Estonia is first in the EU to let cute delivery bots on sidewalks

Starship Technologies’ delivery bots have been dropping off lunches in Europe and the US with increasing regularity, and governments are slowly warming to the idea. State legislatures in Virginia and Idaho recently granted official permission for small delivery robots to operate on sidewalks, and now Estonia(!) has offered its approval as well. The measure passed 86 to 0 in the country’s parliament yesterday, making Estonia the first country in the EU to officially bless these adorable, food-slinging robots.

There are, obviously, a few stipulations. The robots in question can’t be taller than one meter, longer than 1.2 meters, or weigh more than 50 kilograms. The front and sides of the machine must also be white, with prominent, red rear reflectors and lights for evening visibility. Starship’s six-wheeled machines already seem to fit the criteria and might be the most prominent, but the company definitely isn’t alone its in quest to deliver goodies via semi-intelligent robowagon: rivals Dispatch and Marble have been operating out of California for some time.

That Estonia was first to the table on this issue isn’t really a surprise. For one, the country has proven to be a remarkably progressive one where technology is concerned. Remember: this is the country where you can charge your electric car almost anywhere, vote online in general elections and become a “digital citizen” (complete with handy ID) without actually having to live there. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Starship Technologies maintains an engineering office in Estonia, and that co-founder and CEO Ahti Heinla is a native Estonian.

With this technology as nascent as it is, many governments probably don’t think immediate official stances are necessary yet. That said, others aren’t convinced about letting autonomous delivery bots roam freely on streets and sidewalks. Most recently, San Francisco’s city supervisor Norman Yee proposed legislation to keep the machines off of pedestrian paths because of the potential threat they pose to public safety.

Source: Starship Technologies (Twitter)

Facebook is countering terrorism with AI and human sleuths

With a user base of nearly 2 billion people, Facebook’s global influence is nearly unrivaled, making it a potent platform for extremist ideologies. And while the company has long sought to limit the reach of such hateful speech, it hasn’t always been forthcoming in how it was going about doing so. That changed Thursday, when Facebook released the first transparency report in its Hard Questions series: “How We Counter Terrorism”.

“Our stance is simple: There’s no place on Facebook for terrorism,” Monika Bickert, Director of Global Policy Management, and Brian Fishman, Counterterrorism Policy Manager, wrote. “We believe technology, and Facebook, can be part of the solution.”

To that end, the company has leveraged a mix of artificial intelligence systems and human expertise to combat extremist threats posted on its site. AI is a fairly new addition to Facebook’s arsenal but is already being used for automated image recognition, which recognizes known extremist images and prevents them from being uploaded. The company is also reportedly training a neural network to recognize and remove written text that praises or supports terrorist organizations like ISIS.

Facebook’s AI is also capable enough to search through related “clusters” of posts and pages to find other offending materials as well as recognize when previously banned users attempt to create new accounts. The company hopes to expand these features to its other apps, like Instagram, in the future.

As for the company’s human-based moderation, Facebook still greatly depends on the users to self-police and report each other. However they are expanding their Community Operations teams by 3,000 employees over the next year to help address reports faster. What’s more, Facebook now employs a 150-member “strike team” of sorts. These specialists — academics, former prosecutors and law enforcement — are focused either primarily or exclusively on counterterrorism-related tasks.

Of course, Facebook isn’t going it alone. The company has partnered with others in the tech industry such as Microsoft and Twitter to create a common database of “hashes” identifying terrorist material and propaganda. Facebook is also working with governments, turning over whatever information they can to law enforcement of E2E encrypted messages that pass through its network.

Source: Facebook

Logitech’s wireless-mouse charging tech feels like a miracle

Logitech’s main mission at E3 this year: proving to gamers that wireless mice are just as capable, and sometimes more so, than their corded counterparts. The company revealed two innovations at the show: Lightspeed, its low-latency wireless-transmission technology, and PowerPlay, a way to charge mice while using them on a custom mat. Both solve the main complaints some gamers have around wireless mice: that they’re laggy and could lose charge at any moment.

