Experience tech

Photo Credit: Honda It has played football with former US president Barack Obama and danced for German leader Angela Merkel, but Honda's ASIMO robot may have reached the end of the line. Launched in 2000, the humanoid machine resembling a shrunken spaceman has become arguably Japan's most famous robot, wheeled out to impress visiting politicians over the years. But Honda said Thursday it may scrap future generations of ASIMO, now on its seventh iteration. "We will still continue research into humanoid robots, but our future robots may not be named ASIMO," Honda spokesman Hajime Kaneko told AFP. The comment came after Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported that the Japanese carmaker had terminated ASIMO and dissolved the team making one of the world's most famous humanoid robots. NHK suggested increasingly intense competition in the field as a reason, pointing to the example of US-based Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot which can jump on to

Open-world action-adventure Shenmue 3 for PS4 and Windows PC doesn't have a release date, but developer Ys Net has made the game's specifications available to its backers to let them choose between getting the game on PC or PS4. While most of the system requirements are middling at best, one that stands out is the storage space. You'll need 100GB of free space to install Shenmue 3 on PC. Shenmue 3 minimum PC specifications OS : Windows 7, 8, 10 64-bit Processor : Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) or better; Quad-core or better Memory : 4GB RAM Graphics : Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better (DirectX 11 card and VRAM 2GB required) DirectX : Version 11 Network : Broadband Internet connection Storage : 100 GB available space Sound card : DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card Additional Info : requires Steam client to activate Ys Net notes the system requirements may change without notice as development continues.  Previously, it was revealed that the game will hav

Photo Credit: Airbus A ball-shaped artificial intelligence robot nicknamed the "flying brain" because it is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut, blasted off Friday toward the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship. A new, spare hand for the station's robotic arm, an experiment to measure plant stress in space and a study of a new cancer treatment were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42am (3:12pm IST). "We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station," said a  NASA  commentator as the white rocket fired its engines and lit up the skies on a dark, Florida morning. The unmanned Dragon capsule carried 5,900 pounds (2,700 kilograms) on its 15th supply mission to the orbiting lab, as part of a $1.6 billion (roughly Rs. 11,000 crores) contract with NASA. Both the capsule and the rocket ha

This claims to provide bring authenticity back to digital media US-based software company  Adobe  on Friday  announced  that it has created a new technology that uses AI and machine learning to help detect images edited using  Adobe Photoshop . In the age of rising fake news and "photoshopped" images on social media, the creator of the image-editing software seems to have come to the rescue. The company aims to increase trust and authenticity in digital media. Forensic tools are said to detect manipulation by closely examining elements like noise distribution, strong edges, lighting, and pixel values. According to Adobe's Senior Research Scientist Vlad Morariu, efforts to detect image manipulation have been on at the firm as part of the DARPA Media Forensics programme since 2016. His research suggests image manipulation can be detected using a series of methods. "We focused on three common tampering techniques - splicing, where parts of two different images

In just five and a half weeks, Mars will  make its closest approach to Earth   since August 2003. This week, we can see the Red Planet just before midnight, low in the east-southeast sky, almost matching Jupiter in brilliance and glowing like a yellowish-orange ember. And Mars continues to brighten noticeably with each passing week.   If you have been following Mars since New Year's Day, you may recall that back then, it was shining in the zodiacal constellation of Libra, the scales. At that time, it was 181 million miles (292 million kilometers) from Earth. In contrast, by the end of next week, Mars' distance from Earth will have diminished to 42.3 million miles (68.2 million km); it now shines some 25 times brighter than it did at the start of this year. Also since Jan. 1, Mars has progressed on an easterly course through the background stars of the zodiac. It currently resides in the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus, the sea goat. But on June 28, that steady eas

