The Weekly Five-Pointer: Beer Shoes, Smart Homes, A.I. and other big things

This Week: Beer Shoes, Smart Homes, A.I. and other big things

So you may have missed out on your last chance to taste McDonald’s Pizza.Maybe you realized you’re not allowed to keep sharks in your pool. You may have learned that you got Prince’s favorite color all wrong, and to make matter worse, you may also have fend off Zombie Coyotes soon. Sure, bad news travels fast, but we are here, on the record, with five more cool stories that caught our eye this week.

1.LG Electronics is planning to double its investment in smart home technology by 2020 while expanding its R&D workforce by more than 50% to up the brain power working on the abodes of the future, the company announced at the IFA tradeshow in Germany this week. The Seoul-based electronics giant unveiled a vision to lead the lucrative smart home industry, the emerging tech area expected to be the hub to connect all trending technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, the internet of things, robots and more.

2. In honor of the crowd-pleasing Autumn holiday, adidas has created a shoe fit for Oktoberfest– and all the elements that come with it. Ahead of festivities the company is releasing the adidas München “Oktoberfest” sneaker featuring a special repellent coating to protect your shoes during the festival so you don’t have to worry about anyone spilling beer on your new kicks ever again. We can say, ‘Prost!’ to that!

3. Microsoft is taking an artificial intelligence program developed for Indian women engineers in 2014 global due to its success. The program—Women in Software Engineering (WISE)– began in India in 2014. “Considering the impact of outcomes of the program in India, our mentor team is looking forward to taking this program beyond India — starting with a pilot in Africa,” said Charumathy Srinivasan, partner group software engineering manager at Microsoft India Development Center.

4. IBM and MIT announced a 10-year, $240 million partnership that establishes the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in Cambridge, MA. The partnership will allow IBM researchers to work side by side with MIT faculty and students to conduct advanced AI research with the hopes of propelling innovative scientific breakthroughs that unlock the potential of the technology in ways that will make industry and everyday life more efficient.

5. Ford Motor Co’s Lincoln brand plans to offer hybrid gasoline-electric versions of all its U.S. Models by 2022, according to Reuters. More details are expected when the CEO updates investors on the automaker’s strategy on Oct. 3. It’s one step in its long-term plan to shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles as the future of electric and self-driving cars gets closer and closer.

Feature image: 43einhalb

posted by H+K Global | September 8, 2017 @ http://www.hkstrategies.com/global/en/the-five-pointer/

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