SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers have discovered a disturbing pattern: dozens of ships whose GPS signals tell them they're on land -- at an airport no less -- even when they're far out to sea. An investigation released this week by the Washington D.C.-based Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation and Windward Ltd., a maritime data and analytics company, has found multiple instances of so-called GPS spoofing in Russian waters. As recently as Monday, two vessels' GPS told them they were at Sochi Airport near the site of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, 12 miles away from the harbor where the vessels actually were. Researchers are calling these "mass GPS interferences" and they appear to be linked to the intentional transmission of false GPS signals to provide incorrect time or location information, possibly to veil certain facilities from attack. Familiar to anyone using a smartphone or built-in auto navigation system to map out a route, the satellite-based system is also the main way ships and trucking fleets find their way.

When science fiction critics Eric S. Rabkin and Robert E. Scholes argued in the 1970s that "no one would go through the trouble of building and maintaining a robot to hand wash clothes or pick up the telephone receiver," they were apparently unaware that Japanese researchers had already made a long-term commitment to develop humanoid robots that could do exactly that. The goal was to care for the elderly in the 21st century. To this end, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, industrial giants Honda, Mitsubishi, and Toyota, as well as university research labs around the world, began demonstrating humanoid prototypes. More recently, the desire to operate in disaster sites like Fukushima has motivated even more researchers to explore humanoid designs. But the dream of humanoid robots goes back much further than the 1970s.

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China is developing a new range of killer cruise missiles fitted with technology which will effectively turn them into killer robots. Dubbed "death drones", the missiles will use artificial intelligence (AI) to guide themselves in flight and potentially even choose new targets. Wang Changqing, director of the General Design Department of the Third Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, told China Daily that his country was leading the world in the development of AI weapons.

At a large wine chateau in the region of Bordeaux, France, busy robots use artificial intelligence and other technologies to pick and screen grapes as well as make wine. The chateau might be the world's first such facility to use AI to improve and optimize grape planting and wine brewing, said Zhou Jinting, chairman of Shanghai Hefu Holding (Group) Co Ltd, at the World Robot Conference in Beijing last month. Hefu bought the chateau last year. Zhou said he believes the rapid development of AI, robotics, intelligent machines, big data and cloud computing will bring revolutionary changes to the wine industry as well as a wide range of traditional industries. The chateau is a pilot project of Hefu's AI and robotic technologies that are applied in changing traditional production methods.

Nvidia, the company which is renowned for making smartphone and PC Graphics Processing Units, is increasingly investing in evolving technologies such as self-driving and drones. The company has partnered with retailer JD.com for an outdoor robotics initiative, which will use drones for making deliveries, helping in rescue operations and agriculture. The retail giant's innovation lab, JD X has created two new robots called the JDrone and JDrover. While the JDrone will be an autonomous aerial vehicle, the JDrover will be a ground-based drone and will use the Nvidia Jetson platform for embedded artificial intelligence (AI) based navigational intelligence to navigate different terrains. "Complex outdoor situational awareness requires a platform that delivers unprecedented capabilities for deep learning and visual processing in a small form factor. The high performance of Jetson combined with its low power consumption and cost was the reason why we selected it for all of our logistics and delivery initiatives," Yuqian Li, head of JDrover team at JD X stated in a press release.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is recognised to be the future of mankind, experts say, and China is said to be in the lead in years to come, by 2030, neck and neck with the US and Russia, according to Bloomberg. China has vowed to become a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030 in full force, in every layer of education system. China plans to pump up to a billion to win this arms race. On 20 July, China had released a "national AI development plan" which committed it to spending $29.8 billion on AI research by 2020 and $79.48 billion by 2025. The "national AI development plan" consists of a step-by-step policy outlined, with a pledge to become the world best AI leader, aiming an industrial scale yield of RMB1 trillion (about S$206 billion).

Dubai was serious when it said it wants to be first in the world to offer a flying taxi service. That's why on Monday, it staged a maiden test flight for one of its potential taxis: a two-seater, 18-rotor unmanned flying vehicle made by German firm Volocopter, which is backed by fellow German company Daimler. The automated vehicle, which lifts and lands vertically like a helicopter, whisked Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed away for a five-minute flight 200 meters above a patch of sand. It was a short exhibition, but Dubai and Volocopter ultimately want to be able to offer longer rides that last up to 30 minutes. They envision a future wherein you'll be able to hail a flying taxi like an Uber -- simply book one through an app and wait for it at a nearby "voloport."

When it comes to cracking the code for self-driving cars, startups have an edge on big businesses, says computer scientist Katsuya Uenoyama. That may sound like bravado coming from the co-founder of a venture with just 30 employees working out of a small office in Tokyo, but Toyota Motor Corp. apparently agrees. The automaker last week made a $9.1 million (about ¥1 billion) investment in the initial public offering of Uenoyama's firm, PKSHA Technology Inc., which is developing software that could one day help cars learn to hold a conversation with drivers. "The digital needs of the manufacturing sector have become bigger and bigger, and that's why we started working with Toyota," said Uenoyama in a recent interview at his office near the University of Tokyo, where the 35-year-old received a Ph.D. in machine learning. Toyota's investment in PKSHA, along with another Tokyo-based startup called Preferred Networks Inc., comes as software starts to rival the motor as the most important thing inside a car and automakers compete with the likes of Google to make vehicles that can drive by themselves.

If you close your eyes for a moment, stop and think about a customer experience which stands out to you. Think about what makes you remember that particular engagement and what this means to you. Customer Experiences which stay with you – which leave you with an impression – positive or negative – almost always have one thing in common. These interactions occur across multiple channels – in person, online, in social forums, by phone. And these experiences have a direct correlation to our engagement, and spend with that company. American Express have quoted that customers who have a positive customer experience spend 74% more! Whilst McKinsey have reported that 70% of buying experiences are based on how an individual "perceives" they are being treated. This perception comes back to the simplicity and personalisation of the engagement – and again the emotional reaction of the experience. Personal, simple and emotionally connected experiences – piece of cake right…??