Russia’s deputy prime minister insists gun-toting robot is not a Terminator

Why it matters to you

Robots will likely be the first full-time settlers in outer space and with these gun-slinging skills, Mars could look like the Wild West.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin took to Twitter last week to both praise and defend his country’s gun-toting space robot, FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research).

“Robot platform FEDOR showed shooting skills with two hands,” he wrote, as translated by the Independent.

“We are not creating a Terminator, but artificial intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields,” he added.

In Rogozin’s defense, gun slinging ain’t the only skill in FEDOR’s repertoire. Initially developed as a rescue robot, engineers have also trained FEDOR to screw in light bulbs, use keys, and drive cars.

But despite Rogozin’s statement, the video posted online emphasizes the machine’s military applications.

In the video, which begins with a robotic tank obliterating targets with a light machine gun and explosives, FEDOR is shown dual-wielding pistols and knocking out targets with ease. Rogozin took to Facebook to insist that the task was simply a demonstration of FEDOR’s dexterity and decision-making algorithms.

Русские боевые роботы – парни с железным характером @fpi_russia pic.twitter.com/qbflvn5HFy

— Дмитрий Рогозин (@Rogozin) April 14, 2017

After two-and-a-half years of development, FEDOR made headlines in 2016 by power-drilling into a pile of cinder blocks. At that time Russia announced plans to send the humanoid robot to the International Space Station to assist astronauts by 2021. Some day FEDOR is expected to work in environments that are deemed too dangerous for humans.

FEDOR won’t be the first robotic astronaut in space and it won’t likely be the last. It will follow in the footsteps of Russia’s SAR-400 and SAR-4001, the United States’ Robonaut and Robonaut 2, Germany’s AILA, and China’s Xiaotian. NASA is also developing an advanced astrobot called Valkyrie, which the agency hopes will help construct Martian colonies prior to manned missions. Meanwhile, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is researching small construction robots for colonizing Mars.

Future of social media? Facebook’s Spaces lets users interact in VR

Why it matters to you

Spaces sheds light on Facebook’s vision of the future of social media, which involves interacting with your friends in a virtual environment.

Facebook unveiled its new Spaces virtual reality platform at the F8 conference in San Jose, California, on Tuesday. The project aims to take the social experience one step further, providing Facebook users with virtual environments where they can interact with their friends.

Inside Spaces, users are represented by an avatar, which can be customized. You can even choose a photograph of yourself that you like, and Facebook will pick an option that resembles you.

The experience is built around interacting with up to three friends, but there’s more to do than simply talk to one another and gawp at each other’s avatars. Users will be able to share 360-degree video content, draw with virtual markers, and, inevitably, take selfies.

Facebook users who haven’t invested in a VR headset aren’t going to be left out of Spaces entirely. You can receive a standard video call from a group of users taking part in a Spaces session, and get a window into their virtual world, avatars and all.

Spaces demonstrates why Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. While much of the VR content that’s hit the scene has been akin to traditional video games, it’s clear that the social media giant sees the technology’s potential to underpin a different kind of social media.

What’s unclear is whether users will latch onto what Spaces has to offer. The footage shown at the event made it look like an amusing diversion — but not the kind of thing that warrants spending upwards of $1,000 on a compatible headset and a sufficiently powerful PC.

Anyone with an Oculus Rift headset and an Oculus Touch controller can now try out the experience. The beta version of the app is available now from the Oculus Store for free. More information, including recommended specs, is available via the Oculus website.

MasterCard adds MasterPass to Facebook Messenger bots for easy mobile payments

Why it matters to you

When you check out with a bot, you likely want the process to be both quick and easy. MasterCard’s MasterPass helps make that happen.

MasterCard is getting more into the bot game. Or rather, it’s helping others make payments through bots easier. The company has announced that its MasterPass digital wallet system will now be compatible with a slew of Facebook Messenger bots, including bots from FreshDirect, Subway, and The Cheesecake Factory. What this means is that users will be able to use MasterPass to complete transactions through those apps, without having to enter critical credit card information directly into the chat windows.

MasterPass-enabled bots will work across a range of different services — including retail stores, restaurants, and more. The news isn’t all that surprising — MasterCard actually announced a MasterPass-enabled bot called Getir last month, and it’s likely we’ll see more bots with payment capabilities like this come in as time goes on.

