Reuters

Apple finds it tough to recruit top minds in artificial intelligence and machine learning

Apple's massive hiring effort in artificial intelligence and machine learning has hit roadblocks as the company is increasingly finding it tough to recruit top data scientists and AI experts due to its own strict privacy policies that prevent those engineers from retrieving valuable user data.

In other words, according to a Reuters report Monday, some of the brightest minds in artificial intelligence are increasingly not interested in working for a company that values and respects privacy of its users.

Reuters: Apple, BMW could resume talks over electric car partnership

The rumors that Apple visited a BMW plant last year to learn about auto manufacturing is true, reports Reuters. Citing sources familiar with the talks, the outlet says that Tim Cook and his senior executive team traveled to BMW's Leipzig factory last fall, showing interest in its i3 electric car.

"Apple executives were impressed with the fact that we abandoned traditional approaches to car making and started afresh. It chimed with the way they do things too," a senior BMW source said. The executives asked BMW board members detailed questions about both tooling and production.

Microsoft bringing Cortana personal assistant to iOS this fall

Microsoft has been hard at work developing an iOS and Android version of its Siri-like personal assistant, Cortana, which could hit the iPhone and iPad as a standalone application sometime in the fall 2014 timeframe, Reuters reported Friday.

The software giant currently provides Cortana on Windows phones and is set to launch it on desktop with the arrival of Windows 10 this fall.

Windows 10 integrates Cortana so users can perform queries and get various answers just by asking.

Reuters: Apple’s Project Titan involves a self-driving electric car

A rumor involving an Apple-branded electric vehicle that The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal threw their weight behind just took an interesting turn with a Reuters report Saturday offering additional tidbits.

The news gathering organization learned from sources that Apple's electric vehicle is actually an autonomous self-driving car. Apple is reportedly actually “exploring how to make an entire vehicle” rather than just designing automotive software as previously suspected.

Samsung to outwit Apple with 3-sided Galaxy S6 screen and all-metal enclosure?

Bloomberg is reporting Wednesday that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone, developed under the “Project Zero” codename, will come in two flavors, including a model with a display covering three sides. The other model will have a regular screen that doesn't stretch down either side.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke to the news organization report that both editions of the device rock 5.1-inch screens, are encased in all-metal bodies and run “Samsung’s most advanced processor chips.”

We recently reported that Samsung in a last-minute move dropped Qualcomm's 64-bit Snapdragon 810 silicon which overheated during testing.

Reuters TV hits App Store, a personalized TV news reportage in the palm of your hand

If you prefer watching news footage over reading articles, don't pass on a brand new app from Reuters, a global news-gathering organization owned by Thomson Reuters.

Their free Reuters TV for iOS app just went live in the App Store, bringing you personalized video news when you want it, straight from the source and made to fit your day.

Offering both on-demand and live news programming and reportage from over 2,500 journalists in 200 countries, Reuters TV is personalized (swipe to skip the stories that don’t interest you), highly customizable (you can set your preferred show length) and relevant (news is tailored to your location).

More than half of top U.S. hospitals now trialling Apple’s HealthKit

According to Reuters Thursday, HealthKit trials are moving away from universities and into hospitals, with more than half of the nation's top 23 hospitals having already rolled out their own trials of the HealthKit platform, or “are in talks to do so”. HealthKit allows third-parties to integrate and interact with the user's health database on iOS 8 devices.

Fourteen of the nation's top 23 hospitals confirmed to the news gathering organization participating in the HealthKit roll-out, including at least eight of the 17 hospitals on the U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll list, which ranks the best hospitals in the U.S.

Swatch changes tune, takes on Apple Watch with own smartwatch featuring mobile payments

Now that Apple CEO Tim Cook has at last confirmed that the Apple Watch goes on sale in April, traditional watch makers and companies like Pebble are starting to show their cards.

Pebble, for instance, recently confirmed plans for new wearable products in 2015. So did Tag Heuer, having confirmed building a smartwatch of its own.

And now Bloomberg is reporting that Swatch will start selling a smartwatch within two to three months. It'll integrate with Windows and Android, but not with iOS, support mobile payments and communicate via the Internet “without having to be charged.”

Apple building massive R&D center in Japan

In addition to its existing research and development centers in Israel, Taiwan and Shanghai, Apple is now looking to build another facility in Japan, Reuters reported Tuesday. The “cutting-edge” R&D center was confirmed by Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

The facility “will be formally announced soon,” he told local media, as confirmed by the Jiji and Kyodo News.

Court gives Apple final approval for e-book settlement with consumers

During a hearing Friday in Manhattan, a United States judge gave Apple final approval to pay $450 million to settle claims that it conspired with five publishers to raise e-book prices on the iBooks Store.

Reuters reports that Judge Cote approved what she called an “unusual” accord. The ruling came after Apple in July agreed to pay big bucks to settle price fixing allegations that the government and class action lawyers leveled against the Cupertino firm.