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It’s a bold declaration for a startup founder aiming to work with robots — or more accurately, the software that helps turn a tractor, tiller or forklift into an automated vehicle. But Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, who previously founded and led the now shuttered autonomous vehicle startup Starsky Robotics, is trying to make a point.

“They’re really difficult, they break all the time and getting to a stable product is really hard,” Seltz-Axmacher said in a recent interview. “Everyone kind of ends up building nearly everything from scratch, for nearly every application.”

To make matters more complex, robots used in warehouses, mining, agriculture and other industrial environments have hyper-specific applications that are structured and are often repeated thousands of times. In other words, the farmer in Iowa, the yard truck operator in Florida and the e-commerce giant with 100 warehouses spread throughout the country have specific needs that no one else does.

That’s where Seltz-Axmacher, co-founder Ilia Baranov and their new startup Polymath Robotics hope to come in. The pair have developed a plug-and-play software platform and an accompanying SDK that allows companies to quickly and cost efficiently automate industrial vehicles. Think of it as SaaS for industrial robotics.

Polymath Robotics, which came out of stealth Friday and is a Y Combinator Summer 2022 cohort, aims to become the Oracle of the robotics world. The startup is building basic generalizable autonomy designed to automate the 50 million or so industrial vehicles that are operating in closed environments today.

PARIS (AFP, BLOOMBERG) – A new battle for dominance of the lucrative games console market is looming after United States company Valve unveiled a device to rival the hugely popular Nintendo Switch.

Valve, which owns gaming platform Steam, announced Thursday (July 15) that it will start shipping its Steam Deck console in December with prices starting at US$399 (S$542).

The company boasted that the console, marketed as a hand-held PC, will give users “the most gaming power you have ever held” while allowing them to do everything they might otherwise do on a computer.

With its large 7-inch touch screen and high-performing processor, the Steam Deck has drawn instant comparisons with the Nintendo Switch, which has sold more than 80 million units since 2017.

The device has buttons, joysticks, and small mouse pads – the form is almost identical to the Switch.

But it but will have technical capabilities comparable to a gaming PC or console, according to Valve.

While the Switch, which is also a portable device, is low-powered compared with competing gaming consoles, the Steam Deck promises to run the highest-end games.

Footage of the device showed titles such as Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order running on the Steam Deck, which would not be possible on the Switch.

Valve is the studio behind hit games including Half-Life, Counter-Strike and Dota 2.

It was also a pioneer in terms of offering a catalogue of titles online, with its Steam platform the dominant player in the PC games market.

The Steam Deck marks a fresh attempt by the company to enter the console market after the failure of its Steam Machine, released in 2015.

This time, in offering a device that can play all games designed for both Steam and Windows, Valve could present stiff competition to Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X – at a lower price.

“One of the things we’re testing on this is that price performance can be one of the critical factors in the mobile space and so we’ve had to be very aggressive in terms of pricing on the deck,” Valve chief Gabe Newell told gaming news site IGN.

Video games analyst Laurent Michaud described the Steam Deck as “a very good surprise”.

“Nintendo has its first direct competitor, with a phenomenal catalogue,” he told AFP.

Reader Ron Chua wrote in to ask if there are adverse effects or long-term risks in sleeping next to a Wi-Fi router. He also asked about the risks to pregnant women. Tech reporter Vincent Chang answers.

It is safe to sleep next to a wireless router as it produces radio waves that, unlike X-rays or gamma rays, do not break chemical bonds or cause ionisation in humans.

In other words, radio waves do not damage the DNA of human cells. Damaged DNA can lead to cancer.

While the radio waves from a router operate in the same 2.4-5GHz electromagnetic spectrum as microwaves, the router operates at much lower power levels than microwave ovens.

These waves also deteriorate rapidly, losing their strength as they travel away from the router. Compared to other sources of electromagnetic radiation, wireless routers rank much lower than devices such as mobile phones, especially as handsets are often held against the ear.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), scientists have found “no adverse health effects from low-level, long-term exposure to radio frequency”.

WHO also says that exposure to radio waves at typical environmental levels does not increase the risk of any adverse outcome such as spontaneous abortions, malformations, low birth weight, and congenital diseases for pregnant women.

NEW YORK (NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG) – More than 1,500 workers for video game maker Activision Blizzard walked out from their jobs this week. Thousands signed a letter rebuking their employer. And even as the chief executive officer apologised, current and former employees said they would not stop raising a ruckus.

Ms Shay Stein, who used to work at Activision, said it was “heartbreaking”. Ms Lisa Welch, a former vice president, said she felt “profound disappointment”. Others took to Twitter or waved signs outside one of the company’s offices Wednesday to share their anger.

