Japanese robot can peel bananas cleanly, most of the time

Robots in Japan are found on factory floors carrying out simple tasks or delivering food to restaurant patrons but researchers have now unveiled a robot capable of executing the delicate task of peeling a banana without squashing the fruit inside. While the dual armed machine only succeeds 57% of the time, banana peeling foreshadows a future in which machines do more complex tasks than moving metal components or delivering coffee. In a video released by University of Tokyo researchers, the robot was seen picking up and peeling a banana with…

Google adding ‘Privacy Guide’ to Chrome browser, will roll this out soon

Google’s Chrome browser will now include a “Privacy Guide.” The tutorial will begin rolling out to M100 Chrome desktop users in the coming weeks, with the goal of providing a better grasp of the browser’s privacy settings. Google says in a blog post that the guide was created by the Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC) and that it offers a step-by-step tour of some of Chrome’s existing privacy and security safeguards. This is designed to allow Chrome users to make and maintain their privacy settings all in one place. Users…

China wants to dominate AI & Disney+ Hotstar is helping

Dominance in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is a priority for the Chinese government over traditional western competitors such as the United States. Surprisingly, one of the large companies lining up to benefit from this effort is India’s Disney+ Hotstar, which is rapidly recruiting new AI talent from a Beijing headquarters. “At present, our team has nearly 50 members, almost all of whom graduated from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University and other top universities in China,” a recruitment post in Mandarin distributed to students of Peking University said. The…

Google Docs Now Lets You Use Emoji Reactions

Google Docs is getting support for emoji reactions that will allow users to respond to the text with a simple symbol rather than a fully written comment. The new emoji reactions feature, according to the company, is a less formal alternative to comments for expressing your thoughts on document content. “Emoji set is updated to the latest version (Emoji 14.0), reflecting the latest emoji set with options to accurately reflect your identity,” the company said in a blog post. Gender-neutral options for gender-modifiable emojis will also be available, according to…

Talentedge’s owner takes stake in upGrad at $2 billion value after integration

UpGrad, an edtech company, announced on Thursday that it has integrated all of Talentedge’s operations, which will now operate under its own brand, after its owner, Sekhsaria Family Office, purchased a $2 billion interest in the company. UpGrad stated in December of last year that it will buy Gurugram-based edtech rival Talentedge for Rs 350-400 crore. The near 100 percent share swap transaction was done at an upGrad value of $2 billion, while Talentedge was valued at Rs 205 crore. According to the company, Talentedge is on track to surpass…

IndiQube raises $30 million from promoters, WestBridge Capital

IndiQube, a flexible workspace provider, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired $30 million in Series B funding from the company’s creators, existing investors WestBridge Capital, and Ashish Gupta, an angel investor, as it prepares for its next phase of growth. IndiQube’s promoters have put in $17 million of the $30 million. The Bengaluru-based startup was founded in 2015.Along with Ashish Gupta, the co-working startup raised Rs 100 crore in a Series A fundraising round from WestBridge Capital in 2018. “We are extremely thrilled to have a large PE firm…

Visual robotic platform CynLr raises $4.5 million in funding led by Speciale Invest, growX Ventures

Speciale Invest and growX Ventures led a $4.5 million fundraising round for CynLr, a visual robotic platform. Anicut Capital, Infoedge, Java Capital, Venture Catalysts, and Arali Ventures were among the other institutional investors in the round. According to a release, CynLr will use the capital to establish a corporate presence in the United States, grow its team to more than 50 individuals, and build capacity to address the current pipeline of customers and produce 100 robots per year. “CynLr’s visual robots can instantaneously pick any object of any size, shape,…

How eye imaging technology could help robots and cars see better

Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR for short, is one of the imaging technologies that many robotics companies are incorporating into their sensor packages. The approach, which is currently attracting a lot of interest and funding from self-driving car companies, works similarly to radar, but instead of sending out broad radio waves and looking for reflections, it uses short laser pulses.   Traditional time-of-flight LiDAR, on the other hand, has a number of flaws that make it unsuitable for many 3D vision applications. Other LiDAR systems or even ambient sunshine…

Qureos raises $3M to grow its learn to earn platform

Qureos, a UAE-based edtech and remote work marketplace that is changing how people upskill and get jobs across the globe, plans to grow the uptake of its platform by 10 times this year in its race to create 100 million jobs over the next few years. The startup has today announced closing a $3 million pre-seed funding to accelerate this growth. Alexander Epure, Mehrad Yaghmai, and Usama Nini created Qureos in August of last year in order to make mentorship more available to people who are just starting out in…

Koo plans self-verification ticks to general users

Microblogging and social media app Koo is aiming to offer a feature that will allow users to self-verify their profiles, as opposed to rival Twitter, which requires users to go through a lengthy Twitter Verified procedure. A verified profile on social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram, which is usually indicated by a badge or tick next to the profile name, lends legitimacy to the user because it signifies the service has authenticated the person’s identity. Verified profiles are only available to celebrities and other influencers on Twitter, and obtaining…