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Professor Stephen Hawking and other leading experts might be concerned that artificial intelligence could pose a threat to mankind - but don't count Microsoft Research chief Eric Horvitz as one of the skeptics. Instead, Horvitz believes AI will be extremely beneficial to humans in the long-term, as AI research ramps up.

"There have been concerns about the long-term prospect that we lose control of certain kinds of intelligences," Horvitz said in a statement to BBC. "I fundamentally don't think that's going to happen. I think that we will be very proactive in terms of how we field AI systems, and that in the end we'll be able to get incredible benefits from machine intelligence in all realms of life, from science to education to economics to daily life."

Microsoft has more than 1,000 scientists and engineers engaged in projects with its research department, and Horvitz disclosed a quarter of resources and focus are dedicated to AI-based projects.

Ideum has launched a new line of smart tables that will run either Windows or Android operating systems, and users can switch between the operating systems easily. The Duet smart tables are available in 42 and 46-inch models, and they support a standard 1080p resolution. The tables support up to 60 simultaneous touch points in Windows 8, and 12 touchpoints with Android. The table itself is built with aircraft aluminum and cold rolled steel, and the screen has an anti-glare coating.

The tabletop is only 2.4 inches thick and has a slim bezel on top. Internally the table features two independent computers that run different operating systems, and users can switch via a hardware or software switch on the table. For Android use the table sports a 2.0Ghz Rockchip RK3288 with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage to power KitKat 4.4.

The table runs two different processors for Windows 8, depending upon the size of the table. A 3.2Ghz i5-4570R with onboard graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD, powers the 42 inch version. The 46-inch version is powered by a 3.5Ghz i7-4710 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, but also employs a beefy NVIDIA GTX 760 CPU.

Ubisoft isn't going to win many customer appreciation awards with their recent move to ban game key licenses purchased through third-party key resellers. Sites such as G2A and Kinguin (among others) buy license keys in countries where prices are lower, then offer them for sale globally. Ubisoft isn't appreciative of the practice, so they took the step of wantonly deploying the Ubisoft Banhammer and revoking the keys. The problem with this approach is that it punishes the customer, instead of pursuing litigation or other methods against the resellers. In many cases, the user who purchased the key is unaware there is an issue with the practice.

G2A has taken to Facebook to respond, and first denied involvement in any wrongdoing, and then offered refunds on all keys purchased with G2A Shield. It is important to note that only G2A Shield customers are protected, and that other situations will be decided individually.

"As some of you may already know, steps have been taken to remove games purchased indirectly from a publisher, via main marketplaces in the web. G2A.COM is not in any case responsible for any of these procedures. However, we are well aware of this process and will do everything possible to compensate for that. For users who have made transactions without G2A Shield, we will check if the corresponding merchant was responsible for the withdrawal of the code. If so, these users will get a compensation. Any user who used G2A Shield affected by the current process will get either a new code for the game or the money back. G2A.COM will make every possible exertion to prevent this kind of procedures in the future and exclude merchants responsible for such incidents from the marketplace."

We are lucky enough here at TweakTown to be on the cutting edge of storage devices, and right now the bleeding edge is currently NVMe (Covered in our Defining NVMe article). As part of our standard testing, and also for daily operating system usage, we have been using NVMe SSDs for some time. The only problem has been spotty boot support. We have went through a merry-go-round of various motherboards to find models that will actually support booting an NVMe device, as none are officially certified as NVMe compatible...until now.

MSI has announced they are in fact the first consumer motherboard manufacturer to fully support NVMe. The compatible motherboards are confined to the 9 series chipset, but encompass the X99, Z97, and H97 models. Current users can head over to MSI to find a BIOS update for their motherboard that enables the functionality.

The new BIOS revisions support NVMe devices in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 in 64-bit flavors. They also fully support booting from NVMe devices. Consumer-oriented NVMe devices are still in the pipeline and yet to be released. However, bleeding-edge enterprise devices can be used in a desktop environment if one has the cash to spare, so check out a review by our RAID expert Jon Coulter in standard desktop usage in his Intel DC P3700 800GB NVMe vs. Intel 730 Series SATA SSD RAID Report.

Hackers hijacked Taylor Swift's Twitter and Instagram accounts today, threatening to release naked pictures of the popular singer. Swift has bitten back, announcing on her Twitter that there are no 'nudes' to be had and the only way they could 'uncover' anything would be to use Photoshop.

After stating that her Twitter had been compromised though Tumblr, she later announced that her Instagram had also fallen victim. People are questioning if the superstar has been using the same password for multiple social media accounts, as it's uncommon to see a small amount of accounts compromised like this - usually its a singular service taken or its everything in one go.

The hacker-made tweets have now been deleted from her account and everything has gone back to normal. Seemingly Swift has been able to shake it off quite well - laughing in the face of the hackers.

We've already been warned of one major issue with smartwatch usage - Not only do the manufacturers all seemingly list a nightly-charge routine, but it seems likely that these devices will barely last a full working day idling without requiring a charging cable to be used.

