Knowledge Update

Tokyo, March 17 (IANS) Japan reported a trade surplus of 242.8 billion yen ($2.2 billion), marking its biggest trade surplus since September 2011, the government announced Thursday.

​New York, March 16 (IANS) Despite India saying no to Free Basics and going for net neutrality, the social networking giant eyes big growth in Asia than any other parts of the world, a top Facebook executive told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Tuesday.

​Berlin, March 15 (IANS) Fuelled by a favourable shopping environment, German consumers' spending in 2015 grew faster than any year else in the past 15 years.

It compensated Germany's losses in exports declines due to weak global recovery, Xinhua cited official data as showing on Tuesday.

​Beijing, March 15 (IANS) Alibaba reached an agreement on Tuesday with the China Communist Youth League, a CPC reserve force, to train one million teenagers to take e-commerce to rural areas.

London, March 16 (IANS) FTSE 100 Index, British benchmark stock market gauge decreased by 0.56 percent, or 34.60 points, to 6,139.97 points.

Share price of Coca-Cola HBC increased by 1.78 percent, topping the gainers of the blue chips on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

​New York, March 17 (IANS) Many of us have wished for a shoe that automatically ties its laces when they get untied while we are running. American sports footwear and apparel brand Nike apparently heard us and on Thursday released the futuristic self-lacing sneakers. Launched at an event here, the shoes -- named HyperAdapt 1.0 -- resemble the sneakers that Hollywood actor Michael J. Fox wore in the 1989 movie 'Back to the Future 2'. Put the sneaker on and it will tighten to the size of your foot using a heel sensor, Quartz reported. According to Nike, the real innovation is that you can quickly adapt your sneaker to the changes your foot undergoes when competing, using buttons on the side that let you tweak the fit. Laces, by contrast, may loosen up, or be tied too tight. Your foot may also change shape during exercise (expanding slightly, for instance). The HyperAdapt is meant to eliminate those problems, the report said. Right now, an athlete has to make those changes manually but this new product has a goal that can make those changes automatically and create a "nearly symbiotic relationship between the foot and shoe", the company said.The shoe has a sole that lights up -- maybe to make it look futuristic -- and it makes a slight mechanical wheezing noise when it tightens. The report pointed out that the sneaker, which runs on a battery that can keep a charge for about two weeks, has been in the works for around 10 years. The HyperAdapt 1.0 uses two recent Nike innovations, its Flywire filaments and Flyweave fabric, both of which make the shoes hold more firmly to the foot during sports. The HyperAdapt 1.0 will be available in three colours and expected to be released by the end of this year. ​ At the moment, the shoe will be available only to members of Nike+, the new app that Nike wants to be a sort of one-stop-shop for athletes.​

​Tokyo, March 15 (IANS) The Japanese government on Tuesday committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by endorsing a plan to achieve its goal by more than a quarter within 15 years.

New York, March 16 (IANS) Facebook's photo-sharing platform Instagram is testing a new feature for more personalised feed that would show posts according to the user's interest.

The reorganised feed relies on an algorithm to sort images and videos based on what users are likely to be most interested in, resembling the feature of its parent company Facebook, The Verge reported on Tuesday.

The social media platform currently organises feeds from newest to oldest. 

According to Instagram co-founder and chief executive Kevin Systrom, people miss an average of 70 percent of the posts in their feeds, adding: "What this is about is making sure that the 30 percent you see is the best 30 percent possible."

The company is using machine-learning technology, as well as other signals of interest, to determine how to sort content. The people you interact with more often appear higher in the feed, the report said.

For now, only an unspecified single-digit percentage of users will test the algorithm. The results of the initial tests will determine whether the changes are made permanently across the platform. 

Instagram currently has more than 400 million users and is available for download on Android, iOS and Windows.​

​Abu Dhabi, March 14 (IANS/WAM) The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) has launched a new, improved version of its Visit Abu Dhabi mobile application.The app, which allows users to gain instant access to "all that’s new" in the emirate, is now live and features several upgrades and enhancements. Version 4.0 of the app, which allows access to the same content as the authority’s destination portal, VisitAbuDhabi.ae, is available for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.Mouza Al Shamsi, acting executive director of marketing and communications at TCA Abu Dhabi, said, "We’ve listened carefully to customer feedback and our app has been completely redesigned following the latest user experience trends to make the whole experience even more immersive and easy to use. All of the key features that you’re familiar with from our previous versions are still present but now they’re even faster, smarter and bursting with functionality." "A number of useful and intuitive new additions are also present, including integration with The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars, which will allow users to book a taxi directly from within the app will allow the user to discover the best route and schedule to get to any point of interest, said Al Shamsi. "The app has also been integrated with TripAdvisor, to allow access to reviews for all locations, hotels and restaurants," she added.​

​London, March 16 (IANS) SITA, a Switzerland-based IT and telecommunication company, on Wednesday unveiled "Smart Path" -- a single biometric token that can be used at the airports for hassle-free entry and exit movement. The new technology, unveiled during the world's largest airport exhibition "Passenger Terminal EXPO" being held in Germany from March 15-17, allows passengers to move through the airport and board the aircraft simply by presenting themselves for a biometric check. Once verified, there is no need for the passenger to present a boarding pass, a passport or travel documents again. "We have built on this unique expertise to create SITA 'Smart Path' -- a single, secure, self-service process using existing common-use infrastructure that simplifies secure, passenger processing for everyone - airlines, airports and border authorities," Matthys Serfontein, vice president, airport solutions at SITA, said in a statement. With "Smart Path", the passenger's biometric details are captured through a facial scan at the first touch point in the journey. The record is checked against the passenger's travel documents, typically the passport, and a secure single token is created. Then, at each step of the journey - from check-in, to aircraft boarding or border control - passengers gain access simply with a facial scan and without having to show their passport or boarding pass. SITA is currently working with a number of major airlines and airports to integrate biometrics into the passenger journey and expects that by 2020, passengers using biometrics will be the norm at airports across the world.​