Is Google X All About Highly Intelligent Robots?

One redditors' account suggests Google has developed crazy human-like AI

UPDATE: The thread still exists as do the comments, but the original post has been removed. The post was up for less than two hours. It also appears to be unable to be found via search on reddit.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Remember that report a couple of weeks back about Google X – the highly secretive experimental development arm of Google? According to sources, Google X is a “top secret lab in an undisclosed Bay Area location” that is working on tons of awesome/frightening stuff. You know, robots and such.

Well, there’s a guy that has made a top post on reddit who claims he has direct knowledge of the things taking place at Google X. And apparently, we’re all screwed.

That’s because the main focus of the project is super-intelligent robots that are virtually indistinguishable from humans when it comes to conversation and situational reactions. Here’s what user J32PMXR has to say about Google X [Turing test link added for clarification] :

This is in total violation of the NDA, but I don’t care anymore. Sue me.

The central focus of Google X for the past few years has been a highly advanced artificial intelligence robot that leverages the underlying technology of many popular Google programs. As of October (the last time I was around the project), the artificial intelligence had passed the Turing Test 93% of the time via an hour long IM style conversation. IM was chosen to isolate the AI from the speech synthesizer and physical packaging of the robot.

According to [some guy on reddit], the mechanics of the robot are not very impressive – no spider bots or anything – but that’s because it wasn’t really the focus. The redditor says that he had contact with the robot, and it’s “the most amazing thing [he's] ever seen.” It’s apparently incredibly smart, and interacts in ways that are uncannily human-like.

The redditor is currently answering questions posted to his thread, and is revealing the story a little by little.

I was unfairly terminated along with quite a few of my coworkers. It was a small enough group that they will probably figure out who I am, but like I said, I don’t care.

I’m not going to answer all of the questions, but for #6, our AI is practically like talking to a human. Siri can give you information, but we can give you conversation. We can also go full genius mode which essentially gives you the sum of internet knowledge via conversation.

It can do objects by using an advanced version of the Google Goggles software. It also has a suite of basically every sensor that could be put on it; optical, laser, infrared, ultrasonic, depth cameras, etc.

It needs an internet connection. Last I heard, it was using an average of only a couple hundred kilobytes per second. Most of the processing is done onboard, internet is used for external information.

Of course, there is absolutely no proof that this person is legit. As one commenter puts it, “There is no font bold enough for the [Citation Needed] this post requires.” But his account of what’s going on at Google X falls in line with other previous rumors. If this guy’s for real, it looks like we need to begin bracing ourselves for the end, folks. Because once they put this super-smart robot software into one of those giant spiders…I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

Facebook to host online casinos?

There is a limitless need on the part of social networks to make limitless amounts of money.

If you are Facebook and you might, possibly maybe, have an IPO shindig next year, you have to help potential investors believe that your revenues are rosier than an English country garden.

This might be why reports are emerging from the United Kingdom that Facebook is considering allowing casinos to operate within its virtual friendship facility.

When I say casinos, I mean ones with real money.

The Daily Mail fulminates at the prospect. It cites the knowledgeable people at eGaming Reviewin insisting that Facebook is in negotiations with around 20 gambling experts, consultants, and homes of online gambling.

(Credit: Chris Matyszczyk)

It suggests that companies such as Gamesys and 888 might be first in line to open virtual but very real casinos on Facebook.

You might wonder why the U.K. might be the testing ground for such a risk-positive venture. Well, the country is a little more welcoming to online gambling that some, more puritan nations.

Indeed, it's barely possible to watch an English Premier League soccer game without one of the two teams wearing a logo from an online gambling site. And so-called betting shops bring a polished and charming presence to Britain's high streets, mottled as they are by cheap clothing stores and imported American coffee houses.

Facebook reportedly doesn't deny that meetings on this subject have taken place. I have asked the company to clarify just what stage such negotiations might have reached.

The Mail does quote eGaming Review editor James Bennett, who said: "Facebook is looking for new revenue streams and the gambling industry is looking for new markets. There is still a lot of work needed to be done, not least what percentage of revenues gambling companies would have to give away to Facebook and the issue of age verification."

