Science & Technology News – Page 275

AI, Entertainment, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Boston Dynamics’ first consumer product might be a battle bot

June 18, 2019

Boston Dynamics’ faintly terrifying quadruped dog robot—SpotMini—was first announced in 2016 and is expected to go on sale later this year. The robot has a whole lot of whizzy sensors and cameras, spindly mechanical legs, a creepy grabber arm that opens doors, and mind-bogglingly impressive robotics technology. (It’s expected to carry a five-digit price tag—a fitting sum to bring the uncanny valley direct to your home.)

But it’s never been very clear what, exactly, the point of Spot is—especially as a consumer product.

Continue reading… “Boston Dynamics’ first consumer product might be a battle bot”

Big Problems, Green Friendly, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Robert Downey Jr. announces footprint coalition to clean up the world with advanced tech

June 15, 2019

Robert Downey Jr. used his part of the opening keynote for Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas Tuesday evening to announce the launch of a new organization that is committed to using advanced technologies for the good of the environment. The Footprint Coalition, as the group is called, is scheduled to officially launch by April of 2020.

“Between robotics and nanotechnology, we could clean up the planet significantly, if not totally, in 10 years,” Downey Jr. said, relaying that he had been given these insights a few weeks back by a roundtable of experts. “God I love experts. They’re like Wikipedia with character defects,” he joked during his talk.

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Analysis, Human Behavior, Internet, Science & Technology News

Average US time spent with mobile in 2019 has increased

June 16, 2019

US Adults Spend More Time on Mobile than They Do Watching TV

For the first time ever, US consumers will spend more time using their mobile devices than watching TV, with smartphone use dominating that time spent.

Consumers’ use of smartphones will continue to make up the majority of their media consumption, but we predict that use will plateau by 2020, as consumers become increasingly uneasy about overuse of mobile devices.

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IBM, IBM Watson, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

IBM is using self-driving car technology to power a new patient monitor for seniors

June 14, 2019

The 65+ Age Group Will Make Up a Growing Portion of the US Population

IBM Watson is trying its hand at in-home health monitoring with a new system that combines IBM’s machine learning software with cutting-edge Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors to paint an accurate, real-time picture of seniors’ daily lives.

IBM’s teaming up with UK-based startup Cera Care — which links caregivers with elderly patients — to get the product into roughly a dozen patient homes in a six-month pilot phase launching in June, Reuters reports.

Here’s what it means: IBM’s making its home healthcare debut with a unique approach.

Continue reading… “IBM is using self-driving car technology to power a new patient monitor for seniors”

Crypto-Technology, facebook, Science & Technology News

Facebook plans to launch its cryptocurrency in 2020

June 15, 2019

Share of Global Consumers Who Would Switch to a Big Tech Provider for Banking Services, by Segment

Facebook is in the process of finalizing plans to launch its crypto in 2020, reports the BBC. The social media giant will roll out the digital currency in around a dozen countries by the first quarter of next year, with the company planning to begin testing for the crypto, internally dubbed GlobalCoin, by the end of this year, according to the outlet.

Here’s what it means: Facebook has tech and resources, but trust will be the currency that’ll really determine the success of its crypto project.

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Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Autonomous taxis will become a $2 trillion market, UBS says

June 14, 2019

The global autonomous taxi market could be worth over $2 trillion on an annual basis by 2030, according to estimates from UBS analysts cited by Bloomberg.

In formulating its estimates, the bank utilized its Evidence Lab to run a simulation of an autonomous taxi fleet in New York City using a “complex algorithm that performs dynamic optimal route generation and passenger-vehicle assignment considering vehicle capacity and rider demand.”

What does this mean: The rise of a new multi-trillion dollar transportation industry will likely reshape how consumers travel and automakers operate.

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Employment, Human Behavior, Intelligence, Life Skills, Science & Technology News

Why the generalist has a bright future in an increasingly automated world

June 13, 2019

The age of the specialist is giving way to the age of the Renaissance person.

