The Morning After: Wednesday, December 28 2016
Suit up!
It's Wednesday and we're talking about an Amazon Echo speaker that's involved in a murder case, artificial intelligence making smarter game opponents (and Samsung phones, oh, and a giant robot that you can get inside and pilot. My christmas presents suddenly don't look so hot. Yes, I'm an ungrateful swine.
Police seek Amazon Echo data in murder case
In the first such case we've heard of, police requested audio data from Amazon. The recordings they sought could have been captured by an Echo speaker, for use in a first-degree murder. While Amazon apparently declined the request, it raises more questions about the presence and potential complications of always-listening virtual assistants.
In this case, however, the police may rely on a different IoT log to close their case. A smart water meter that showed 140 gallons used that night, which prosecutors are alleging was used to wash away evidence.
Lenovo's latest ThinkPads are bloatware-free
In a pre-CES announcement, Lenovo is showing off some new laptops, but the most important detail is what they don't have: bloatware. In a move that can speed up performance and ease concerns about built-in security flaws, this new mid-tier line of Thinkpads are all Microsoft Signature Edition, shipping with just the basic stuff. They also have 7th generation Intel Core CPUs and some are even packing speedy Optane 3D storage.
One gamesmaker bought an AI startup to make smarter baddies
Bandai Namco, the games publisher behind Tekken, Dark Souls and a whole bunch of Dragonball games, has invested in an artificial intelligence startup. The team at Heroz have an algorithm for shogi (Japanese chess) that's bested several professional human players in public matches. Bandai Namco is hoping to tap into that know-how to improve its non-playing character behavior in future titles. The AI startup had already dabbled in a Pokémon card game, but it was no Pokémon Go. (As in, not a mega-hit.)
Samsung's next Galaxy S phone might use AI across all its apps
Speaking of AI, we may have got a better sense of Samsung's already-teased Galaxy S8 assistant. A SamMobile source claims that a voice-guided helper (reportedly named Bixby) will have a presence in all of the phone's Samsung-made apps. You could use it in the Gallery app to show you photos of the beach, for example. Not a radical development when both Google Photos and iOS 10 can already do it -- but at least it looks likely to replace S Voice, Samsung's creaky in-house voice command feature.
Samsung's 2016 went up in smoke
The story oh Samsung's year is how thing went wrong. Its deep cash reserves could handle a hit from two different lines of malfunctioning products, but what's harder to rebuild is its reputation. Nearly everyone has heard about its Galaxy Note 7 issue, and the company still hasn't answered the question of why its phones were exploding.
South Korean company builds "world's first manned bipedal robot"
Mechs aren't just for Gundam and Pacific Rim anymore, now that Hankook Mirae Technology has shown off a real one. It's not especially useful at the moment, but it is just as cool-looking as we'd imagined, and could serve as a testbed for mech technology going forward.
