Washington, United States -Google has taken a stake in a Chinese artificial intelligence startup which is aiming to develop smart wearable technologies, the companies said
The amount on investment in Mobvoi was not disclosed.
But the companies said that the firm, created by a former Google researcher, has now raised $75 million in equity financing.
Google will lead the latest round and hold a minority stake, according to the statement. The move comes five years after Google's highly contentious exit from its Chinese operations over censorship.
"Mobvoi is very excited to welcome Google as an investor as both companies share a long-term view on technologies and are dedicated to deliver an uncompromising user experience through emerging technologies," said Mobvoi founder Zhifei Li.
The new funding is aimed at helping develop "a new generation of wearable experiences and explore consumer-oriented products for the in-vehicle environment" as well as exploring robotics technologies.
“Mobvoi has developed some very unique speech and natural language processing technologies,” said Don Harrison, vice president of corporate development at Google Inc.
"We were impressed by their innovative approach and the early traction that they've seen, which is why we're pleased to support them with this investment."
The two firms announced an agreement earlier this year to bring the Google Android Wear operating system to China.
New York, United States |-Ferrari, the inimitable Italian luxury sports car maker, garnered a rich $10 billion valuation on Wall Street as its initial public offering went out at $52 a share.
The share sale by parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles came in at the high end of its predicted range, demonstrating substantial enthusiasm by investors and an endorsement of Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne's plan to bring the legendary mark of the prancing horse to the US market.
Underwriters offered 17.2 million shares of Ferrari, comprising about nine percent of the company, according to banking sources. Fiat Chrysler had expected to price the offering at between $48 and $52 a share.
The shares are expected to begin trading Wednesday, under the ticker "RACE", with market watchers waiting to see how the company is greeted on the New York Stock Exchange.
The market's reception for IPOs has been somewhat meek in recent weeks, and analysts point out that demand for high-end luxury goods in a key growth market for Ferraris, China, has slowed down.
But the company was effusive about prospects for its six hyper-powered models in the IPO filing.
Ferrari shipped 7,255 new cars to its wealthy customers last year and the prospectus envisages only a gradual expansion to around 9,000 a year by 2019.
"We believe our cars are the epitome of performance, luxury and styling," it said.
"We intend to maintain and extend our leading position in the luxury performance sports car market and to continue to protect and enhance the value and exclusivity of the Ferrari brand and its association with the lifestyle we believe it represents."
- Fiat Chrysler raising cash -
The move comes one year after Italian giant Fiat sealed its takeover of the better-performing US automaker Chrysler in an ambitious, slow-moving merger engineered by Marchionne.
Weeks after that, the company said it would split off the hallowed Ferrari brand. The IPO is the first step in that direction.
As a unit of Fiat Chrysler, the supercar maker has been a cash generator. In 2104 it reported net revenues of 2.76 billion euros ($3.13 billion), and a net profit of 265 million euros.
Revenues grew seven percent a year between 2005 and 2014, and margins increased strongly over the same period.
Fiat Chrysler owns about 90 percent of Ferrari and, with a high debt level, could benefit from raising cash in the sale.
At the end of June, the carmaker had net debt of $10.8 billion due to a combination of the costs of the Chrysler takeover and ongoing loss making activities in Europe.
Now Fiat Chrysler plans to invest some $48 billion to expand its total worldwide sales to seven million vehicles per year, largely through the development of its Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands.
Marchionne has been pushing the idea of another merger with a major brand -- General Motors is his named target -- in the belief that only more consolidation in the global auto industry will guarantee a company's survival.
Analysts say Marchionne, who is also chairman of Ferrari, has been astute in bringing a restricted number of shares to market -- a strategy that mirrors Ferrari's own market approach of keeping production tight to preserve their exclusive cachet.
The flotation will not have any impact on Ferrari's involvement in Formula One racing, in which it is reemerging as a force after enduring a lean period in the slipstream of world champion Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team.
Ferrari's status as the longest-established and most celebrated team in motor sport's elite championship is vital to the value of its brand.
