Author: Geek Planet

Humanoid robots have come on leaps and bounds in recent times, and much is expected of the advanced machines in the coming year. The process of training humanoid robots can take various forms. Unitree’s G1 robot for example, is trained partly through teleoperation whereby a human operator wears a motion-capture suit or uses controllers to perform particular movements or entire tasks, with the robot mirroring the movements in real time. The process generates data that feeds into imitation learning algorithms, providing the robot with new autonomous skills. Additional reinforcement learning hones the model to make the movements smoother and more…

Amazon is positioning Twitch as a defining asset in its CTV ambitions, folding the platform’s hard-to-reach audience and live-video inventory into the same pitch it uses to sell Prime Video and Fire TV. That marks a clear break from not all that long ago. At Amazon’s 2024 upfront, executives walked advertisers through an expanding video portfolio, but Twitch — despite having been in the fold for a decade — barely registered. The omission was telling then. The inclusion now is even more so. Page two of the Twitch section of Amazon DSP’s latest pitch deck, starts putting that audience into numbers:…

IATSE Local 728, a 3,000-member chapter of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, has made history by purchasing its first Bitcoin investment, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. This initiative, approved by an overwhelming majority of its membership, was executed with the assistance of Proof of Workforce, a nonprofit dedicated to helping unions adopt Bitcoin through education-based initiatives. 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍: 🎥 IATSE Local 728 adds bitcoin to the balance sheet, potentially becoming the first private sector union in the U.S. to…

It wasn’t just shoppers with strapped budgets that boosted buy-now, pay-later services to a record-setting $1 billion in transactions on Cyber Monday. It was also the brands and fintech companies that pushed the services front and center. This holiday season, more brands deployed BNPL services with different payment options beyond the more familiar “pay-in-four” structure, whether a six-month payment plan at 0% interest or a 24-month installment loan with interest. And the services are showing up in more digital wallets. Apple Pay users, for instance, can now toggle a payment plan with Affirm and Klarna, while Afterpay has new integrations…

It looks like Samsung is gearing up to drop a pretty massive upgrade with the upcoming Galaxy S26 lineup, and for once, it’s actually something that might change how we use our phones daily. According to a fresh report from FNNews, the rumored AI-powered “Privacy Display” isn’t going to be gatekept behind the most expensive model anymore. While earlier whispers suggested you’d have to shell out for the Ultra to get this, it now seems like the standard Galaxy S26 and S26+ are invited to the party too. Honestly, this is a feature we have needed for years. We have…

BTC Inc., a leading provider of Bitcoin-related news and events, has announced the return of its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program at The Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Scheduled for May 27th at the Venetian Expo Hall, this premier program provides legal and financial professionals with the opportunity to stay informed about the ever-evolving regulatory landscape surrounding Bitcoin. Following a highly successful debut at Bitcoin 2024, where attorneys, startup founders, corporate legal teams, and policymakers praised the program for tackling crucial legal topics, the 2025 CLE session will continue to deliver valuable insights into the legal and regulatory…

I have argued over and over (for example, here, here, and here) that large language models (LLMs) create an illusion of intelligence but are, in fact, prone to making logical and factual errors. That makes it risky to rely on them when the costs of mistakes are substantial. As a lifelong finance professor and investor, I have noted that LLMs can give bad financial advice and that AI-powered ETFs and mutual funds have substantially underperformed the S&P 500. Several correspondents have pointed out that humans make mistakes too, which is undeniable. For example, the Wall Street Journal recently published an…

Despite their popularity in the U.S., the powers behind professional football and basketball haven’t always succeeded in overseas exports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) reportedly hopes to change that record. It’s seeking to capitalize on the spiking popularity of basketball in Europe by launching a 16-team league on the Continent by 2027, spanning cities like Rome, Milan and Athens.In order to build a sustainable beachhead, however, the NBA will look to brands and sponsorship revenue. Which is where David Brody, vp, global partner management group lead at the NBA, comes in. He’s tasked with pitching advertisers to become regional and…

Asus is teasing a new Asus ROG dual-screen gaming laptop for CES 2026, with a set reveal time on January 5. The company’s ROG Global account posted a short video on X pointing to January 5 at 3 pm PT. It’s still just a teaser, so there’s no model name, no specs, and no pricing. What it does put on the table is the concept, which is a gaming notebook that looks built around more than one display. Asus is leaning into the second screen again The video sticks to quick, tight shots, but the framing suggests a main display…

Amid ongoing sanctions over the war in Ukraine, Russia has turned to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to facilitate some of its oil trade with major buyers China and India. According to a Reuters report, Russian oil companies and traders increasingly conduct transactions in bitcoin and crypto, allowing them to circumvent restrictions from Western nations. Sources say monthly trade volumes are already in the tens of millions of dollars. The mechanism involves Chinese or Indian buyers purchasing oil and depositing yuan or rupees into an offshore account owned by a middleman company. The middleman then converts the fiat currency into crypto…