WhatsApp, which is testing its payments services in India, today said it is updating its terms of service and privacy policy to "reflect the addition of payment interoperability features" ahead of the full-fledged launch of the service. Almost one million people are "testing" WhatsApp's payments service in India, which is the largest base for the Facebook-owned company that has over 1.5 billion users globally. WhatsApp has over 200 million users in India. "We'll be updating our WhatsApp payments Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to provide simpler language on how the payments feature operates. It also reflects the addition of payment interoperability features we've added since the beta started," a WhatsApp spokesperson told . The spokesperson added that the company has worked closely with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), bank partners, and the Indian government on these details of how its service works. WhatsApp had receiv

Toshiba 4K UHD Smart TV is a new generation of television featuring the Fire TV experience built-in and including a Voice Remote with Alexa. With true-to-life 4K Ultra HD picture quality and access to all the movies and TV shows you love, Toshiba delivers a superior TV experience that gets smarter everyday. The Voice Remote with Alexa lets you do everything you'd expect from a remote—plus, easily launch apps, search for TV shows, play music, switch inputs, control smart home devices, and more, using just your voice. Smartbut simple in every way. Just plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and enjoy. Experience breathtaking 4K Ultra HD picture quality with more than 8 million pixels for stunning clarity, deep contrast, and vivid colors. Watch movies and TV shows come to life in Ultra

Panasonic has launched a new device in its Toughbook lineup, but this time it is a smartphone - FZ-T1. The Toughbook series is known for its rugged products and come at premium prices. Similarly, though the Panasonic FZ-T1 comes with mediocre specifications it will be available with a high price tag. However, the company is targetting a different market - the enterprise segment, so the price cannot be compared with regular Android handsets. Notably, Panasonic calls the device a 'handheld', and not a smartphone. The key features of the phone include a 5-inch display, quad-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB RAM, and more importantly Android 8.1 Oreo. The Toughbook FZ-T1 handheld can be used in the retail sector for shelf stocking, assisted sales or order taking and queue busting, says Panasonic. It comes with an integrated barcode scanner, and a host of accessories will be available at launch. An auto-range barcode reader will launch in early 2019, the company noted. Th

Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 mechanical keyboard Highlights The mechanical keyboards have 8MB onboard storage They both integrate Cherry MX Silent key switches The price of the Corsair keyboards starts at $209.99 After its CES 2018 gaming announcements , Corsair has now launched two gaming keyboards. The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 and Corsair Strafe RGB MK.2 range of mechanical gaming keyboards are available worldwide through authorised retailers and distributors, as well as direct from the Corsair.com Web store. Both the keyboards integrate Cherry MX mechanical key switches in different types including Cherry MX Red, MX Brown, MX Blue, Rapidfire MX Speed, or MX Silent key switches. The keyboards come with per-key RGB backlighting, 8MB of onboard profile storage and dedicated media keys. Both the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 and Corsair Strafe RGB MK.2 range are powered by the iCUE software, connecting all iCUE compatible products together in a single interface

The Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) has discovered a sub-Saturn or super-Neptune size planet (with mass equivalent to 27 Earths and size six times of Earth's radius) around a Sun-like star, an official statement said on Thursday. This discovery is very important for understanding the formation mechanism of such super-Neptune or sub-Saturn kind of planets that are too close to the host star and as well as planet formations around Sun-like stars, said the Space Department statement . The planet will be known as EPIC 211945201b or K2-236b. With this discovery, "India has joined a handful of countries which have discovered planets around stars beyond our solar system", it said. The research work has appeared online in Astronomical Journal of the American Astronomical Society. The discovery was made by a team of scientists and engineers led by Abhijit Chakraborty by measuring the mass of the planet using the indigenously designed "PRL

Samsung's Galaxy Note 9, Hot 100 smartphones as per the series' launch cycle, is expected to see an unveiling in the later half of 2018, with August 9 emerging as the launch date as per the last few reports. The upcoming flagship phablet's front panel is said to have been leaked that shows a design language similar to its predecessor, Galaxy Note 8. Additionally, Samsung is said to have patented a smartphone design with one of the highest screen-to-body ratios seen yet, expected allegedly to be part of future smartphones from the company's bandwagon. In a tweet by reputed tipster who goes by the alias Ice Universe, the front display panel of the Galaxy Note 9 has allegedly been revealed . The panel shown in leak suggests the Galaxy Note 9 will borrow design elements like a dual-curved display and cutouts for front camera, sensors, and earpiece from the Galaxy Note 8. However, it appears to have slim bezels than last time, on the sides, top, and bottom.

