A confession: This dispatch will not be coming to you from one of the long-devout Martha Wells faithful. I'm a convert, a curious reader who turned to Wells' The Murderbot Diaries series after reading my colleague Meghan Herbst's fantastic 2024 profile of the author, which left me questioning who would be challenged with taking on the series' title character in Apple TV's adaptation and why it was Alexander Skarsgård. Put differently, I wanted to know if the actor known for playing blood-sucker Eric Northman in True Blood and a berserker prince in The Northman would be the right fit to play a security robot, or SecUnit, struggling with social awkwardness after hacking his own "governor module" to give himself the freedom to not obey human orders. If the weird affection he forms for the scientists he's charged with protecting, and the stunted way he goes about showing it, would translate to Murderbot. After watching the first episodes of the show, which debuts Friday on Apple TV, I got my answers--and found myself asking a lot more questions.

Supermarket thefts could be a thing of the past thanks to an'ominous' security robot that looks straight out of Doctor Who. Tesco has confirmed it is using the Dalek-like machines, which detect the presence of thieves thanks to 360-degree cameras. Placed near the entrance of Tesco stores in the small hours, the bot shouts at any intruders in an'angry Northern Irish accent' and sends alerts the authorities. It's hoped the robot does a better job than human watchmen because it can't fall asleep on the job, as long as it's been sufficiently charged. However, at 100,000 per month to hire, the robot doesn't come cheap.

After less than eight months, Amazon has discontinued the business version of its Astro security robot. GeekWire reported on Wednesday that despite being "fully committed" to its home robotics division, the company has discontinued the higher-end model that doubled as a security guard for spaces as large as 5,000 square feet. Amazon launched Astro for Business in November 2023, pitching it as a workplace security robot. The 2,350 screen-on-wheels had an HD periscope and a tangled web of subscription types and tiers, including Ring Protect Pro, Astro Security and Virtual Security Guard memberships. An Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire that it hasn't laid people off because of Astro for Business' demise, and the company plans to divert resources into its home robotics work.

Designed and manufactured in France, the Thalamus is a groundbreaking autonomous security robot that is redefining the way we think about surveillance and protection.

The New York Police Department is doing a two-month trial period with the K5 security robot patrolling a Times Square subway station at night, but not all subway riders feel safer. A New York police robot given high expectations to curb crime was decommissioned after a trial program. The New York City Police Department leased Knightscope's "fully autonomous" K5 Security Robot to patrol the Times Square Subway Station as part of a four-month pilot program analyzing the technology's effectiveness in crime fighting. New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised the device during a September news conference, saying it would eventually become "part of the fabric of our subway," but the NYPD retired the robot in January, law enforcement officials told the New York Post last week. "The Knightscope K5 has completed its pilot deployment in the NYC subway system," an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News in a statement Tuesday.

The Knightscope K5, which is a 400-pound machine that looks like it could be R2-D2's massive sibling, was one of Mayor Eric Adams' high-tech experiments for New York City. It was deployed in a pilot last year ostensibly to help keep commuters safe, but it had no actual capabilities that could be useful in situations that had to be addressed on site. "The K5 Knightscope has completed its pilot in the NYC subway system," a spokesperson for the department told The New York Times. The K5 has cameras that can record video and a button that people can press to get in touch with a live agent. It patrolled the station from midnight until 6AM throughout its trial run that lasted for two months, though "patrolled" might be a generous way of putting it.

Ascento Guard is a two-wheeled, all-terrain robot equipped with cameras. Security guards are in high demand but low supply in the United States. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the security guard occupation is expected to grow by 6.3% in the next decade, but many factors are discouraging people from pursuing this career. To address this challenge, a company has developed an autonomous patrol robot that can navigate any terrain and perform various security tasks. The robot, the Ascento Guard, is designed to offset the lack of security guards and provide a cost-effective and reliable solution for the security guard shortage.

There were plenty of creative tech innovations this year. Technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace in our world. It's hard not to be wowed by the incredible innovations that human creativity and ingenuity have produced this past year. From conversational AI to robots, from flying sports cars to electric flying craft, we have seen some of the most remarkable breakthroughs in history. As 2023 comes to a close, let's review some of the most fascinating and influential technology that made this year unforgettable.

The New York Police Department is doing a two-month trial period with the K5 security robot patrolling a Times Square subway station at night, but not all subway riders feel safer. NEW YORK CITY – Subway riders shared mixed feelings about a police robot that started patrolling the Big Apple's busiest transit station in October. "I think it's OK -- whatever they can do to make us safer," Onassis told Fox News. "I mean look at the robot. It's like something from'Doctor Who.' I think it's cute."

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is implementing a new security measure at the Times Square subway station. It's deploying a security robot to patrol the premises, which authorities say is meant to "keep you safe." We're not talking about a RoboCop-like machine or any human-like biped robot -- the K5, which was made by California-based company Knightscope, looks like a massive version of R2-D2. Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of privacy rights group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, has a less flattering description for it, though, and told The New York Times that it's like a "trash can on wheels." K5 weighs 420 pounds and is equipped with four cameras that can record video but not audio.