Of course there will be those who will worry that children's minds will be polluted by the notion that gambling--like sex, drugs, and reality TV--is a sin that can only lead to pain and sorrow.

Some might think, though, that any child of reading age might have noticed events on Wall Street and mused that online gambling has been comfortably institutionalized into contemporary society.

Updated at 1: 35 p.m. PST: Facebook has reacted with some angst to the Daily Mail's suggestion that children might be at risk. Spokesman Andrew Noyes told me: "Our commitment to providing a safe, secure and appropriate experience for teenagers is a fundamental principle of Facebook. The suggestion that we would make any decision that doesn't carefully consider the impact on this audience is short-sided and, frankly, offensive to the hundreds of people who work to keep kids safe and the many parents at Facebook. Beyond that, we're not going to comment on the multiple layers of speculation occurring here."

One can with some safety conclude, however, that negotiations with a view to introducing real money gambling on the site have, indeed, taken place.

The most popular baby names of 2011, revealed

By Rebecca Dube

The baby names are out! BabyCenter revealed on TODAY its most popular names for 2011 – a list eagerly anticipated each year by name nerds and parents. (If you are both, like me, even better!)

This year it’s all about two letters: A and N. For girls, the top five names all end with –a: Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia and Ava. On the boys’ side, the –n ending ruled five of the top eight: Aiden, Jackson, Mason, Jayden and Ethan.

Top Baby Names of 2011

Girls                                       Boys

Sophia                             Aiden
Emma                              Jackson
Isabella                           Mason
Olivia                              Liam
Ava                                 Jacob
Lily                                 Jayden
Chloe                              Ethan
Madison                          Noah

BabyCenter Editor-in-Chief Linda Murray pointed to celebrity influence on expectant parents, noting that Mason – the name of Kourtney Kardashian’s two-year-old son – rose eight spots in the rankings. Of course, it helps that he has the trendy –n ending. His K-named relatives did not fare as well, with Kourtney, Khloe, Kylie and Kristin all dropping in popularity.

5 Cool Gadgets & Concepts You’d Want In 2012

Since the advent of gadgets and smart phones, tech companies are diligently working in the direction of creating and introducing new concepts and features to smart phones, gadgets, etc. In 2012 numerous gadgets will be unveiled. here is the list of most awaited gadgets and concepts of 2012 that will not only come with striking new and odd features but will also go on to making life easier for its users.

Here at SkyTechGeek we wanted to introduce all of you Tech Gadget freaks to some new concepts and cool gadgets which will be unveiled in 2012. These gadgets and tech concepts aim to achieve tasks quickly and easily. Take a glimpse at a few of these innovative gadgets and concepts which are going to be on the market for the New Year.

1. iPad 3

Though an advanced tablet, the transformer prime would have to face the third generation iPad to make its prominence in the market. iPad 2 is expected to have evolved with many features to give birth to iPad3 retina display with 2048*1536 pixel resolution, thunderbolt technology and wireless sync, to name a few.

Though there are many rumors around the new iPad’s specs, apple freaks predict that the camera will be upgraded to 5 MP with LED flash technology. It will also feature an upgraded processor (A6) are new version of existing OS and iCloud sync.

Beside camera and other speculation, it’s a bit difficult to believe that Apple would actually consider making it thicker even if it is already .7 mm thicker, as Apple is been fairly obsessed with slimming down its products.

2. Asus Transformer Prime

You have been about to introduced to world’s most advanced tablet of these times. The Asus Transformer Prime runs on Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad –core mobile processor. Which has three times the graphical performance of its precede, Tegra 2.

The Transformer Prime’s stylish yet sturdy aluminum case wraps Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS (upgradable to Android 4 Ice cream sandwich), 1 GB DDR Ram and up to 64 GB of storage space. The tablet is also enriched with back breaking face reorganization software. The Prime’s price is around $600 for 64 GB version which almost giving a good fight to orthodox rival iPad 2.

The most exceptional feature of Asus Prime is its battery life which gives you up to 12 hours uninterrupted computing. (18 hours with the portable dock). Beside battery performance it also supports up to three times faster HTML5 and WebGL performance, and faster photo and video editing.

