VC Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz thinks it's a lot harder to predict financial cycles than it is to see a new computing platform coming down the pike. As he noted in a recent post, new cycles tend to begin every 10 to 15 years; assuming the 2007 introduction of the iPhone kicked off the last wave, we're fast heading toward the Next New Thing. Or things, technically, according to Dixon, who we caught up with yesterday. Among the trends that Dixon is watching closely, he says, are virtual reality, augmented reality, IoT, wearables, drones and cars. Not that it'll be easy to make money off these newer technologies. In fact, Dixon suggests it could be ridiculously challenging, given how quickly Facebook, Google, and Amazon are bringing aboard related talent.

Intel's keynotes can be fun, with robots parading on stage and drones zigzagging around the room. Now Intel's making new hardware to help enthusiasts join the fun by building robots and drones at home. The Robotic Development Kit and Aero Kit provide the necessary hardware and software tools to build robots and drones, respectively. The kits were announced at the ongoing Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China. A major element of the developer boards is the RealSense 3D camera, which will ship with the kits and help the robots and drones navigate and avoid obstacles.

I never win raffles, but I finally did last week at the MIT Xconomy in Boston. My prize was a Roomba. These robotic vacuums have been around for years for personal use, but now hotels are using similar devices to not only automate the cleaning process but also most of the hotel functionality like check-in, check-out, food delivery, and the automatic folding of clothes. There's even a completely robot-powered automated hotel in Japan. As a service, automation is invaluable when done well.

While most of us are aware of Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana, her more unknown little sister Xiaoice, is taking China's social network by storm. Xiaoice, a chatbot, exists on WeChat and Weibo in the form of a chatty teenager. Capable of recognizing emotional the states of the user during the conversation, it is able to offer encouragement and listen well to your troubles. More interestingly, like any other 17-year-old teenager, it can be smart-alecky at times. It's this latter attribute of Xiaoice that allows it to simulate for more natural conversations and to pass off as being human-like.

In most ancient cultures, literacy was rare, reserved for specialized scribes or religious officials. But new research shows that in the ancient kingdom of Judah, literacy may have been widespread, a fact that may reshape the timeline of when and where the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament was written. In a study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers looked at 16 ink inscriptions from a Judean fort in Arad--a remote border post in ancient times--written around 600 BCE. Using computerized imaging and machine learning tools, Tel Aviv University researchers were able to determine that the messages were written by at least six different individuals. According to a press release, the incriptions were primarily about mundane topics, like troop movements and food expenses. The nature and tone of the inscriptions, the researchers say, indicates the ability to read and write all through the chain of command, from the commander of the small garrison to the deputy quartermaster of the fort.

Now he's returned to the American West, photographing the sweeping vistas and imposing terrain at night. Wu illuminated each scene in Lux Noctis with a drone and a light, a cool technique that provides an unique view of the world below. The unusual lighting makes the West's grand features feel even more immense and daunting. "It's about the portrayal of the landscape in a way that's fresh and defies the expected," he says. The idea came to Wu more than a year ago while photographing a car in Utah, one night.

Historians have long debated whether the first major phase of compilation of Biblical texts took place before or after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC. While they agree that key texts were written starting in the 7th century BC, the exact date of the compilation remains in question. These documents are dated to the latest phase of the First Temple Period in Judah, around 600 BC. A new interdisciplinary study, led by Dr. Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin of Tel Aviv University, Israel, suggests that widespread literacy was required for this massive undertaking and provides empirical evidence of that literacy in the final days of the Kingdom of Judah. Using cutting-edge computerized image processing and machine learning tools, Dr. Faigenbaum-Golovin and her colleagues at Tel Aviv University analyzed 16 ink inscriptions found in the desert fortress of Arad.

As robotics and 3-D printing technologies become more accessible to home tinkerers, men are (of course) building robots of beautiful women. Anyone who's turned on a TV in the past decade shouldn't be surprised to learn that one of the first--and creepiest--examples of this development involves movie star Scarlett Johansson. News broke on Friday about a Hong Kong designer who made a robot that looks just like the award-winning actress--although Ricky Ma, the robot's creator, wouldn't name the actress he modeled the bot on, choosing instead to call it Mark 1. It took Ma eighteen months and over 50,000 to complete the project, which he constructed on his patio with a 3-D printer and software that he taught himself how to use. The question, however, is one of precedent.

CHINA has rich talent sources and great potential on AI or artificial intelligence thanks to strong mathematics and IT research as well as local firms' expansion into AI, said LinkedIn in a report yesterday after the AlphaGo's winning in a machine-vs-human Go match. There are totally 250,000 people work and research on AI globally, mainly in the United States, Europe, India and China, according to LinkedIn, the world's largest business social network. Besides the eye-catching AlphaGo, the artificial intelligence is already part of people's lives, from applications used in navigation, Siri and Google Translate to robots deployed in manufacturing and stock-advice software. AI technologies have been evolving steadily alongside the development of the Internet, big data, cloud computing and graphic chips. The United States has the most AI talents with the top employers Google, developer of AlphaGo, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Apple.

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors on Tuesday announced a plan to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based, Internet-connected car to create a new future lifestyle with a "driving, high-performing computer". The driving computer means a car will become a high-performing computer itself as the car, to be developed by Hyundai and Kia, will self-drive based on AI and connect to electronic devices while driving based on internet connectivity, Xinhua cited a joint statement as saying. The main concept of the project is a "hyper-connected and intelligent car", which means an interaction between cars home as well as home and office in addition to AI-based self-driving. To achieve the goal, the automakers will focus on four major themes, intelligent remote-controlling support service, perfect self-driving, smart traffic and mobility hub. The remote-controlling support service aims to check and examine cars on a real-time basis to detect potential emergency situations in advance.