PowerPlay is the most intriguing of the two, since it’s something we’ve never seen before in the mouse arena. High-end wireless mice might give you a charging cradle, while others usually pack in a cable in the box to juice back up. The idea that your mouse can just stay charged while you’re using it throughout the day is wholly original. The $100 PowerPlay system includes two mouse pads (a soft and hard version), as well as a charging mat that sits underneath them. It uses electromagnetic resonance to keep mice juiced up, something that would appeal to anyone who appreciates Nikola Tesla’s vision of wireless power.

Logitech representatives on hand at E3 were quick to point out that their previous generation of gaming mice also featured very low latencies, Lightspeed just goes a step further to appease anxious gamers. It’s releasing two new mice — the $100 G703 and $150 G903 — that support the new technology, and they also include integration for PowerPlay. Ideally, Logitech wants gamers to invest in both the new mice and the wireless charging solution. That’s an expensive proposition, but gamers are used to spending exorbitant amounts of money on high-end mice and keyboards.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

In my brief hands on session with the G703 and G903, both mice felt smooth and incredibly responsive. The G703 is smaller and has fewer buttons, but it held up to an Overwatch session that involved lots of fast movement. The G903 felt more contoured to my hand, and if I was a more serious PC gamer, I’d appreciate its configurable buttons. Both mice rely on a small puck that sits at their base to handle the wireless charging. What’s most impressive about that technology? It’s hard to notice it’s even there. A small LED on the PowerPlay pad indicates that the mouse is charging — but that’s it.

Even though I play plenty of games on my PC, I’ve never shied away from wireless mice. But more serious gamers, especially those involved in eSports, still have their superstitions around them. It’s unclear if Logitech can actually tempt them over, but both Lightspeed and PowerPlay are the strongest arguments yet that you shouldn’t overlook wireless mice.

Logitech’s PowerPlay system isn’t coming out until August, but we’ll definitely take a closer look then.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

In a bid to improve its service, Emirates introduces….AR

Emirates is looking to boost customer service and improve the travel experience with the help of AR. The airline wants to equip its staff with AR goggles that would help them tailor service to each customer.

Emirates has had a history of incorporating premium features in order to lure and retain customers. That includes offerings like large onboard bars as well as complimentary Surface tablets to use inflight for those affected by the US electronics ban. And other airlines have turned to upgraded features to pull in more passengers — offering more comfortable seating and fast WiFi.

The airline, which earlier this year posted the first decline in profits it has seen in five years, has also had to start charging customers to choose their seats. And Emirates’ Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Christoph Mueller, is spearheading the push to retain passengers in the face of large, budget airline rivals.

But this move feels a little gimmicky. There aren’t many details about how Emirates plans to use the AR gear and it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s just jumping on the AR/VR hype in a bout of desperation.

Mueller envisions the goggles being used to give flight staff more information on a passenger’s travel preferences so that they can personalize their service. The AR goggles might also be offered to passengers to assist with airport navigation or food menu browsing. But with current AR goggles still quite large and cumbersome, it doesn’t seem that they’ll fit in with the Emirates’ look quite yet.

Source: Bloomberg

Popular GTA modder tool receives a Cease and Desist from Take Two

After nearly ten years in operation, popular Grand Theft Auto modder software OpenIV has been taken offline by its developers after they reportedly received a cease and desist letter from Take Two Interactive.

GooD-NTS, OpenIV’s lead developer posted to the GTA Reddit forums on Thursday that he had received a letter on June 5th, 2017 that was “illiterate both technically and grammatically” demanding that the software be taken down because it would “allow third parties to defeat security features of its software and modify that software in violation Take-Two’s rights.”

“Yes, we can go to court and yet again prove that modding is fair use and our actions are legal. Yes, we could. But we decided not to,” GooD-NTS said. “Going to court will take at least few months of our time and huge amount of efforts, and, at best, we’ll get absolutely nothing. Spending time just to restore status quo is really unproductive, and all the money in the world can’t compensate the loss of time.”

OpenIV is a powerful modding tool enabling users to create everything from “Red v. Blue”-style machinimas to adding entirely new vehicles and weapons to the game. We’ve reached out to Take Two Interactive for confirmation and comment and will update the post upon their reply.

Via: EuroGamer

Source: Reddit

HP is turning trash into printer cartridges

All those printer cartridges from HP that usually cost an arm and leg will start helping to do some good in the world beyond your prints of kitten photos. During an event at its headquarters, HP announced that it is using recycled plastic from Haiti to manufacture select printer cartridges.

