In a bid to integrate machine learning-based solutions on its platform, Snapdeal, has acquired Gurgaon-based predictive marketing technology startup TargetingMantra for an undisclosed amount. It is a boutique technology company that has been working on the field of personalising shopping experience for customers on ecommerce platforms. Founded by Saurabh Nangia and Rahul Singh in March 2013, TargetingMantra, has offices in Palo Alto and Gurgaon. The company provides a unified platform to manage customers life cycle through personalisation, targeting and big data analytics. In 2014, TargetingMantra had raised 1.1 Mn in seed funding led by 500 Startups, Nexus Venture Partners, and One97 Mobility Fund.

Human beings have a love-hate relationship with automation. Some of the time we love it, and the rest of the time we absolutely hate it -- without much daylight in between. We love DVRs, learning thermostats, and Dollar Shave Club. We hate subscriptions we don't want, memberships we don't use, and meaningless auto-reply emails. Some of the biggest names in tech are coming to TNW Conference in Amsterdam this May.

Apple's unprecedented decision to throw 1 billion into a Chinese ride-hailing firm last week may seem like a head-scratcher. And why not invest that money here in the United States? But this move was no accident. Not only is it a sign of Apple's growing interest in transportation -- a rapidly changing industry, thanks to groundbreaking technologies such as automation -- but it is also a bet on a country that wants to zip past the United States in the development of the cars of the future. China has moved with surprising speed to prepare for the next generation of automotive technology.

"He almost called it subversive. Then he realised as he was sitting there: no, that's exactly the attitude we're trying to dispel." Games critic Jenn Frank is recalling an article covering the event she has organised – the Boobjam – an ongoing competition to make a game about breasts. The writer Ben Kuchera gave his feature the headline: "Why making games based on the experiences of half the world isn't subversive". But why would anyone think it subversive, for women to make creative works about their own bodies? "What if you had to watch a sexy video game character also buy bras, cry softly when she can't find one that fits, and go in for mammograms," Frank mused on Twitter, back in July.

Every month, nearly 20% of the country gets a Social Security check. What if that number were 100%? What if the government gave everyone an income? Its popularity last peaked in the 1970s and now, after a relatively dormant few decades, it's making a comeback. Pilot projects have been announced in Finland, the Netherlands, and Canada.

There's a question at the heart of the Uncharted games that the latest title, released to great acclaim this month, tackles most directly: is the dashing lead protagonist, Nathan Drake, a hero or a thief? The continuing success of Naughty Dog's action-adventure series, along with the resurgent Tomb Raider games, shows that the "adventuring archaeologist" trope is a resilient one. The modern precursor of both Nathan Drake and Lara Croft is of course Indiana Jones, who retains a vice-like grip over the public imagination. But Jones represents an archetype that stretches back much further, of course; his true inspiration can be traced beyond the 1950s movie matinee serials and pulp comics that inspired George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and toward the great colonial fantasies of King Solomon's Mines, The Lost World and the Boy's Own magazines. There are even older precedents: Egyptian literature from the first century CE introduces Setna – a prince who raids tombs in search of a magical book.

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

Self-driving cars are expected to usher in a new era of mobility, safety and convenience, but they could also lead to more traffic jams. The problem is that too many people will use the technology when it becomes widely available, according to transport researchers. Experts foresee robot cars chauffeuring children to school, dance class and baseball practice. The disabled and elderly will have new mobility. Self-driving cars will give commuters a new freedom as they travel to the office, but they could also lead to more vehicles on the road, according to transport experts.

Artificial intelligence, machine intelligence, cognitive computing -- whatever you want to call machines that are capable of understanding and acting upon their environment -- is no longer solely the purview of highly credentialed lab directors and deep-thinking computer scientists. It has entered mainstream consciousness, and the public expects IT to play a leadership role as machine learning enters our workplaces, our living spaces and our lives. Chances are that you are not. Most executives, in the opinion of New York Times technology columnist John Markoff, are "ill prepared for this new world in the making." People have been thinking about automated work forever.

Today, a few hundred Bay Area Facebook users will open their Messenger apps to discover M, a new virtual assistant. Facebook will prompt them to test it with examples of what M can do: Make restaurant reservations. Find a birthday gift for your spouse. It won't take long for Messenger's users to realize M can accomplish much more than your standard digital helper, suspects David Marcus, vice president of messaging products at Facebook. "It can perform tasks that none of the others can," Marcus says.