Archives for March 27, 2019

Now Google’s robotics lab focuses on machine learning

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One of the machines under development is the TossingBot.

Google didn’t completely scrap its robotic dreams after it sold off Boston Dynamics and shuttered the other robotic start-ups it acquired over the past decade. Now, the tech giant has given us a glimpse of how the program has changed in a blog post and a New York Times report. With the Boston Dynamics team at its disposal, Google’s robotics program focused on machines designed to move and look like us — humanoid robots like BD’s Atlas. The new lab called “Robotics at Google,” however, focuses more on software: more precisely, in using machine learning to develop robots useful in the real world.

Google has teamed up with researchers from Princeton, Columbia and MIT to create TossingBot, which can learn how to pick up and toss various objects into the right containers on its own. During its first rodeo, the mechanical arm didn’t know what to do with the pile of objects it was presented with. After 14 hours of trial and error and analyzing them with its overhead cameras, it was finally able to toss the right item into the right container 85 percent of the time.

As the tech giant explains, programming a robot to properly grasp and toss specific objects — a screwdriver, for instance, could land in different ways, based on where you hold it — is incredibly difficult. By using machine learning, the robot will teach itself from experience instead, as well as adapt to new scenarios and learn on the fly. That’s the kind of machine that would be useful in warehouses and distribution centers, such as Amazon’s or UPS’.

In addition to TossingBot, Robotics at Google is working on an R2-D2-like rolling robot that uses machine learning to navigate new spaces. Researchers are also training a set of mechanical hands with fingers to manipulate objects by pushing, pulling and spinning them.

The old 1080p Apple TV box is now ‘Apple TV HD’

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FILE – This Sept. 15, 2017, file photo shows the Apple TV streaming device, on display in New York. Though an iPhone isn’t required, Apple TV will be most useful with one. The basic device is $149; a version with 4K and HDR costs $30 more. You’re paying for the experience — in particular, integration and syncing with other Apple gadgets. For instance, you can type passwords on an iPhone instead of navigating a keyboard on the TV character by character.

The new name comes as Apple gets ready to sell viewers on original programming.

After today’s event, Apple changed the name of its fourth-generation Apple TV to Apple TV HD. The 1080p device, first introduced in 2015, is still priced at $149 and now has a clear title that differentiates it from the Apple TV 4K — a slightly newer, pricier and, of course, 4K-compatible version of the set-top box.

The name change comes as Apple gets ready to ramp up its push into original programming. The company spent the majority of its event highlighting Apple TV+, an ad-free subscription-based streaming video service. A number of celebrities including Reese Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Momoa, Kumail Nanjiani, Big Bird and Oprah all took the stage to highlight projects they have been working on for the service.

While the name change to Apple TV HD provides a bit of clarity for Apple’s set-top box offerings, the company has gone all in on the Apple TV branding, and it’s not the most intuitive naming system. The company now has the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K set-top boxes. Then there’s the Apple TV app that houses its new Channels service and will soon be available on smart TVs as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices. Finally, there is Apple TV+, which will host the company’s original content offerings.

IKEA offers a peek at its Sonos-based speaker

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The SYMFONISK looks right at home next to Swedish furniture.

IKEA isn’t officially unveiling its first Sonos-powered speaker until April, but that isn’t stopping the furniture store from offering a look in the meantime. As you can see here, the SYMFONISK looks like… well, a Sonos speaker with IKEA design cues. Its boxy, fabric-covered style appears to be a fitting complement to your plywood tables and cabinets. The company even suggests that it could serve as a wall-mounted shelf (below), although that would make it an awfully expensive part of your decor.

There are still many unknowns, such as the audio quality and price, although their compatibility with IKEA’s other smart home devicessuggests they might not be entry-level. You might only have to wait until April 9th to find out. Just remember that SYMFONISK isn’t due to ship until August — it’s going to be a while before you can judge them for yourself.

IKEA's Sonos-based SYMFONISK speaker

Lamborghini’s latest Huracán is a supercar with a supercomputer

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Calculating so you don’t careen off the road.

Over the past few decades, technology has made vehicles safer and easier to drive. Anti-lock brakes, traction control, torque vectoring and other bits of tech keep cars on the road instead of flying into a ditch when things get hairy. It’s why newer cars typically handle corners better than older cars.

