Toshiba’s newest hire (of sorts) is called Aiko Chihara — and she’s manning a reception desk at the company’s booth at CEATEC 2014 in Japan. Oh, and she’s silcone-coated robot. Interaction isn’t in her repertoire just yet — a Toshiba spokesman said…
Technical
UK prosecutors say posting revenge porn can lead to 14 years in prison
In a bid to crack down on the sharing of “revenge porn,” UK prosecutors have warned that the most severe cases can come with a 14-year spell behind bars. According to new guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), explicit images that…
Watch the US Navy’s swarm of robotic boats take to the sea
Overwhelming numbers can help win a sea battle, but sailors are far too valuable to simply throw away — and the US Navy knows it. To that end, it recently tested a swarm of robotic gunboats that work in tandem to either protect a main warship or…
Leaked image purportedly shows HTC’s Nexus 9 tablet
A new image from @upleaks, along with an apparent trip through the FCC has provided solid evidence that Google is set to release the Nexus 9 tablet built by HTC. The pic clearly shows Nexus and HTC branding on the back, which appears to be made of…
Newly discovered particle is both matter and antimatter at the same time
You probably think of matter and antimatter as mortal enemies, since their equivalent particles (such as protons and antiprotons) normally destroy each other on contact. However, there are now hints that the two might get along just fine in the right…
HTC’s next Desire phone reportedly captures 13-megapixel selfies
If you’ve wanted to shoot 13-megapixel selfies with your phone, you’ve usually had to get either a knock-off or a one-of-a-kind device like Oppo’s N1. You might not have to look very hard if a handful of leaks are correct, however. Both HTCFamily.ru…
Apple’s old DRM policies are about to go on trial
Once upon a time, music purchased in Apple’s iTunes store was saddled with a DRM technology called “FairPlay.” It did just what you’d expect: keep unauthorized computers and devices from playing music purchased on the service. It’s gone from Apple’s…
Microsoft turns Cortana into a Klingon-speaking Starfleet officer
To celebrate the launch of the Lumia 830 in the UK and all of the Trek-flavored nerdiness going down at Destination Star Trek in London, Microsoft has taught given its virtual assistant a crash course in the ways of Qo’nos — by which we mean Cortana…
Twitter hands MIT your public tweets, along with $10 million
Twitter has just awarded MIT’s Media Lab with $10 million (to be completed over the course of five years) to pore over, analyze and scrutinize every public tweet ever made, all for the sake of science. This new MIT project called Laboratory for…
Facebook promises better vetting for its social experiments
Facebook came under a ton of fire this summer when it revealed that it’d manipulated some peoples’ news feeds in an experiment to track mood changes. Well, The Social Network took note and has recently announced it’s changing how experiments will be…
Hexoskin’s new wearable is a smart shirt for exercise buffs
The wearable craze isn’t only about fashionable watches and savvy glasses. After all, remember how tech giant Intel’s vision for the space included a shirt? Hexoskin, a Canada-based startup, has similar beliefs, and that’s why it recently introduced…
PS Vita gets a little more custom with new system icons, music and themes
Sure, you’ve been able to change the background on your PS Vita since day one, but swapping out the system’s application icons wasn’t exactly an option. Until now, that is. With the latest update to Sony’s handheld, the custom themes that the…
Pavlok needs your money to shock more people into breaking bad habits
There’s no way you’d use a shock collar to train your beloved dog, but you wouldn’t mind using one on yourself if it means breaking your nastiest habits, eh? If that’s the case, then your day has come: Pavlok (a wearable band that can zap you with…
Bloomberg: Apple’s splashing gold paint on the iPad too
The nice thing about living in Apple’s ecosystem is everything is consistent: the app library, the user interface and design motifs echo across all of the company’s devices. Well, unless you have a gold iPhone — then any iPad you could possibly buy…
Test code hints at future iPads with Touch ID and Apple Pay
There have been photos and vague rumors hinting that Apple’s next iPads will involve more than just a speed bump, but there hasn’t been much in the way of hard evidence… until today, that is. Hamza Sood has uncovered code in the iOS 8.1 developer…