This year could usher in a new era for Amazon’s in the context of AI devices as reports suggest that the Amazon Echo will dominate the AI space in 2017. In 2016, the Amazon Echo dominated the sales and ended up being one of the top selling items on Amazon.com. Now, Forrester Research’s estimates suggest that 6 million Echo devices were sold in 2016. The Amazon Echo, features […]
Asset price movements in the past few weeks have pointed both to the upside and a major risk for the global economy and markets under a Trump administration. Enthusiasm over higher US growth powering the global economy has been tempered at times by worries that certain elements of the president-elect’s “America First” approach could undermine longstanding trading relationships, opening up the risk of economic and financial disruptions. […]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates –January 16, 2017(ME NewsWire) Grundfos, the award-winning world leader in advanced pump solutions, is partaking along with a number of renowned Danish companies, in the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) to be held during 16–19 January 2017, in Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE. Some of the companies participating in WFES, including Grundfos, are part of the Act NOW initiative (www.actnow.dk), a partnership […]
Scientists have demonstrated the ability to ‘see’ the future of quantum systems and used that knowledge to preempt their demise, in a major achievement that could help bring the strange and powerful world of quantum technology closer to reality. Although applications of quantum-enabled technologies are compelling, quantum physicists had previously been stymied by the most significant obstacle to building reliable quantum technologies — ‘decoherence’ or the randomization […]
OTTAWA Canada’s ethics watchdog is investigating Justin Trudeau for potential breaches related to his recent holiday on an island owned by the Aga Khan, the first time a prime minister has faced such scrutiny, media reported on Monday. Trudeau has been confronted with repeated questions from the opposition about his vacation in the Bahamas over the New Year’s holiday and said last week that he had flown […]
Ministers are drawing up plans for a two-tier system of UK border controls for EU citizens as Theresa May prepares to tighten migration rules at the expense of single market membership. Senior government officials expect the prime minister to decide on a system based on work permits and new automated security checks — similar to the US visa-waiver programme — for EU citizens travelling to Britain. The […]
“Dedication, that’s what you need, if you want to be a record breaker,” sang the TV entertainer Roy Castle on the long-running BBC programme dedicated to notable feats. London’s FTSE 100 has been on a dedicated record-breaking run all of its own, notching up an unprecedented 14 consecutive sessions of gains by the end of last week, a run which only ended on Monday, when the index […]
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As university students mill around a bright and airy study hall in London, Eiad Zinah converses in his native language Arabic with a female student from Germany. It is the first time the pair have met for a language tuition session – and it is the Syrian refugee who is running the tutorial today, not the other way around. “It’s an amazing […]
Ken Miller Crunch Network Contributor Ken Miller is an investor, writer, and advisor to several technology companies and Venture Capital firms. Previously he was an Executive at PayPal and Intuit, and early Advisor to Square. More posts by this contributor: How to join the network Pundits and Monday morning quarterbacks have spent much of the last two months lost in a fog of speculation and assertions as […]
(UPDATED) Forced evacuation has been ordered in several flood- and landslide-prone barangays. Some parts of the city are in neck-deep water. Bobby Lagsa Published 2:15 AM, January 17, 2017 Updated 2:37 AM, January 17, 2017 STRANDED. Vehicles and commuters have been stranded in Cagayan de Oro since Monday night, January 16, after nonstop rains triggered flash floods across the city. Photo by Bobby Lagsa/Rappler CAGAYAN DE ORO, […]
He was the president who took out Osama bin Laden but was blindsided by Isis; who made Asia his priority but saw his trade deal for the region stymied; who built bridges with once sworn enemies in Cuba and Iran but who sparred with allies in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The mixed and sometimes messy foreign policy legacy of Barack Obama includes a climate change agreement and […]
Turkey’s biggest headache, its crashing currency which the central banks appears unable to contain due to an Erdogan order not to hike rates, could soon translate into another major problem. According to two senior economy officials, Turkish inflation could reach double digits in the first quarter for the first time in almost five years as a result of the lira’s falls, putting more pressure on the central […]
