Hasta La Gadget!

All right, hotshot — sure, you can trounce your five-year-old niece in a round of Connect Four, but are you ready to do battle with a machine? Łukasz Kaiser of Paris Diderot University in France has detailed a method for teaching computers how to learn relatively simple games like Tic-Tac-Toe, Breakthrough and the aforementioned eternal vertical struggle between checker pieces, using quick videos generally under two minutes in length. “The presented algorithm requires only a few demonstrations and minimal background knowledge,” Kaiser explains, in his paper Learning Games from Videos Guided by Descriptive Complexity, “and, having learned the rules, automatically derives position evaluation functions and can play the learned games competitively.” Kaiser adds, having taken on the world of Tic-Tac-Toe and other relatively simple games that, “there is strong theoretical evidence that it will generalize to other problems.” Now if only we can sum up the world’s issues Connect Four-style, we should be covered.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Researcher details method for teaching computers to win at board games through short training videos originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New Scientist  |  Learning Games from Videos Guided by Descriptive Complexity (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

You might be thinking, “it’s too early to be talking about CES,” and we wish you were right, but you’re not. January’s consumer electronics extravaganza is inching closer, plans are already being laid and Samsung President Stephen Woo is filling in appointments in his calendar. The most important of those will be his keynote that’s set to kick off day two of the festivities in Vegas. The talk will largely focus on the little things, and we don’t mean unimportant things, we mean components. All those tiny slivers of silicon that make your gadgets go are really what is pushing the industry forward and Samsung is a major player — pumping out processors, memory, SIMs and camera sensors. The former Bell Labs and Texas Instruments employee will bring his 20-plus years of experience to bear on a vision of the future, presumably powered by Sammy’s chips. Will he also unveils something new… perhaps a next gen smartphone CPU? We’ll just have to wait and see. Guess it’s time to start booking those flights.

Continue reading Samsung’s Stephen Woo to kick off day two of CES with keynote

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Samsung’s Stephen Woo to kick off day two of CES with keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Kickstarter’s US-based micro funding site has seen measurable success on this side of the Atlantic, and it looks like the company is planning to capitalize on that momentum, bringing its service to the United Kingdom later this year. A company spokesperson was unable to comment on the move beyond what was offered up in an earlier tweet, but judging by the 110 characters you see above, it appears that Kickstarter plans to open the site up to UK projects beginning this fall, with more information to come at a later date. That 140-character limit is hardly to blame for the micro-size tease, with much space to spare even beyond that rather informal sign-off — it seems that the site just wants to get its ducks in a row before revealing more. For now, feel free to hit up the source link below to read the post and share your thoughts on Twitter.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Kickstarter sends some love to Europe, will support UK projects beginning this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  Kickstarter (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

“We’re missing a nut,” says a bemused Matt Hershenson, former Danger founder and now Google’s director of hardware for Android, pointing at a vacant spot on an exploded photo of the Nexus Q. Its parts are strewn out across a white background, perfectly arranged in a linear pattern that starkly contrasts with the spherical nature of the thing. “Wow, you’re right,” agrees Joe Britt, engineering director at Google and another former Danger founder. “It’s like the illuminators, you know, the monks who used to draw up the codexes.” Hershenson picks up the reference without missing a beat: “Everybody needs to make at least one mistake. Nothing can be perfect.”

That goes against everything else we’ve been learning from the pair, who spend 45 minutes walking us through every detail of what went into the development of the new Nexus Q. They worked hand-in-hand with engineers and designers and materials experts, ensuring everything from the bearings to the LEDs were, well, perfect. But there is one thing, something larger, that many have said is a crucial flaw in this illuminated device: pricing. Will people pay $299 for a high-concept, low-functionality social media streamer? Join us after the break for how the Q came to be, and why Britt and Hershenson think it will be a success.

Continue reading Cracking the Nexus Q, Google’s 25-watt amplified obsession

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Cracking the Nexus Q, Google’s 25-watt amplified obsession originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments