Kids using robots and drones to learn

Some argue that the education this generation of children is receiving is little different from that their parents or even their grandparents had.
But, in a world where artificial intelligence and robots threaten jobs, the skills that this generation of children need to learn are likely to be radically different to the three Rs that have for so long been the mainstay of education.
The BBC went along to the Bett conference in London in search of different ways of teaching and learning.
A stone's throw from the Excel, where Bett is held, stands a new school that is, according to its head Geoffrey Fowler, currently little more than a Portakabin.
Despite this, the London Design and Engineering university technical college - which caters for 14- to 19-year-olds - was massively oversubscribed when it opened its doors for the first time in September.
The 180 pupils lucky enough to have got a place have had a very different experience of the curriculum in the 12 weeks since they joined.
One group have designed from scratch a virtual reality environment that takes viewers on a journey around an Ethiopian village as part of a project to highlight the work of the charity Water Aid.
Another has spent the term teaching Pepper - the school has two of SoftBank's human-looking robots - how to make a variety of moves, including the dab currently beloved of children around the country.
A third group are heading off this weekend on an unusual skiing trip. Travelling with them will be 11 Nao robots, which the pupils plan to teach how to ski.
The school - which sets no homework, relying instead on pupils wanting to get on with their projects in their own time - is, according to Mr Fowler, "inspiring children to be part of a new type of learning".
While other schools may see the projects listed above as fun "add-ons" to the core curriculum, Mr Fowler thinks it has to be embedded within it.
Sixth-formers work on what is called an extended project qualification, which is the equivalent of half an A-level.
The school works with a range of industry sponsors, including the University of East London, Thames Water and Fujitsu, all of which offer input into the types of skills they would like to see children learn to equip them for the workplace as well as offering apprenticeships.
There are 48 university technical colleges (UTC) in England currently - and the scheme has proved controversial.
One set up in East London in 2012 closed after just two years, having failed to attract enough pupils, while another in Bedfordshire was branded inadequate by Ofsted.
Some head teachers seem to be resisting the idea of the vocational style of education, barring UTCs from recruiting pupils from their schools.
But statistics suggest that pupils attending UTCs have just as good results if not better than those in more conventional schools.
It is something James Culley, head of computer science at the school, sees for himself every day.
"I have never seen students learn so quickly," he told the BBC.

Samsung may unleash a beast

"There's a strong possibility that Samsung will incorporate Bluetooth 5 into the Galaxy S8," said Ken Hyers, director of wireless device strategies atStrategy Analytics."With the cancellation of the Note7, the Galaxy S8 is now [Samsung's] premier device to showcase the latest and best smartphone technology," he told TechNewsWorld.Samsung had to institute a global recall of millions of Galaxy Note7s after multiple instances in which the device spontaneously burst into flames. Some replacement devices also caught fire."Samsung has a PR problem," observed Michael Jude, a program manager atStratecast/Frost & Sullivan. "Note7 is a disaster, and they need something with which to seize the technological high ground."Putting cutting-edge technologies in the S8"will help a lot," he told TechNewsWorld."Remember, practically nothing is Bluetooth 5-compliant," Jude noted. "As long as the S8 can talk to existing Bluetooth devices, it's golden. People will be drawn to the latest, greatest technology."Bluetooth 5.0 doesn't replace 4.0, 4.1 or 4.2. It extends the functionality of these previous versions of the Bluetooth Core Specification.Further, Bluetooth 5.0 lets manufacturers leverage interoperability and performanceimprovements incorporated in the core specs since 4.2 was released."From Bluetooth headsets and speakers tohome control, personal robots and drones,Bluetooth is a default technology for connecting devices, with the smartphone as the hub of consumers' device universe,"Strategy Analytics' Hyers remarked."We are rapidly moving into a more complex connected device world," he pointed out.Samsung has focused heavily on the Internet of Things, offering smart TVs and smart appliances that can be tied to its smartphones.Bluetooth 5 "is a huge advance over previous versions of Bluetooth from a connectivity speed and capacity standpoint," Hyers pointed out, noting thatit's a natural fit for Samsung's next flagship device.The S8 will "be both a mass market flagship and a showcase for Samsung's technological leadership" since the company has canceled its Note series of phablets, he said.Therefore, Samsung "will be careful to only put technology and features in it that it's certain will not create issues," Hyers contended. As a relatively low-risk feature,Bluetooth 5 likely will appear in the S8 in Q1 2017.
Bluetooth 5.0 Specs
Bluetooth 5.0 offers 2Mbps of bandwidth, twice that of Bluetooth 4.2, with low energy.The bandwidth can be decreased to achieve up to 4x the broadcast range of Bluetooth 4.2 with the same power requirement. That means home automation and security devices can coverentire homes, buildings or locations.Developers can adjust the broadcast range, speed and security for different environments.Bluetooth 5.0 delivers reliable Internet of Things connections, and it will increase therelevance of beacons and other location awareness technologies, which will enablea seamless IoT experience.It also has ad extensions that enable moreefficient use of broadcasting channels on the 2.4 GHz band.Slot availability masks can detect and prevent interference on neighboring bands.Keeping the Note7's Specter at BayMany consumers returned their Note7 phablets to purchase an older Galaxy S7, Hyers said. "Given that history, "I expect that the Galaxy S8 will be the most carefully tested and verified smartphone ever released."Also, consumers in the know will see Bluetooth 5 as a future-proof technology, he suggested, while early adopters will see it as a useful item.

