Quantum Computers Ready to Leap Out of the Lab in 2017

Google, Microsoft and a host of labs and start-ups are racing to turn scientific curiosities into working machines

DATE: 04/01/2017
RETRIEVED: 04/01/2017
SOURCE: SCIAM


Quantum computing has long seemed like one of those technologies that are 20 years away, and always will be. But 2017 could be the year that the field sheds its research-only image.

Google started working on a form of quantum computing that harnesses superconductivity in 2014. It hopes this year, or shortly after, to perform a computation that is beyond even the most powerful ‘classical’ supercomputers—an elusive milestone known as quantum supremacy. Its rival, Microsoft, is betting on an intriguing but unproven concept, topological quantum computing, and hopes to perform a first demonstration of the technology.

Quantum Circuits is focused on making fully error-corrected machines from the start. This requires building in more qubits, but the machines could also run more-sophisticated quantum algorithms.

IonQ aims to build machines that have 32 or even 64 qubits, and the ion-trap technology will enable their designs to be more flexible and scalable than superconducting circuits, he says.

Microsoft, meanwhile, is betting on the technology that has the most to prove. Topological quantum computing depends on excitations of matter that encode infor­mation by tangling around each other like braids.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-computers-ready-to-leap-out-of-the-lab-in-2017/

Tech’s Next Battle: The Frightful Five vs. Lawmakers

DATE: 04/01/2017
RETRIEVED: 04/01/2017
SOURCE: NYTIMES


In the technology industry, the sharks have never long been safe from the minnows. Over much of the last 40 years, the biggest players in tech — from IBM to Hewlett-Packard to Cisco to Yahoo — were eventually outmaneuvered by start-ups that came out of nowhere.

The dynamic is so dependable that it is often taken to be a kind of axiom. To grow large in this business is also to grow slow, blind and dumb, to become closed off from the very sources of innovation that turned you into a shark in the first place.

Then, in the last half decade, something strange happened: The sharks began to get bigger and smarter. Nearly a year ago, I argued that we were witnessing a new era in the tech business, one that is typified less by the storied start-up in a garage than by a posse I like to call the Frightful Five: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Together the Five compose a new superclass of American corporate might. For much of last year, their further rise and domination over the rest of the global economy looked not just plausible, but also maybe even probable.
Continue reading the main story

In 2017, much the same story remains, but there is a new wrinkle: The world’s governments are newly motivated to take on the tech giants. In the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, the Five find themselves increasingly arrayed against legal and regulatory powers, and often even against popular will.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/technology/techs-next-battle-the-frightful-five-vs-lawmakers.html

Microsoft’s Testing DNA Storage: 1,000,000,000 TB in 1 Gram

DATE: 28/04/2016
RETRIEVED: 03/01/2017
SOURCE: FUTURISM


Microsoft is now looking to biology to come up with solutions for data storage. The tech giant just purchased ten million strands of synthetic DNA from Twist Bioscience to use for digital data storage research.

The purchase involves ten million long oligonucleotides. Twist Bioscience CEO Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D. said in a press release: “Today, the vast majority of digital data is stored on media that has a finite shelf life and periodically needs to be re-encoded. DNA is a promising storage media, as it has a known shelf life of several thousand years, offers a permanent storage format and can be read for continuously decreasing costs.”

“We need new methods for long-term, secure data storage,” says Doug Carmean, a Microsoft partner architect in its Technology and Research organization. Their initial tests have shown that they can successfully encode and recover 100 percent of binary data from synthetic DNA.


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http://futurism.com/microsofts-testing-dna-storage-1000000000-tb-1-gram/

AUGMENTED REALITY MARKET SIZE

DATE: DECEMBER 2016
SOURCE: GLOBAL MARKET INSIGHTS
TYPE: SUMMARY


Increasing technology penetration across the healthcare, retail, e-commerce and automotive verticals is anticipated to drive the augmented reality market growth in the coming years. Rising number of mobile devices including tablets and smartphones with built in AR functionalities that is becoming an important tool in the workplace to enhance smooth business workflows and operations further contributes to the growing industry size.


Increasing usage of social media and mobile applications that assist customers to have access to information provides ample opportunities to the AR market. Moreover, the growing demand for user engagement along with enhanced customer service across the application like real estate, retail and healthcare also contribute to the augmented reality market share.


Rising privacy issues pertaining to the technology is expected to hinder the augmented reality market over the forecast timeframe. The technology is able to reveal personal information to strangers or a group of people, which is the cause of considerable privacy concerns.


