Apple's next iPhone is on its way. It's probably the worst time in the world to buy a new one – but the best time to start thinking about it. This year, very little has been revealed about the phones in advance, in keeping with a commitment from Apple to shut down leaks more effectively. But we do know some things about the upcoming handset – including the fact that there probably won't be just one of them, but three. The most certain thing about the new iPhone is that there will be one.

Nuclear fusion, the holy grail of limitless energy production, may have moved a step closer thanks to a new computer algorithm. Since the 1950s, scientists have been trying to recreate the process which powers the sun and attempts have been getting tantalisingly close in recent years. A new breakthrough by Google relies on using an algorithm to speed up experiments on plasma, the super heated balls of gas that the technology relies on. The Optometrist algorithm sorts through simulated settings that would keep the plasma under check. This allows human operators to select the best candidates, rather than having to run each experiment manually.

A sex doll company are making a Terminator-style robot head who can speak, smile and even sing - but only in Chinese. Manufacturers have finished the prototype of the DS Doll Robotic Head, which contains a movable mechanical structure coated in silicone'skin' and controlled by a smartphone - and a PlayStation controller. The model, made by Japanese company Doll Sweet Dolls and Chinese company EX Doll, has a'stunningly beautiful' face, and can listen and answer questions using voice recognition software. Manufacturers have finished the prototype of the DS Doll Robotic Head (pictured), which contains a movable mechanical structure coated in silicone'skin' Manufacturers have finished the prototype of the DS Doll Robotic Head, which contains a movable mechanical structure coated in silicone'skin' and controlled by a smartphone - and a PlayStation controller. She can speak, smile and even sing - but only in Chinese.

Google-parent Alphabet, which has enjoyed revenue growth rate of over 20 percent for the past five quarters, said on Monday that TAC, or traffic acquisition costs, jumped 28 percent to $5.09 billion in the second quarter. MILAN/PARIS (Reuters) – France's Vivendi has tightened its grip on Telecom Italia by removing its CEO Flavio Cattaneo and paving the way for a joint venture between its own pay-TV Canal and the Italian group, in a boost to the French firm's ambitions to become a southern European media powerhouse. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Silicon Valley baron Elon Musk insulted rival billionaire Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, escalating a tech wizard war of words over whether robots will become smart enough to kill their human creators. SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter Inc heads toward its quarterly earnings report on Thursday with a stock that has risen more than 40 percent since April when much of Wall Street was ready to write off the tech company.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered to be the next stupendous technological development, alike past developments such as the revolution of industries, the computer era, and the emergence of smartphone technology. The North American region is expected to dominate the industry due to the availability of high government funding, the presence of leading players, and strong technical base. Advances in image and voice recognition are driving the growth of the artificial intelligence market as improved image recognition technology is critical to offer enhanced drones, self-driving cars, and robotics. The AI market can be categorized based on solutions, technologies, end use, and geography. The two major factors enabling market growth are emerging AI technologies and growth in big data espousal.

O2 has admitted to deliberately slowing down customers' mobile internet speeds. The mobile operator has been throttling network bandwidth for people roaming in the EU. Roaming charges were scrapped in the EU on 15 June, meaning you can use your phone as you would at home, without being hit with enormous bills. However, since then, O2 has been making it harder for phone users to actually do anything online while they're abroad. 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.

If drones could eat other drones, the SparrowHawk would sit somewhere near the top of the flying-robot foodchain. On a baking stretch of 110-degree dust an hour west of Phoenix, the six-rotored arachnoid rises with a menacing buzz, like a swarm of several dozen hornets' nests. Then the 14-pound, hexagonal drone lurches forward, towards its prey, a 3D Robotics quadcopter that its five-and-a-half-foot armspan dwarfs. The two drones perform a brief, mid-air dance before the SparrowHawk overtakes the quadcopter, and pulls it into a rectangular net that hangs beneath its body, tangling the smaller drone's rotors. The SparrowHawk then lowers to the ground, the captured quadcopter still twitching in its web.

Fraud detection with machine learning requires large datasets to train a model, weighted variables, and human review only as a last defense. With advances in computer technology and ecommerce also comes increased vulnerability to fraud. Hackers are continuously finding new ways to target undeserving victims, from stolen credit card details to false accounts. Any business or individual who uses online payment sources is open to fraud. In 2015, financial fraud -- including payment cards, remote banking and cheques -- rose a staggering 26 percent from the previous year, totaling a cost of £755 million.

I was talking to a banking compliance executive recently about how banks are looking to use artificial intelligence to spot clues to crimes being committed by customers or employees. This executive was clearly not buying into the hype. "We've thought about that, but we don't plan to use it at this time," she said. "There's too much risk of innocent people getting caught up in a dragnet." An AI engine could find a pattern of transactions or behavior among law-abiding customers that mimics money laundering or some other crime.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics are making some real money for stock investors, and beating the market. The Global X Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) is up 30 percent this year and the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index (ROBO) is up 25 percent. "Between the tech exposure and the international exposure, that's helped the group pretty well," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. The upward trend in robotics and artificial intelligence stocks is one proponents say, in the long-term, could top the so-called FANG stocks -- Facebook, Amazon.com, Each FANG stock has rallied 20 to 50 percent this year and the companies are increasingly focused on using technologies such as artificial intelligence, or AI, to develop their businesses.