Medical device cyber-safety rules issued by US watchdog

Hackers are "continuously" targeting medical devices and hospitals, the US Federal Drug Administration has warned.The alert comes innew FDA rulesthat define how medical equipment makers should tackle cyber-threats.Manufacturers should be constantly vigilant, said the watchdog, and make sure they can patch the flaws found in gadgets.Its rules come at the end of a year that saw flaws found in many medical devices, and hospitals hit by malware.Death notice"Cyber-security threats are real, ever-present, and continuously changing," wrote Dr Suzanne Schwartz, FDA associate director at its centre for devices and radiological health,in a blog."Hospital networks experience constant attempts of intrusion and attack, which can pose a threat to patient safety."To tackle threats to devices in hospitals or worn by patients manufacturers needed to think about security throughout a product's entire lifecycle, wrote Dr Schwartz.In addition, she said, they needed to:
*.constantly monitor threats
*.detect vulnerabilities in the code their devices run
*.assess the potential dangers the products pose
*.make sure they can update gadgetsto close any loopholesManufacturers should also become morecomfortable working with security researchers who scrutinise gadgets for flaws, she said. Some researchers were threatened with legal action after highlighting a flaw.Researchers have uncovered problems in many products, including defibrillators and drug infusion pumps. Some have also documented attacks on larger pieces of equipment such as MRI scanners.Many hospitals also fell victim to ransomware attacks in 2016 - software that made their data unintelligible and demanded a payment to restore it to its prior state.In some cases operations and other procedures were cancelled because computer systems were knocked out by malware."As hackers become more sophisticated, these cyber-security risks will evolve," wrote Dr Schwartz.The FDA pointed out that the rules are not legally binding but instead represent its advice to manufacturers.However, the guidance said manufacturers had to notify the regulator if a flaw in a product led to someone being harmed or killed.Security researcher Beau Woods said theFDA had been instrumental in getting healthcare organisations, manufacturers and cyber experts talking about how to tackle and fix vulnerabilities."If you look at the general trend over thelast few years we are getting better and we are fixing them faster than we were before," said Mr Woods, who is a member of an organisation called I Am The Cavalry that researches and advises on cyber issues that effect public safety.This had led to many manufacturers adopting good vulnerability disclosure schemes and to some organisations that buy a lot of medical equipment demanding higher standards from their suppliers.However, he said, the hyper-connectedness of all organisations including hospitals meant devices never meant to be online were now accessible via the net.Mr Woods said he had seen attacks aimed at stealing personal data accidentally knock out older medical equipment that helped monitor vital life signs."It's those types of things that scare me much more than someone lurking in the shadows," said Mr Woods who is deputy director of the cyber statecraft initiative at the Atlantic Council think tank.The FDA rules have been issued days before the start of the massive CES tech show in Las Vegas.Gadgets that help people live healthier lives or let them manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes, are expected to feature strongly at the show.

