 billion), following some strong growth in the company’s gaming and movie divisions.
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We’re most interested in Sony’s mobile unit, which didn’t perform quite so well in terms of sales. Revenue fell by 14.7 percent year-on-year, as a result of poor smartphone sales and a “strategic decision not to pursue scale”. It seems that the release of Sony’s latest Xperia Z5 flagship line has done little to improve the company’s struggling smartphone presence. Sony has been making major efforts to cut division costs though, both in the research and marketing department. As such, operating income increased from ¥10.4 billion ($86 million) to ¥24.1 billion ($199 million) over the year.
Perhaps more worryingly for Sony, sales revenue from its more lucrative image sensor business have also declined over the past year. Operating revenue from Sony’s device division, which includes the company’s battery and imaging components, fell by 12.6 percent year-on-year, as demand for smartphone sensor components dropped “significantly” in the quarter. Not only was this figure hurt by Sony’s falling smartphone shipments, but the company also saw sales to external customers drop by 7.5 percent. Sony’s Exmor range of image sensors had been proving popular with smartphone manufacturers around the world, especially in the high-end market.
See also: Sony closes $155 million purchase of Toshiba’s image sensor business
Sony has also been pumping cash into additional research and development projects for image sensors and camera modules, in order to stay ahead of competition. Combined, this led the division to switch from a ¥53.8 billion ($445 million) profit in Q3 2014 to a ¥11.7 billion ($97 million) loss in the same quarter during 2015.
Other Sony divisions have fared much better, with PlayStation 4 gaming revenue up 10.5 percent and Sony Picture box office revenue increasing by 26.9 percent. However, Sony is yet another large electronics company struggling to eke out profits from the competitive smartphone market.
AIVAnet 