Nothing’s transparent Phone 1 won’t be coming to North America

Nothing’s debut Phone 1 smartphone won’t be coming to the US, the company confirmed to PCMag. “While we’d love to bring Phone 1 to the entire community around the world, we’re focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe,” the company said in a statement. However, it added that “a limited number of our private community investors” could get one in the US through a closed beta program. 

Nothing showed off the device for the first time last week on Twitter following a tease by founder Carl Pei. The most noticeable feature is a transparent back, revealing a wireless charging coil and a mysterious pattern that lights up. The company has also promised “an open and diverse product ecosystem” and the pure Android Nothing OS. 

The company further explained that “it takes a lot to launch a smartphone… from ensuring the handset is supported by the country’s cellular technologies to carrier partnerships and local regulation, and as we’re still a young brand we need to be strategic about it.” Even folks in the closed beta program are likely to have issues with coverage and a lack of support of features like voice over LTE, according to PCMag. A similar disclosure was given by Nothing when the first 100 phones went up for bid on StockX.

Still, Nothing does have North American ambitions. “We have big plans to launch a US supported smartphone in the future,” the company wrote. The Nothing Phone 1 is set to debut in London on July 12th — you can catch it via a livestream if you RSVP in advance. 

Proteus is Amazon’s first fully autonomous warehouse robot

In a post looking back over the past 10 years since it purchased robotics company Kiva, Amazon has revealed its new machines, including its first fully autonomous warehouse robot. It’s called Proteus, and it was designed to be able to move around Amazon’s facilities on its own while carrying carts fulls of packages. The company said the robot uses an “advanced safety, perception and navigation technology” it developed to be able to do its work without hindering human employees.

In the video Amazon posted, you can see Proteus moving under the carts and transporting them to other locations. It emits a green beam ahead of it while it moves, and it stops if a human worker steps in front of the beam. 

Amazon’s aim is to automate the handling of its package carts so as to reduce the need for human workers to manually move them around its facilities. In fact, the e-commerce giant stressed that its robots were designed to create a safer workplace for people. “From the early days of the Kiva acquisition, our vision was never tied to a binary decision of people or technology. Instead, it was about people and technology working safely and harmoniously together to deliver for our customers,” it wrote. 

Another new robot called Cardinal was also designed with the idea of reducing risk of employee injuries in mind. Cardinal is a robotic arm that picks up packages, reads their labels and then places them in the appropriate cart for the next stage of the shipping process. Artificial intelligence and computer vision enable it to sort packages correctly. Amazon is currently testing a prototype that’s able to lift boxes up to 50 pounds and expects to deploy the robotic arm to fulfillment centers by next year.

Finally, the company has also revealed that it’s working on an AI technology that can automatically scan packages. Currently, workers have to scan barcodes on packages using hand scanners — this technology will eliminate the need to do that. With this scanning capability in place, human workers don’t even need to pause while sorting packages: The system can quickly recognize a package the passes its camera. Amazon explained that its camera runs at 120 frames per second and is powered by computer vision and machine learning technology.

The e-commerce giant has introduced several robots over the years, and it has always emphasized that their purpose is to improve safety at its warehouses. As The Verge notes, the company said it’s not looking to replace human workers even though an internal report that recently leaked revealed that the company expects to “deplete the available labor supply in the US network by 2024.” An Amazon robotics lead told Forbes that “replacing people with machines is just a fallacy” that could end with a company going out of business. 

Robots learn to shape letters using Play-Doh

Humans aren’t the only ones working with Play-Doh. MIT CSAIL researchers have created a system, RoboCraft, that teaches robots how to work with the kid-friendly goo. The platform first takes the image of a shape (in this case, a letter of the alphabet) and reinterprets it as a cluster of interlocking particles. The bot then uses a physics-oriented neural network to predict how its two “fingers” can manipulate those spheres to match the desired outcome. A predictive algorithm helps the machine plan its actions.

The technology doesn’t require much time to produce usable results. It took just ten minutes of practice for an robot to perform roughly as well (and in some cases better) than humans remote-controlling the same hardware. That’s not the same as having a human shape the Play-Doh by hand, but it’s no mean feat for a machine discovering how to perform the task for the first time. Robots frequently struggle with soft objects where they tend to thrive with firm shapes.

