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Mit last week launched  the MIT Intelligence Quest , an initiative to find out how human intelligence works, in engineering terms, and how a deeper grasp of human intelligence can be applied to building wiser and more useful machines. Life scientists, computer scientists, social scientists and engineers will collaborate in the effort. "Human intelligence is turning out to be very complex, involving emergent properties that arise from complex computational networks," noted Michael Jude, research manager at  Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan . "It is not simply an engineering design problem," he told TechNewsWorld. Bringing in some of the soft sciences, such as psychology and sociology, as well as areas like medicine "would seem to be a good thing," Jude observed. Deep Insights, Practical Tools Some of the advances may be foundational in nature, involving new insights into human intelligence and new methods to let machines learn effectively, ...

Google on Tuesday rolled out a developer preview of its new AMP story format, which is designed to give content publishers an easy way to deliver news and information on mobile devices with visually rich, tap-through stories. "On mobile devices, users browse lots of articles, but engage with few in-depth," noted Rudy Galfi, product manager for AMP at Google. "Images, videos and graphics help publishers to get their readers' attention as quickly as possible and keep them engaged through immersive and easily consumable visual information," he pointed out. Built on the AMP infrastructure, stories are displayed on the mobile Web at speeds that rival resident apps. In addition, AMP story pages can be hosted at a publisher's website and linked to other locations on the site to enhance discovery. As part of the AMP ecosystem, discovery platforms can take advantage of pre-renderable pages, optimized video loading and caching to optimize delivery to use...

Millions of smart TVs from Samsung and some streaming devices from Roku recently were found to be vulnerable to cyberattacks, allowing intruders to take control and remotely change channels and volume settings, among other things, according to  Consumer Reports  research. Vulnerabilities were discovered not only in Samsung televisions, but also in TVs from TCL and other brands that sell sets compatible with the Roku TV smart-TV platform and streaming video devices such as Roku Ultra, according to the report. Further, the affected televisions and devices collect a wide range of personal data, Consumer Reports noted, and users who choose to limit that data collection would risk limiting the functionality of the TV. The report is based on a wide ranging security and privacy review of major brands, including Vizio, LG and Sony. This review was the first conducted as part of Consumer Reports' new Digital Standard, which is an effort among several nonprofits, including t...

It's a  truism that just like organizations adapt, so too do criminals. For example, anyone who has ever seen a Wells Fargo commercial knows that there was a time when stagecoaches were a normative method for transporting cash and valuables. But what modern criminals in their right mind would attempt robbing a Brink's truck on horseback? While that strategy might have worked well in the days of the Pony Express, attempting it in now would be out of touch and inefficient. This is an intentionally extreme example to make a point: Criminals adapt to keep pace in the same way that organizations adapt. With a veritable renaissance in technology use under way, criminals have been advancing their methods of attack just like organizations have been advancing their methods for conducting business. One of the more recent developments in attacker tradecraft is so-called "fileless malware." This trend -- which emerged a few years ago but gained significant prominence in l...

Fitbit added a new smartwatch to its wearables line with a pricetag of US$199.95. The Fitbit Versa, which will reach global retail outlets in next month, will be the lightest metal smartwatch in the U.S. market. It includes a new dashboard that simplifies the way health and fitness data is accessed on the device. Versa mixes health and fitness programs, such as 24/7 heart rate tracking, onscreen workouts and automatic sleep-stage tracking, with smart features like quick replies on Android and on-device music. Although the Versa's operating system is Fitbit's proprietary OS 2.0, the smartwatch can connect to an Android phone via an app. That sets it apart from the Apple Watch, noted Ross Rubin, principal analyst at  Reticle Research . "That's a good move when the Android Wear platform for smartwatches has some uncertainty surrounding it moving forward," he told TechNewsWorld. It's been reported that Google intends to re-brand Android Wear ...

Windows 10 software updates install on your device automatically (whether you like it or not), but this guide can help you retake control and decide when to install them. On Windows 10, you no longer have absolute control over software updates. They're mandatory, and they download and install automatically to ensure your device stays up to date with the latest security patches and improvements. This approach is convenient for many users, but it's not one that everyone wants. If you're running Windows 10 Pro or higher, it's possible to retake control and prevent the OS from downloading and installing updates automatically using the Local Group Policy Editor or the Registry. In this  Windows 10 guide , we'll walk you through the steps to prevent updates from automatically installing on your computer. How to prevent automatic updates using the Local Group Policy Editor How to prevent automatic updates using the Registry How to prevent automatic updates ...

Smartphones keep us connected, informed and much more. For many of us, they have become more than a simple tech tool, so we should probably take better care of them than we do. Instead of treating them as if they are toys that can be replaced, we should handle them as if our lives and jobs depend on them. Nonetheless, there are certain things we unintentionally or unknowingly do to our smartphones. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, discusses them. Neglecting malware Malware doesn’t only infect desktop computers. It could do even worse damage to your smartphone. This is because smartphone malware can track your location and steal highly sensitive data as well. It is essential that you take caution when installing apps on your smartphone. Packing it full Unless you use an Android phone that accommodates SD card, you can quickly fill up your devices until they won’t work. Without enough storage space, the device may either become sluggish or won’t function. M...

One thing that is the primary concern of every laptop user is whether or not their battery will last long enough for them to complete an assigned task. It has been discovered that manufacturers of laptops tend to overstate their battery life, but measuring it meaningfully can be challenging. Trusting the processor speed or memory capacity on the specification sheet of your new laptop is a fairly safe bet, but when it comes to the battery life, how much can you estimate? Some manufacturers’ claims about how long their laptops can go without a charge are overstated. A number of battery tests carried out by the United Kingdom based consumer products review website suggests that some laptop makers claim a battery life that’s 50 percent longer than their batteries actually last under real-world conditions. Among the findings is that the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 lasted just under four hours, despite Dell’s claims by Dell that the laptop battery can survive up to seven. At the ot...

The UK’s first cyborg shop assistant was fired after a week due to “incompetence,” suggesting the much-feared AI takeover may still be some way off. Fabio, the Pepper robot, produced by Japanese company Softbank, was hired as a retail assistant at a Margiotta supermarket in Edinburgh, Scotland, as part of an experiment run by Heriot-Watt University for the BBC documentary Six Robots & Us. “We thought a robot was a great addition to show the customers that we are always wanting to do something new and exciting,” Elena Margiotta, who runs the family-owned company, said. “Unfortunately Fabio didn’t perform as well as we had hoped. People seemed to be actually avoiding him.” Fabio failed to help customers, telling them beer could be found “in the alcohol section,” rather than directing customers to the location of the beer, the Telegraph reports. He was soon demoted to offer food samples to customers, but failed to compete with his fellow human employees. “Conversations didn’...