The initiative will help create jobs in Haiti and provide educational opportunities and scholarships for children. More importantly its goal is to get the kids that are collecting recycled bottles out of landfills and into schools. Plus, it helps support their parents and other adults with safety and job training. The partnership will also help provide medical care.

HP is teaming up with Thread, a company that already uses recycled bottles from Haiti and Honduras to create clothes. The fabric it produces is used by Timberland and Kenneth Cole. In addition to cleaning up the world and helping create a job market, Thread is trying to reduce child labor by creating an environment that employs older family members. Part of that includes starting a coalition that HP is part of.

The First Mile coalition which includes HP, Thread, Timberland, Team Tassy and ACOP helps get kids in school in addition to offering employment opportunities for adults and medical care. Of course it also reduces the amount of plastic bottles that end up in landfills and in our oceans. So maybe paying those high ink prices is worth it.

Source: HP

The ‘reinvented’ ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ feels mostly the same

Microsoft gave us the first glimpse of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed during its Xbox One X reveal at E3. A day later, Ubisoft discussed the details about how it took a year off from the franchise to “reinvent” the game. Well, after spending some time playing on that newly announced console, what Ubisoft is showing off this week isn’t a huge revelation, it’s a continuation.

There’s no need to dance around the obvious: Assassin’s Creed Origins looks amazing in 4K. You’ve heard us say that a lot this week about games on the Xbox One X, but the visuals really are stunning. The details of ancient Egypt on display here are a pleasure to take in. Sand, textures and other elements are crisp and clear, creating a visually compelling setting for the game. This 20-minute session also reminded me that I should just go ahead and buy that 4K TV.

The game doesn’t launch until October 27th, so Ubisoft is only showing a few pieces of the story here at E3. My session started in the desert, galloping on horseback towards a small port on the water. The gameplay feels mostly the same as other Assassin’s Creed games. There are lots of parkour-style acrobatics, sword wielding and close-up interaction with the villagers.

Since this is indeed a genesis story, you’ll be able to see details about where the rituals of the Assassin’s Brotherhood came from. The group hasn’t been formed at this point, because the ancient Egyptian warrior hasn’t started it yet. New to Origins is Bayek’s ability to summon Senu, an eagle that gives the protagonist an aerial view of enemies without having to scale a wall. And as you might have guessed, Senu is the living version of Eagle Vision — a mainstay of other games in the franchise.

In a portion of the campaign I played, Senu helped Bayek spot enemies on a couple of boats sitting in the harbor. This allows him to be as efficient as possible when trying to retrieve a couple of items. It’s certainly an interesting twist on Eagle Vision and one that makes a ton of sense for this origin story.

I was also able to take on some enemies in the game’s battle arena. Waves of fighters come at you, putting those warrior skills to the test. And yes, of course, there’s a massive guy you have to take care of at the very end. During this section of the game, the retooled combat system is on display.

When you’re fighting in Assassin’s Creed Origins, you’ll need to be a bit more precise with your strikes. Meaning, you have to time blows and their location a little differently to be successful in combat rather than mashing the attack button. Your enemies have this ability, too, which adds a layer of strategy to combat that previous games in the series lacked. The new combat system also harnesses adrenaline to power attacks. Build up energy while you fight and you’ll be able to deliver heavier blows.

The origin story for the Assassin’s Brotherhood and the combat refinements should make this game attractive to existing fans of the franchise. It could also be a solid starting place for newcomers looking to enter the game world in some kind of Star Wars-esque order. And unlike a lot of games being hyped here at E3, Assassin’s Creed Origins will be available to play this fall. We don’t have to wait long to see if Ubisoft overstated its case, or if this new installment in the franchise really is a rebirth of sorts.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Subway hopes touchscreens will bust up its sales slump

It couldn’t be that their bread used to contain the same chemicals as yoga mats. It certainly isn’t the fact that their high-profile spokesman of 15 years is now serving 15 more in federal prison on charges of sex with minors and child pornography. No, no, no. Obviously the reason that Subway’s sales have been in a three-year slump, one of the worst in company history, is that their restaurants aren’t sufficiently high tech.