Using MasterPass-enabled bots is pretty easy. All you have to do is select to pay with MasterPass when you’re checking out after selecting an item to buy, then enter your MasterPass password, and you’ll be able to buy it quickly and securely.

MasterCard isn’t the only company working on payments through bots. A few months ago, PayPal launched a bot for Slack, aimed specifically at making it easier for users to send payments through the Slack app. While we have yet to see PayPal work with any third-party developers to integrate PayPal payments into their services, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising.

We’ll likely see more companies leverage bots for purchases over the next few years. Bots are tipped to completely change how we interact with companies — while we would have once used a company’s app to interact with that company on our smartphone, bots are much easier and quicker to use. Not only that, but most people don’t want to download an app for one store, and with bots there are no downloads necessary.

Check out 25 of the best Android Wear apps for your smartwatch

Android Wear runs on a number of smartwatches now and there are loads of apps that add all sorts of handy capabilities. These apps do more than just bring notifications to your wrist — they can entertain you, track your fitness and health, and help you find fun things to do.

More: We tested all the most popular smartwatches to find the uncontested best

So with all that in mind, here are 25 of our favorite Android Wear apps, starting with a few that have been enhanced for Android Wear 2.0.  Most of these apps still rely on a partner app on your smartphone, but a few offer standalone functionality. Either way, they’re all must-haves for your watch.

Telegram

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

You can send voice or text messages, browse your chat history, or create group chats with this accessible instant messaging app that has been updated for Android Wear 2.0. It also supports emojis, stickers, and themes.

Google Play

Lifesum

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Here’s an app for the health-conscious, which tracks your food and water intake to help you achieve the right balance. Set your personal health goals and Lifesum will guide you to success with a personalized plan that includes exercise tips.

Google Play

Strava

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

If you want an alternative to Google Fit, then Strava is well worth a look. It’s available on Android Wear 2.0 as a standalone app that can track your runs and other sporty activities. If you’re cycling or running it’s great to be able to leave your phone at home, but still record your progress.

Google Play

Foursquare City Guide

With a fresh design for Android Wear 2.0, the Foursquare app is one of the easiest ways to find great places to eat, drink, and be merry in the city you’re in. It works without your phone, and you can filter by all sorts of different categories to find the exact spot you want.

Google Play

Uber

Missed the last train? No need to worry, you can now book an Uber directly from your smartwatch. This is a standalone app for your Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch that allows you to order a ride, check driver progress, and get time estimates for your journey all from your wrist. There’s no need to use your phone at all.

Google Play

Stocard

Running out of space on your keychain due to the many little loyalty and membership cards you lug around? Stocard not only lets you digitize all those cards so they’re accessible in a single mobile app, it even works with your Android Wear watch to display them. This means you just need to let the cashier scan your watch, instead of physical cards or your smartphone, to collect your rewards or access your gym.

Amazon App Store Google Play

Google Slides

Here is a new incentive to use the latest version of Google Slides for your presentations: You can now use your Android Wear smartwatch to both timekeep and remotely control your slides. The only catch is that you need to first “cast” your slides to a Chromecast-enabled display, or present them in a video call, before your watch will transform into a slick presentation remote.

Google Play

If by IFTTT

Let’s be real, app developers aren’t mind readers who know exactly what functions you need, so why not create your own with IF by IFTTT? Short for the programming lingo “If This Then That,” this meta-app lets you create “recipes” that link two unrelated apps in order to create an action. For example, you can tell the app to send a copy of every photo you take with your phone to your Android Wear watch.

Amazon App Store Google Play

Tinder

Start planning for your hot date tonight by swiping right or left through Tinder — on your wrist. With the dating app bringing its features to Android Wear, you’ll be able to check out potential dates in your area, see notifications on new matches, as well as respond to their messages, right on your watch. Just to make it extra easy to access the app, you can even use your voice to tell Google to open Tinder on your smartwatch.

Amazon App Store Google Play

Medisafe Meds & Pill Reminder

Everyone can use a gentle reminder to take their medication, whether you’re taking vitamins or caring for someone with a strict pill schedule. You’ll need to spend a bit of time entering every pill — including its color and shape — into the mobile app the first time you open it, but it’ll be well worth it when your watch buzzes and notifies you of the exact pill and dosage you need to take. No more excuses for forgetting, or taking the wrong meds!

