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.

A grainy video uploaded to YouTube appears to show a small object flying over the SpaceX rocket moments before it exploded. SpaceX said an'anomaly' had occurred while the rocket was being loaded with fuel. No was injured in the blast. The rocket's payload, an Israeli-built communications satellite for Facebook due to launch on Saturday, was also destroyed. A video of the blast, posted to the site by Steve Svensson, appears to show a silver spherical object flying close to rocket when the blast happened.

Stare across the gallery of the Tate Britain at a Turner and you bring with you a quiet murmur of experiences – a family holiday, an orgasm, that morning's news. What you see works in co-ordination with echoes. But what does a computer see? What does it think when it looks at a Turner? Recognition, the winner of the Tate's IK Prize 2016 for digital innovation, asks – and answers – some of these questions. Made up of multiple artificial-intelligence technologies, Recognition makes use of object recognition, facial recognition and composition analysis to pull up-to-the-minute photojournalism from Reuters, then trawls through Tate Britain's vast collection to plonk a comparable picture beside it.

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.

Al-Qaida and the extremist Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos and lawlessness brought about by Yemen's ongoing civil war to expand their reach in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.

Nairobi, Dec 19 (PTI) The WTO talks entered the fifth day today as a deadlock continued over reducing farm subsidies and on providing protection to poor farmers of developing nations, such as India, in case of import surge. The 10th WTO Ministerial was originally scheduled to end last night but developed and developing countries failed to iron out differences on these issues. "The meeting is still on since last night," sources said, adding that a small group of countries -- India, the US, EU, China and Brazil - are discussing the issues. India has made it clear that it would not compromise the interests of farmers and agri-related sectors. It has also asserted to include the public stockholding issue for food security purposes in the preamble of the Nairobi declaration. It also wants that special safeguard mechanism (SSM) should be delinked from market access.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

NEW YORK: Tech giant Microsoft and large equipment manufacturer Liebherr are collaborating on a new generation of smart refrigerators that would help in shopping and planning meals with intelligent food management. "As part of the Liebherr household appliances division's digital initiative, the duo would develop'SmartDeviceBox' -- a communication module which fits into refrigerators and freezers -- connecting them to the internet," T.J Hazen, Principal Data Scientist Manager at Microsoft, wrote. The system, which would utilise the same machine learning technology used in Microsoft's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Cortana, is designed to have a long lifecycle. Microsoft gets big support in its fight for digital privacy with US Technology, media, pharmaceutical and other companies, along with major corporate lobbying groups, filed legal briefs on Friday in support of a Microsoft Corp lawsuit that aims to strike down a law preventing companies from telling customers the government is seeking their data. With this technology, modular units can be integrated and upgraded at any time in existing SmartDevice-ready appliances to create value and comfort for customers through new digital features and solutions, the post on Microsoft blog said.