Quick Look at Specifications: 

10.1 “inch screen with 1280*800 resolution.
1080p video recording.
1.2 MP front camera, 8 MP main camera, 500 g weight, 12 hours battery life.

3. Samsung Flexible AMOLED Display

Last month, Samsung announced that company will launch flexible AMOLED displays by early 2012. The Korean tech giant’s Vice President Robert Yi had announced that “The application probably will start from the handset side and would follow on with other devices like tablets”.

The 4.5 inch flexible AMOLED display boasts 800*480 resolutions and can be folded into a 1 cm radius tube. What attracts eyeballs to AMOLED’s feature is its resistance. Since thedisplay is not made of circuits or glass it could even resist a hard blow by a hammer. 

4. iPhone 5

When iphone 4s was launched there were scads of speculations that new iphone 4 will come with new features to its predecessors. But company launched new iphone 4s with minor changes along with iCloud feature in October 2011.

People are still waiting for iphone 5 and it’s a rumor that new iphone 5 will be much thinner, faster, and more efficient. It will be only half inch wider along with iOS 5, flash camera 8MP (up to 3264*2448P resolution, retina display and many more. 

5. Amazon Smartphone

retail giant Amazone announced its intention of launching a smartphone few days back. With the success of Kindle, the company is raising the stakes to rival Apple-Google yet again. The phone would be manufactured by contract cellphone make Foxconn International Holding Ltd.
 
The firm expects the smartphone to adopt a Texax instruments processor and Qualcomm’s base band chips.The phone would be priced between $150 and $170.

statutory rape?

iPad 3 rumor roundup

With the success Apple is enjoying with the iPad 2, I'm not sure it even needs to make an iPad 3.

They will, of course. Just as they've done over the past two years, Apple will likely unveil its latest, greatest tablet around April 2012. Until then, it's open season on iPad 3 rumors.

In this ongoing blog post, we'll be collecting the best, most interesting rumors and predictions for the Apple iPad 3. Which of these rumors will pan out? Only time will tell.

February 10

Less expensive iPad Mini

The iPad's fiercest competition comes from inexpensive 7-inch tablets, such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. Steve Jobs famously called the iPad's 7-inch competitors "dead on arrival," but there's good reason to believe that Apple won't just ignore this growing threat. A 7-inch iPad with a $300 price tag could be just the thing to extinguish the Kindle Fire.

 

May 5

3D iPad

Everyone predicted that 3D was going to be huge in 2011. It wasn't. 3D TVs were a bust, the Nintendo 3Ds had to slash its price to compete, and 3D movies became synonymous with garbage. Still, the 3D display technology rumored for the iPad 3 could succeed where others have failed. By leveraging head-tracking camera software and the existing gyroscope sensor, iPad apps and videos could be made to trick your senses into perceiving 3D, with no glasses required.

Sources: RCR Unplugged, Business insider

June 7

Two iPad 3 models

Could 2012 hold two iPads instead of just one? This rumor goes hand in hand with the rumor of the iPad Mini, then goes further to claim that it will live side by side with the original 10-inch model. The premise for the rumor stems from code within iOS 5, which is more than can be said of most of the rumors on this list.

Source: TUAW

August 26

iPad 3 to use A6 processor

The idea that Apple's next-generation iPad would use a next-generation processor is to be expected. The more interesting tidbit from this rumor is that the chip may not be ready in time for the iPad's expected spring debut, pushing the product back to fall.

 

September 6

iPad 3 to use thinner battery

This is another rather obvious prediction. In Apple's view, mobile technology can never be too thin. The iPad's current construction is devoted mostly to its battery, so a lighter, slimmer battery is crucial to further whittling down its design.

Source: CENS

October 15

Siri on iPad

The Apple iPhone 4S was sold almost entirely on two features: a better camera and a new virtual assistant named Siri. Software hackers quickly found a way to enable the iPad's version of the Siri assistant, buried in the code for iOS 5. Unfortunately, without the cooperation of Apple's servers, Siri will not work on iOS devices that Apple has not yet deemed ready for the feature.

Source: Redmond Pie

October 22

iPad 3 to use new dock connection type

With Apple pushing the benefits of the wireless "PC-Free" features of iOS 5, it seems only a matter of time before Apple's universal dock connection disappears like some kind of vestigial tale carried over from its iPod ancestry. But before it disappears entirely, the folks at Macotakara believe there will be a new type of dock connection introduced that will break compatibility with all previous docking accessories.