Component Trends

Hardware devices in the augmented reality market are forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 90% from 2016 to 2024 due to the advances in displays, processors, and sensors. Increasing adoption of smart glasses and advanced HMDs & HUDs across the globe is anticipated to boost the segment demand over the future. Moreover, increasing penetration of the technology across applications such as manufacturing and healthcare is expected to positively influence augmented reality market share.


Software in augmented reality market will witness substantial growth over the future owing to the rising penetration of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets offering richer media and enhanced experience through mobile AR apps.


Display Device Trends

Smart glass market size is projected to observe significant growth at over 95% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. Rising customer expectations have led organizations to bring digital world into person's perceived real world in an interactive way. Moreover, transforming workflow in industrial and enterprise sectors have led to rise in demand for advanced glasses to develop feature rich products. Such factors are projected to fuel the AR market over the future.


Technological advances in AR devices including smart glasses and head-mounted displays that use technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are expected to propel the augmented reality market growth. For instance, Microsoft HoloLens is a wireless, self-contained holographic device that projects images over individual’s vision so they appear as holograms and provide information about the world. It has wide variety of application across healthcare, manufacturing, and warehouses. DHL warehouse workers are equipped with AR smart glasses that guides them through item picking to fulfil orders and increases efficiency.


Increasing R&D investment has led to the development of sensors used in HMDs escalating the segment demand in the global AR market.  For instance, Meta introduced HMD headset that uses array of sensors for positional tracking & hand interactions, 90-degree visual field view and 2560 x 1440 resolution display.


Application Trends

Industrial applications accounted for over 25% augmented reality market share in 2015. Several industry players are developing AR for the industrial sector to leverage the full potential. Rising demand to handle complex machinery, assemble and maintenance will propel augmented reality industry growth. Several companies such as Bosch, Boeing and Airbus invest immensely to improve their manufacturing capabilities. For instance, Boeing has started using Google Glass to assist aircraft wire harnessing. Bosch has also started using the technology from stat-up Reflekt for its various application including maintenance. Airbus is using Smart Augmented Reality Tools (SART) for error prevention. This technology has been considered mature for quality inspection, training, work instruction and is poised for extensive deployment across industries.


Automotive augmented reality market size is projected to witness significant growth with a CAGR of over 80% from 2016 to 2024. Rising demand in vehicles to reduce driver distractions and safety enhancement propels the industry adoption across the segment. Moreover, AR mitigates the reluctance towards conventional showroom visit with virtual experience and improves user experience. Ferrari created AR showroom app using 3D tracking technology that lets customers in the showrooms to choose vehicle and virtually change brakes, rims and paint job and offers customize as per requirements.


Regional Trends

China augmented reality market is predicted to witness significant growth and drive the Asia Pacific AR industry over the next few years. Increasing funding and investment in the technology is expected to augment the regional demand. Increasing penetration of smartphone & tablets and huge number of manufacturers based in the countries including China, South Korea and Taiwan is anticipated to contribute towards the rising augmented reality market size. Moreover, increasing investment from local vendors in merger & acquisitions activities provide tremendous growth opportunities. For instance, Tencent Holdings Ltd. And Lenovo Group Ltd. joined hands to buy Silicon Valley augmented reality start-up Meta.


U.S. augmented reality market share will drive the North America regional industry, and is forecast to exceed USD 24 billion by 2024. An increased adoption is forecast in the industrial and automotive sectors in the country, which are both set to grow faster than the regional average over the forecast timeframe.


Competitive Market Share

Augmented reality market leaders include Magic Leap, Sony, Blippar, Microsoft, Google, Infinity Augmented Reality, etc. Other notable players that account for augmented reality market share include Total Immersion, Apple, Daqri LLC, ODG, Wikitude, among others. Industry participants are engaged in establishing relationships with the third parties to increase the ability of their technologies and address the needs of the prospective customers. These companies are trying to expand their business with new innovations, product launch and merger & acquisitions to maintain competitive market share.


Industry Background

Technological advancements and innovation drive the global augmented reality market analysis and ecosystem. Firms invest massively in R&D operations to provide differentiated solutions to maximize AR market share. For instance, in 2015, Sony developed SmartEyeglass that connects with smartphones to superimpose information such as symbols, text, and images onto user field of view.


Moreover, rising penetration of mobile devices and applications are increasing the augmented reality market size. Innovations in the technology are offering new opportunities across several applications including real estate, banking, healthcare, and manufacturing. For instance, development of AR in Android application or iOS provide new experience for online and offline shopping. Furthermore, GPS mobile apps with AR assist tourist in routes and directions, translate the signs on the street, and provides information about sightseeing.