Amazon App Store Google Play

BAE Systems plans for submarines that can be piloted in virtual reality

Why it matters to you

Using VR to pilot submarines could allow for remote navigation, or simply give captains a way to better stay in control of their vessels using detailed sensor data.

When it comes to exploring groundbreaking new technologies with the potential to shape our future, few companies can measure up to United Kingdom defense giant BAE Systems. From military drones that can be “grown” using chemistry in large-scale labs to energy-scattering deflector shields, BAE has long played a role in bringing sci-fi-sounding tech to life.

Its latest concept? A method for controlling submarines using virtual reality headsets.

The tech would collect data from the various sensors dotted around a submarine, and then relay this information to the submarine captain in the form of a detailed VR simulation, created using the Unity graphics engine. The idea is that this would allow the captain to “teleport” themselves around a simulation of their submarine to get multiple different views of it as they pilot it, a bit like switching perspectives in a racing game — but with the benefit of real-time information.

This could be done either with the captain on board, or from elsewhere, with the craft controlled remotely.

It could also provide additional information about different systems within the sub, thereby making analyzing this data more intuitive. This wouldn’t have to be limited to navigation purposes. For instance, in one example given, VR could be used to check details of the submarine in the event that a pipe or piece of material has to be replaced — such as whether a replacement will fit in particularly narrow parts of the sub.

A demo of the tech was shown off last week at the U.K.’s Virtual Reality World Congress in Bristol. However, don’t necessarily expect it to arrive any time soon. Speaking to the U.K.’s The Sun newspaper, a BAE Systems representative said the project could take decades to be fully completed and implemented, by which point VR technology will have moved on significantly from where it is today.

As the group has told Digital Trends previously, BAE’s work is to keep an eye on the future and make sure it is anticipating where things will go.

“One of the things that we do within BAE Systems is to carry out trend analysis — whether those are political, sociological, environmental or technological,” Nick Colosimo, BAE Systems’ futurist and technologist, told us. “What these trends do is to tell us something about the future, and from that we can generate a series of ‘so what?’ questions about the difference this will make to those of us in defense. What are the things we need to worry about or be aware of, and how do we best stay on the front foot?”

Save up to $85 on today’s best Amazon Gold Box tech deals

Tuesday’s Amazon Gold Box deals feature a 27-inch monitor that’s ideal for gaming, an ultrasmart brain-sensing headband to help you meditate, and a handy USB hub that turns one port into 10. These deals provide savings of up to $83 and discounts as steep as 42 percent. Read on to browse Amazon’s best tech deals of the day.

ViewSonic VX2757-MHD 27-Inch FreeSync Monitor

Adding a second monitor can make a world of difference in your workstation, as long as you invest in one that can handle everything you do, including gaming and other multimedia activities. For a top-notch monitor with all the perks you could want, consider this ViewSonic VX2757-MHD 27-Inch FreeSync Monitor, which is currently 35 percent off on Amazon.

The 27-inch monitor is built for gaming and entertainment, with VESA Adaptive-Sync Technology that seamlessly synchronizes the framerate output between your graphics card and the monitor for a dynamic refresh rate. It effectively eliminates image tearing, stuttering, and jerkiness for smooth gameplay. Add in the ultrafast 2ms response time, and you get a monitor that delivers smooth images without streaking, blurring or ghosting. The Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) monitor comes complete with HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA inputs, allowing you to set it up with both desktops and laptops.

The ViewSonic VX2757-MHD 27-Inch FreeSync Monitor normally retails for $240 but is currently discounted to just $157 on Amazon, providing an $83 (35 percent) discount.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband

Ever wonder what’s really happening in your brain when you try to tune out the world? Get accurate, real-time feedback on your brain activity during meditation with Muse, the Brain Sensing Headband, which is currently 20 percent off on Amazon. This smart device is the first of its kind to use the same brain-sensing technology that doctors and scientists employ to detect your brain signals.

Muse acts as your personal meditation assistant, helping you to positive results in as little as three minutes per day. Personalized tracking, motivational challenges, and rewards encourage you to build a more regular and effective meditation practice. The device trains your brain to relax into meditation by playing peaceful weather sounds when you’re calm and more intense weather sounds when your mind begins to wander, guiding your focus back to a calm state.

Your brain is constantly generating electrical signals when you’re thinking, sleeping or even relaxing, and Muse detects these signals from outside your head using seven finely calibrated sensors. After each session, you can review your data, set goals, and build a more rewarding meditation experience.