It also accounts for more than 10 percent of its revenue through sponsorship and related commercial agreements, including licencing of the company's name and its famed logo in sportswear, watches, accessories, consumer electronics and theme parks.
The listing will leave Fiat Chrysler with 80-81 percent of Ferrari which the parent company intends to distribute to its own shareholders next year.
Piero Ferrari, a son of legendary founder Enzo Ferrari, will retain a ten percent stake after the flotation.
Laguna Beach, United States -A humanoid robot name Pepper designed as an upbeat companion made its European debut helping shoppers with wine, and more, in a major shop in France.
The test run involves seven robots stationed in different parts of a Claye-Souilly region Carrefour store, where they are programmed to do things such as suggest food recipes or wine choices, or assess customer satisfaction, Magali Cubier of Aldebaran Robotics told AFP.
"The main focus is to entertain people and to test how they react to seeing a robot in a shop," Cubier said, standing opposite a pair of Pepper robots giving hugs and high-fives to attendees at a WSJDLive technology conference on the Southern California coast.
"It is the first time we are getting Pepper out of Japan, so we will see the reaction of users in France."
Aldebaran has sold 4,000 Pepper robots since they launched in Japan in June. The Paris-based company is about 98 percent owned by SoftBank Group in Japan.
Aldebaran sells one batch of 1,000 Pepper robots monthly, with an up-front price of $1,500 euros and then monthly subscription payments of about $200 euros for three years, according to Cubier.
Pepper was billed as a "new species" of robot capable of recognizing basic emotions such as happiness and sadness by looking at people's faces.
"Faces mean a lot to me; even more when they are smiling," a Pepper model said while describing its facial recognition capabilities during a demonstration.
"It is pretty clever because it keeps me from trying to interact with non-human things,. For example, those couches never talk back."
Aldebaran in September began gathering research that showed people tended either use the robots as day-to-day home companions or took creative approaches of building in their own software applications for small business purposes.
Pepper was at WSJDLive as part of a quest for partners in the hope of expanding to the US market, according to Cubier.
"We see robots being more and more present in our daily life to help us; assist us; entertain us, live with us," she said.
Pepper's effort to spread to France and beyond comes with the challenge of adapting robots to different ways emotions are expressed in the world's diverse array of cultures and places.
For example, Pepper will shake hands with shoppers in France -- but not greet them with robotic pecks on cheeks, something Cubier promised to look into.
Paris, France -Alexandre Gauthier, known for his inventive use of local products, was named "chef of the year" by one of France's most famous restaurant guides, it was announced.
Gauthier, head chef at La Grenouillere in the northern village of Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, is feted in the latest edition of the Gault and Millau guide, second only to the Michelin guide, to be released on Thursday.
The Gault and Millau guide awarded the 36-year-old chef's restaurant its top rating in last year's guide for the first time.
He took over the kitchens of La Grenouillere, owned by his father, in 2003, and is known for his creative but unpretentious use of simple and locally-produced ingredients.
"We chose this chef because he embodies two values: creativity and sincerity," said Come de Cherisey, editor of the Gault and Millau guide.
"He represents the new generation of French chefs that don't cheat, with a strong connection to the local area and its produce."
Typical Gauthier dishes include ordinary beetroots being transformed into a top-class ravioli, oysters grilled like meat, or garden herbs being turned into a crispy, icy dessert known as a "bulle du marais", or "bubble of the marsh".
"This prize is enchanting for me because it rewards 12 years of work, a personal engagement in a very singular vision of a place, a region, as well as the work of a whole team," said Gauthier.
The last two winners, Yannick Alleno from the Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris, and Arnaud Lallement at L'Assiette Champenoise in Reims, have both gone on to earn three Michelin stars.
La Grenouillere, currently has one star in the Michelin guide, charges 48 euros ($55) for its lunch menu, as well as larger menus that go up to 125 euros.
The Gault and Millau guide is the second most-famous in France after the Michelin guide, printing 40,000 copies per year, and covering some 3,800 restaurants in the new edition.
