'Robot ecosystem' in sight as apps get a cash boost

APPS aren't just for your smartphone. The one-year-old Robot-App Store got a cash boost this week in the form of $250,000 from the first company dedicated to investing in consumer robotics.

Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, already spent $250,000 on a telepresent robotics company called Double Robotics in September, and plans to invest a total of $25 million in the field.

Grishin says software like the apps on offer at the Robot-App Store is the key to creating a vibrant market in household robots. "Once you find a cool app, it will help to sell robots." He compares robots to computers. "A good application, like a spreadsheet, helped to sell PCs and to grow the PC market."

One app from the Robot-App Store makes the NAO robot (pictured) whistle and say "Hello, gorgeous" whenever it detects a face. Another allows you to steer the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner using your keyboard.

No killer app yet perhaps, but Grishin says that will come with the establishment of a "robot ecosystem", in which more developers create apps for a growing pool of consumers, who are in turn encouraged by the number of apps to choose from.

The world of robot software is certainly maturing. The open source Robot Operating System celebrated its fifth birthday in November.

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35-year-old man jailed for causing death of motorcyclist

SINGAPORE: A man who caused the death of a motorcyclist, and cajoled his friend into lying for him to escape punishment, was sentenced to 30 months' jail on Thursday.

35-year-old Sivabalan Suppiah, who is self-employed, was also disqualified from driving for 12 years.

Suppiah was found guilty of one count of causing the death of 51-year-old Jalal Abdul Rahman by driving dangerously, and another count of internationally perverting the course of justice.

In sentencing, a district judge berated Suppiah for "preying on the concern and kindness of his friends" and called his conduct "abhorrent and repugnant."

On March 7, 2010, Suppiah was traveling at a speed of 91 kilometres per hour (km/h) along Upper Aljunied Road towards Upper Serangoon Road.

This exceeded the 50 km/hour limit for the road he was on.

Suppiah lost control of his car when he was negotiating a left bend and swerved into the opposite traffic lane.

He then collided with the victim's motorcycle, causing the victim to be flung to the side of the road.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Suppiah sustained injures and was warded for two days at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

It was then Suppiah tried coercing his friends to be false witnesses when they visited him in hospital.

Suppiah painted a false picture of how the accident happened and persuaded his friend Bryan Tiven Feroz Sandirasegaran to go along with it.

The ruse involved Bryan lying to the police that he had witnessed the victim's motorcycle entering Suppiah's lane instead.

Although Bryan eventually agreed to the ruse, the plan was discovered by authorities later.

In mitigation, the court heard that Suppiah was remorseful and suffers from a major depressive disorder.

However, this cut no ice with the judge who said Suppiah showed "absolutely no remorse and no regard for the deceased's family by shifting all the blame to the deceased."

The judge said Suppiah's post-accident conduct is "clearly deplorable", and added that he had "absolutely no qualms about getting his friends into trouble for selfish reasons."

- CNA/lp

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U.N. summit derailed over human rights controversy

China's delegation, shown here at the Dubai summit that ends Friday, cited the "security of the state" when objecting to human rights language.

(Credit:
ITU)

A United Nations summit suddenly ran aground today after China, Algeria, and Iran objected to a U.S.-backed proposal that would include a mention of "human rights obligations" in a proposed telecommunications treaty.

Algeria's delegate warned at the U.N. summit in Dubai there were many other nations -- calling them "silent member states" -- that also opposed the human rights language and forced a temporary adjournment of the proceedings.

China also criticized the human rights language, saying "we also have a very serious question about the necessity of the existence of this text." The "security of the state" is another concern that's equally valid, China's delegate said.

Today's interlude highlighted the deep divisions between the U.S. and its allies and an opposing coalition including China, a rift that led to a vote yesterday to give the International Telecommunication Union a more "active" role in shaping the future of the Internet. The U.S., Sweden, and Finland had opposed that language but lost the vote.

The human rights language is straightforward. One recent version of the document (PDF) says that nations will "implement these regulations in a manner that respects and upholds their Human Rights Obligations."

But Algeria's delegate replied by saying that the language does not have a "rightful place" in the ITU's proposed International Telecommunications Regulations that would become binding on member states. Malaysia's delegate worried that the capitalization of Human Rights Obligations would prove problematic, warning that "the international court system can always find [a way] to alter the variances of these meanings. And especially when you put the H in capital, the R in capital, and the O in capital."

