• Apps
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• Siri
• Artificial Intelligence
• Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram, creator of Siri’s knowledge base, releases impressive new Image Identification tech

Wolfram Research, the company behind the Wolfram Alpha knowledge base that Apple’s Siri taps into, is today releasing new artificial intelligence tech to answer the question, “What is this a picture of?”

Wolfram is showing off what the Wolfram Language Image Identification Project is capable of using this web app accessible on desktop and mobile devices. You simply drag any photo into the app and the image identification AI attempts to detect what it is (as pictured above).

Now I’m excited to be able to say that we’ve reached a milestone: there’s finally a function called ImageIdentify built into the Wolfram Language that lets you ask, “What is this a picture of?”—and get an answer…. It’s a nice practical example of artificial intelligence. But to me what’s more important is that we’ve reached the point where we can integrate this kind of “AI operation” right into the Wolfram Language—to use as a new, powerful building block for knowledge-based programming.

And the new ImageIdentify function will be accessible to developers to create APIs or apps that tap into the feature through Wolfram Language: “And if one had lots of photographs, one could immediately write a Wolfram Language program that, for example, gave statistics on the different kinds of animals, or planes, or devices, or whatever, that appear in the photographs.”

Wolfram has a lengthy, interesting read on the backstory of the project and more about how everything works behind the scenes.

• Apps & Updates
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• update

Minecraft Pocket Edition gets biggest update yet w/ infinite worlds & much more

Minecraft Pocket Edition, the iOS version of the popular Minecraft PC game, is getting what developer Mojang says is the app’s biggest update yet today. Version 0.9.0 introduces a number of new features carried over from the original game including infinite worlds, much improved caves, wolves, new items, and much, much more.

In addition, Mojang is bringing over new biomes from the PC version of the game with mesas, jungles, swamps and extreme hills, and you’ll also notice abandoned mineshafts, villages and “new feature generation, including lakes, vines and monster rooms.” That doesn’t even include a fraction of what’s actually included in today’s update. A full list of new features from new blocks to new and updated features for biomes, mobs, AI and feature generation is below.

The game also receives some welcomed UI tweaks in the update including a new “interaction” button that Mojang hopes will cut down on accidental sheep punches.

Infinite worlds!
Caves!
Loads of new blocks and items including Monster Eggs and huge mushroom blocks.
Wolves! Tame a loyal companion.
Loads of new flowers! So pretty.
New mobs, including the spooky endermen and less spooky Mooshrooms.
New biomes from the PC version, including mesas, jungles, swamps and extreme hills.
Abandoned mineshafts, villages, and many other cool places to explore.
A brand-new “interaction” button. Never accidentally punch a sheep again!
New feature generation, including lakes, vines and monster rooms.
Many bugs fixed, and possibly a few added.

The updated Minecraft Pocket Edition version 0.9.0 is available now on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

The full huge list of what’s new via Mojang is below:

New features

• Unlimited worlds!
• New culling algorithm
• New culling of clouds
• Tile entities are saved differently
• New falling mechanics for gravel and sand
• New insta ticking of water and lava

New blocks

• Podzol
• Mycelium
• Huge mushroom blocks
• Cocoa
• End portal frame
• Double plants
• More stairs/slabs for new wood types
• New log types (savanna tree and dark oak)
• New leafs (savanna tree)
• Monster egg
• Stained clay
• Waterlily
• New flowers
• Red sand
• Hardened clay
• End stone
• Granite
• Diorite
• Andesite
• Emerald block
• Emerald ore
• New leveldb based saving format
• New entity handling
• New crafting screen
• Remade network code (mostly the same packages but new system).
• New interact button (to make the game easier for new players)

New mobs

• Slimes
• Endermen
• Wolves
• Mooshrooms
• Silverfish

New and updated biomes

• Deserts
• Extreme hills
• Forests
• Redwood taiga
• Roofed forests
• Frozen
• Jungle
• Savanna
• Mesa
• Mushroom island
• Taiga
• Deep ocean
• Swamps

New world feature generation

• Sand
• Boulders
• Ice patch
• Ice spike
• Spike
• Lake
• Double plants
• Ground bushes
• Fancy oaks
• Jungle tree
• Mega jungle tree
• Mega pine tree
• Savanna tree
• Swamp tree
• Huge mushroom
• Tallgrass
• Waterlily
• Vines
• Melons
• Pumpkin
• Dead bush
• Monster rooms
• Desert well
• Fallen logs
• Emerald ore