Beijing, China A critically endangered amphibian found itself at the centre of a new Chinese festival , officials said -- promoted as a "350 million year old" health treatment and served up on plates.
The Chinese giant salamander numbers are estimated to have declined by 80 percent in the wild in recent decades by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Wildlife campaigners condemned the celebration in the city of Zhangjiajie as potentially having "catastrophic consequences".
The three-day festival was set up to promote giant salamander cuisine and products, the Hunan provincial tourism bureau said on its website.
Such expensive luxuries are supposed to benefit skin and heart conditions in traditional Chinese medicine, but there is no orthodox scientific evidence for the beliefs.
The Chinese giant salamander is the world's largest amphibians, capable of growing to 1.8 metres long.
Its ancestors can be traced back nearly unchanged to the Jurassic period and the event feted it as “a 350 Million-Year-Old Treasure for Health Preservation".
Chefs vied in a culinary competition to deliver the most delectable versions of the animal.
Zhangjiajie is home to a giant salamander nature reserve and museum and will hold the festival on an annual basis to promote salamander-product-based tourism, according to city officials.
"Giant salamander farming, which requires clean water, actually drives locals to protect the environment," the official Xinhua news agency cited an official as saying. "The industry also helps lift locals out of poverty."
Officials said that all salamander meat at the festival was legally obtained.
Chinese giant salamanders are protected under Chinese law, but the consumption of those bred in captivity is permitted, and their meat can cost as much as $300 per kilo.
But Richard Thomas, of wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic, told AFP: "There is a very real risk that promoting increased consumption of giant salamanders will lead to increase demand that cannot be met from farmed sources -- with catastrophic consequences for the last surviving wild populations."
The IUCN says Chinese giant salamander numbers have fallen "largely due to commercial over-exploitation for human consumption", adding the "vast majority of Chinese giant salamanders being traded are believed to originate from the wild".
There is a thriving black market trade in parts of many animal species in China.
The consumption of giant salamander caused a scandal in January when government officials in Shenzhen were caught using nearly $850 of public funds to dine on the rare beast at a banquet.
London, United Kingdom Vodka is set for a likely sales boost after receiving the endorsement of hard-drinking high priest of cool James Bond, according to a study published .
The British spy is preparing for his 24th silver-screen outing next month with the release of "Spectre", but it appears that the 007 agent has another type of spirit on his mind.
The iconic character has increasingly been knocking back the hard stuff, with latest incarnation Daniel Craig judged by far the booziest Bond.
He has drunk an average of 20 units of alcohol per film since his debut in 2006's Casino Royale, according to a study by British food and drink trade magazine The Grocer.
That compares with an average 12 units for Pierce Brosnan, 11 units for Sean Connery and just four or five units per film for Timothy Dalton.
The study even linked rising gin sales to a tie-up with the world's most powerful film franchise.
"It's no coincidence that gin's revival began around about the time Craig first came bounding out of the sea in those too-tight trolleys (swimming trunks) in 'Casino Royale'," it said.
"In that film Bond did away with his usual Vodka Martini and knocked back three Vesper Martinis (gin, vodka, vermouth) instead. In the following 'Quantum of Solace' he chewed through another six.
"Craig helped make gin cool again," it said.
But Craig himself said in an interview with Esquire magazine that he did not approve of his character's hard-partying lifestyle, saying there was "a great sadness" in Bond.
007 is "lonely" and beds beautiful women who end up leaving him, Craig said. "As a man gets older it’s not a good look."
Spectre will be Craig's fourth performance and will feature Django Unchained actor Christoph Waltz as his arch rival.
It is scheduled for worldwide release on November 6.
An offbeat study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in December 2013 analysed Bond's drinking habits, as described in the original Ian Fleming novels.
On the days when he was neither incarcerated nor in hospital, 007 glugged down an average 92 units of alcohol a week -- four times the recommended amount.
"James Bond's level of alcohol intake puts him at high risk of multiple alcohol-related diseases and an early death," the tongue-in-cheek investigation said.