At Lamborghini, they’ve taken things further with their new Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata or LDVI system. The Engine Control Unit (ECU) takes data from the entire car and uses it to adjust how the new Huracán EVO Spyder drives in real time (actually in less than 20 milliseconds. But that’s about as close as you can get to real time). Cars have been doing some form of this for a while but the Italian automaker needs to be able to do this at incredible speeds and in environments your typical sedan or SUV doesn’t encounter.

With this technology, Lamborghini is able to take the raw power of an all-wheel-drive supercar with a V10 engine and 630 horsepower and tame it, just enough, so your average driver (who can shell out $287,400) can enjoy themselves behind the wheel of the all-wheel-steering vehicle without, you know, flying into a ditch.

To achieve this, the LVDI is actually a super fast central processing unit that takes in data about the road surface, the car’s setup, the tires and how the driver is driving the vehicle. It then uses that info to control various aspects of the Huracan.

The system works in concert with the Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale (LPI) version 2.0 hardware sensors. This system uses gyroscopes and accelerometers located at the car’s center of gravity. It measures the vehicle’s movements and shares that data with the LVDI computer.

Two stocks To Watch For Long-Term Investors: News Corporation (NWSA), Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG)

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News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) experienced a high price of $12.7 with a low value of $12.51 at the end of the last trading session, which followed after a loss of -0.55% and settled at $12.56 during the course of the last 24 hours for the day. Respectfully, the company now has 595.15M shares after the latest changes, so the present market capitalization sits at $7.48B. The trading volume of News Corporation shares went over 7,920,488 in a single day during the last trading session in comparison to the average volume of NWSA, usually circulating around 2.54M.

During the course of the last year, the stock has touched a high of $16.65 and a low of $10.65, which as a result has the increased attention of top market experts who are tracking the progress of the asset as it is getting closer to a notable historic high price or low value.

Looking at the latest analyst forecasts, the current earnings-per-share (EPS) consensus estimate is sitting at $0.44 per share. In the preceding year, the company reportedly generated EPS of -$2.24 per share of its common stock. The profitability indicators are showing that this organization has an operating margin of -7.10%, a profit margin of -13.10%, and a gross margin of 45.30%.

If we were to do a comparison between the current price and its previous movement in the market, we can easily conclude that the price went to a negative change, going down by -0.06 in the past five trading days, which resulted in a percentage change of -0.48% and a moving average of 12.64. In the past 20 days, its price changed by -0.46, which means that the stock’s moving average was 12.86. Looking back at a cycle of the last 50 days, shares of NWSA changed by $+0.38 (which is +3.12%) and demonstrated a moving average of 12.71. Meanwhile, this stock’s MACD Oscillator was 0.03 over the past 9 days, and -0.07 over the past two weeks, also marking -0.18 in the period of the last 20 days.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG)’s shares demonstrated a change of -0.50% during the most recent trading session, ending the trading day at the price of $31.61 with a 24-hour trading volume that reached 6,384,166 – compared to its average trading volume of as 4.85M, as recorded over the past three months. With that closing price, the market capitalization of this company is now sitting at $15.24B. The moving average for last 20 days of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is at -11.24%, while the average went down by -10.41% during the last 50 days with -15.09% recorded during the last 200 days. Additionally, this stock’s distance from its 52-week high price is currently down by -27.53%, while it’s sitting 14.45% away from its 52-week low price.

When you are considering investing in stocks, it is wise to consider counting in Wall Street analysts’ target prices, which should help you place a more profitable investment. The price targets can provide you with an idea of the predicted movement of stocks you are interested in. At the moment, the price target set for Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is $41.70. It’s also helpful to look at the average analyst recommendation score – which is provided on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is “strong buy”, 2 is “buy”, 3 is “hold”, 4 is “sell” and 5 is a “strong sell”. Right now, the average analyst recommendation for CFG stands at 1.90 , which indicates that analysts recommend investors to Strong Buy their shares of CFG until the stock approaches its target price.

