They all have to be tested before they roll out into the world, not only to meet government regulations but to verify adherence to a host of voluntary standards, like WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Thread and others. That is a lot of testing. And that's why TUV Rheinland recently opened a huge Silicon Valley test facility in Fremont, Calif. It's important for testing to be near the design teams, says TUV Rheinland's Sarb Shelopal, the company's global director of wireless and IoT testing. Distance, he says--and Silicon Valley's traffic--is a big deal when companies are trying to move fast.

South Korea's LG Chem is slated to exclusively provide batteries for Apple's iPhone 9 which is likely to be launched next year, a Korean newspaper reported on Friday. LG Chem has invested hundreds of billions of won in a dedicated line for the purpose and will produce'L-shaped' batteries for next year's iPhone, the Korea Economic Daily reported citing an unnamed chemical industry source. A spokesman for LG Chem said it does not respond to inquiries about client companies. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment. LG Chem has invested hundreds of billions of won in a dedicated line for the Apple project, and will produce'L-shaped' batteries for next year's iPhone, the Korea Economic Daily claims.

An underwater robot captured images of solidified lava-like rocks Thursday inside a damaged reactor at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, spotting for the first time what is believed to be nuclear fuel that melted six years ago. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the robot found large amounts of lava-like debris apparently containing fuel that had flowed out of the core into the primary containment vessel of the Unit 3 reactor at Fukushima. The plant was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. This image captured by an underwater robot shows lava-like lumps believed to contain melted fuel inside the Unit 3 reactor at Fukushima. Experts believe the fuel melted and much of it fell to the chamber's bottom and is now submerged by radioactive water.

"The Striim platform is a full end-to-end streaming integration and analytics platform that is middleware that covers a lot of different use cases," explained Steve Wilkes, Founder and CTO at Striim, in this SYS-CON.tv Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS - software, platform, and infrastructure as a service. With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing Cloud strategies, now is the perfect time to attend 21st Cloud Expo, October 31 - November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, and June 12-14, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is on the right path to Digital Transformation.

We are living in the Age of Plastic. In 2015, the world's industries created 448 million tons of it -- twice as much as it did in 1998. However, our recycling efforts have not matched pace. In fact, according to the EPA, barely 14 percent of plastic products are recycled globally. But a new generation of recycling technology is here to keep the world's plastics in circulation and out of our landfills.

A robot that can grow rapidly and turn corners has been created by scientists. Stanford University researchers built the soft, worm-like robot, which can also squeeze itself through small holes. It's designed to mimic the movements of plants, which can grow around physical obstacles, but at speeds comparable to animals. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.

Fictitious robots of the 20th century had super powers and were depicted in fantastical morality tales, in battles of right and wrong. Their 21st-century real-world counterparts have a more prosaic but ultimately more ground-breaking power: They're enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) to solve everyday challenges for people, businesses and society. The potential opportunities created from integrating intelligence into industrial and service robots are leading businesses to take notice. Recently, a leading global telecommunications company asked us to develop a strategy for activating services that would enable service robots to productively interact in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer realms. Service robots pose unique needs, as they are functionally designed to perform a task for or with humans.

In 2017, we're already seeing a growing list of insurers leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to transform their customer- and distributor-facing channels, including the use of robo-advisors to support customers in their purchasing decisions. In some cases, insurers are choosing to partner with emerging players like Motif or Betterment, and in others, they are developing their own capabilities. Consider the Allstate Business Insurance Expert (ABIe)--known as Abby. This virtual assistant with an on-screen personality helps agents quote and issue commercial insurance products. It finds answers through a combination of contextual knowledge and intelligent content.

The Japanese art of paper folding could provide the inspiration for a new generation of shielding against space radiation. Nasa is hoping to crowd source designs for a system that could be used to protect astronauts on deep space missions from lethal cosmic rays. The competition could lead to a breakthrough that enables the space agency to successfully realise its ambitious plans for a manned mission to Mars by 2030. The Japanese art of paper folding could provide the inspiration for a new generation of shielding. Nasa is hoping to crowdsource designs for a system that could be used to protect astronauts from lethal cosmic rays (artist's impression) when they visit Mars (stock image) The Japanese art of paper folding could provide the inspiration for a new generation of shielding against space radiation.

Samsung has confirmed that its next major smartphone launch will take place next month. The South Korean firm is holding an event on 23 August, called "Unpacked". Last year's Unpacked event saw the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the now infamous smartphone that had to be recalled twice after models started exploding. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.