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Honda’s new, smarter ASIMO brings robots closer to the mainstream

Jul16
by on July 16, 2014 at 11:33 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Asimo
Honda’s ASIMO robot has been kitted out with a suite of new updates to bring it in tune with the times. Improvements include honed intelligence, enhanced hand dexterity so it can open bottles, as well as the ability to run faster and climb more smoothly. Honda is hoping that the improvements will take robots a step closer to becoming consumer, household products. The aforementioned actions it can perform prove this to some extent, but the fact that it can recognise faces and voices of multiple speakers provides the industry with even more hope. It can even stop the action it’s…

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Nearly 100 cities will get a taste of Uber’s future for the first time this Friday

Jul16
by on July 16, 2014 at 11:22 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, uber, uber ice cream

ice cream
Uber’s aggressive global expansion has taken the $18 billion-valued private car company into well over 100 cities worldwide, many of which are about to experience a taste of the future when its ice cream delivery service goes global this Friday. The company says that the summertime initiative – which lets customers order ice cream on demand from the Uber app — will go live in 130 cities this Friday. For the record, that spans 38 countries and 6 continents, and is a significant rise on last year’s ‘Ice Cream Day’ initiative, which ran in 33 cities. A taste of the future? So what…

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Deezer quietly drops its Premium plan, now offers only free or Premium+

Jul16
by on July 16, 2014 at 10:43 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, Product Updates

RUSSIA-FRANCE-US-MUSIC-INTERNET-TELECOMS
Online music streaming service Deezer has confirmed to TNW that it no longer offers new users the option of a desktop-only Premium plan. Instead, there are now just two tiers: Free and Premium+, the latter of which costs £9.99 per month. The company told us that the option was removed for new customers on July 10, but that users already on the previous £4.99 desktop-only plan can remain on it, should they wish. “Until recently Deezer offered a Premium service – ad free listening on the Web app. We no longer offer this as our listeners needs have changed… We feel the demand for…

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This design concept shows how beautiful Wikipedia could be

Jul16
by on July 16, 2014 at 10:14 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Design & Dev

Wikipedia.jpg
We’ve all gotten used to how Wikipedia looks, but a Berlin-based interface designer recently dreamed up a whole new look for the trusty online encyclopedia. The redesign concept first appeared on George Kvasnikov‘s Behance page in April but hasn’t received that much attention yet, till it was spotted by PSFK today. Kvasnikov first carried out some research to figure out what users are looking for in Wikipedia and how they use it, and subsequently went on to create wireframes and prototypes to come up with the simplest way to navigate through articles. “Our intention was to create a more user-friendly Wikipedia with more legible…

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UK police trialing facial recognition tech that can ID individuals in seconds

Jul16
by on July 16, 2014 at 10:04 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, UK

Leicestershire Police will be the first force in the UK to conduct a six month trial of new facial recognition technology that promises to help identify individuals in just a few seconds. Called NeoFace, the system can compare any digital image (like CCTV or footage from body-worn cameras) with photos held on a police database – in this case, Leicestershire’s database containing information about more than 90,000 people. By quickly comparing measurements of key facial features it can speed up the computerized but otherwise time-consuming process of finding a match, which can sometimes take “hours”, Leicestershire Police said. The force said…

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