Germany's Merkel and Japan's Abe urge free trade with jabs at US

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke up for free trade at a major technology fair on Sunday with jabs clearly pointed at an increasingly protectionist United States.

Both called for a free trade deal to be reached quickly between Japan and the European Union, in comments made after G20 finance ministers and central bankers dropped a long-standing mention of open trade in their final communique after a two-day meeting in Germany.

Neither leader named the US government as they opened the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, but both used the opportunity to distance themselves from protectionist tendencies coming from the Trump administration.

"In times when we have to argue with many about free trade, open borders and democratic values, it's a good sign that Japan and Germany no longer argue about this but rather are seeking to shape the future in a way that benefits people," Merkel said.

As G20 president, Germany feels especially committed to these principles, she added.

After meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday for the first time, Merkel said she hoped the United States and the European Union could resume discussions on a trade agreement. Trump said he did not believe in isolationism but that trade policy should be fairer.

Merkel stressed that Germany was strongly in favor of free trade and open markets.

"We certainly don't want any barriers but at a time of an 'Internet of things' we want to link our societies with one another and let them deal fairly with one another, and that is what free trade is all about," she said.

Speaking at the same event, Abe said: "Japan, having gone through reaping in abundance the benefits of free trade and investment, wants to be the champion upholding open systems alongside Germany."

He added: "Of course to do so it will be necessary to have rules that are fair and can stand up to democratic appraisal."

He also said the European Union and Japan should soon reach an economic deal. Merkel welcomed his comments, saying: "It's very, very good that Japan says we want a free trade agreement, we want it soon because that could be the right statement and Germany would love to be a driving force behind this."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Bild am Sonntag newspaper he was pleased that he would be meeting Abe on Tuesday and said the bloc wanted to conclude a free trade deal with Japan this year.

(Reporting by Reuters Television and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

4 new tech toys we want from German IT fair

HANOVER -- There’s the intelligent yoga mat, the coffee flask that'll give you and your smartphone a jolt, and a super-smart dinosaur toy with his head in the cloud.

Love it or hate it, this is a glimpse of the world of tomorrow according to the gadget makers who've shown up in force at the German IT fair CeBIT.

The start-up founders and architects of the "Internet of Things" have an app for everything to help the connected citizen get through the day.

Workout meta-data

For those who like to get the blood pumping at the crack of dawn, there’s the Smart-Mat, a digital work-out assistant. Its over 6,000 pressure sensors can keep count of your push-ups, sit-ups, crunches and even your breathing rate.

"It can automatically measure different exercises and create meta-data for your personal workout regime," said a trim-looking Bo Zhou, who has developed the floor sports mat for the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence.

Although the mat is still a prototype, he said, it could in future be connected to any number of sports apps, like those that talk people through yoga routines.

"Right now yoga assistant applications on smartphones tell you a routine and you have to follow at their pace," Bo said. "You don’t have your hands free. If you cannot follow it, you will miss the whole routine.

“But with this, we could distinguish whether you’re in position and stable, and ready for the next step so you can follow your own pace."

Remote eldercare

If the Smart-Mat is good for body and spirit, there's another innovation for peace of mind -– the "easierLife" system that lets you check whether an elderly relative living alone is following their usual routine.

Its wireless sensors are fitted in an elder person's apartment to detect when they get up or leave the house. It sends a message by SMS, email or phone to the concerned relative when there is a worrying break with daily routine.

"If something goes wrong, you get a push notification that may say 'my mum has been inactive or didn't get back home from shopping,'" explained company chief Sebastian Chiriac.

"With this information, the elderly feel more safe and the relatives know everything is alright at home, and if something is wrong they can react instantly to it," he said.

The system respects privacy to the extent that it doesn’t rely on cameras or microphones and "works in the background," he said. It is available in a German language version and sells for $315.

Java jolt

Having worked out and checked on the grandparents, it might be time for that morning cup of tea or coffee, perhaps on the run. But what if the batteries of the mobile device are low and need a jolt of energy as badly as its user?

No problem, there’s Terratec’s HotPot 1200, a digital thermos flask that also boasts a USB port to power up an Android or iPhone mobile device. When filled with a hot beverage of at least 80 degrees Celsius, it generates power that is stored in a battery.

Terratec says that the 60-euro device, which takes several hours to quarter-charge a common phone battery, may be better suited to campers than busy city life, but may come in useful at a weekend picnic in the park.