Obviously this isn't optimal, with users often charging their smartphones daily alongside other portable devices including tablets. Apple have been reportedly aiming for a 19-hour window, alongside 2.5 to 4 hours when in constant use. This is a stark contrast to ASUS, who are apparently going to use a simplified chipset and mobile operating system to ensure extended use.

ASUS chairman Jonney Shih has proudly stated "the ZenWatch is defined by us as a companion of a smartphone, and we think it still has a lot of room for improvement," further commenting that "as a companion device, its central processing unit and operating system should be more simplified than the current version, so that I can use it for up to seven days on one charge, rather than for just two days."

According to Nikkei business daily, Sony is planning to cut another 1,000 workers from their mobile division in order to bring it back to profitability.

These layoffs are said to affect the European and Chinese branches, with the cuts expected to be made public knowledge soon as part of an announced restructuring plan. Rumors state that this information will be brought to light on February the 4th, during their quarterly result report.

After acquiring Sony Ericsson fully in 2012, Sony has been on the warpath to increase their smartphone operations with limited success. Q3 2013 results for Sony reported sales of $2.8 billion, showing a small 1 percent rise. This was coupled with reports that then mentioned Sony was thrown $27.56 billion into the red thanks to a "large write-off in the perceived value of the company's brand" as explained by PC World.

With over 50,000 current downloads, this free medical app for the Android platform is called Sleeping pills. Stated by their staff to send you to sleep in 10 minutes without the aide of tablets or special training, it's based on yoga breathing methods.

Released in January, this app is free and has just seen an iOS release - both versions are available in 25 different languages.

It's not some kind of wizardry, their press release claims that the app works by sending a beam of light to your ceiling. This light becomes brighter and darker, pulsating slowly. You must then match your breathing with the light pulsations, allowing for the production of cortisol to cease and for you to fall asleep.

Researchers have now apparently solved the small issue of lithium-ion batteries having the possibility of catching fire or exploding. This has been achieved by using a material derived from Kevlar to insulate specific parts of the device that are responsible for storage and discharge of energy.

Leaks within these walls can cause short circuits followed by fire or explosions, however Kevlar is a tough customer. With the ability to stop some bullets from penetrating human skin, the researchers have used it to bar leaks in batteries with great success. These batteries will be first used in robots and military services, seeing them later come over to laptops, tablets, smartphones, electric cars and various other household goods as according to Dan VanderLey, the CIO and co-founder of Elegus Technologies - a startup that's attempting to commercialize this finding.

Wondering how lithium-ion batteries actually work? PC World stated in their recent article that "lithium-ion batteries have two electrodes and an electrolyte fluid that allows the lithium ions to flow between them. They're separated currently by a film of polyethylene or polypropylene, but it's porous and if material passes through it a short circuit can result."

Yesterday we told you about how ESEA and the all-mighty Valve had spoken up, banning numerous American and Canadian professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players from their future events due to match fixing and a betting scandal.

In recent news, two other large-scale CS:GO entities have followed suit - seeing FACEIT and CEVO both taking action against these players.

FACEIT have removed the ex-iBUYPOWER team from their 2015 league, further stating that Joshua "steel" Nissan and Derek "dboorN" Boorn from Torqued will be barred from competing in their league closed qualifier. Not only the players were affected, with Casey Foster (pictured above), a member in this scandal and a head admin of FACEIT North America, being dismissed from his position.

While CD Projekt Red may have delayed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to May 19, we're finding out more information on the game thanks to various members of the press playing with the latest build of the open-world title.

The developer has revealed that the most recent build of The Witcher 3 is running at 1080p on the PS4 while the Xbox One version is knocked down to 900p on the Xbox One, which is the least impressive version of the game against the PS4 and PC. The Witcher 3 on the PS4 is running at 1080p at 30FPS with higher fidelity graphics than the Xbox One version, even though it's been knocked down to 900p.

What's more interesting is that gaming industry insider 'shinobi602' reporting that the PCs that CD Projekt Red had setup with The Witcher 3 were "specced to consoles" or whatever that means.

In something that feels like it has come truly out of nowhere, Netflix has teased its new original series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. The new series is a prequel to David Wain's 2001 comedy, which has a huge list of stars attached to it, as well as an iconic 80s America look to it.

As for the list of actors, check this out: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Michael Ian Black, Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Ken Marino, Zak Orth, David Hyde Pierce, Joe LoTruglio, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Michael Showalter, and Molly Shannon.

We will see Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp released with an 8-episode limited run. Also, because of the sheer size of the cast, only a few of them will be used per episode, in a similar matter to how Netflix handled Arrested Development. There's currently no release date for Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to finish this movie five months earlier.

In an event that rarely occurs in Hollywood, Paramount Pictures has decided to move the fifth installment of the long running Tom Cruise spy franchise 'Mission Impossible' forward by a whole 5 months. The initially announced release date of December 25th has now changed to July 31.

Hemled by Christopher McQuarrie who previously directed Cruise in 2013's 'Jack Reacher'), the film reprises Jeremy Renner as Agent Brandt, Simon Pegg as Benji and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell. New to the film are Alec Baldwin, Simon McBurney and Rebecca Ferguson. With this newly minted released date, look for marketing including the first theatrical teaser trailer to begin ramping up soon.