  Epic Games' battle royale sensation Fortnite is getting a PS4 Slim bundle on July 16. For the price of a standard 500GB PS4 Slim (Rs. 30,990 in India and $300 in the US), you'll also get a copy of Fortnite which includes both Fortnite Save the World and Fortnite Battle Royale in addition to a new exclusive skin called Royale Bomber as well as 500 V-bucks, Fortnite's in-game currency. This was spotted on the PlayStation Italy Facebook page by gaming site Dexterto ( via ResetEra). The timing of this move is amusing considering that Sony is facing considerable flak for its move to disallow crossplay. A decision that's been in place for the past few years but has recently gained traction after Fortnite hit the Nintendo Switch with many Fortnite PS4 players angry that their progress can't carry over to that console. Right now, there's no confirmation if India would getting the Fortnite PS4 Slim bundle. Usually, Sony India has been exceptionally pr

  Google-owned YouTube has announced several new updates to the platform including the new "Premieres" feature that would allow creators to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. Premieres are starting to roll out to creators today and will be available broadly soon, Neal Mohan, YouTube's Chief Product Officer, said in a blog post on Thursday. "When creators choose to release a Premiere, we'll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content," Mohan added. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, YouTube will enable them to chat with each other and with the creator in real time via live chat. "It's as if a creator's entire community is in one theatre together watching their latest upload," Mohan said. "Premieres" would roll out over the next two weeks, reaching select YouTubers who were beta test partners first, The Verge reported . YouTube also announced a new &

Microsoft Store has received an update on both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. The changelog of the update includes new features such as a new drop-down menu that will consolidate all items depending on Window Size, replacing the default back arrow for native Windows 10 apps with an icon next to Home, and the search bar will no longer be shown by default. All these features are available in the update with version 11805.1001.42.0 and its file size is about 54MB. The Microsoft Store update is now available, as first  reported  by Windows Blog Italia. It includes all the features that were previously being tested by participants in the Windows Insider programme. Apart from the above-mentioned features, the update brings several bug fixes and improvements to the Microsoft Store app. The updates were available to Windows Insiders in version 11805.1001.3.0. As we mentioned, this update brings minor additions to Microsoft's app store. The back button has now shifted to an arrow

Facebook announced an expansion of several initiatives Thursday to combat the spread of misinformation on the social network used by more than 2 billion people. In a  company blog , Facebook acknowledged that fake news reports and doctored content have increasingly become image-based in some countries, making it harder for readers to discern whether a photo or video related to a news event is authentic. The company said it has expanded its fact-checking of traditional links posted on Facebook to photos and videos. Partnering with third-party experts trained in visual verification, the company will also flag images that have been posted on Facebook in a misleading context, such as, for example, a photo of a previous natural disaster or shooting that is displayed as a present-day event. Facebook will also use machine-learning tools to identify duplicates of debunked stories that continue to pop up on the network. The company said that more than a billion pictures, links, vide

Electric car maker Tesla's move last week to cut 9 percent of its workforce will sharply downsize the residential solar business it bought two years ago in a controversial $2.6 billion (roughly Rs. 17,600 crores) deal, according to three internal company documents and seven current and former Tesla solar employees. The latest cuts to the division that was once SolarCity - a sales and installation company founded by two cousins of Tesla CEO Elon Musk - include closing about a dozen installation facilities, according to internal company documents, and ending a retail partnership with Home Depot that the current and former employees said generated about half of its sales. About 60 installation facilities remain open, according to an internal company list reviewed by Reuters. An internal company email named 14 facilities slated for closure, but the other list included only 13 of those locations. Tesla declined to comment on which sites it planned to shut down, how many em