Muse normally retails for $249, but right now you can score one on for $200 on Amazon, providing a $49 (20 percent) savings.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Aukey Powered USB Hub

Do you find yourself constantly switching out charging devices and cords to make use of a single USB port? Stop wasting time, energy, and focus and get all the ports you need at once with this Aukey Powered USB Hub, which is currently 42 percent off on Amazon.

The perfect addition to any desktop or laptop setup, this hub multiplies your connectivity by turning one USB 3.0 port on your laptop or desktop into 10 USB 3.0 ports, enough for all of your USB devices. It also acts as a 12V/3A power adapter and can support data transfers of up 5Gbps.

The hub is compact and portable, fitting easily into any existing workstation setup. It not only conserves desk space at your home or the office, it’s also stylish enough to leave out in the open, thanks to a refined matte metallic aluminum body. Even better, setup is easy and fast, with no extra software or drivers required.

This Aukey Powered USB Hub normally retails for $60 but is currently discounted to $35 on Amazon, saving you $25 (42 percent).

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Pandora expands availability of Premium streaming service to everyone

Why it matters to you

If you always wanted to choose what songs you listen to on Pandora, now you can with its Premium service.

Now, everyone who uses Pandora can enjoy having zero ads and the ability to select specific songs. Pandora’s $10 per month on-demand subscription Premium is now available to anyone in a country where the stream service is available.

When Pandora Premium debuted in March, only users who requested an invite were able to sign up for the service and its 40 million song catalog. Now, you can simply go to Pandora Premium site and sign up with your credit card or PayPal account as your payment method. For mobile devices, you can access the upgrade option on Pandora Premium by going to the settings section of the Pandora app.

If you sign up for Premium through the Pandora website you will get 60 days of Pandora Premium for free. Upgrading or signing up via the mobile app will only get you 30 days of Pandora Premium for free.

Pandora’s most recent foray into the monthly subscription business came in September with Pandora Plus. Plus is the traditional Pandora radio experience you are accustomed to, but you get unlimited skips, no advertisements, offline listening, and unlimited replays. Plus costs $5 per month, but Plus users who upgrade to Premium get six months of the on-demand service for free. Both services now have the same amount of songs, according to reports.

In conjunction with the expansion of its subscription service, Pandora started its Sounds Like You ad campaign featuring photos of 18 popular artists next to a collage of albums they felt were meaningful. The campaign will also have short form videos directed by Academy Award winner Michel Gondry, custom Snapchat filters for Pandora and even a custom Pandora emoji on Twitter.

Pandora has 81 million active listeners but has fewer than 5 million people paying monthly for Pandora Plus. Making Premium available to everyone could help it catch up to the subscription streaming competition of Spotify and Apple Music.

New iMacs may have Xeon processors that protect your data from cosmic rays

Why it matters to you

Apple’s new iMacs are poised to hit the market amid some fierce competition, but powerful internal components could give Apple an edge.

Following a roundtable discussion about the future of the iMac and Mac Pro, it appears that Apple is hard at work on new “server-grade” iMacs, according to reports from supply chain manufacturers in Taiwan.

Digitimes reports that the new iMac will feature server-grade materials like an Intel Xeon E3-1285 v6 processor, and 16 to 64 GB of ECC RAM — a form of memory designed to protect against data corruption that can be caused by cosmic radiation. Seriously.

ECC RAM, or error-correcting code memory, protects your data from “single-bit errors,” which can actually be caused by cosmic rays. These single-bit errors don’t pose a huge threat to most users, but if you handle financial or scientific data on a regular basis, these random errors can be a big deal. By using ECC RAM users who handle very sensitive data can ensure their systems are extraordinarily stable.

The upgraded iMac components will include a new AMD GPU, and could include a desktop-grade discrete GPU, which would be a big improvement over the mobile GPUs in the current lineup. But that remains to be seen, as the Digitimes report only mentions that the new iMacs will feature discrete GPUs.

The new iMacs will hit the market amid competition from Microsoft’s high-end all-in-one, the Surface Studio. Digitimes Research claims HP and Asus could announce their own Surface Studio competitors this year, meaning the iMac could hit store shelves amid a crowded field of competitive high-end all-in-one PCs.

It’s a small segment of the market, but it could see some important growth in 2017 with major manufacturers like Apple and Microsoft going head-to-head with powerful, high-end all-in-ones.

