It’s not enough to have an Amazon Echo in every room, no — in addition to voice-controlled speakers to order Amazon products whenever you want, the e-retailer has plans for an in-home robot.
In a patent approved Tuesday, Amazon shows how getting all your packages could be simplified (and quicker) if a retrieval robot stayed at your house and met up with delivery trucks on the street to bring back your orders.
Yes, that means the robot would live in your house, ready to pick up packages once notified.
How the retrieval bot would work.
Image: U.S. Patent and trademark office
Remember Amazon Scout, the autonomous delivery bot? This is something like that, but the “autonomous ground vehicles,” or “AVGs,” won’t need to travel as much. Instead they’ll go from an apartment building out to the truck. No more individual delivery drop-offs to your front door powered by humans.
In the patent, Amazon envisions the bots as being in individual homes or serving an entire neighborhood or apartment complex — so I guess your apartment manager could keep the Amazon bot next to the trash cans?
If you’re a power user, the bot would make getting all your deliveries that much easier. You could own your own bot or group could go in one or three for the neighborhood.
It’s just a patent, so this isn’t a sure thing, but with delivery drones taking forever to arrive this could be the next best thing. Don’t forget to feed the robot!
Less than a week after questioning his teammates’ desire to power the Los Angeles Lakers to a playoff run this season, LeBron James struck a more diplomatic tone when talking about the Lakers’ situation.
“We like where we are,” he said Wednesday, per ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin. “I like where we are today.”
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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Despite the media attention surrounding Michael Cohen’s House testimony, more than a half-dozen Republican senators said in interviews they weren’t even bothering to watch the hearing. | M. Scott Mahaskey/Politico
GOP senators heaped criticism on Trump’s former attorney and fixer.
Senate Republicans delivered a fusillade of attacks on President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, calling him a liar and dismissing his highly anticipated public testimony Wednesday against the president.
Their attacks echoed those of House Republicans who grilled Cohen during Wednesday’s hearing as well as the president’s 2020 campaign, all of whom sought to portray Cohen as a criminal who was trying to profit off his legal troubles.
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“He’s a convicted felon,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “He’s a crook. He’s angry. He’s bitter. He’s a little bit unbalanced … He reminds me of Roger Stone with better hair.”
Before the House Oversight Committee, Cohen called Trump a “conman,” “cheat” and “racist.” Heclaimed that Trump knew about plans to release Democratic emails at a key moment in the 2016 campaign and that the president was directly involved in hush-money payments to an adult film star whom Trump allegedly had an affair with.
The Senate Republicans criticizing Cohen would essentially be the ones to decide Trump’s fate if the Democrat-majority House chooses to impeach the president. And so far, they are standing by Trump.
Some said there was essentially nothing Cohen could do or say to sway them, and several GOP senatorswere quick to attack Cohen’s credibility while several said they weren’t even paying attention to what he had to say.
“Let’s just say this: for a guy that keeps no calendar, keeps no phone records, produces nothing other than says: ‘I lied,’” Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said. “What’s he doing. A book deal or a movie deal?”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also questioned Cohen’s trustworthiness and described him as the “worst witness in the world” when it came to whether Trump colluded with Russia during his 2016 campaign — a key focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“Was he acting as an agent of the campaign? No. Was he coordinating with the campaign and [WikiLeaks founder] Julian Assange? No,” Graham said. “The narrative of collusion is not advanced by Mr. Cohen.”
Graham, a staunch defender of the president, also didn’t appear swayed by documents Cohen provided at Wednesday’s hearing that showed Trump signed off on payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Graham noted that “if you’re trying to hide a crime you probably wouldn’t write a check.”
Cohen is scheduled to report to prison in two months for a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and to charges of tax evasion.
Cohen’s testimony Wednesday came one day after he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors. The committee subpoenaed Cohen as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Cohen had delayed his appearance before the committee, citing a recent shoulder surgery.
Despite the media attention surrounding Cohen’s House testimony, more than a half-dozen Republican senators said in interviews they weren’t even bothering to watch the hearing.
“I’ve got too much to do,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “Somebody’s got to help run the country.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) attributed Cohen’s testimony to nothing more than political theater and described Cohen as a “convicted liar.”
“This is just all about show,” he said. “Am I going to watch it? No. I have a better use of my time.”
Internet trolls forced Rotten Tomatoes to limit comments on new movies. The site also killed off its “Want to See” score which let people grade their anticipation for an upcoming movie. Trolls abused the feature to complain about the upcoming comic book film, Captain Marvel.
Oscar De La Hoya‘s Golden Boy Promotions has filed a cease-and-desist letter against Floyd Mayweather, accusing him of tampering with Ryan Garcia.
Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reported Garcia’s desire to fight Mayweather-promoted fighter Gervonta “Tank” Davis has created an issue between the two camps.
Garcia skipped out on a Golden Boy card in order to attend Davis’ first-round TKO of Hugo Ruiz on Feb. 9. The two venues were within two and a half hours of one another.
Mayweather has thus far refused to set up a Garcia-Davis fight. He instead offered Garcia $200,000 if he were able to defeat Rolando Romero, Davis’ sparring partner.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, spent most of Wednesday delivering a pretty epic testimony before Congress, and the tired people of the internet are grabbing hold of any lighthearted moments of relief they can get.
At one point, Cohen was asked by Rep. Jackie Speier how many times Trump requested he threaten an individual or entity on his behalf, and what followed was a particularly memorable exchange.
When Speier pressed Cohen to answer with “100 times?” Cohen replied “more.” When Speier asked “200 times?” Cohen said “more.” And when she asked “500 times?” He said “probably.” In that moment, a meme was born.
People on Twitter began sharing the striking clip from Cohen’s testimony alongside hilarious alternate scenarios. How many times has Cohen wished for Trump’s impeachment? 500, probably. How many times has he eaten shredded cheese from a bag? 500, probably! And so on and so forth.
How many times have we laughed at this meme? 500, probably.
“This is unbelievable,” Fallon said in what seemed like a possibly genuine reaction to the bot that delivered him a pizza on Tuesday night.
FedEx announced Wednesday it is working with companies including AutoZone, Lowe’s, Pizza Hut, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart to deliver food, groceries, parts, supplies, and more as part of a “last-mile” delivery strategy.
The bot is designed with DEKA, whose founder was behind the invention of the Segway. The robot has cameras, LiDAR sensors like an autonomous vehicle, and is battery powered. The bot learns how to avoid obstacles, stay on its path, and follow road signs. The bot will be tested in Memphis, Tennessee, this summer.
FedEx hopes to eventually roll out the electric bot in the 1,900 cities that already have FedEx’s “SameDay City” service. But instead of human couriers hauling your packages, it’ll be this bot.
Mauricio on @JanVertonghen: 
A moment of magic 
Daily Trends Hunter 