Chinese firm switches focus on smart AI devices and a new AI platform for self-driving cars and taxis. China-based internet services firm Baidu is aiming to ramp up its presence in the Internet of Things (IoT), with a number of new projects. The firm plans to work with speaker manufacturer Harman International Industrial to create a smart AI device similar to Amazon's Echo, which can understand spoken commands, enabling users to instruct it to order food, call a cab or control smart home products, reports Bloomberg. The Chinese company is also partnering with chipmaker Nvidia, to develop a computing platform for self-driving cars and taxis which would incorporate cloud-based HD maps, according to Fortune. Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told delegates at the Baidu World Conference, that the firms were going to "bring together the technical capabilities and the expertise in AI and the scale of two world-class AI companies to build the self-driving car architecture from end-to-end, from top-to-bottom, from the cloud to the car".

Q-learning is a simple and powerful tool in solving dynamic problems where environments are unknown. It uses a balance of exploration and exploitation to find an optimal solution to the problem. In this paper, we propose using four basic emotions: joy, sadness, fear, and anger to influence a Qlearning agent. Simulations show that the proposed affective agent requires lesser number of steps to find the optimal path. We found when affective agent finds the optimal path, the ratio between exploration to exploitation gradually decreases, indicating lower total step count in the long run

Visitors arriving to Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport will soon be greeted by a fleet of tiny humanoid robots. Standing just 90 centimetres tall, the humanoid named'EMIEW3' will guide users to the proper destination at the terminal and has the ability to communicate in both Japanese and English. Hitachi Ltd began its trials with the robots on Friday, and it's hoped that these assistants will be able to perform autonomously as early as December. Visitors arriving to Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport will soon be greeted by a fleet of tiny humanoid robots. Standing just 90 centimetres tall, the humanoid named'EMIEW3' has the ability to communicate in both Japanese and English Trials will run through December at the airport's domestic Terminal 2, The Japan Times reports.

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Lenovo Group Ltd, the world s largest personal computer maker, will launch its augmented-reality-enabled smartphone in October in China, as part of its broad efforts to boost phone sales with innovative products. Yang Yuanqing, CEO and Chairman of the Beijing-based company, said on Saturday the Phab2 Pro, the world s first smartphone to host AR applications without the need of other accessories, will help create new business models by bringing new interactive experience to consumers. The new device, first unveiled in June, is based on Google Inc s Tango project and allows users to play virtual dominoes on a physical table and shoot digital robots that inhabit users living rooms. "Technology innovation and business model innovation are part of the new path for growth," Yang said, adding the company aims to leverage cutting-edge technologies to change the way people live and work. He made the comments at the B20 summit which was held in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province on Saturday.

Beauty pageants have always been political. After all, what speaks more strongly to how we see each other than which physical traits we reward as beautiful, and which we code as ugly? It wasn't until 1983 that the Miss America competition crowned a black woman as the most beautiful woman in the country. So what if we replaced human judges with machines? As shallow as the whole thing is, would a computer at least be able to see past skin colour and look at, potentially, more universal markers of attractiveness?

The world's first public, self-driving taxi pilot program is now underway in Singapore, according to recent reports -- with nuTonomy's ride-hailing app now being functional for those looking to travel within Singapore's one-north business district. This is the same district that the firm has been doing testing in since April. The pilot will reportedly be continuing indefinitely, rather than for a set period. The plan is apparently to use the data gathered during the pilot -- on software system performance, vehicle routing efficiency, the ride-booking process, etc. -- to improve the firm's software in anticipation of the launch of a full-scale commercial autonomous taxi service in 2018 in Singapore. The launch of the new pilot follows the selection of nuTonomy as a research and development partner by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA), which occurred just in August.

South Korean Conglomerate LG Electronics announced that it will heavily invest in robot technology and artificial technology according to a report by Reuters Sunday. LG, Samsung's rival, is seeking to take advantage of recent advances in artificial intelligence which have the potential of creating sophisticated machines that can perform mundane everyday human tasks. LG, in a statement, said that its appliances division is preparing to enter the robotics industry, like Apple, Google, and Samsung, to create products which can integrate with their appliances products such as refrigerators, washers and air conditioning units. "We will prepare for the future by aggressively investing in smart home, robots and key components and strengthen the home appliances business's capabilities," said Jo Seung-jin, head of LG's appliances business, in the statement. Advances in artificial intelligence and wireless communications are making it possible for machines that are wifi-enabled to exchange information with each other and perform independent tasks.

Toshiba Corp. and Canon Inc. are starting separate drone-based services for corporate clients. Toshiba said Monday it will partner with auto parts manufacturer Alpine Electronics Inc. to commercialize a system by March 2018 to inspect remote infrastructure such as power cables and steel towers. Their service will combine Alpine Electronics' satellite navigation knowledge and Toshiba's digital image processing and artificial intelligence technologies. Camera and printer maker Canon Inc. meanwhile announced on Monday an investment in Prodrone Co., an Aichi Prefecture-based firm that manufactures drones for industrial use. Canon and Prodrone plan to sell drones loaded with Canon's cameras for farming, infrastructure inspection and surveillance purposes.

Visitors walk past the showroom of LG Electronics during the Auto China 2016 show in Beijing, China April 26, 2016. SEOUL South Korea's LG Electronics Inc said on Friday it is partnering with Amazon.com LG said in a statement Alexa will work with its SmartThinkQ Hub, an LG device used to connect with home appliances over the internet, to allow users to control the South Korean firm's home appliances via voice-recognition technology. Dash feature on its SmartThinQ Sensors, which enabled so-called "smart" features on appliances that cannot communicate with other devices on their own, to allow users to quickly order household items such as laundry detergent or drinks. "We will work with a wide range of partners to deliver differentiated smart-home solutions to customers," said Jo Seung-jin, head of LG's appliances business, in the statement.