It's no accident that the nations that have been the most vocal in opposition to the human rights language also enjoy some of the most checkered human rights records.

China has been dubbed a "predator" of press freedom. It blocks thousands of Web sites and extensively monitors its citizens' Internet activities. Algeria has censored Web sites critical of the government, monitored Internet chat rooms, and indefinitely banned public demonstrations.

"We think this provision is a very important matter," Sweden's delegate said, referring to the human rights language. "And we support the amendments proposed by the United States. We are not here to develop new human rights language, but to reaffirm previous commitments, while implementing these technical [regulations]."

Algeria's request to adjourn the summit, called the World Conference on International Telecommunications, or WCIT, was backed by Iran's delegate, who said that its government has "full respect for observance of the human rights and declaration on human rights." Nevertheless, Iran said, the language referring to "upholding" human rights commitments is unacceptable: "never -- never can we have such a word in any text [of the regulations]."

U.N. and ITU meetings often result, of course, in more rhetoric than substance. During a U.N. conference in Tunisia in 2005, for instance, Iran and African governments proclaimed that the Internet permits too much free speech, with Cuba's delegate announcing that Fidel Castro believes it's time to create a new organization "which administers this network of networks."

The difference this time is that the ITU summit, which ends Friday, is designed to rewrite the International Telecommunications Regulations (PDF), a multilateral treaty that governs international communications traffic. The treaty was established in 1988, when home computers used dial-up modems, the Internet was primarily a university network, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was a mere four years old.

In a sharply partisan U.S. election year, skepticism about the U.N. process has emerged as a rare point of bipartisan accord: the House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution last week aimed at sending a strong message to the ITU. It said, in part, that "the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States [is] to promote a global Internet free from government control."

Google has organized a campaign to draw attention to the summit, saying some governments "are trying to use a closed-door meeting in December to regulate the Internet." Advocacy groups Fight for the Future and AccessNow have launched WhatIsTheITU.org to warn that the ITU poses "a risk to freedom of expression" online. And Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, has warned about an ITU power grab.

A ITU document, called DT/51-E (PDF), leaked this week showed shows that the U.N. agency wants to become more involved in "Internet-related technical, development and public policy issues" -- a broad term designed to sweep in hot-button areas including cybersecurity, spam, surveillance, and censorship.

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.

The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang.

"This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist Richard Ellis with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Rather, galaxies appear to have been formed over hundreds of millions of years.

Ellis led a team that used Hubble to look at one small section of the sky for a hundred hours. The grainy images of faint galaxies include one researchers determined to be from a period 380 million years after the onset of the universe—the closest in time to the Big Bang ever observed.

The cosmos is about 13.7 billion years old, so the newly discovered galaxy was present when the universe was 4 percent of its current age. The other six galaxies were sending out light from between 380 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang. (See pictures of "Hubble's Top Ten Discoveries.")

Baby Pictures

The images are "like the first ultrasounds of [an] infant," said Abraham Loeb, a specialist in the early cosmos at Harvard University. "These are the building blocks of the galaxies we now have."

These early galaxies were a thousand times denser than galaxies are now and were much closer together as well, Ellis said. But they were also less luminous than later galaxies.

The team used a set of four filters to analyze the near infrared wavelengths captured by Hubble Wide Field Camera 3, and estimated the galaxies' distances from Earth by studying their colors. At a NASA teleconference, team members said they had pushed Hubble's detection capabilities about as far as they could go and would most likely not be able to identify galaxies from further back in time until the James Webb Space Telescope launches toward the end of the decade. (Learn about the Hubble telescope.)

"Although we may have reached back as far as Hubble will see, Hubble has set the stage for Webb," said team member Anton Koekemoer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "Our work indicates there is a rich field of even earlier galaxies that Webb will be able to study."

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N. Korean Missile Hits Target of Alarming the World

North Korea's successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile hit its target: it bolstered the standing of its young tyrant Kim Jong Un and raised the specter of being able to eventually strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon.

The pride in the success of the launch -- after several failures -- is a huge boost for Kim Jong Un, 29, who took power one year ago. He has been trying to cement his authority and win the hearts of the people with soft social and economic reforms, like allowing women to wear pants or more small businesses to operate based on profit.

