Mobile chip maker Qualcomm wants to enable deep learning-based software development on all kinds of devices, which is why it created the Neural Processing Engine (NPE) for its Snapdragon-series mobile processors. The NPE software development kit is now available to all via the Qualcomm Developer Network, which marks the first public release of the SDK, and opens up a lot of potential for AI computing on a range of devices, including mobile phones, in-car platforms and more. The purpose of the framework is to make possible UX implementations like style transfers and filters (basically what Snapchat and Facebook do with their mobile app cameras) with more accurate applications on user photos, as well as other functions better handled by deep learning algorithms, like scene detection, facial recognition, object tracking and avoidance, as well as natural language processing. Basically anything you'd normally route to powerful cloud servers for advanced process, but done locally on device instead. Facebook is actually one of the developers that gained early access to the NPE and the social giant is already seeing five-fold improvements in performance for its AR features on images and live video, when using Qualcomm's Adreno GPUs on Snapdragon SoCs.

System makers Fujitsu and Huawei Technologies reportedly are both planning to develop processors optimized for artificial intelligence workloads, moves that will put them into competition with the likes of Intel, Google, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Tech vendors are pushing hard to bring artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning capabilities into their portfolios to meet the growing demand generated by a broad range of workloads, from data analytics to self-driving vehicles. Microsoft, Google, IBM and others are creating AI business units and building out products and services that can leverage the technologies. Chip makers also are making the move. Intel last week unveiled its latest generation Xeon server chips that, among other improvements, deliver 2.2 times the performance for deep learning training and inference tasks than their predecessors.

Texting and chatting have become so ingrained in our daily lives that, these days, most people get genuinely upset when they receive phone calls. The convenience of mobile communication has made us greedy about our time, and spending minutes on the phone for something that can be accomplished via text has become just downright offensive. For that reason, marketers are now turning to messaging platforms to improve communication channels for sales and customer service conversations. In fact, a report by Twilio found that 9 out of 10 consumers want to use messaging to communicate with brands. "[The] report highlights a growing divide between consumers and brands," said Manav Khurana, VP of Product Marketing at Twilio.

Identifying and pinpointing potential network failures and performance issues has long been a matter of educated guesswork, but an emerging generation of predictive analytics tools promises to bring greater accuracy to network reliably forecasts, allowing staff to address and remedy specific issues even before they can even begin affecting network operations. Predictive analytics is a game-changer, giving CIOs the ability to literally look into the future. "There is a growing need for networks to adapt to dynamic application demands as well as address dynamically to special events, seasonality and so on," says Diomedes Kastanis, head of technology and innovation for Ericsson. "Although we have a lot of automation systems and rules to manage and operate networks, it still it not enough to cope with the intense changing environment and proactively adapt to changing demands." Predictive analytics incorporating processes such as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are relatively new concepts to many CIOs.

"Those who rule chips will rule the entire world. Those who rule data will rule the entire world. That's what people of the future will say." The words of Softbank's founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who was bigging up his company at a presentation in Tokyo and laying down some future plans that artificial intelligence (AI) and data are very much at the heart of the company. According to the Associated Press (AP), who sat in on the event, Son, like quite a few other people, says "AI combined with data gathered by billions of sensors will bring on an'information revolution', that will benefit people more than the 19th century Industrial Revolution".

Fictitious robots of the 20th century had super powers and were depicted in fantastical morality tales, in battles of right and wrong. Their 21st-century real-world counterparts have a more prosaic but ultimately more ground-breaking power: They're enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) to solve everyday challenges for people, businesses and society. The potential opportunities created from integrating intelligence into industrial and service robots are leading businesses to take notice. Recently, a leading global telecommunications company asked us to develop a strategy for activating services that would enable service robots to productively interact in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer realms. Service robots pose unique needs, as they are functionally designed to perform a task for or with humans.

Samsung Electronics America has finally confirmed speculations that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 will have another color option. The release date of the Coral Blue versions of the two flagship smartphones has also been revealed. On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics America announced via Samsung Newsroom the addition of the Coral Blue option into the mix of color variants of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 handsets. Interested consumers will get the chance to own any of the two starting this Friday, July 21. Samsung has tapped Best Buy to sell the blue colored Android flagship phones.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has been on the market since late-April and its highlight feature, Bixby Voice has finally been implemented onto the device in the U.S. market. The artificial intelligence update is rolling onto Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 handsets over-the-air, adding to the overall platform, the ability to instruct the handset to execute functions with one's voice. Bixby serves as Samsung answer to other AI assistants such as Siri, from Apple, Alexa from Amazon and Google Assistant. In addition to Bixby Voice, the assistant includes features such as the Hello Bixby Hub, which serves as a hub for vital information for those using a Bixby enabled handset, Bixby Reminders, which learns user's patterns and sets automatic reminders, and Bixby Vision, which uses the Galaxy S8 camera app as a machine learning identification tool to pull information about products, places or things or even translate text. The latter three features were enabled on Bixby when the Galaxy S9 launched; however, Bixby Voice was delayed due to Samsung having issues implementing English speech recognition onto the platform.

A San Diego-based company that believes "tomorrow's robots will be intelligent autonomous machines that can take care of us," which will be "as commonplace as computers and mobile phones are today" has raised $114 million in Series C funding led by SoftBank's Vision Fund, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures. Brain Corp's primary product is its BrainOS platform, which is software designed to make it possible to create autonomous commercial robots using off-the-shelf hardware and sensors. Brain's tech uses AI to allow robots to control their own motion, as well as perceive their surroundings. The BrainOS software includes self-driving technology tailored for indoor use, as well as obstacle avoidance. Its business model involves selling its platform as a SaaS offering, which means its clients pay subscription fees to add autonomy to their robots. BrainOS is intended to "play the same role as Android OS plays for smartphones," the company says, offering equipment manufacturers an easy way to convert their existing machinery into functional robots.

Huawei is gearing up to launch an application processor that combines CPU (central processing unit), GPU (graphics processing unit) and AI (artificial intelligence) functions, according to a report from DigiTimes. Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu discussed the plans during the 2017 China Internet Conference in Beijing which started earlier this week. Yu stated that the new processor would debut in the second half of the year, though he didn't go into specifics about what the AI component of the chip would allow for (CPU and GPU have been being built into the same SoC since 2010). Yu did mention, however, that Huawei's EMUI interface supported "deep machine learning and smart computing capability," said DigiTimes. Which CPU and GPU will feature in this new chip is an interesting question.