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Softbank and Simbe partner to promote retail robot

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SoftBank Robotics America (SBRA) and Simbe Robotics have announced a global partnership on retail inventory handling. Simbe Robotics, creator of Tally, the world’s first autonomous shelf auditing and analytics robot, will use SBR’s international reach and operational efficiencies to increase its business globally.

SBR and Simbe aim to expand the use of Tally in Japan, North America and Europe in the near future and more broadly over the coming years.

Tally is claimed to give retailers visibility and insight into the state of store merchandise, with alerts for out-of-stock, low stock, and misplaced items; audited product price tags and promotional execution; autonomous inventory audits; and continuous in-store performance insights for brand and retail service partners.

[Read more…] about Softbank and Simbe partner to promote retail robot

Haier partners with SoftBank Robotics to develop service robots

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Haier and Soft Bank Robotics Group Corp. (SBRG) have launched a strategic partnership for the service robot market in China’s smart store and smart home fields, starting with SBRG’s humanoid robot ‘Pepper’.

The two companies will jointly develop a special version of Pepper, which is based on U+OS, an open system developed by Haier.

‘Pepper’, SBRG’s humanoid robot, is the first robot to be integrated into Haier smart home platform. Possessing a human-like appearance, it can be linked with a variety of smart appliances and equipment.

[Read more…] about Haier partners with SoftBank Robotics to develop service robots

SoftBank to invest $10 billion in Uber

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SoftBank is highly likely to go ahead with its plan to invest $10 billion in Uber, the ride-hailing app company, according to a report on CNet.com. 

An Uber representative quoted by CNet says: “We’ve entered into an agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential investment.

“We believe this agreement is a strong vote of confidence in Uber’s long-term potential. Upon closing, it will help fuel our investments in technology and our continued expansion at home and abroad, while strengthening our corporate governance.”  [Read more…] about SoftBank to invest $10 billion in Uber

SoftBank has sold 10,000 Nao robots. Now the tiny humanoid wants to ‘conquer new markets’ with Zora

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SoftBank Robotics and Zora Bots have signed what they describe as “a major partnership” aimed at reaching a wider audience for the humanoid robot Nao.

Zora Bots, which has already deployed its software designed for robots in the health sector, is now the world’s leading distributor of Nao and is poised to expand its solution in many areas including retail, hospitality, education and personal services.

This strategic rapprochement in the international arena will bring humanoid robotics into a new dimension and make Nao available to a wider audience.  [Read more…] about SoftBank has sold 10,000 Nao robots. Now the tiny humanoid wants to ‘conquer new markets’ with Zora

Plenty attracts ‘largest-ever agriculture technology investment’ led by SoftBank to develop indoor farms in city centres

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A company called Plenty claims it has attracted the “largest-ever agriculture technology investment”. 

The company says the investment will drive its development of its global, large-scale indoor farm network to deliver “radically fresher, affordable food to local communities everywhere”.

Plenty describes itself as a “field-scale indoor farming company remaking the global food system”.  [Read more…] about Plenty attracts ‘largest-ever agriculture technology investment’ led by SoftBank to develop indoor farms in city centres

Effects of artificial intelligence will surpass the industrial revolution, says SoftBank CEO

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The chief executive of telecommunications giant SoftBank says the effects of artificial intelligence will take the world much further and have a more profound effect than even the industrial revolution. 

Masayoshi_Son
An old picture of Masayoshi Son, courtesy of Wikipedia

In an article accompanying a special edition of the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son was quoted as saying the new “information revolution” is being partly driven by data collected through billions of sensors.

SoftBank has been buying up a variety of AI and robotics startups, most recently a company called Nauto, which is developing systems for driverless cars.

At the root of the technology, Son says, are microprocessors and microcontrollers. “Those who rule chips will rule the entire world,” he said. “Those who rule data will rule the entire world. That’s what people of the future will say.”

SoftBank to buy Boston Dynamics, the maker of those unnervingly realistic humanoid and canine robots

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boston dynamics bigdog

SoftBank, the maker of the Pepper and Nao humanoid robots, has reached a deal to buy Boston Dynamics, the robotics business owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google. 

Some of the robots Boston Dynamics has been building a wide range of robots, some of which are humanoid, others canine and one or two wheeled – or a hybrid of these structures.

But whatever robots the company has made, they’ve been widely acclaimed as having some of the most realistic movements and best balance of any robots made anywhere – watching them move can be quite unnerving because they move almost exactly like humans or canines.  [Read more…] about SoftBank to buy Boston Dynamics, the maker of those unnervingly realistic humanoid and canine robots

SoftBank to buy ARM

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softbank-pepper-robot

Japanese communications giant SoftBank is to acquire ARM Holdings for £24.3 billion, according to a report on the Financial Times website. 

SoftBank has been on something of a spending spree in recent years and is looking to raise its profile in markets outside of Asia, where it is already well-known.

The company is particularly interested in computer technology –including artificial intelligence, robotics and automation — and the proposed takeover of ARM would seem to fit into this plan.  [Read more…] about SoftBank to buy ARM

SoftBank absorbs Aldebaran and adds robotics to its name

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softbank robotics

Japanese communications giant SoftBank is looking to build on its increasing brand awareness outside Asia with a change of name for Europe. 

SoftBank is the company behind the Pepper robot and the Aldebaran Robotics company, which developed Pepper and a number of other robotic systems and technologies including Nao (picture).

Now, SoftBank Group has decided to rename Aldebaran as SoftBank Robotics Europe and has changed the website accordingly.

In a statement, SoftBank said the change of the Aldebaran brand name to SoftBank Robotics was “in view of increased global brand awareness and business scale in the future”.  [Read more…] about SoftBank absorbs Aldebaran and adds robotics to its name

Accenture and SoftBank Robotics combine to offer insight into future of customer relations

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Accenture’s Peter Lacy with Pepper the robot
Accenture’s Peter Lacy with Pepper the robot

In the future, all customer relations could be managed by robots. That’s what science fiction films have been telling us for decades. And now, perhaps more than ever, that vision is becoming more real than ever. 

As part of a newly announced collaboration with SoftBank Robotics to reimagine the future of digital customer interactions, Accenture Interactive demonstrated a new prototype based on the Pepper robot in Paris at Pepper Partners Europe event during InnoRobo (May 24-26), one of the world’s largest robotics events.

Pepper is the ground-breaking humanoid robot with the ability to read emotions that was developed by Softbank Robotics (previously Aldebaran Robotics) and first introduced in Japan in 2014.

The enhanced Pepper-based platform blends human and artificial intelligence, provided by Accenture Interactive, to deliver omni-channel customer service and commerce capabilities – including social media, mobile and in-store applications.  [Read more…] about Accenture and SoftBank Robotics combine to offer insight into future of customer relations

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