Stories by Martyn Williams

Intel's first commercial drone lands in the US

Intel began promoting its first commercial drone in the U.S. this week, as it seeks to carve out a place for itself in the fast-expanding market.

Flexible solar panels are vastly increasing drone endurance

Flexible, thin-film solar panels from a Silicon Valley company are allowing drone makers to keep their craft in the sky for hours longer than is possible with batteries alone.

Lost thumb drives bedevil US banking agency

A U.S. banking regulator says an employee downloaded a large amount of data from its computer system a week before he retired and is now unable to locate the thumb drives he stored it on.

Samsung sales, profits dive on Note 7 recall

Samsung's smartphone division struggled to breakeven between July and September as sales plunged due to the recall of its high-end Note 7.

Apple sales, profits fall again but a brighter outlook ahead

Apple recorded its third consecutive quarter of lower revenue as it fought lower demand for the iPhone and tough competition from lower-priced competitors.

Tim Cook or Bill Gates as Clinton's VP? It was considered

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft founder Bill Gates were both on a list of potential vice presidential candidates for Hillary Clinton, according to a leaked email published on Tuesday by Wikileaks.

Tesla Panasonic solar deal could signal smart home future

Tesla's deepening relationship with Panasonic could give the U.S. company a short cut to realizing its dream of electric cars and smart homes.

Roboden is cable you can stretch

A Japanese company has developed an electrical cable that can be stretched. Asahi Kasei says the cable, called Roboden, will expand by up to 40 percent of its length before hitting its limit.

Omron's table tennis robot gets machine learning smarts

Omron's table tennis robot is getting smarter. At this week's Ceatec electronics show in Japan, the company has unveiled a new version that uses machine learning to assess the strength of an opponent and ramp up its game accordingly.

Wireless power systems could one day beam electricity from space

Forget smartphone charging. When it comes to next-generation wireless power, engineers in Japan are working on a system that can send large amounts of electrical power over considerable distances.

This robot vacuum cleaner plays J-Pop, because this is Japan

Two of Japan's biggest obsessions have collided on the Sharp booth at this year's Ceatec electronics show, where the company is displaying a robot vacuum cleaner that blasts J-Pop songs while it sweeps.

Panasonic has a technology for transmitting data by human touch

Panasonic has developed a data transmission system that can exchange information through human touch.

Japan gears up for 8K TV broadcasting

If you've bought a 4K television and are disappointed at the lack of content, this might not ease your frustration: Japan has is fast on the way to 8K TV broadcasting with a full service due in the next four years.

The laundry robot you've always wanted is coming next year

The world's first laundry sorting and folding robot will go on sale in 2017, its manufacturer said on Tuesday at the Ceatec electronics show just outside of Tokyo.