It added sardonically: "James Bond was unlikely to be able to stir his drinks, even if he would have wanted to, because of likely alcohol-induced tremor."
Busan, South Korea -One of Bollywood’s most successful producers believes the current generation of Indian film-makers is set to conquer the world -- by moving beyond the traditional song and dance format.
“India is still to find its "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" but it's only a matter of time,” said Amar Butala, the producer behind the smash hit "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", the second-highest grossing Bollywood film of all time.
The Chinese-language martial arts epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" directed by Taiwan’s Ang Lee was a hit when it was released in 2000, going on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
It collected an estimated US$128 million from the international box office, still a record for a non-English language film and more than double the second-highest all-time earner, "My Beautiful Life" (1998) from Italy.
“As younger film-makers in Bollywood change the way our films are made - whether it be the stories we tell or the use of song and dance - in the coming years we'll see more and more Bollywood films reach out to the international audience,” said Butala.
He was speaking to AFP before the screening of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" at the 20th Busan International Film Festival, the pre-eminent event of its kind in Asia.
The film has taken an estimated US$91 million globally so far - placing it second only to the 2014-released comedy "PK" (US$114 million) – and it follows the relationship that builds between an Indian man and a Pakistani girl trapped in India.
BIFF kicked off Thursday with the world premiere of Mozez Singh’s "Zubaan", the first time a Bollywood production has opened the festival.
Singh’s debut is a coming-of-age story about a young man who uses music to learn lessons about modern life. Other Bollywood films on the programme here include two productions tapping into the industry’s traditions – and star-crossed lovers – in "Masaan", an award winner at this year’s Cannes festival, and "O Kadhal Kanmani".
The festival is also showcasing the rising stars from India's film industry beyond Bollywood and Hindi-language movies.
Independent filmmaker’s Hari Viswanath’s debut "Radio Set" – about an old man alienated from his children - is in the running for Busan’s main New Currents award for first and second-time Asian filmmakers while the Assamese-language "Kothanodi", looks at the trial and tribulations of four mothers, also makes its world premiere.
Butala believes the success of his film – directed by Kabir Khan and starring current Indian box office king Salman Khan – has been down to its positive message, and that Indian filmmakers as a whole are now exploring a wider reach of topics, removed from the romances normally associated with Bollywood.
“"Bajrangi Bhaijaan" is an incredibly positive film,” said Butala. “It's rare for a film to take such a balanced view of both India and Pakistan, without taking any sides. This touched an emotional chord.”
While there are more than 1,000 films produced across Indian every year, making it by far the world’s most active film-making nation, outside the country these films have only previously been watched by the Indian diaspora, according to Butala. But he believes times are rapidly changing.
“Film-makers in India like everywhere in the world want their films to travel, to reach out to even larger audiences,” said Butala. “A mainstream Hindi language film is yet to successfully make that giant leap. But I think the opportunity to do this is ripe.”
There are 16 Indian films among the 304 productions screening at this year’s BIFF, which will run until October 10.
Conakry, Guinea -Thousands of Guineans celebrated the country reaching the final stages of the battle with the deadly Ebola epidemic at a concert featuring artists from across Africa.
The tropical virus has killed more than 11,000 people in west Africa -- 2,500 of them in Guinea -- since it emerged in the country's southern forests in December 2013.
But with Liberia declared free of transmission, and Guinea and Sierra Leone registering just three and six cases respectively in September, life is returning to normal in all three countries.
Entitled "Ebola: All Together towards victory", the free open-air concert in the capital Conakry featured around a dozen Guinean artists including Soul Bang's, Sia Tolno and BanlieuZ'art.
Ivorian hip hop group Kiff No Beat also performed, as well as Nigerian rapper WizKid and singer Denise, from Madagascar, with the crowd predicted to peak at around 25,000.
WizKid, 25, said he was singing to "encourage the healthcare warriors on the ground", rallying the audience to "stamp out Ebola with song".
"We are singing for humanitarianism and it's free. We are participating in our own way to comfort families, people in tears and orphans who have no support," Denise told AFP.
