MOSCOW – Russia said Tuesday that a recent series of drone attacks on its military bases in Syria would have required assistance from a country possessing satellite navigation technology -- a statement that appeared to be aimed at the United States. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces repelled a series of drone attacks Saturday on the Hemeimeem air base and a naval facility in Tartus, adding that out of the 13 drones involved, seven were shot down and six were forced to land without inflicting any damage. Without blaming any specific country, the ministry said data for the attacks could only have been obtained "from one of the countries that possesses know-how in satellite navigation." In Tuesday's statement, it noted a "strange coincidence" of a U.S. military intelligence plane flying over the Mediterranean near the two Russian bases at the moment of the attack. The Pentagon denied any involvement.

All the bags use different technology to enable their auto-follow features, but the concepts are similar. You can wirelessly connect the rolling bag to a remote control, smartphone or smartwatch and the bag will follow that device while you hold a Venti iced latte in each hand. China-based 90Fun's Puppy 1 bag even uses Segway's balancing technology to cruise around on two wheels. I quickly learned this luggage of tomorrow needs more time in driver's ed class today. As you will see in the video, the Puppy 1 struggled to keep a connection with its remote, often landing on its face or going in reverse. Another bag I tried, the TravelMate, didn't want to follow me at all.

If the U.S. is leading the way in artificial intelligence, China is playing catch-up and quickly emerging as an AI hotbed thanks to its talent, government support and venture capital funding. Chris Nicholson, a former Bloomberg news editor, co-founded artificial intelligence firm Skymind in San Francisco in 2014 and started expanding it outside the U.S. last year. Since Tencent is a big investor of his company, Nicholson assembled a team of four engineers in Fujian, a southeastern province in China, and plans to open another China office next year in Shenzhen, where Tencent is headquartered. "We saw lots of interest in AI in China, and the sector is moving so fast in the country," said Nicholson, CEO of Skymind. "Beijing supports AI, while Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are all getting into AI. The U.S. still has the best AI talent, but there are many good engineers and AI researchers in China as well."

Consumers who own in-home digital voice assistant devices are using their smartphones less often for entertainment and online purchasing, according to an online survey of 21,000 consumers in 19 countries by Accenture. The survey revealed that two-thirds of consumers who own digital voice assistants – powered by early stage artificial intelligence – said they use their smartphones for fewer applications in the home since acquiring the devices. Nearly two-thirds of these owners said they use their smartphones less for entertainment, and more than half use them less for online purchasing and general information searches. "Digital voice assistant devices are challenging smartphones as the central hub for all activities in the home," said David Sovie, global managing director of Accenture's High Tech business. "These low-cost devices deliver valuable and practical benefits and are relatively easy to use, and their rapidly growing popularity is one of the most striking trends in the high-tech industry."

Samsung's first folding phone is set to enter production this year and go on sale in 2019, it has been claimed. The radical gadget, expected to be called the Galaxy X, will have a 7.3-inch flexible OLED screen which folds inwards like a book. When folded, it will work as a phone, and can be unfolded to operate as a tablet. According to Korean site ETNews, Samsung will develop the foldable displays by March, manufacture panels in September and start manufacturing the phone itself in November. This would mean the handset could go on sale in early 2019.

Just months after she made history by becoming the first robot to be granted legal citizenship, Sophia has been given legs. The humanoid robot, which is capable of holding a conversation with humans, can now move forward in a series of clunky steps. Sophia represents a remarkable'rise of the machines' that promises – or threatens – to revolutionise man's relationship with technology. The talking humanoid robot, which is modelled after Audrey Hepburn, was designed by Hong Kong firm Hanson Robotics, which claims Sophia can hold a conversation with humans. Sophia first emerged two years ago as a super-intelligent human-like head with a realistic face that was able to blink, look from side to side and talk.

Prior to rolling out DeepThinQ 1.0 to all of its business divisions, LG Electronics grabbed the chance to explain in full detail what this deep-learning based artificial intelligence technology is all about. On Tuesday, LG took to its online newsroom to talk about its new AI platform, which consumers will soon have access to via the upcoming mobile devices and appliances that the company is launching starting this year. According to the company, it developed DeepThinQ 1.0 last year following the establishment of its South Korea-based Artificial Intelligence Lab. LG's primary goal in making DeepThinQ 1.0 is to have a platform that would allow easy and smooth integration of AI into its wide range of products. This way, its developers wouldn't have a hard time including deep-learning technologies in future releases.

Evolving consumer expectations, the rapid adoption of technology and new competitors entering the markets are placing new demands on today's wealth management firms. These trends are re-shaping the look and feel of the industry, and the change is happening across all aspects of the value chain, from client acquisition to advice to ongoing portfolio monitoring and decision-making. According to Ketan Samani, chief digital officer for APAC at UBS Wealth Management, the industry is just at the start of its digital journey. "Wealth management is taking the lead from the retail banks, which experienced high disruption by start-ups in payments, lending and other products," he said. "It is just waking up to the fact that the robo-advisers will do the same. There is a way to go, but the journey has begun."

Mevlut Cavusoglu's comments came a day after Syrian government forces captured 14 villages as they advanced on Idlib, the largest rebel-held enclave in the country's north, amid a wave of airstrikes. The troops aim to reach a rebel-held air base and secure the road linking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.

An AI-powered robot dog created by Sony has ignored commands from the firm's CEO onstage in an embarrassing moment for the electronics giant. The £1,300 ($1,750) Aibo robot, which Sony says behaves like a real dog and responds to voice commands, was on show at a conference in Las Vegas on Monday. 'Aibo is an autonomous robot and will quickly become a member of your family, right Aibo?' Sony's President & CEO Kazuo Hirai said in an exchange on stage. But the robo-dog didn't respond, prompting Hirai to remark, 'ignored me there' before quickly passing Aibo back to its handlers. An AI-powered robot dog created by Sony has ignored commands from the firm's CEO onstage in an embarrassing moment for the electronics giant.