Honda on Wednesday showcased a new motorcycle that can stand unaided with or without a rider, using technology the firm learned from developing a walking humanoid. Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda's Riding Assist-e is an all-electric concept motorbike that constantly assesses its position and moves the steering bar to ensure the heavy machine stays upright. For years, international bike manufacturers have experimented with various forms of gyroscopes to stop motorcycles falling over, said Hiroyuki Nakata, the engineer behind the idea. Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda's Riding Assist-e is an all-electric concept motorbike that constantly assesses its position and moves the steering bar to ensure the heavy machine stays upright'But if you wanted to keep something as heavy as a motorcycle standing, you need a large and heavy gyroscopic device and you need to keep turning it,' he told AFP. Honda's device, however, is only the size of a lamp and can be rigged above the front wheel.

A new set of products and services unveiled by HPE on Wednesday aim to accelerate enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), making it easier to take advantage of technologies like deep learning, the firm announced in a press release. Deep learning can be used for processes such as image, face, or voice recognition, along with image classification and more, the release said. However, implementing such technologies often requires a complex compute infrastructure to build the models and make use of the data itself. Additionally, specialized hardware and software, along with deep technical expertise to integrate such tools, often create other barriers to adopting deep learning. According to the HPE release, its recent announcements are meant to help businesses overcome these challenges. SEE: IT leader's guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research) One of the first solutions mentioned was the HPE Rapid Software Installation for AI, an integrated hardware and software offering geared toward deep learning.

The world is moving so fast that tomorrow seems like yesterday. Nowhere are the changes coming faster than in the science of artificial intelligence. Applications that sounded like science fiction only a decade ago are now part of our daily lives. We encounter AI applications multiple times every day. "Learning algorithms" greet us on our digital devices, influence what we buy and guide the news we watch and read–and sometimes even write the articles. Soon driverless cars and trucks will flood our streets and highways.

Honda on Wednesday showcased a new motorcycle that can stand unaided with or without a rider, using technology the firm learned from developing a walking humanoid. Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda's Riding Assist-e is an all-electric concept motorbike that constantly assesses its position and moves the steering bar to ensure the heavy machine stays upright. For years, international bike manufacturers have experimented with various forms of gyroscopes to stop motorcycles falling over, said Hiroyuki Nakata, the engineer behind the idea. "But if you wanted to keep something as heavy as a motorcycle standing, you need a large and heavy gyroscopic device and you need to keep turning it," he said. Honda's device, however, is only the size of a lamp and can be rigged above the front wheel.

WASHINGTON/TAIPEI – New security measures including stricter passenger screening take effect on Thursday on all U.S.-bound flights to comply with government requirements designed to avoid an in-cabin ban on laptops, airlines said. Airlines contacted by Reuters said the new measures could include short security interviews with passengers at check-in or the boarding gate, sparking concerns over flight delays and extended processing time. They will affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,000 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries. The United States announced the new rules in June to end its restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats. Those restrictions were lifted in July, but the Trump administration said it could reimpose measures on a case by case basis if airlines and airports did not boost security.

Russia is testing solar-powered drones that can fly for days at a time above the clouds. If the trial is successful the large glider-like drones could perform some of the same functions as today's space satellites. The model LA-252 Aist will be tested at a height of nine to 13 miles (15 - 21 kilometres) and can be used as a communication device, repeater and Wi-Fi transmitter. Russia is testing solar-powered drones that can fly for days at a time above the clouds. The large glider-like drones could perform some of the same functions as today's space satellites If the trial is successful the large glider-like drones could perform some of the same functions as today's space satellites.

Green-energy vehicles, self-driving technologies and internet connectivity are expected to be the rage at this year's Tokyo Motor Show slated to open to the public Saturday at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Koto Ward. The 45th biennial exhibition, will see participation from a total of 153 carmakers and auto suppliers, including 13 overseas firms from 10 different countries. The expo will run until Nov. 5, with the opening ceremony being held on Friday. During Wednesday's media preview, major automakers showed their visions of the future with concept cars equipped with cutting-edge technologies. Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled the prototype for its hydrogen-powered Fine-Comfort Ride, its latest fuel-cell vehicle model.

In fact, of late a number of start-ups that Google, Facebook and other technologies companies have bought have been purchased not for the products or services that these start-ups were making. Instead, they were bought by the tech giants because of the people who started these start-ups. One prime example is Halli Labs, a Bengaluru-based start-up that was bought by Google for an undisclosed amount just four months after it was started. Halli Labs, when it was bought, arguably had no proper product out and was barely known outside the start-up circle. However, reportedly bought it because it wanted the people who started it.

An updated version of the nation's most authoritative Japanese-language dictionary has added 10,000 new words, including "hanii torappu" (honey trap), "biggu mausu" (big mouth) and "karēshū" (an old person's distinctive smell), the publisher said. The Kojien dictionary was first published in 1955 by Iwanami Shoten with about 200,000 words. Since then it has become a household reference, while media outlets and other high-profile organizations often use it as the final say on a given word's meaning. Other new entries include "apuri" (app), "burakku kigyō" (exploitative firms with bad working conditions), "Isuramu-koku" (Islamic State), "LGBT," "konkatsu" (marriage hunting), "jidori" (selfie) and "diipu rāningu" (deep learning). At its peak, the publisher sold as many as 2.6 million copies of its third edition, which was published in December 1983.

In the west, AI and machine learning startups and tech giants of all stripes have been doing the M&A dance. Google, Apple and the like have been busy snapping up AI/ML startups and according to CB Insights, 30 companies in the space have been acquired since 2011 (five in this year alone). Activity in Asia has been decidedly quieter, with AI research and development mostly happening at the institutional and corporate level. In the region, it seems that Japan, South Korea and China are front runners in terms of AI activity. While Japan's Toyota is putting in $1 billion to ramp up AI research, mainly into autonomous vehicles, the South Korean government is also reportedly injecting $860 million into an AI research institute.