Three weeks ago, Yukai Engineering wrapped up a successful Kickstarter campaign in which it raised approximately $110,000 for the Qoobo, which is a pillow with a robotic cat tail that responds to physical interaction with the user. Now, interested buyers in the US and Japan can pre-order the Qoobo for expected delivery in fall 2018. The US price is $89 per pillow. The Qoobo was originally developed after a staff member was unable to keep a beloved cat. The company aimed to create a pillow that could provide comfort to that similar of what a cat or dog would.

Plus, the new season of Black Mirror is here. Out-of-warranty battery replacements will now cost only $29.Apple apologizes for confusion over slowdowns with older iPhones Apple has been in hot water for the last few weeks after the company admitted that it sometimes reduced processor speeds on iPhones with aging batteries as a way to balance performance and battery life. Today, the company is apologizing for not being more transparent with its customers and released more details on how exactly iOS manages battery and performance. That, however, hasn't stopped several lawsuits, from the US to France. And what we're most excited about in 2018.The best games of 2017 Early 2017 brought us legitimate contenders for game of the year in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5 -- and that's not to mention Resident Evil's return to form.

Machine learning algorithms require training data -- and a lot of it -- to get the models working correctly. But more training data alone doesn't necessarily make for smarter algorithms, according to Tolga Kurtoglu, CEO at PARC, a research and development company spun out Xerox in 2002. Looking to establish accountability across disparate project teams? Trying to automate processes or allow for lean methodology support? Hoping to enable business consequence modeling or real-time reporting?

LG first laid the foundation for its AI efforts at CES 2017 when it announced DeepThinQ followed by the initiative to include Wi-Fi in its entire line of premium appliances launched this year. Advancing the company's innovations in AI, LG opened the Artificial Intelligence Lab in Seoul in June under company's CTO to tie together all its diverse AI research in technologies that recognize, deduce and learn from voice, video and sensors. LG's AI Lab has contributed to the development of the world's first space-learning air conditioner as well as intelligent refrigerators, washing machines and robot vacuum cleaners. "Our new ThinQ platform for LG's intelligent products is the latest way that LG is delivering innovations that make consumers' lives easier and more enjoyable," said David VanderWaal, vice president of marketing for LG Electronics USA. "LG ThinQ enables deep learning technology and connectivity across household products, delivering even greater capabilities and convenience." In the United States, LG already offers the most extensive range of Wi-Fi enabled appliances available* today featuring its LG SmartThinQ Wi-Fi connectivity.

A century ago, most Americans lived much like people in ancient times. As Robert Gordon explains in The Rise and Fall of American Growth, few had indoor plumbing, electricity or an automobile. Everyday chores, such as cooking a meal or washing yourself could take hours of backbreaking labor just to haul water and wood. After 1920 things began to change. Productivity surged as never before or since as secondary shifts, such as electrical appliances, developing infrastructure and a retail transformation helped pave the way for social changes, like women in the workplace and suburban life.

If you were going to kick off a technological revolution, you'd be hard-pressed to do it with more pizazz than Tesla with its electric cars. But oddly enough, what's driving it all--the electric motor--is an ancient technology at this point. It's lost out to the gas engine for over a century, sure, but it's finally begun to take over transportation, thanks to supporting roles from better batteries and fancy sensors. But the electric motor is in the midst of launching a far bigger, far more subtle revolution--not in cars, but robots. Open up a robotic arm and you'll find that its joints are actually electric motors, known as actuators.

Lithium battery safety is an important issue as there are more and more reports of fires and explosions. Fires have been reported in everything from cell phones to airplanes to robots. If you don't know why we need to discuss this, or even if you do know, watch this clip or click here. I am not a fire expert. This post is based on things I have heard and some basic research.

I'm a big fan of Amazon's Echo line of smart speakers when it comes to smart home control, and the second-generation Echo is a big improvement over the first. But the Alexa-powered Fabriq Chorus delivers more bang for the buck and it sounds better, too. Where the Echo requires an AC outlet to operate, the Chorus features a 2200mAh rechargeable battery that Fabriq says can deliver up to 6 hours of performance, so you can take the speaker with you. The Chorus also comes with a contact-based charging cradle, so you don't need to bother with plugging and unplugging a USB cable to run the speaker--or charge its battery. The 6.3-inch tall cylindrical speaker is wrapped in wooly fabric (you can choose from four designs), with a thin LED ring around its base.

Electric vehicles are the main market for Romeo Power Technology, the Vernon-based lithium-ion battery pack startup. But the company is also using its know-how to make portable battery packs for individuals. On Thursday it introduced the Saber, a ruggedized 2.2-pound bar-shaped device the company says can quick-charge a smartphone 10 times -- or, with the right connectors, 10 smartphones at once. It can also recharge tablets, laptops and small drone aircraft as fast as a wall charger, the company said -- it's "like having a wall-socket in your pocket," said Dion Isselhardt, the company's chief product officer. The Saber itself requires two hours of wall time for a refill.

General Electric Co. is working on a way to use artificial intelligence in electricity grids, a technology that it expects will save $200 billion globally by improving efficiency. "We're also putting a lot into the machine learning side, a lot," said Steven Martin, chief digital officer at GE's energy connections business, at an interview at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit in London. "We have a lot of people working on this." This is expected to significantly increase the efficiency of the grid and save consumers money. Researchers are looking into how so-called machine learning can be integrated into businesses from healthcare to computing, and now energy.