It was only a matter of time before a precocious set of tweens came along and broke the damn spelling bee. And lo, after a 14-hour contest, the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee was forced to crown eight co-winners after running out of hard words.

“We’ll soon run out of words that will challenge you,” Jacques Bailly told the contestants, according to the New York Times account. “We’re throwing the dictionary at you. And so far, you are showing this dictionary who is boss.”

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Analysis, Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News

IISc team ‘confirms’ superconductivity at room temperature, backed by 8 more experts now

June 13, 2019

Levitation of a magnet on a superconductor

When it first came out, the IISc study created quite a stir because superconductivity at room temperature is seen as the holy grail of physics.

Bengaluru: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have reiterated their promising, if controversial, discovery of superconductivity at room temperature, with eight more researchers backing the finding originally put forth by a team of two last year.

The team of 10 posted a preprint of their paper on arXiv, an open repository where peers discuss academic research, last week, but it is yet to be peer-reviewed or published in any scientific journal.

Continue reading… “IISc team ‘confirms’ superconductivity at room temperature, backed by 8 more experts now”

Apple, Entertainment, Internet, Music, Science & Technology News

Apple is pulling the plug on iTunes after 18 Years

June 13, 2019

Apple CEO Steve Jobs gestures as he announces Apple ‘iTunes’ Music Store in the UK, France and Germany 15 June, 2004 at a press release party in London. The iTunes Music Store will allow music fans in the three countries the same large online2011 AFP

Apple is finally putting to rest the program that started a “music revolution.” iTunes, which helped usher in the mp3 era of music, will shutter after nearly two decades. Bloomberg reports the tech giant will announce the iTunes shutdown at a developer conference that begins Monday.

This development has been rumored for years, as subscription-based streaming services — including the company’s own Apple Music — have overtaken music downloads. According to the RIAA’s 2018 year-end report, streaming amounted to 75% of the U.S. music industry’s revenue.

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Amazon.com, Analysis, Science & Technology News, Shopping

Amazon – Redefining the 80:20 rule

June 13, 2019

The 80:20 rule is oft bandied around in the retail world and Amazon, not content with disrupting numerous retail industries and the very way we shop have even taken an established business saying and turned it on its head.

Amazon uses the 80:20 rule to demonstrate their approach to product decision making – they base selections 80% on data and 20% on experience and gut feel, whereas traditionally decisions in retail are entirely the other way around, with 20% being based on data and 80% on gut feel.

No-one can argue that the 80:20 model isn’t working well for Amazon as the company announced a near doubling of their profits for the first quarter of 2019 as it continues its expansion into new categories by using the data they generate from selling 3d party products.

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Analysis, brains, Employment, Human Behavior, Science & Technology News

Why the 8-hour workday doesn’t work

June 12, 2019

The eight-hour workday is an outdated and ineffective approach to work. If you want to be as productive as possible, you need to let go of this relic and find a new approach.

The eight-hour workday was created during the industrial revolution as an effort to cut down on the number of hours of manual labor that workers were forced to endure on the factory floor. This breakthrough was a more humane approach to work 200 years ago, yet it possesses little relevance for us today.

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Automation, Automobiles, Driverless cars, Science & Technology News

Autonomous cars : Consumer excitement soars despite barriers

June 12, 2019

Consumers believe autonomous cars will take on a larger role in their daily lives, going beyond the act of driving to also have autonomy in running errands and completing chores.

Consumer preference for riding in self-driving cars is set to double within the next five years. While only 25% of consumers would prefer to ride in a self-driving car over a traditional vehicle in 12 months’ time, over half (52%) say driverless cars will be their preferred mode of transport by 2024.

These findings have been published in Capgemini Research Institute’s report “The Autonomous Car: A Consumer Perspective.” The positive response from consumers suggests that they see huge benefits with autonomous vehicles in terms of fuel efficiency (73%), reduced emissions (71%) and saving time (50%). Such is the sense of optimism and anticipation, over half of the consumers (56%) say they would be willing to pay up to 20% more for an autonomous vehicle over a standard one.

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