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https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/augmented-reality-ar-market
 

Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube are creating a database of 'terrorist content'

Creating a shared database of terrorist imagery

DATE: 05/12/2016
SOURCE: THE VERGE
VIA: REDDIT


The United States’ biggest social networks are working together to build a database of photos and videos used to recruit people into terrorism, the companies said. Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and Google’s YouTube will create a shared database that identifies images via a unique digital fingerprint, making it easier for the platforms to identify and remove the imagery.

“There is no place for content that promotes terrorism on our hosted consumer services,” the companies said in a joint blog post. “When alerted, we take swift action against this kind of content in accordance with our respective policies.” The move comes a year after the same companies banded together to identify and remove child pornography using a similar technique. The technique was developed by the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE @ http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/5/13849570/facebook-microsoft-twitter-google-terrorist-content-database

Artificial Intelligence Just Broke Steve Jobs’ Wall of Secrecy

DATE: 06/12/2016
AUTHOR: CADE METZ
SOURCE: WIRED.COM


The artificial intelligence researcher Russ Salakhutdinov made headlines today when he said was going to start publishing journal articles and spending time talking to academics.

That wouldn’t be news, except Salakhutdinov works for Apple—a company famous for an extreme breed of corporate secrecy. Over the past two decades, people who work at Apple haven’t talked to much of anyone about the far-reaching research (or anything else) happening inside the company. And that certainly includes academics.

But Salakhutdinov works in an area where secrecy just doesn’t play. As it happens, this field of research is more important to the future of tech giants like Apple than any other. Salakhutdinov oversees Apple’s artificial intelligence group, and the only way he can recruit top researchers is to reassure them that once they get to Apple, they can continue to publish their work and share their ideas with the larger AI community. This free exchange of ideas is just the academic way, but experts also believe it’s the best way to accelerate the progress of AI. “When you do research in secret, you fall behind,” Facebook AI head Yann LeCun told me earlier this year.

If Apple wants to keep up with Facebook and the other big names that have already embraced the AI technique called deep learning so completely—Google, Microsoft, the Elon Musk-backed startup OpenAI—Apple must share research as these others have done. OpenAI was founded on the idea that it would freely share all its research—or least as much as it possibly could. With this pitch, it landed some of the field’s top talent, poaching several researchers from Facebook and Google.

READ THE REST @ https://www.wired.com/2016/12/artificial-intelligence-just-broke-steve-jobs-wall-secrecy

Who’s Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?

AI will make our devices obsolete. What does that mean for human relationships to technology?

By Navneet Alang
May 26, 2016

Would it be an exaggeration to say we caress our smartphones? Our connection to them is emotional: We paw at them idly and endlessly. There are times when your phone can be your best friend.

That might soon change. Google and Microsoft are betting big on artificially intelligent helpers—not like Apple’s Siri, which is stuck only on its products, but a device-agnostic digital personality that follows you wherever you go. As Google’s founders put it in their annual letter: “[O]ver time, the computer itself—whatever its form factor—will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day. We will move from mobile first to an AI first world.” The smartphone could soon become obsolete. Dematerialized.

Right now, we use phones because they’re the fastest way to get all of our stuff: messages, contacts, photos, music, documents, and the like. For all the talk of the cloud, there’s still a very real need for a device to access online life. The tech giants think we should be more sci-fi—as with Samantha, the artificial intelligence from the movie Her. Google and Microsoft and newcomers like Viv Labs (the original creators of Apple’s Siri) each want to be the first to create an affordable, ethereal presence with persistent access to both the Web and personal data. These AIs should be able to predict what you need, and then carry out the tasks themselves. If these tech companies get what they hope for, AIs will be the new site of digital life.

That desire is driven by deeply material concerns: We’re nearly a decade into the smartphone era and Apple now commands 94 percent of mobile profits. Along with Google, it dominates the market. Facebook, on the other hand, is the behemoth in advertising and media. AI is an attempt to break these sorts of strangleholds; Microsoft could challenge Apple’s and Google’s mobile dominance, while Google might win Apple’s enormous profits. It’s also the reason noted Apple watcher Marco Arment recently warned that the company is on the way to becoming the next Blackberry. While Apple has made enormous profits from the iPhone, it has let others get a head start on artificial intelligence. Siri, their digital assistant, lags behind and is tied to Apple’s hardware. Microsoft’s Cortana, on the other hand, works across its own products, any smartphone, and soon, its Xbox console. If the smartphone does become obsolete, it will be because companies are looking to disrupt business models that don’t work for them.

READ THE REST @ https://newrepublic.com/article/133770/whos-afraid-artificial-intelligence