But the rocket launch was on a different scale. A North Korean female announcer in a pink and dark grey national costume excitedly read an announcement of the missile's success and national TV aired interviews with people jumping and cheering on the news.

There had been reservations within and outside of North Korea when Kim Jong Un took power after his father's death on Dec. 17 last year as to whether the young Kim could lead a nuclear state. Looking determined at his first official appearance earlier this year, he had pledged to fulfill the legacy of his father Kim Jong Il to become a "self-sufficient strong nation" with space rocket technology.

The missile is believed to have a range of 6,212 miles, enough distance to reach the west coast of the United States. Its existence, along with a small North Korean nuclear arsenal, is an alarming possibility for many.

PHOTOS: An Inside Look At North Korea

North Korea, however, says it was simply putting a satellite in orbit.

"Picking on our launch (and not others) accusing that ours is a long-range missile and a provocative act causing instability comes from seeing us from a hostile point of view," said North Korea's foreign ministry in an official statement. "We do not want this to be overblown into something that none of us intended to be and hope all related nations act with reason and calmness."

But North Korean denials carry little credibility.

This evidence that North Korea has mastered the long-range missile technology does not mean there will be an imminent nuclear threat.

"They haven't figured out how to weaponize a nuclear (bomb) that will fit in a missile, nor do they have accurate guidance at long ranges," said Stephen Ganyard, ABC News consultant and former deputy assistant secretary of state.

Another crucial technology North Korea is yet to achieve is a proper heat shielding required to protect the warhead while re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

"This is a big leap for Pyongyang. They have been a threat with potential capability. But now a new era begins as a threat with possible capability," said Hwee-Rhak Park, professor of political leadership at Kookmin University in Seoul.

There was obvious alarm, however, as the international community condemned the launch, as North Korea is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak convened an emergency national security meeting. Japan's envoy to the United Nations called for consultations on the launch within the U.N. Security Council. Russian Foreign Ministry said it "has caused us deep regret," and even China "expressed regret," a significant notch up in condemnation from previous statements on North Korea, its traditional ally.

That international attention, analysts in Seoul say, is exactly what North Korea wanted.

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Boxing: Philippines' Pacquiao promises to 'rise again'

MANILA: Philippines boxing icon Manny Pacquiao vowed to "rise again" as he flew home Wednesday after a brutal knockout defeat that prompted some fans and experts to urge him to retire.

"Don't worry, we will rise again," he told well-wishers as arrived in Manila from the United States, where he suffered his second consecutive loss with a sixth-round knockout by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday.

Pacquiao, who has 54 wins, five defeats and two draws in nearly 18 years in the pro ring, lost his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown in June on a controversial points decision to unbeaten US fighter Timothy Bradley.

But retirement appears far from the mind of Pacquiao, who turns 34 on Monday and was once regarded as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

"I watched a replay of my fight and I am satisfied with my movement," said Pacquiao.

"I was fighting very well from the first to the sixth round. I was moving well. It was just that I got hit with a lucky punch on the last second of the round."

Pacquiao, who on Wednesday also announced he was donating US$244,000 to the victims of a typhoon which devastated the Philippines' south last week, said he had been looking to finish off Marquez by the eighth round.

"The way the fight was going, there was no way it would have reached the 12th round," he said.

He cited how he had broken the Mexican's nose, leaving him with breathing difficulties that Pacquiao claimed had forced his foe to remove his mouthpiece at one point.

But Pacquiao acknowledged: "He owned that night. Let's give him due credit."

Former world champion Ricky Hatton, who was knocked out by Pacquiao in May 2009, has added his voice to calls for the Filipino to hang up his gloves.

"The only advice I could give Manny Pacquiao is that his legacy is already secured," said the Briton, a former world light-welterweight and welterweight champion who retired for a second time last month.

"The thing is with us fighters is that there is always one more fight," the 34-year-old told AFP during a visit to Hong Kong.

"What's he (Pacquiao) going to achieve by having one more fight? Probably nothing. He's an eight-weight world champion. There's nothing more to be said."

Hatton, who was knocked out in a failed return to the ring in November, in what he says was his last fight, said of his Filipino rival: "You'd like to see him go into retirement and spend some time with his family and be happy.

"He can't do any more from a boxing point of view."

- AFP/jc

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MediaTek joins Samsung, Nvidia quad-core club

MediaTek will take on Samsung and Nvidia in the emerging market for mobile quad-core chips.

The Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company today announced the MT6589, a quad-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) that integrates a modem supporting HSPA+ and other international standards.

Integration of a modem into a quad-core chip is a first, the company says.

The processor is based on ARM's Cortex-A7 design, the same technology used in Qualcomm's upcoming quad-core S4 processors.

But that Qualcomm chip won't be available commercially until well into next year. The MediaTek chip, on the other hand, will appear in smartphones that are expected to ship in the first quarter of 2013.

That would make it the first quad-core chip based on the new Cortex-A7 design.

That said, there isn't exactly a dearth of quad-core competition. Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 is already used in phones from HTC. And the Galaxy S3 uses Samsung's new Exynos 4 Quad chip.

The MediaTek MT6589 supports 1080p 30fps/30fps low-power video playback and recording, a 13MP camera, and up to a 1,920x1,080 resolution display.

No carriers announced smartphones using the chip today. Those phone roll-outs are expected next year.

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal Observatory

This image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon and evening planets, then take in the Perseids meteor shower.

"We live in a spiral arm of the Milky Way, so when we gaze through the thickness of our galaxy, we see it as a band of dense star fields encircling the sky," said Marek Kukula, the Royal Observatory's public astronomer and a contest judge.

Full story>>

Why We Love It

"I like the way this view of the Milky Way also shows us a compelling foreground landscape. It also hints at the astronomy problems caused by light pollution."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published December 11, 2012

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Gunman 'Tentatively' Identified in Oregon Shooting

A masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two individuals before killing himself, has been "tentatively" identified by police, though they have not yet released his name.

The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing, and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's store and proceeding to the food court and public areas spraying bullets, according to witness reports.

Police have not released the names of the deceased. Clackamas County Sheriff's Department Lt. James Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families.

The injured victim has been transported to a local hospital, according to Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.

PHOTOS: Oregon Mall Shooting

Nadia Telguz, who said she was a friend of the injured victim, told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland that the woman was expected to recover.

"My friend's sister got shot," Teleguz told KATU. "She's on her way to (Oregon Health and Science University hospital). They're saying she got shot in her side and so it's not life-threatening, so she'll be OK."

Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man who appeared to be a teenager ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other, with what is believed to be a black, semi-automatic rifle.

Christopher Onstott/Pamplen Media Group/Portland Tribune

911 Calls From New Jersey Supermarket Shooting Watch Video

More than 10,000 shoppers were at the mall during the day, police said. Roberts said that officers responded to the scene of the shooting within minutes, and four SWAT teams swept the 1.4 million-square-foot building searching for the shooter. He was eventually found dead, an apparent suicide.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rhodes said. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Roberts said more than 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, and at least four local agencies were working on the investigation, including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is working to trace the shooter's weapon.

READ: Guns in America: A Statistical Look

"For all of us, the mall is supposed to be a place where we can take our families, especially during the holiday season," Roberts said. "Things like this are not supposed to happen."

Roberts also said that shoppers, including two emergency room nurses and one physician who happened to be at the mall, provided medical assistance to victims who had been shot. Other shoppers helped escort individuals out of the mall and out of harm's way, he said.

"There were a huge amount of people running in different directions, and it was chaos for a lot of citizens, but true heroes were stepping up in this time of high stress," Roberts said. "E.R. nurses on the scene were providing medical care to those injured, a physician on the scene was helping provide care to the wounded."

Mall shopper Daniel Martinez told KATU that he had just sat down at a Jamba Juice inside the mall when he heard rapid gunfire. He turned and saw the masked gunman, dressed in all black, about 10 feet away from him.

"I just saw him (the gunman) and thought, 'I need to go somewhere,'" Martinez said. "It was so fast, and at that time, everyone was moving around."

Martinez said he ran to the nearest clothing store. As he ran, he motioned for another woman to follow; several others ran to the store as well, hiding in a fitting room. They stayed there for an hour and a half until SWAT teams told them it was safe to leave the mall.

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Mandela has lung infection, says government

 

JOHANNESBURG: Ailing Nelson Mandela has a lung infection but is responding to treatment, South Africa's government said Tuesday, as the revered anti-apartheid icon spent his fourth day in hospital.

"Doctors have concluded the tests, and these have revealed a recurrence of a previous lung infection, for which Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment and he is responding to the treatment," said a statement from President Jacob Zuma's office.

- AFP

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