Elsewhere online, fans sought to organise a boycott of Activision games in solidarity with employees.

“You can support #ActiBlizzWalkout by not playing their titles,” Twitter user Shannon wrote. The post garnered more than 2,300 retweets and over 5,000 likes. In the comments, other users suggested not logging into games or uninstalling them.

Activision, known for its hugely popular Call Of Duty, World Of Warcraft and StarCraft gaming franchises, has been thrown into an uproar over workplace behaviour issues.

The upheaval stems from an explosive lawsuit that California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed on July 20, accusing the US$65 billion (S$88 billion) company of fostering a “frat boy workplace culture” in which men joked about rape and women were routinely harassed and paid less than their male colleagues.

Activision publicly criticised the agency’s two-year investigation and allegations as “irresponsible behaviour from unaccountable state bureaucrats”. But its dismissive tone angered employees, who called out the company for trying to sweep away what they said were heinous problems that had been ignored for too long.

The intense reaction was unusual. Of all the industries that have faced sexism charges in recent years – including Hollywood, restaurants and the media – the male-dominated video game sector has long stood out for its openly toxic behaviour and lack of change.

In 2014, feminist critics of the industry faced death threats in what became known as Gamergate. Executives at gaming companies Riot Games and Ubisoft have also been accused of misconduct.

Now, the actions at Activision may signal a new phase, where a critical mass of the industry’s own workers are indicating they will no longer tolerate such behaviour.

“This could mean some real accountability for companies that aren’t taking care of their workers and are creating inequitable work environments where women and gender minorities are kept at the margins and abused,” said Associate Professor Carly Kocurek at the Illinois Institute of Technology who studies gender in gaming.

She said California’s lawsuit and the fallout at Activision were a “big deal” for an industry that had traditionally shrugged off claims of sexism and harassment. Other gaming companies are most likely watching the situation, she added, and considering whether they need to address their own cultures.

Mr Bobby Kotick, Activision’s CEO, apologised to employees Tuesday, saying that the responses to the lawsuit were “tone deaf” and that a law firm would investigate the company’s policies.

Activision, based in Santa Monica, California, said in a statement for this article that it was committed “to long-lasting change, listening and continuing the important work to create a safe and inclusive workplace that we can all be proud of”.

In interviews, seven current and former Activision employees said egregious behaviour had taken place at the company, up and down the hierarchy, for years. Three current employees declined to be named out of fear of retaliation. Their accounts of what happened at work largely align with what is laid out in the state lawsuit.

Scam cases in Singapore are at an all-time high this year, with 10,402 reported as at August, nearly double the 5,229 for the same period last year.

Scammers can appear convincing, but there are a few signs that can help you figure out if a call, message or e-mail is genuine.

Q: Can I tell if a call is fake before I pick up?

A: Yes. Be on your guard when the call is from an unknown number or is prefixed with a plus (+) sign, as the call is likely coming from overseas.

Watch out in particular for calls that come with a +65 prefix, which looks like Singapore’s country code, but are actually overseas calls. Domestic calls will not display the + prefix.

Q: Can I tell if a call is fake based on what the caller says?

A: Yes. Scammers will often fake attractive deals such as low-interest loans and free gifts to lure you.

Regardless of what they are offering, to get your money, scammers will need to ask you for your personal or financial details such as bank account numbers and passwords at some point, or request payment for services rendered over the phone.

Genuine callers from a government agency or service provider will not ask for these details or payment.

Q: What about calls where I am told I have a problem that needs fixing?

A: This is an increasingly common tactic that scammers are employing to play on unsuspecting users’ anxieties. For example, Singtel said the most common type of scam call encountered by its customers pretended to be from tech support.

Watch out for callers who ask you to download a certain software or app so they can “help” you fix the fake problem. You could be handing them the remote control keys to your device instead. If you suspect you are the target of a scam call, hang up immediately.

MENLO PARK (REUTERS) – Facebook has long sought your attention. In recent weeks, it has started asking for your prayers as well in a new tool now available for United States Facebook Groups.

The prayer feature is part of Facebook’s recent and concerted outreach to the religious community, which it is speaking about in detail to media for the first time.

Facebook sees worshippers as a vital community to drive engagement on the world’s largest social media platform.

As early as 2017, CEO Mark Zuckerberg cited churches as one example in a lengthy manifesto on connecting the world and the company created a team focused on “faith partnerships”.

