I can see a pizza-making robot in our very near future, but now Little Caesars has received a new patent for an "automated pizza assembly system". Yeah, a pizza-making robot.

Little Caesars' robot would, according to the patent, be a "robot including a stationary base and an articulating arm having a gripper attached to the end is operable to grip a pizza pan having pizza dough therein". After the robot rotates the pizza pan through "the cheese spreading station" and then the "pepperoni applying station". Automated pizza making, awesome.

You shouldn't expect to walk into Little Caesars anytime soon and watch a robot make your pizza, but for the future (think 10-15 years) we could expect more robotic and autonomous machines making not just our pizzas, but food in general. Robotic kitchen assistants will be a thing in the future.

This stuff seriously only comes out of Japan, but completely blows my mind every time that it does: in order to market their self-driving car and self-parking technology, Nissan has infused an inn in Hakone, Japan with a bunch of next-level stuff.

We're talking about self-parking slippers, that 'drive' themselves back into position, autonomous flood cushions, and even a self-parking TV remote.

It might be a marketing gimmick but this is totally awesome and makes me #wanttostay there just to see my slippers park themselves. I want to go to Japan (for the first time ever) during the 2020 Olympics, and this is now on my bucket list: I want to see my pillow and slippers park themselves.

Pornhub is on the offensive, with the site to delete something that I've never heard before - "deepfakes", which are AI-generated videos that "realistically edit new faces onto pornographic actors - under its rules against nonconsensual porn, following in the footsteps of platforms like Discord and Gfycat", reports The Verge.

The company recently spoke with Motherboard, where they said: "We do not tolerate any nonconsensual content on the site and we remove all said content as soon as we are made aware of it". They added that non-consensual content includes "revenge porn, deepfakes, or anything published without a person's consent or permission".

Think of deepfakes as porno photoshops, where the faces of porn actors and actresses can be replaced. These videos, as The Verge points out, can get close to copyright infringement or defamation, so this is where lawyers step in and go after big sites like Pornhub to stop deepfakes.

Tesla has been using my home state of South Australia as its testing grounds for the future of its solar and lithium ion battery technology, with the SA government working out a deal with Tesla that would see at least 50,000 homes have their Powerwall technology installed.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill is running for the March state election, teasing that Tesla's next-gen solar systems and batteries would be supplied, and installed free of charge. The entire project would be financed through the sale of electricity, given that the solar panels would be taking in the power generated by the sun, with Weatherill saying it would be the largest project of its kind.

The retailer involved would have the ability of using the household batteries that would be installed, and use that power to throw it back into the state power grid. There will be a trial scheme run using Housing Trust properties (government owned), something that has already started, with 100 homes receiving Tesla Powerwall systems by June 30, and another 1000 properties in the next 12 months.

After the trial, there will be another 24,000 solar systems installed on Housing Trust properties, with another deal that would follow that would be offered to all South Australian properties - up to 50,000 systems over four years in total. Mr Weatherill explains: "We will use people's homes as a way to generate energy for the South Australian grid, with participating households benefitting with significant savings in their energy bills".

Remember that South Australia is home to the most expensive electricity in the world, so these deals are hopefully going to lead to lowered energy prices to SA residents.

Tesla is wanting to see its Powerwall technology go mainstream, with the company pushing their Powerwall battery packs and new solar panels at 800 Home Depot locations across the US.

Bloomberg is reporting the news, stating that Tesla's solar panels and Powerwalls will be at 800 Home Depot locations soon, with this marking the first time Tesla has inked a major US retain chain to sell their products. Tesla won't be giving Home Depot all the power, as they will just be putting their products on Home Depot's shelves.

Tesla will have their own designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots, similar to Samsung and Apple with their own specified spots in retail locations.

Tesla's solar panels and Powerwalls will cost between $10,000 and $25,000 with Powerwalls costing $7000 each. If you were after an entire roof of solar panels, something Tesla calls "Solar Roof" technology, that will set you back $52,000 or so - but we don't know if they will be sold at Home Depot just yet.

CES 2018 - Samsung has just pushed all-in with the future of artificial intelligence, with the company announcing it has a new consumer product strategy for AI during its CES 2018 keynote speech in Vegas.

The news comes directly from Samsung Research boss H.S. Kim who said that every product Samsung makes in 2020 will have built-in AI and would connect to the Internet of Things cloud, making everything the South Korean giant sells a smart product that will learn from everything you do.

Kim said this plan from Samsung would happen in a 3-fold pillar that would simplify its product stack, pushing them into a single-cloud approach that would include connectivity, cloud, and intelligence.

Samsung will be ditching its Smart Home and Smart View by combining it all into a new Smart Things app that will launch later this year, something that will have consumers with multiple Samsung products able to secure their devices by voice or by fingerprint authentication.

CES 2018 - LG is entering into the smart fridge with a new look and style, mixed in with a bunch of new features, with their new InstaView ThinQ changing up the refrigerator game.

LG's new InstaView ThinQ smart refrigerator packs a 29-inch touchscreen that when tapped twice, becomes transparent so that you can see inside of your fridge. Super cool. LG has been in the touch-your-fridge game for a while now, where they had their Smart InstaView Door-in-Door that run a full version of Windows 10, some two years ago but in the end the company never shipped the fridge.

This new version lets you control your food management using LG's own webOS software with a mix of Amazon Alexa, something that lets owners tag food with virtual stickers and expiration dates, as well as pushing automatic reminders to you when things are running low or about to go off. Very cool.

SpaceX has already begun with what it does best, launching rockets and landing them back on the ground again. This time though, the space exploration company has not revealed what is on board the rocket or even the motive for the mission in the first place.

The first mission for 2018 has been launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The payload has been given the codename "Zuma" which is basically all that is known about the launch so far as the mission has come under a government initiative.

The 'Zuma' mission has been known about for quite some time and was originally meant to take place last year in November, but due to investigative testing the launch has to be postponed until now. Even though we do not know what was on board the Falcon 9 rocket it has been confirmed that the launch was a success, as the rocket has been landed safely and securely back on the ground.

CES 2018 - Samsung has just unveiled their new Family Hub 3.0 refrigerator that features Bixby voice control, but the company hasn't explained what exactly you can do with voice controls on your fridge.

Samsung has explained that the Bixby-powered smart fridges will be capable of personalized responses to individual voices, where you can ask your fridge about your personal calendar and news updates, just for you... and maybe a drink or snack for you, too.

The new Family Hub 3.0 fridge integrates Samsung's own SmartThings ecosystem, something that lets owners control the lights inside of the fridge, make adjustments to temperature, or even monitor a security camera. Why would you need a speaker with Alexa or Google Assistant, when you can have it all in your fridge? Hell, there are built-in AKG speakers inside the fridge, promising great bass and mid-range... from your... fridge.

CES 2018 - LG is pushing more and more into the world of robotics, something it seems to be doubling down with at CES 2018 with their new CLOi branded robotics line.

LG's exciting new CLOi line of products come in three models for commercial use: Serving Robot, Porter Robot, and Shopping Cart Robot. Starting with the Serving Robot, we should expect to see LG's first robot creation at hotels, airport lounges, and even restaurants. This robot will deliver drinks and meals to customers with its built-in sliding tray - but hopefully it won't need a tip.

The Porter Robot will be used in hotels for express check-in and check-out, with payments accepted by the robots that will reduce waiting times. LG's new Porter Robot will even carry your suitcase around, but I'm sure it'll be carry-on size only and not your huge suitcase, or two, or five.