Source: Macotakara

October 26

iPad 3 QXGA display

Of all the iOS devices out there (including the iPhone and iPod Touch), the iPad is the last to receive the upgrade to Apple's Retina Display technology. The problem is that touch-screen manufacturers simply cannot yet make panels at the iPad's size with the same 326ppi pixel density. They can get close, though. QXGA resolution (2,048x1,536) gets you a pixel density of 264ppi, which is twice that of the iPad 2.Also see: iPad 3's dense display a challenge for manufacturers

 

November 16

iPad 3 to use Qualcomm 4G LTE Gobi 4000 chip

Qualcomm is the current manufacturer for the 3G mobile chip inside the iPhone 4S, so it stands to reason that Apple may take advantage of its latest and greatest chip for use in the iPad 3. Using the 4G-compatible mobile chip would make the iPad 3 the first 4G device Apple has produced.

 

November 22

iPad 3 will be thinner with low-power non-IPS display

Forbes claims that Apple will ditch its IPS technology for a lower-powered Sharp display with a higher resolution and a thinner profile that will allow for a thinner overall design.

Source: Forbes

Carrier IQ tracking iPhone customers too, hacker says

Carrier IQ, a company that provides tracking tools to carriers and phone vendors, has come under fire as of late for monitoring Android-based devices. And now, the company's software has been found on the iPhone.

                         Apple's iPhone is running Carrier IQ's software too, according to Chpwn.

(Credit: Apple)

Carrier IQ's software is running on every iOS version dating back to iOS 3, well-known iPhone hacker "Chpwn" said yesterday in a blog post. Chpwn dug through the iPhone's operating system for any sign of Carrier IQ and found it deeply embedded in the operating system's "/usr/bin/" directory.

Yesterday, CNET reported on Carrier IQ's deep integration in Android. According to Android researcher Trevor Eckhart, who one of the more outspoken critics of the Carrier IQ's technology, the company's software running on Android devices can record and relay all kinds of information, including keystrokes, SMS messages in plain text, and even browsing history. What's worse, Eckhart says that removing the software is nearly impossible.

"The Carrier IQ application is embedded so deeply in the device that it can't be fully removed without rebuilding the phone from source code," Eckhart said in a blog post. "This is only possible for a user with advanced skills and a fully unlocked device. Even where a device is out of contract, there is no off switch to stop the application from gathering data."

However, Chpwn seems to believe that Carrier IQ works much differently on the iPhone. In fact, disabling its tracking in iOS is as simple as tapping over to the "Diagnostics and Usage" menu in the settings pane and toggling it off. Upon doing so, Chpwn says, no information is shared with Carrier IQ.

For those who don't turn the feature off, Chpwn claims Apple's Carrier IQ installation shares much less information than Android devices. He found that iOS shares "your phone number, your carrier, your country, active phone calls, and your location." However, unlike Android, Apple's installation doesn't share the phone number a user has dialed and only includes location information when "location services are enabled."

"I am reasonably sure it has no access to typed text, web history, passwords, browsing history, or text messages, and as such is not sending any of this data remotely," Chpwn wrote.

The controversy surrounding Carrier IQ arose last month when Eckhart detailed how the software works, eventually labeling it a "rootkit." Carrier IQ, by contrast, has argued that its service, which is running on over 130 million mobile devices worldwide, is a "diagnostic tool" designed to "improve the quality of the network, understand device issues, and ultimately improve the user experience."

Sprint, which uses Carrier IQ's technology, echoed that sentiment in a statement to CNET last month, but reassured customers that it doesn't collect private information.

"Carrier IQ provides information that allows Sprint, and other carriers that use it, to analyze our network performance and identify where we should be improving service," Sprint told CNET. "We also use the data to understand device performance so we can figure out when issues are occurring."

"We collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to address any connection problems, but we do not and cannot look at the contents of messages, photos, videos, etc., using this tool," Sprint continued.

Neither Apple nor Carrier IQ immediately responded to CNET's request for comment on Chpwn's findings.

(Via The Verge)