BEIJING - The Microsoft-run search engine Bing was unavailable in mainland China late Wednesday, raising concerns among some social media users that it could be the latest foreign website to be blocked by censors. It is not clear whether Bing has joined China's long list of prohibited websites or if its China service is experiencing technical difficulties. Facebook, Twitter and a host of Western media websites are blocked in China. While its rival Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010, Bing has continued to operate in the country along with Microsoft-owned Skype. On Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media site, people complained about the lack of access, with some speculating that Bing too had been "walled off.

Late last year we hosted SDL's Japan Customer Summit, a one-day event attended by close to 50 of Japan's leading companies from all industries including retail, life sciences, automotive and finance. While the event itself has passed, we wanted to reflect on some of the key highlights that came out of the event and what we heard from a number of industry specialists. The event itself played host to a raft of experts from across SDL, exploring the latest developments in AI and Machine Learning (click here to read part 1 of this blog). This blog looks at the second half of the day, which covered practical use cases and scenarios where we showed how the latest technological developments can offer the greatest impact on a business. Mihai Vlad, VP of Machine Learning, explored the world of Machine Learning, more specifically how the accuracy of Machine Translation affects the ROI of content.

Sony's puppy-sized robot dog Aibo, equipped with cameras, artificial intelligence and internet capability, can now remotely check up on family members, children or even pets, the Japanese electronics giant said Wednesday. The 30-centimetre (one-foot) robopup with flapping ears and cutting-edge LED eyes will roam around the home at pre-designated times looking for family members. However, the latest canine tech does not come cheap, with a single dog costing nearly $3,000 for a three-year package, including software services such as data storage. The latest aibo model, which can also display'emotions', was released in January last year and sales hit 20,000 in the first six months, according to Sony The owner will receive progress reports via smartphone in the service offered from next month in conjunction with home security company Secom. 'You will be able to check how remote family members are doing or what children are doing when they get home,' project chief Izumi Kawanishi told reporters at the Sony headquarters in Tokyo.

China is taking its Big Brother approach to government one step further with plans to use CCTV cameras and artificial intelligence to follow people across the country. The plan from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) would use the nation's network of surveillance to find wanted civilians. Known as EnsembleNet, the programme was trained using 2,000 clips from CCTV footage and is 90 per cent accurate, the firm claims. Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is hoping to use the nation's network of surveillance to find wanted civilians. Body shapes and discernible features are spotted, remembered and scanned for in other footage in the database.

A London football club has appointed an artificial intelligence coach to select its team's formation and tactics. Non-league Wingate and Finchley FC, who play in the seventh tier of English football, partnered with AI firm The Big Bang Fair to install the AI coach in an effort to get an edge over rivals. The smart speaker will be linked to a computer and use information spoken to it by coaches to make tactical suggestions and even provide Kevin Keegan-style inspirational quotes. The manager could, for example, ask Alexa what the best formation would be. The AI would then ask a series of questions about the team and the opponents before proposing an answer.

The Salary Benchmark report for 2019 by Michael Page was released yesterday. The report predicts strong hiring activity to continue (especially in the technology sector) and a general broadening of roles. Nicolas Dumoulin, Managing Director at Michael Page India stated, "Movement among senior level professionals can be attributed to the growth of India's industries and the availability of talent. This explains the key employment activity within the mid and large manufacturing organizations specializing in chemicals, building materials as well as domestic consumer companies." He added that the injection of new funds in the private equity sector has also led to a growth in senior level hiring.

Paval Botica, chief officer on CMA CGM's Benjamin Franklin container ship, checks a monitor off Guangzhou, China, in 2016. The startup Shone is outfitting CMA CGM ships with situational awareness systems, a first step toward autonomous operation. The next time you hop on a ferry, take a look at the captain's bridge. There may not be a human at the helm much longer. Ships around the world are beginning a transformation into autonomous machines, leveraging the same advances in artificial intelligence that are shaking up the automotive world.

LG Electronics (LG) recently unveiled its instinctual range of AI-powered technology to offer consumers an unparalleled and personalized living experience. Introducing its ThinQ AI platform at CES 2019, LG believes AI and robotics now have the potential and feasibility to assist human functions and improve lives with smart and tailored solutions. LG focuses on the application of AI as an intelligent lifestyle aid, offering unique experiences that learn from and resonate with a user's habits. LG CLOi robots each serve a unique purpose, meeting the demands of different environments with increased efficiency. The SuitBot is a wearable device marketed at facilitating workplace lifting.

The potential alliance of German companies, which include Continental and Robert Bosch, would pool their resources to move forward more quickly as they race to keep up with rapid technological advances in the United States and China, the report said.

Sony has made Aibo much harder to resist for people who love chocolate-colored dogs. The tech giant has launched a tricolor version of its robotic canine with two shades of brown, and it's now available for pre-order in Japan. Since it's pretty much just a recolored release with no differences in hardware and software, it also costs 198,000 JPY (US$1,800) like the original Aibo, not including taxes and subscription fees. Sony promises to roll out a new security feature now that it has teamed up with security firm Secom, though. According to Engadget Japanese, the company will offer a 1,480 yen-a-month security feature in Japan starting in June, which will take advantage the robot's capabilities to recognize faces and to create indoor maps. The new service will give Aibo the capability to patrol the house and make sure all family members are safe and sound.