RoboCraft-trained bots aren’t about to produce elaborate sculptures. The results are still imprecise, and the machine works slowly using just two fingers. The team is already developing a method of making dumplings, though, and plans to teach robots to use additional tools (such as a rolling pin) to prep the food.

The CSAIL scientists already have an idea of where the technology might be deployed. Kitchen robots could take over more responsibilities, while artistic automatons might create pottery. Eventually, technology like this could help the elderly and people with mobility issues by taking over household duties that require subtle motor skills.

Microsoft will phase out facial recognition AI that could detect emotions

Microsoft is keenly aware of the mounting backlash toward facial recognition, and it’s shuttering a significant project in response. The company has revealed it will “retire” facial recognition technology that it said could infer emotions as well as characteristics like age, gender and hair. The AI raised privacy questions, Microsoft said, and offering a framework created the potential for discrimination and other abuses. There was also no clear consensus on the definition of emotions, and no way to create a generalized link between expressions and emotions.

New users of Microsoft’s Face programming framework no longer have access to these attribute detection features. Current customers can use them until June 30th, 2023. Microsoft will still fold the tech into “controlled” accessibility tools, such as its Seeing AI for people with vision issues.

The exit comes as Microsoft has shared its Responsible AI Standard framework with the public for the first time. The guidelines illustrate the tech firm’s decision-making process, including a focus on principles like inclusion, privacy and transparency. This also represents the first big update to the standard since it was introduced in late 2019, and promises more fairness in speech-to-text tech, stricter controls for neural voice and “fit for purpose” requirements that rule out the emotion-detecting system.

Microsoft isn’t the first company to have second thoughts about facial recognition. IBM stopped work in that field over worries its projects could be used for human rights abuses. With that said, this is still a major change of heart. One of the world’s largest cloud and computing companies is backing away from AI that could have a substantial impact.

The best smart displays you can buy

Smart displays have evolved quite a bit since the initial debut of Amazon’s first Echo Show back in 2017. In fact, the category didn’t really come into its own until Google joined the fray with its own line of hardware about a year later. Now, both of …

Amazon’s Omni Fire TVs are up to 46 percent off right now

Amazon has kicked off the lead up to this year’s Prime Day by discounting a bunch of Fire TVs. A number of Toshiba, Insignia and Hisense smart TVs are on sale right now, so you could pick up a TV for as low as $90. But we recommend springing for one of the higher-end Omni Series televisions, which came out last September. All sizes are cheaper than usual, but you’ll find the steepest discount on the 55-inch Omni Series 4K TV, which is 46 percent off and down to $300. While many of these TV deals are Prime exclusives, some — including the 55-inch Omni deal — are available to all Amazon shoppers.

Shop Fire TV sales at AmazonBuy 55-inch Omni Series Fire TV at Amazon – $300

All of the Omni Series sets streaming in 4K and support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Digital Plus — if you want Dolby Vision, you’ll have to spring for the 65- or 75-inch TVs. You’ll get access to streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and others, but you’ll find the real perks come in if you’re already a heavy Alexa user. Omni Series sets have built-in microphones to allow hands-free Alexa access, so you can basically treat the TV as you would an Echo smart speaker. You can ask it to set timers and reminders, check sports scores and more, even when the TV is off. But if that’s not really your thing, you can use the built-in switch to electronically disable the microphones.

As far as connectivity goes, the 55-inch model has three HDMI ports plus one HDMI 2.1 jack with eARC, one USB port and an Ethernet connector. While you could deck the TV out with the soundbar of your choosing, you can also wirelessly pair the TV with Echo speakers to create a more immersive home theater setup. These TVs are clearly best for those who already have a lot of Amazon devices throughout their home, and those who rely on Alexa a lot already. But they’re also good options for anyone that wants a truly budget smart TV. $300 for a 55-inch set is a solid deal, and if you’re looking to spend even less than that, you’ve got options at the $200 and $100 marks as well.

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The Morning After: iOS 16 might let you skip those anti-bot login tests

Apple’s next update to its iPhone operating system might just help you avoid the CAPTCHA anti-bot systems that stand between you and some web sign-ins. Apple teased a Private Access Token system in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura that skips CAPTCHA…