Tweaks to caves

• Lava at the bottom of caves
• Caves in desert and mesa
• Strongholds
• Villages
• Villagers
• Abandoned mine shafts
• Flat world generation
• Limited world generation
• “New” mob spawning
• Updated light generation
• Grass color for different biomes
• Foliage color for different biomes
• Water color for swamps

New AI

• Spiders
• New leaf rendering
• Added more spawn eggs in Creative Mode
• Added immersive mode for Android
• Added drip particles for water and lava
• Updated create world screen

Tweaks and bug fixes

• Correct name for stairs, slabs and spawn eggs
• Beds no longer gives full health in normal difficulty
• Smooth lighting added for:
• Beds
• Fences
• Walls
• Cobwebs
• Chests
• Leaves
• Smooth lighting removed for:
• Glowstone
• Glass
• Jack ‘o’ lanterns
• Improved performance of TNT
• Prettier clouds
• The fog is darker underground

Known Bugs

• The block highlight flickers (z-fights) when more than 10k blocks distant from spawn
• Changing the view distance while in a world might crash the game
• If players walk too far from each other in multiplayer, they can’t see each other

Known bugs requiring attention

• Multiplayer is a bit fragile. Please test it and report all issues to us!
• The LevelDB save format + upgrading of old maps. Please report any data corruption!
• Crashes in general – uncommon and random crashes might still happen

• AAPL Company
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• Siri

“What a backstabber,” jokes Scarlett Johansson, after Siri diss

Scarlett Johansson, who plays a Siri-like virtual assistant in the movie Her, jokingly hit back at Siri’s dismissive remarks in an interview with Vanity Fair. The magazine noted that when Siri was asked “Are you Her?”, it responds with a variety of snarky remarks, including “Her portrayal of artificial intelligence is beyond artificial.”

“Oh. My. God,” Johansson responded, playfully hurt. “I feel like I’ve been betrayed. The other day I asked Siri how I looked and she said, ‘You’re the fairest of them all.’ So she’s obviously playing both sides … What a backstabber, man.”

We’re just waiting for Vanity Fair to interview Siri, to get her take on Johansson’s remarks …

• Apple Retail
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• Artificial Intelligence
• Anki

Unveiled at WWDC, Anki Drive goes on sale Oct. 23 for $200 (Update: It’s live)

Update: Anki Drive is now available on the Apple Online Store for $199  annnnnd iFixit is tearing it down.

As we noted earlier this month, the Anki Drive iPhone-controlled cars demoed at WWDC this year will hit store shelves next week. The cars use a set of onboard sensors and AI software to steer themselves around the track and interact with one another while following behavioral paramaters set in the iOS app. The app also allows you to add upgrades to your car to change how it behaves and how other cars react to it.

The starter set will come with two cars and a track to race them on, and will cost $199. Additional cars will be available for $69 each. The app used to control the cars has been available in the iTunes Store for some time now, but has yet to be updated with the ability to actually use it with the cars. The whole lineup will be available in Apple Stores nationwide on October 23rd.

• Apps & Updates
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• iOS
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• Spain
• Ferrari

Real Racing 3 iOS app updated w/ Ferraris, HUD customization, new tracks & challenges

EA’s popular Real Racing 3 app for iOS gets a nice update today that introduces Ferraris into the game for the first time. On top of new cars from Ferrari including the FF, the 458 Italia, and the V12-powered F12berlinetta, version 1.40 also brings new tracks, time trial challenges, and the ability to customize the HUD.

EA is including the Circuit de Catalunya track from Spain in the latest update, and also says AI improvements offer ” better collision avoidance and faster times through the first corner.”

A full list of what’s new in the update is below:

What’s New in Version 1.4.0

Real Racing 3’s garage is bolstered by the introduction of highly requested cars from iconic Italian manufacturer, Ferrari.

• New Cars – for the first time in Real Racing, get behind the wheel of magnificent Ferrari vehicles: the FF, the 458 Italia, and the V12-powered F12berlinetta
• New Track – experience the sweeping turns and blistering straights of Spain’s famous Circuit de Catalunya
• Time Trial Ghost Challenges – learn from the best, compete with Friends and start new racing rivalries
• Meet The Crew – hire Crew Members to earn R$, Fame, and Servicing bonuses
• AI Improvements – better collision avoidance and faster times through the first corner
• HUD Customisation – tweak new settings to personalise your racing experience
• Lap and Sector Times – precise performance comparison
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEAj9cK611Q]