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Microsoft's Bing launches deals feature

Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine said it launched 'Bing deals' for both the desktop and mobile, allowing consumers to find the best deals locally, a service that will pit it against daily deals website Groupon.

The company has partnered with The Dealmap, a service provider that allows people to find and share the best local deals.

It said the feature provides access to 200,000 offers in 14,000 cities.

Bing deals compiles leading offers from Groupon, LivingSocial and Restaurant.com, Bing's director of product management said in a company blog post.

Competition has been intensifying for companies like Groupon, with the likes of LivingSocial expanding in the same space and a plethora of websites springing up globally that specialize in deals for niche markets

Facebook Valued at $65 Billion in New Investment

Investment firm General Atlantic is investing in Facebook, valuing the leading social network at $65 billion, representing a 30 percent boost from its last big investment in January, according to a report on CNBC.

 General Atlantic is purchasing a block of roughly 2.5 million Facebook shares from former Facebook employees, giving the firm a 0.1 percent stake in the company, CNBC said.

The deal, which has not closed and requires approval from Facebook, would give General Atlantic a 0.1 percent stake in Facebook, according to the report.

 General Atlantic declined to comment on the reports. Facebook did not immediately return requests for comment.

 In January, Facebook said it had raised $1.5 billion from investors including Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, as well as through a private offering to overseas investors conducted by Goldman Sachs, at a valuation of roughly $50 billion.

 Facebook is the world's No.1 Internet social network with more than 500 million users.

Window-shopping in the future

Always window-shopping but never stopping to buy? In the future you can do both with new technology allowing you to point through the window at items and buy them with a swish of your hand.


The technology uses a series of infrared cameras that register the movements of your hand and instantly transmit them to a large screen in the shop window.


The shopper stands about a meter (yard) away from the glass and simply points to the desired dress, hat, bag or shoes.


Instantly a new menu appears showing the item in 3D, along with crucial retail information such as the sizes available, colors -- and of course, price.With another brief wave of the hand, the user can rotate the item in 3D, change the color and scroll through similar products.


If the punter decides to take the plunge, he or she points at the "checkout" icon and pays by placing a smartphone against the glass.


"It's secure, easy and of course 24/7," said Paul Chojecki, project manager at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute, which developed the technology.


One of the main advantages over touch screen technology is that the user does not need to input personal data that could be visible to passers-by, he said, predicting it would soon become everyday practice.


"It's the same as with touch screens," he said. "At first, everyone thought it was strange, now everyone does it."


Another advantage of this system over touch screen technology is that it is much more hygienic as there is no contact with the glass.


Chojecki said you could be buying things with your finger sooner than you might think. "I would say in two years, this technology will be fairly widespread. A few big stores have already expressed an interest.


The first prototypes will likely be coming to a store near you this year.
"It's really a revolution for window-shopping."

China prepares 4G mobile network

China may soon launch a domestically developed "fourth generation" mobile phone system in its commercial market,   leading carrier China Mobile.


The homegrown candidate for the 4G standard, known as TD-LTE, is being tested in seven cities and will go into commercial use "when the technology is mature", the China Daily cited China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou as said.


China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone operator with 589.3 million subscribers, has developed a Chinese 3G standard called TD-SCDMA. It has been working on a variation it hopes will become a 4G standard, which provides faster broadband wireless services.

The UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) accepted TD-LTE in October as a candidate to be designated 4G and is watching the tests by China Mobile and its partners to see if it meets 4G transmission standards.

China Mobile said late last year that a number of Chinese and foreign telecom equipment makers would participate in the tests of its 4G candidate, including China's ZTE Corp, Huawei Technologies, Finnish-German Nokia Siemens and Swedish group Ericsson.

‘Telepresence’ robot makes waves at tech fair

HANOVER, Germany - Many visitors walking around CeBIT, the world’s biggest high-tech fair, have found themselves bumping into "Jazz", a "telepresence" robot also ambling around the vast expo.

Created by French firm Gostai, "Jazz" is a shiny white humanoid robot that its makers believe could transform business meetings and reduce the need for long-distance travel.

Controllable by anyone with access to the Internet via a laptop or even smartphone, "Jazz" projects its user’s presence, showing his or her face on its own "face" and speaking in its user’s voice.

Launched only two months ago, "Jazz" could easily deputise for a manager in a business meeting, or tour a factory or shop floor, both recording and beaming back what it sees to its user, said Gostai employee Segolene Roche.

"The main advantage over teleconferencing is its mobility," she told AFP.

It can run for five straight hours - at around four kilometres (2.5 miles) per hour - without needing to be recharged and returns to its charging station when it runs out of juice.

A sleeker, slightly more sinister, black version is also available to serve as a robot security guard.

This robot, quiet and faceless, can be programmed to prowl around a factory or warehouse and alert the authorities if it detects people up to no good.

"Jazz", which is making its debut at an international tech fair, is yours for 7,900 euros (10,900 dollars). Its beefier security counterpart will set you back 1,000 euros more.

More than 4,200 exhibitors are showcasing their latest wares at the CeBIT, which is expected to attract some 350,000 people before it shuts up shop on March 5.

Japan develops mobile phone with human touch

JAPANESE researchers said today they have developed a human-shaped mobile phone with a skin-like outer layer that enables users to feel closer to those on the other end.

"The mobile phone may feel like the person you are talking to," the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) said in a press release, describing the gadget as a "revolutionary telecom medium".

The project is a collaboration between Osaka University, the mobile telephone operator NTT DoCoMo and other institutes.

They hope to put it into commercial production within five years by adding image and voice recognition functions.

The prototype, slightly bigger than the size of a palm, features an outer coating that feels like human skin..

A speaker is installed in the head of the doll-like gadget and a light-emitting diode in its chest turns blue when the phone is in use and red when it is in standby mode.

The body resembles a human being but its design is so blurred that it could be taken as either male or female and young or old.