By Isabel Coles | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi special forces battled Islamic State militants in districts near the Tigris river in Mosul on Monday as they sought to bring more of the east of the city back under government control. The latest clashes occurred in the neighbouring Shurta and Andalus districts. At least three Islamic State suicide car bombs targeted Iraqi forces in Andalus. There was […]
By Alessandra Prentice | KIEV KIEV Outgoing U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Monday for sanctions on Russia to stay, urging the world to stand up to its “coercion and aggression” after President-elect Donald Trump mooted ending the measures under a possible deal with Moscow. Speaking on a swan song visit to Kiev, Biden said the G7 nations and European Union should lift the sanctions only […]
An electricity crisis that has caused protests and unrest in the Gaza Strip eased on Monday after Qatar donated $12 million to buy fuel for the Palestinian enclave’s lone power plant, officials said. For weeks, Gaza’s population of 2 million has been making do with barely a few hours a day of electricity – less than half its usual supply. The Energy Authority run by the enclave’s […]
Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead • By Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman • MIT Press • 328 pages • ISBN: 978-0262035224 • £19.95 / $29.95 There is an old joke that has Bill Gates, then CEO of Microsoft, boast to the CEO of General Motors that if Microsoft built cars, they would cost $25 and get 1,000 miles per gallon. The GM CEO is supposed […]
Nearly everyone who’s played Super Mario Bros. knows instinctively what the first level looks like. Mario is left-of-center, he moves to the right, the screen pans around the platform, there’s the first question block — gleaming subtly, which is important, but more on that later — and then a goomba trundles toward Mario. This point in the game is crucial. The player either loses a life upon […]
Fraugster, a German and Israeli startup that has developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to help eliminate payment fraud, has raised $5 million in funding. Earlybird led the round, alongside existing investors Speedinvest, Seedcamp and an unnamed large Swiss family office. The new capital will be used to add to Fraugster’s headcount as it expands internationally. Founded in 2014 by Max Laemmle, who previously co-founded payment gateway company […]
SEOUL South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group said on Monday it could not accept the special prosecutors’ accusations that its leader, Jay Y. Lee, paid bribes to further his succession or the merger of two affiliates in 2015. “It is difficult to understand the special prosecution’s decision,” Samsung Group said in an email statement in response to the special prosecutors’ decision to request an arrest warrant for Lee, […]
DUBAI/TEHRAN: Iran will not renegotiate its nuclear agreement with world powers, even if it faces new US sanctions after Donald Trump becomes president, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.US “hostility” to Iran is growing day by day despite Tehran’s nuclear deal, the senior Iranian official said, ahead of the first anniversary of the historic accord.“The United States has done whatever it can do (to) slow […]
PRIEN, Germany Some 30 swimmers braved the frosty waters of Germany’s Chiemsee over the weekend, racing to be crowned “Ice King” of the famous lake near Munich. In driving snow, with air temperatures around freezing and water temperatures around 4 degrees Celsius, men and women competed in several disciplines such as breast stroke and freestyle in a 50 m course off the town of Prien. The lake […]
SYDNEY Plans to provide government support to keep open a 30-year-old aluminum smelter in Australia owned by Alcoa (AA.N) have made “progress”, parties involved in talks said on Monday without giving details. The government is offering financial support to help supply the Portland smelter in southern Australia with sufficient power in the wake of a blackout late last year that left it running at only one-third of […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for January 16, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Nationwide New movie In Into the Forest, sisters Nell and Eva (Ellen Page (pictured) and Evan Rachel Wood) find themselves in a battle to survive on their own at their isolated home in the […]
Seldom have such small chips carried such a heavy load. China’s fledgling semiconductor industry, after a messy birth, now finds itself in the crosshairs of conflicting political goals in Beijing and Washington. Chips are a key plank of China’s industrial plans, attracting a massive $150bn government subsidy. This reflects national angst over reliance on overseas markets — it spends more on importing semiconductors than oil — and […]
