Technology

  RICHMOND / AP Robots about the size of a beer cooler could soon be rolling down Virginia sidewalks to deliver sandwiches, groceries or packages. Supporters say proposed legislation to allow the robots would make the state the first in the nation to regulate such devices. State lawmakers partnered with European company Starship Technologies on bills allowing Virginia cities to ...

  Emirates Business Acer announced the availability of its latest convertible notebook for education customers, the Acer TravelMate Spin B1 (B118), at the 2017 BETT Show (Booth B109) that was held in London from January 25 to 28. The 11.6-inch convertible notebook with Windows 10 Pro is perfectly sized for easy portability, features four usage modes and a robust design ...

  BEIJING / AP China is beefing up a campaign to root out services that circumvent the government’s internet censorship with a 14-month-long “clean-up” of the internet industry. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a directive that it forbids the operation of virtual private networks (VPNs) or leased lines that allow users and businesses to access blocked ...

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. hired Hugo Barra to lead its virtual reality efforts just days after he quit Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. Barra, who led Xiaomi’s international expansion, will now take on a different challenge as vice president of virtual reality. He will need to navigate the competitive and young market, where Facebook’s Oculus Rift and Gear products have ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is set to join the Partnership on AI, an artificial intelligence research group that includes Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Apple’s admission into the group could be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the situation. Representatives at Apple and the Partnership on AI declined to comment. ...

  Bloomberg You need two primary pieces of information from a dive computer: your depth and how much time you have left before too much nitrogen gives you the bends. More advanced gadgets can tell you about the temperature of the water and the quality of the air left in your tank and may come with a submersible pressure gauge ...

  Kevin Cha Emirates Business Technology today has progressed to the point where innovative solutions are no longer about creating a better life, instead it is the desire to create a better lifestyle for consumers that underpins the most exciting new products. While some of these sophisticated innovations will quickly find their way into our lives and change how we ...

  Bloomberg After at least 12 years together, Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, won’t be represented by one of Washington’s most prominent lobbying groups, a firm with long-standing ties to the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton. The Podesta Group — whose chairman, Tony Podesta, is a major Democratic fundraiser and the brother of Clinton’s former campaign manager — is ...

  AP Apple Inc. has filed suit in China challenging Qualcomm Inc.’s fees for technology used in smartphones two years after Chinese regulators fined the chipmaker for its licensing practices. Two lawsuits filed by the iPhone maker accuse Qualcomm of abusing its control over essential technology to charge excessive licensing fees, a Beijing court said on its microblog. It said ...

  Bloomberg Next time you’re searching for a new job, look to Siri for inspiration. Coders who can help machines communicate with people are in high demand. Software engineers who program computers to understand human speech saw US demand for their labor grow faster than workers with any other skill, according to data from last quarter compiled by Upwork, a ...