The event, broadcast on Guinean television, was staged by Paris-based international media group Vivendi, which owns a number of businesses including French TV channel and movie producer Canal+.
"Vivendi wants to pay tribute to remarkable efforts from the Guinean government and the World Health Organization in their continuous fight against the Ebola outbreak," the company said ahead of the concert.
Earlier in September Guinea notched up a week without a single new case of Ebola, its first since March 2014, and the country has been able to announce presidential elections for October 11.
Despite positive signs that an end to the epidemic is within reach, the United Nations has repeatedly warned against complacency, however, including in the international community.
The outbreak "is not finished by a long shot", Bruce Aylward, the head of the UN's response to the epidemic, told reporters in Geneva earlier this month.
He added that vigilance in the three hardest-hit countries would be essential through to the end of 2016, as the virus is embedded within the area's animal population.
Sydney, Australia A heavily overgrown sheep had its massive fleece shorn by an Australian national champion in a life-saving operation that animal welfare officers said may have set a new world record for a single shearing.
The merino sheep, named Chris by bushwalkers who spotted him wandering alone on the outskirts of Australia's capital Canberra, was rescued by RSPCA officers Wednesday and went under the cutters Thursday.
Some 40.45 kilogrammes (89.18 pounds) of wool was taken off in one large piece from the animal by Australian Shearers' Hall of Famer Ian Elkins in a 42-minute process that he said was "certainly a challenge".
"We had to give it a mild sedative to keep it calm," Elkins told AFP.
"We set the sheep on its back and because it had so much fleece underneath, it was very comfortable. It took me 42 minutes to shear the sheep, which is a long time because it normally takes me three minutes.
"I'm sure it was very, very relieved after all that fleece came off. Sheep are shorn once every 12 months and the average fleece weight is five kilogrammes."
The RSPCA in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which is taking care of Chris as he recuperates -- including wearing a down coat to keep him warm, said they were delighted with the successful shearing.
Merino sheep are bred for their wool, which is used to produce high-end garments, and need to be shorn regularly to prevent serious health issues such as flystrike -- where a coat becomes infected -- and even death, said chief executive of RSPCA ACT, Tammy Ven Dange.
"We're really lucky that we got him when he did," she told AFP. "Had it been summertime and the flies had been out, he might have already succumbed to flystrike."
She said the immense size of Chris's coat suggested it was at least five years since his last trim.
"He's more mobile now, it's easier for him to get up and he is eating already," Ven Dange said, adding that he had struggled to walk before the shearing operation.
It was not known how old Chris was or who his original owners were.
The RSPCA plans to get in touch with the Guinness World Records to see if Chris's fleece might have set a new global best for the "most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing".
The current record is held by Big Ben, which was shorn of 28.9 kilograms in New Zealand in January last year.
The fleece will most likely end up in a museum, Ven Dange added, with Chris set to be put up for adoption once he recovers.
Tokyo, Japan -A Japanese man who allegedly attacked a phone shop robot in a drink-fuelled rage because he was angry at customer service has been arrested, media said.
Kiichi Ishikawa, 60, was captured on security camera aiming a kick at the 120-centimetre (four-foot) -tall Pepper, a talking android used by mobile phone chain SoftBank to gather customer feedback.
Reports suggested Ishikawa, who appeared to have been drinking, was annoyed at his treatment at the hands of a human member of staff, and took his annoyance out on the automaton.
Pepper, a moon-faced robot on rollers that has what looks like a tablet computer attached to its plastic body, has been billed by its makers as a human companion capable of understanding language and emotion.
The alleged attack on Sunday morning in a store in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, appeared to have slowed the speed of its reactions and dulled its movement, according to Sponichi, a tabloid newspaper.
Kanagawa prefecture police told AFP they were investigating how much it will cost to fix the robot, which is on sale at 198,000 yen ($1,600) plus monthly fees.
SoftBank has hundreds of Peppers in its stores nationwide.
As well as being offered for sale as a companion in robot-obsessed Japan, Pepper is also being used to sell coffee machines in one chain and greet customers at a Japanese bank.