To solve this perceived issue, Subway is introducing self-service touchscreen kiosks in its stores and rolling out a mobile app similar to what Panera Bread debuted in mid-2014. It also plans to install digital menu boards and offer free wi-fi at some locations.

“It’s really a vision and strategy in how we want to evolve,” Carman Wenkoff, Subway’s chief information and digital officer, told Bloomberg. “Customers are demanding a more complete experience.”

Subway’s woes aren’t entirely customer-side, either. The company is facing stiff competition from the rest of the fast food industry which is nearly universally moving towards healthier food options (the meat monstrosity that is the Carl’s Jr Baby Back Rib Burger notwithstanding), a market niche that Subway used to dominate. What’s more, many fast food chains are similarly upgrading their technology offerings for customers including many of the same things Subway is: free wi-fi, digital signage, mobile apps — McDonald’s will now even deliver your order to your door.

Whatever the cause, Subway saw a 1.7 percent drop in its US sales last year, the third straight year they’ve done so. As a result the company has already announced that it will be closing hundreds of locations. And, according to research firm IBISWorld, 2017 looks to be more of the same.

Source: Bloomberg

Line’s cute AI speakers are unimpressed by your mindless requests

We knew Japanese messaging giant Line was working on an AI assistant called Clova, and that it would first inhabit a clever-looking smart speaker called the Wave. What we only just discovered, however, is that Clova’s next physical avatars would include an unamused duck and a bear that always looks just a little disappointed.

In case you mostly chat on other platforms, these characters are based on a slew of stickers Line users can hurl at each other inside the app. Line hasn’t confirmed whether these Clova-powered speakers — collectively known as the Champ series — would embody their characters in different ways. Different voices, anyone?

Still, the laundry list of features Clova brings to the table is considerable, especially since Amazon’s Alexa doesn’t work in Japan yet. So far, we know that these speakers will let you manage calendars and to-do lists, check the weather, control compatible appliances and have “casual conversations” directly through the Line service.

Japanese Line fanatics won’t be able to get their hands on the Champ speakers until this winter at the earliest, but the wait is probably for the best. Remember that first Clova-powered speaker we mentioned? Line admits it’s going to soft-launch this summer with one of its major features — support for the company’s music streaming service — hobbled. A complete version of the Wave will go on sale in the fall, which means that users itching for a duck-flavored Champ should get access to the full extent of Clova’s features the moment they go on sale. Here’s hoping Google responds with a version of the Google Home that looks like a bugdroid — Mountain View’s smart speaker will touch down in Japan by the end of the summer.

Apple wants you to store your entire medical history on your iPhone

Why it matters to you

Having your own personal medical database on your smartphone could make receiving the proper care much, much easier.

Apple’s iOS Health app is mostly used for exercise and wellness monitoring and storing basic patient information in its current state. However, if a recent report is true, the company could be eyeing a massive shift with future versions of the app: full-on medical record-keeping and clinical data.

A handful of individuals with knowledge of the “secret” initiative inside the company have related to CNBC that Apple has been meeting with health care administrators and developers to build a system where users would be able to carry a complete copy of their medical history on their devices. Every blood test, prescription, diagnosis, or inoculation would be accounted for — empowering patients to easily and quickly share information between care providers.

Apple is reportedly looking to leverage its cloud storage capabilities and recent acquisitions of development talent in the health care space to make the project a reality. The company has hired top engineers and experts associated with the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources platform (FHIR), which is increasingly being used to exchange patient records.

Conquering the crisis of information sharing in the medical field would be a major boon to doctors and individuals alike, as a lack of data can lead to misdiagnoses and stalls in patient care. As it stands now, Apple’s Health software can be used to keep a snapshot of a person’s height, weight, and blood type as a sort of digital ID card, and import specific documents — though it can’t store much else.

There is no telling quite how much progress Apple has made in this project. It’s also worth stating that Google and Microsoft attempted similar programs years ago and ultimately failed. The difference is that many facilities already rely on iOS devices — so for them it shouldn’t require any new hardware or unfamiliar software.

Apple’s Health app was unveiled alongside iOS 8 in 2014, and already features a HealthKit API so third-party developers of fitness and wellness apps can make use of the data it collects.