Covid-19 gave new urgency to the efforts, Facebook’s head of faith partnerships Nona Jones told Reuters in an interview. The new prayers product was spun up after the company saw an increase in people asking each other for prayers during the pandemic, said Ms Jones, who is also a pastor in Florida.

The outreach culminated in the company holding its first virtual faith summit with religious leaders last month.

During the live event broadcast on Facebook Live where the company played videos with heart emojis floating across the screen as religious leaders ministered to their congregations, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg discussed a future where leaders engaged worshippers with virtual reality tools and augmented reality.

At the end of May, Facebook made its prayer tool, which it had been testing with some faith communities, accessible for all US Facebook Groups to turn on.

In one private Group seen by Reuters, a woman used the tool to request prayers for an aunt sick with coronavirus. People replied by clicking a button to say “I prayed”, and their names were counted underneath.

Users could choose to be notified with a reminder to pray again tomorrow. Others requested prayers for a daughter’s broken heart, a son’s driving test and problems with an insurance company.

Ms Jones confirmed prayer posts are used to personalise ads on Facebook, like other content. A spokesman said the data could feed into how Facebook’s machine learning systems decide which ads to show users.

Advertisers will not be able to directly target ads based on the content of the prayer or use of the feature, the person said. The spokesman also said prayer tool use would not be factored into the categories that ad buyers already use to slice up Facebook audiences based on a demonstrated interest in topics, like “faith”, or “Catholic Church”.

“One of the biggest communities using Facebook products to connect are people of faith,” said outgoing Facebook app head Fidji Simo, in a fireside chat at the summit, following panels with religious leaders and a session for spiritual breathwork, a breathing and meditation exercise.

“When I looked at the data of what was taking off during the pandemic, we were seeing massive growth in the spiritual category.”

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – Blizzard Entertainment’s disastrous remake of the classic video game Warcraft III last year was the result of mismanagement and financial pressures, according to newly revealed documents and people with knowledge of the failed launch.

The release also reflected Blizzard’s significant cultural changes in recent years, as corporate owner Activision Blizzard has pushed the game developer to cut costs and prioritise its biggest titles.

Warcraft III: Reforged was a long-awaited reimagining of one of Blizzard’s most popular games. Blizzard President J. Allen Brack called the original title “monumentally important” when Reforged was announced in 2018.

The company promised “over four hours of updated in-game cutscenes and re-recorded voice-overs”. But the project was never a priority for the company, in part because a remaster of an old strategy game had little chance of becoming the type of billion-dollar product that Activision wanted, according to the people, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak on company matters.

With Blizzard pressured to focus on its biggest franchises, Warcraft III: Reforged could not get the ambitious budget that its leaders wanted.

When Warcraft III: Reforged was released on Jan 28, 2020, it was widely panned, earning a 59 of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic.

The game was buggy and missing the components that Blizzard had promised earlier, including the updated cutscenes – sequences that develop the story line but are not part of game play – and re-recorded voice-overs.

The remake even lacked features that the original Warcraft III had contained in 2002, such as a “ladder” system that ranked competitive players. Blizzard also had disabled the original version of the game on its digital platform, so the inferior remake was the only version that fans could easily play.

In the weeks after launch, Blizzard promised to update the game and add some of those features over time, but 18 months later, they are still nowhere to be found.

“Warcraft III: Reforged not only felt like a disappointing remaster, but it actually made the online experience of the original game worse for fans who have been playing it continuously for almost 20 years,” said Mr Wes Fenlon, an editor for the website PC Gamer. “Five years ago, I think Blizzard was one of the few big game companies that could still cast itself as being your friend, but I think that innocent trust is gone now.”

At the time, the company apologised for the launch and said it had chosen to backtrack on updating the cinematics because “we did not want the in-game cutscenes to steer too far from the original game”.

But documentation produced after its release, as well as interviews with 11 people who worked on or close to the game, indicate that Reforged was actually rescoped due to budget cuts and internal arguments over the game’s direction.

In a statement, an Activision Blizzard spokesman said the company offered “no-questions-asked refunds” to Warcraft III: Reforged owners.

“Blizzard prides itself on releasing games when they’re ready – gameplay and quality come first and foremost – and our goal is always to do right by our community,” the spokesman said.

“The central issue with Warcraft III: Reforged was an early, unclear vision and misalignment about whether the game was a remaster or a remake. This led to other challenges with the scope and features of the game, and communication on the team, with leadership and beyond, which all snowballed closer to launch. Developers across Blizzard pitched in to help, but ultimately bug fixing and other tasks related to the end of development couldn’t correct the more fundamental issues.”