The advent of artificial intelligence and digital assistants

Apple was the first to introduce a digital assistant when it acquired Siri and baked it into the OS. The makers of Siri went on to create Viv, a realisation of their original vision for Siri.Viv was acquired by Samsungthis year.Despite the initial head start with Siri, Apple lost ground over the subsequent years by being very secretive about its research. As Apple employees were not allowedto publish research, the best talent was not attracted to the company. All that changed with thehire of prominent Carnegie Mellon University researcher Russ Salakhutdinovearlier in the year. Apple has already gone ahead andpublished its first research paper.Apple’s research allows them to train machines on image data sets, without annotations of the details. Image: University of Cambridge/ Max Planck Institute for InformaticsSundar Pichai, CEO of Google remarked on the onset of a remarkable new disruptive technology at the October hardware event by Google. Every ten years or so, a transformational technology comes along that changes everything. In the mid 80s this was the desktop computer, in the mid 90s, this was the internet, in the mid 2000s, the smartphone revolution began. We are in the mid 2010s, and the next big changewill come about because of Artificial Intelligence.US President Barack Obama said inan interview that it was necessary toimbibe artificial intelligences with human values. Humans have to make harsh decisions, and Obama raised the question of whether machines should be allowed to make such decisions. For example: Can a self driving car be trusted to decide between running over a pedestrian or involving the passengers of the vehicle in a fatal crash? The International Convention on Conventional Weapons meet for a review conference, where theyagreed to regulate lethal autonomous vehicle systems(LAWS), or killer robots. TheWhite House said that it was tweaking policyto handle the huge number of human jobs that are now going to be done by machines.The Amazon Echo and the Google HomeThe year saw the growth of an all new product category called smart speakers. The Echo by Amazon wasa pioneer in this category, with a voice controlled digital assistant hardware for living spaces. TheAmazon Echo Dotwas introduced this year and Google made its debut in the smart speaker space withGoogle Home. Microsofthinted at a high-end smart speakerby Harman Kardon. According to analyst firm, Gartner, smart home speakers are expected to be a $2.1 billion industry by 2020.AI was the talk of the town at theReCodetech conference, with discussions around AI by IBM, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. Elon Musk even suggested that human brains should be hooked upto computers with neural laces so that mankind can keep up to machines. Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet unit Google, Facebook Inc, IBM and Microsoft have teamed up to create anon profit organisationthat hopes to increasethe awareness about aritificial intelligence in the minds of the public. Here is a look back at the biggest artificial intelligence stories of the year.GoogleGoogle DeepMind AI can now learn things on its ownHere’s how DeepMind-powered AI help cut down Google’s electricity billGoogle DeepMind now alerts UK doctors of timely medical interventions that can save livesGoogle open sources DeepMind Lab, aims to make general AI a realityThe big bet by Google for the next ten years is the incredibly useful Google AssistantGoogle DeepMind victory: AI will one day prevail but beautyof Go remains says Go MasterDeepmind AI by Google takes on Starcraft by Blizzard after mastering GoFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even coded hisown personal digital assistantFacebookFacebook AI is getting more like humans at generating captions for imagesHere’s how AI is empowering Facebook to create a better worldFacebook plans to develop Artificial Intelligence to automatically flag offensive live stream videosFacebook testing AI tech that describes photos to the visuallychallengedFacebook AI Labs working to identify your hidden faceFacebook releases its AI bot-building research in the form of fastText libraryFacebook Messenger chatbots jeopardise privacyFacebook F8: Zuckerberg announces chatbots for MessengerMicrosoftMicrosoft opens up Cortana to developers and manufacturerswith Skills Kit and Devices SDKFacebook plans to develop Artificial Intelligence to automatically flag offensive live stream videosMicrosoft’s Cortana can now talk to other Windows 10 devices, share battery info andnotificationsMicrosoft teases premium smart speaker by Harman Kardon powered by CortanaCortana on iOS can now remember where you parked your carBuild 2016: Microsoft presents Cortana Bots, Cognitive Services APIs and moreBuild 2016: Microsoft Skype bots preview announcedAmazonAmazon announces three new AI services called Lex, Polly and Rekognition for AWSAmazon challenges Apple and Spotify with new music streaming serviceAmazon just put Alexa in a browserAmazon’s Alexa voice assistantnow open to third-party hardware, softwareBuild Amazon’s amazing Echo speaker with just a Raspberry PiAmazon introduces Alexa voiceassistant powered Tap, Echo DotAmazon India launches ‘Amazon Launchpad’ to help startups launch and distribute their productsJust before Google Home release, Amazon ads show how Alexa can be a household heroBragi wearables for workplaces are powered by the AI capabilities of Watson.IBMIBM’s Watson fights diabetes with American Diabetes Association and other collaborationsLaw firm hires IBM Watson AI based legal assistant RossThe Weather channel launchedWatson-powered bot for Facebook MessengerIBM and Cisco to bring Watson to the workplaceIBM launches Global Watson Internet of Things consulting solutionsIFA 2016: IBM Watson and Bragi come together to make IoT hearables for workplacesIBM Watson: Watch the first movie trailer to be created entirely by AIIBM beta tests AI cyber security services from Watson for 40 global clientsIBM launches framework to embed Watson in robots, devices and smart things