Dino wizard

The kids, of course, also want to have new toys. Perhaps a little green dinosaur that knows everything?

That’s the concept behind "Cognitoys," which can talk with children and, through the powers of wireless communication and cloud computing, instantly answer questions such as "What’s on Mars?"(The dinosaur's answer: "red dirt and Martians")

To satisfy children's boundless curiosity, the toy draws on the considerable knowledge of IBM's supercomputer Watson.

"It can hold simple conversations with children, and as the child uses the toy, the toy learns about the child," said developer J.P. Benini, co-founder of New York company Elemental Path.

"If a child says they like pizza or they play soccer or what their favourite color is, then in a counting exercise it would count soccer balls or pizza slices, and in a story it would use their favorite color.

"It actually grows with a child, it understands what vocabulary level they’re at... so the toy can actually educate them and challenge them over time."

Benini said that, to protect the four- to seven-year-old children who are the target group, the system works with encrypted communication to be "as non-hackable as possible."

The company plans to sell English-language Cognitoys online from mid-November for $99 each, and other characters are set to follow.

"We’ve gathered a lot of very leading edge technologies to make a really compelling toy," said Benini, "but it’s still a toy, and toys need friends."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Pole-dancing robots wow at high-tech fair

HANOVER -- A "toddler" robot that sees red, a digital master chef and a suitcase that never gets lost -- new technology at the world's biggest high-tech fair has the potential to change lives.

The gadgetry ranged from time-saving to life-saving in the buzzing CeBIT halls in the northern German city of Hanover.

Robots never fail to pull in the crowds, and they set the scene at the official opening of the five-day showcase of what's new and ueber-hot in the IT and high-tech world.

RoboThespian, a life-sized humanoid robot, delivered an articulate welcome address to guests, among them Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Both leaders went on to shake the bionic i-limb hand that has 24 different grips, produced by prosthetics company Touch Bionics, on a joint tour of the stands from CeBIT's 2014 partner country, Britain.

While pole-dancing robots "Lexy" and "Tess" were on hand for pure entertainment, two others, including one-year-old "Roboy," which has bones and muscles, pave the way for possible future developments in medicine or even Moon exploration.

"I can be happy," says Roboy, pulling the appropriate facial expression. "I can be angry," it says, its face turning red.

Resembling a small child, Roboy can move its limbs thanks to its 48 muscles, which are being further developed by the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence of the University of Zurich and the EU research project Myorobotics.

"It was built in nine months like a human baby," project manager Rafael Hostettler said.

The goal is to simply better understand how we work and use the lesson to improve industrial production, he said.

"There might be applications in prosthetics," Hostettler said, saying simulating illnesses could help to bring down the cost of teaching doctors.

'Back in 10'

Meanwhile "Charlie," an ape-like robot with an flexible spine and feet that "feel," can crawl and balance on a tilting surface.

Developed by the German Center for Artificial Intelligence with Bremen University, it raises hopes that Charlie's descendants will one day explore craters on the Moon.

Back down to earth and "Kochbot" (German for "cook-bot") not only selects a recipe from among its library of 30,000 to suit whatever ingredients the cook has at home, but also reads it aloud and monitors the cooking time.

The Kochbot app means that sticky fingerprints on the pages of recipe books are a thing of the past and it will even repeat quantities or detailed prepping notes.

Further hands-free gadgetry at CeBIT gave new hope for frequent travellers.

At a mock-up of an Airbus cabin, there was a close-up look at "Bag2Go," a suitcase that is equipped with a SIM card, transmission module and display, to ensure it never gets lost.

"You always know where the bag is because you have an app, you can control it by GPS," said Torsten Chudobba, account executive for Airbus group, which together with T-Systems and luggage company Rimowa, is behind "Bag2Go."

Good news perhaps for skiers comes in the form of "Airwriting," developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which will mean not having to take off your gloves to write a short message via a mobile phone.

"Home in 10 minutes" for example can simply be spelled out on the palm of the user's hand and a sensor attached to the wrist records the hand movements for a computer to write out the message.

And with the soccer World Cup on the horizon, software giant SAP has the ultimate in analyzing the beautiful game.

It has teamed up with the German national football squad to produce a touchscreen tool with a panoramic view of past matches that digitally analyses team and individual performances, such as distances between players, passing frequency or possession of the ball.

"Here you can see the tactic, whether it works, how the opponent reacts," explained project manager Christoph Jungkind.

"So this is the basis for a good performance evaluation."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com