According to supply chain reports, the new iMacs are going into production in May, and should be coming out just in time for the holiday season. There’s still no word on pricing, but you can bet those server-grade components are going to come with a hefty price tag.

Facebook Workplace adds file-sharing, bots, and more to stick it to Slack

Why it matters to you

With these updates, Facebook’s productivity solution is growing into a compelling alternative to Slack and other competitors.

Facebook has made a big push into the corporate space with Workplace, its business-oriented social and productivity platform that looks and feels an awful lot like regular Facebook, but is geared toward productivity. The social networking pioneer announced a variety of new features for Workplace, including support for various file-sharing services, task automation “bots,” and more, at its annual F8 developer conference.

Box, Microsoft, and Salesforce, which owns productivity software creator Quip, are all supported by Workplace from this point forward — a boon to businesses that already rely on those services, and could benefit from Facebook’s up-and-coming Slack competitor. Deeper integration means you’ll now be able to seamlessly move from Workplace into these third-party apps, with the help of rich, detailed thumbnails in messages and posts.

Bots will be another major part of Workplace in the future, as they can be summoned in direct or group conversations to quickly solve issues. For example, an employee could notify a repair bot of an equipment failure, which would in turn create an IT ticket or immediately attempt to find someone who could fix the issue.

Simon Cross, Workplace’s product manager, said that bots will “help people weave Workplace into their daily workflow,” and that developers have already created hundreds of powerful custom bots built to handle a wide variety of tasks, from streamlining tech support to organizing a food run.

Facebook Live is also making its way to Workplace — allowing colleagues to communicate from anywhere at anytime — and the company has doubled down on live-streaming by adding compatibility for professional audio and video equipment.

Finally, Facebook says it is shoring up Workplace’s cooperation with compliance and regulatory systems already in place at many businesses. These efforts should aid in securely exporting documents, especially in cases relating to legal proceedings, and ensuring that only the relevant parties receive pertinent information.

Many enterprises would scoff at new or unfamiliar productivity solutions that weren’t developed with these serious concerns in mind, and in recognizing that, Facebook has lent Workplace some much-needed credibility among professional clients.

According to Facebook, Workplace has already been put to use at more than 14,000 companies, including such Fortune 500 names as Starbucks, and currently boasts a combined 400,000 users.

Facebook Workplace adds file-sharing, bots, and more to stick it to Slack

Why it matters to you

With these updates, Facebook’s productivity solution is growing into a compelling alternative to Slack and other competitors.

Facebook has made a big push into the corporate space with Workplace, its business-oriented social and productivity platform that looks and feels an awful lot like regular Facebook, but is geared toward productivity. The social networking pioneer announced a variety of new features for Workplace, including support for various file-sharing services, task automation “bots,” and more, at its annual F8 developer conference.

Box, Microsoft, and Salesforce, which owns productivity software creator Quip, are all supported by Workplace from this point forward — a boon to businesses that already rely on those services, and could benefit from Facebook’s up-and-coming Slack competitor. Deeper integration means you’ll now be able to seamlessly move from Workplace into these third-party apps, with the help of rich, detailed thumbnails in messages and posts.

Bots will be another major part of Workplace in the future, as they can be summoned in direct or group conversations to quickly solve issues. For example, an employee could notify a repair bot of an equipment failure, which would in turn create an IT ticket or immediately attempt to find someone who could fix the issue.

Simon Cross, Workplace’s product manager, said that bots will “help people weave Workplace into their daily workflow,” and that developers have already created hundreds of powerful custom bots built to handle a wide variety of tasks, from streamlining tech support to organizing a food run.

Facebook Live is also making its way to Workplace — allowing colleagues to communicate from anywhere at anytime — and the company has doubled down on live-streaming by adding compatibility for professional audio and video equipment.

Finally, Facebook says it is shoring up Workplace’s cooperation with compliance and regulatory systems already in place at many businesses. These efforts should aid in securely exporting documents, especially in cases relating to legal proceedings, and ensuring that only the relevant parties receive pertinent information.

Many enterprises would scoff at new or unfamiliar productivity solutions that weren’t developed with these serious concerns in mind, and in recognizing that, Facebook has lent Workplace some much-needed credibility among professional clients.

According to Facebook, Workplace has already been put to use at more than 14,000 companies, including such Fortune 500 names as Starbucks, and currently boasts a combined 400,000 users.