Traders use the ATR to analyze potential exit and entry points, as it represents a useful tool in almost any trading strategy. ATR for this stock is sitting at 0.85. Beta tells us about a stock’s volatility, also known as its systematic risk, compared to the market overall. The current beta value for CFG is 1.38, while for the past seven days, this stock’s volatility was 3.69%, also recording 2.18% for the past 30-day period.

Professionals on Wall Street also frequently check the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of a potential investment, which tells us the speed and change of a stock’s price movement in the market. RSI is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. If the indicators are set higher above 70, then the RSI factors are indicating that the stocks are overbought. The factors will indicate that a stock is oversold if the result is set below 30. Right now, Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) has an RSI of 24.65 – indicating that the asset is being oversold.

2 Stocks to Watch Today: Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), Halliburton Company (HAL)

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Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) experienced a high price of $54.23 with a low value of $53.04 at the end of the last trading session, which followed after a gain of 1.28% and settled at $53.94 during the course of the last 24 hours for the day. Respectfully, the company now has 4.47B shares after the latest changes, so the present market capitalization sits at $241.11B. The trading volume of Cisco Systems, Inc. shares went over 19,894,295 in a single day during the last trading session in comparison to the average volume of CSCO, usually circulating around 22.92M.

During the course of the last year, the stock has touched a high of $54.00 and a low of $40.19, which as a result has the increased attention of top market experts who are tracking the progress of the asset as it is getting closer to a notable historic high price or low value.

Looking at the latest analyst forecasts, the current earnings-per-share (EPS) consensus estimate is sitting at $3.38 per share. In the preceding year, the company reportedly generated EPS of $2.59 per share of its common stock. The profitability indicators are showing that this organization has an operating margin of 26.60%, a profit margin of 25.30%, and a gross margin of 62.20%.

If we were to do a comparison between the current price and its previous movement in the market, we can easily conclude that the price went to a positive change, going up by +1.20 in the past five trading days, which resulted in a percentage change of +2.28% and a moving average of 53.44. In the past 20 days, its price changed by +4.53, which means that the stock’s moving average was 52.00. Looking back at a cycle of the last 50 days, shares of CSCO changed by $+10.38 (which is +23.83%) and demonstrated a moving average of 48.62. Meanwhile, this stock’s MACD Oscillator was 0.55 over the past 9 days, and 1.14 over the past two weeks, also marking 1.51 in the period of the last 20 days.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL)’s shares demonstrated a change of -0.20% during the most recent trading session, ending the trading day at the price of $30.04 with a 24-hour trading volume that reached 8,908,023 – compared to its average trading volume of as 10.36M, as recorded over the past three months. With that closing price, the market capitalization of this company is now sitting at $26.68B. The moving average for last 20 days of Halliburton Company is at 1.23%, while the average went down by -1.70% during the last 50 days with -17.78% recorded during the last 200 days. Additionally, this stock’s distance from its 52-week high price is currently down by -45.29%, while it’s sitting 21.62% away from its 52-week low price.

When you are considering investing in stocks, it is wise to consider counting in Wall Street analysts’ target prices, which should help you place a more profitable investment. The price targets can provide you with an idea of the predicted movement of stocks you are interested in. At the moment, the price target set for Halliburton Company is $39.19. It’s also helpful to look at the average analyst recommendation score – which is provided on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is “strong buy”, 2 is “buy”, 3 is “hold”, 4 is “sell” and 5 is a “strong sell”. Right now, the average analyst recommendation for HAL stands at 1.80 , which indicates that analysts recommend investors to Strong Buy their shares of HAL until the stock approaches its target price.

Traders use the ATR to analyze potential exit and entry points, as it represents a useful tool in almost any trading strategy. ATR for this stock is sitting at 0.83. Beta tells us about a stock’s volatility, also known as its systematic risk, compared to the market overall. The current beta value for HAL is 1.21, while for the past seven days, this stock’s volatility was 2.57%, also recording 2.64% for the past 30-day period.

Professionals on Wall Street also frequently check the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of a potential investment, which tells us the speed and change of a stock’s price movement in the market. RSI is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. If the indicators are set higher above 70, then the RSI factors are indicating that the stocks are overbought. The factors will indicate that a stock is oversold if the result is set below 30. Right now, Halliburton Company (HAL) has an RSI of 52.08 – indicating that the asset is being neither overbought nor oversold.