When Microsoft launched the first Windows 10 Technical Preview last year, it included a built-in keylogger that would collect information about "you, your devices, applications and networks, and your use of those devices, applications and networks. Examples of data we collect include your name, email address, preferences and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage".

Well, it looks like the latest version of Windows 10 that the public can get its hands-on in the form of the Technical Preview still includes this built-in keylogger. Microsoft adds "[When you] enter text, we may collect typed characters and use them for purposes such as improving autocomplete and spellcheck features".

Since this is stated in the EULA for the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Microsoft isn't exactly hiding it. A post on Reddit bought this to my attention, warning people to not use this as their "daily driver" operating system. Since it's collecting copious amounts of not just personal data, but being a keylogger, it can secure everything on you. What if someone has found a way to hack into this built-in keylogger, and has been taking users' logged keys of Internet banking sessions, and various log-ins like Facebook and the such?

Late last year, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Jurassic World' star Chris Pratt passed on the role of the video game adaptation of Sony's 'Uncharted', which I thought was rather curious at the time. Now, it's a little clearer why.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Disney, who now own the rights to the 'Indiana Jones' franchise after purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012, are not only looking at bringing the franchise back, but are looking at casting Chris Pratt in the role once occupied by 72 year old Harrison Ford.

Deadline do make the point that "while things are very early", it sure looks like we might be seeing some more 'Indiana Jones' adventures soon - and hearkening back to the classic Hollywood serials that the franchise is based on, I think this can only be a great thing.

A little over fifteen years ago Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. In a final convulsion, the company decided to bring back its exiled founder Steve Jobs who, as we all know, went on to revolutionise the company to the powerhouse it is today. Still, not many industry analysts called today's profit result for the company, which has just broken the record for the largest quarterly profit in history.

According to the release from the company, up until the quarter ending quarter ending December 27 2014, Apple earned $74.6 billion in gross revenue and recorded quarterly net profit of $18 billion, primarily off the back of strong strong sales of iPhone and Mac products leading into the Christmas period.

To put the revenue result in context, this is more than Microsoft and Google combined, with the latter making less than what Apple did in this quarter in all of 2014. Apple shares closed last night at just under $110 dollars.

Set to ride the smartwatch success wave, Chris V Woolpert has set out to create a limited edition charging station - adding class and style to your charging experience.

Recently releasing a Kickstarter campaign, Woolpert describes this project as a "derivative or "spin off" design from a larger parent design project called USDCS." Further explaining that "the goal of this Kickstarter project is to raise funds for the proper development of the USDCS smart technology design project."

The product itself will hold your smartwatch up high for all to see, whilst providing a charging cable threaded through the 'arm' of the device - allowing you to hold and charge your smartwatch in style. All new major-brand smartwatch releases will require nightly charging, so if you're looking to keep your watch safely off the ground or a desk, this might be the solution for you.

Just 8 years on from the release of 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer', which starred a pre-'Captain America' Chris Evans, Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd, Twentieth Century Fox have completely reset the franchise, with the release of this years 'The Fantastic Four' from 'Chronicle' director John Trank.

The studio have now released their first look at the film, with a rather generous 2 minute trailer that I gotta admit doesn't really make me excited in the same way as, say 'Jurassic World' or 'Terminator: Genisys'. Still, take a look and see for yourself.

'The Fantastic Four' hits screens worldwide in August, and also in 3D if you're that way inclined.

With $1.428 billion net revenue posted for the reported period, EA blew their $1.275 billion expectation out of the water - claimed by CEO Andrew Wilson as due to "great execution with our leading IP, new mobile hits and continued strength in our catalogue of top games and services."

Proud of their results, Wilson went on to state that "Electronic Arts delivered amazing experiences to our players in Q3, from the award-winning Dragon Age: Inquisition to SimCity BuildIt to our live services for FIFA, Madden NFL and more," as seen in their recent press release. The results achieved this quarter mark a record for Electronic Arts, seeing it ranked as the best "cash flow for a calendar year period."

Further results include EA being listed as the #1 publisher on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One - due to their releases of Dragon Age: Inquisition, FIFA 15, NHL 15, Madden NFL 15, UFC, Titanfall, Battlefield 4 and FIFA 14. They also pushed through 22 million downloads on SimCity Buildit and saw their titles hit the top 5 iOS downloads in more than 100 countries.

Well, the Lizard Squad tried to take credit for the short Facebook and Instagram downtime Monday night, but Facebook admitted that the incident was its fault. The outage hit users in the United States, with members in Asia, Australia and New Zealand briefly losing access, with the problem beginning just after 12:10 a.m. ET last night.

"This was not the result of a third-party attack but instead occurred after we introduced a change that affected our configuration systems," Facebook said in a statement following the short down time Monday evening. "Both services are back to 100 percent for everyone."

Kudos to the Lizard Squad for trying to get itself some glory for something that it had absolutely nothing to do with. Not surprisingly, users logged onto Twitter and other websites to complain about the sudden and unexpected Facebook downtime.