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U.S. Robotic 'Cheetah' Breaks Speed Records

The Pentagon's main research agency has created the fastest-ever land robot, named "Cheetah," which can gallop at a speed of 18 miles (29 kilometers) per hour, scientists said Tuesday.

The headless robot looks to be about the size of a small dog and is shown running on a treadmill in pictures and video released by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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Virtual Blue Skies Brighten The Office of The Future

There is light at hand for those who toil away in a poorly-lit office. Scientists at the CeBIT high-tech fair have developed a system that gives the feeling of working outside under blue skies.

The system, called "virtual sky", uses large flat-screen ceiling panels with 288 tiny light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that can each produce red, blue, green and white -- giving a total of 16 million color combinations.

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Apple Expected to Unveil New IPad

Apple is expected to reveal a new version of its coveted iPad on Wednesday in its first major media event since the death of legendary founder and beloved pitchman Steve Jobs.

In typical Apple style, the California-based company has offered the scantest of hints as to what it will unveil on the stage of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, igniting a wildfire of rumor in the online technology world.

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Symantec Says Hacker Thieves Targeted Anonymous Allies

Anonymous on Monday gave mixed reactions to a U.S. computer security firm's report that backers of the notorious hacker group were suckered into downloading software that steals online banking information.

A message at a Twitter account for YourAnonNews blasted Symantec's findings as "wrong and libelous" while "tweets" from other accounts claiming to be voices from the loosely knit group alerted people to the danger.

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Yahoo! to Lay Off 'Thousands'

Yahoo! is preparing to lay off thousands of workers in a sweeping restructuring being launched less than three months after CEO Scott Thompson took control, according to a report Monday.

The Dow Jones website All Things Digital said the shakeup of the struggling Internet giant could come as early as the end of March and could target Yahoo's public relations and marketing division, research, and region-focused and other marginal businesses.

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Google Boss Lays out Future Vision at World's Top Tech Fair

Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt cast a science-fiction vision of the future as the world's top tech fair opened Monday, with the German IT sector predicting record sales in 2012.

"Think back to 'Star Trek', or my favorite the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Much of what those writers imagined is now possible," said Schmidt.

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IBM Making The Louvre Museum Smarter

IBM on Monday revealed an alliance with the venerable Louvre Museum to use sensors, real-time data analysis and other Internet Age tools to make the museum smarter.

IBM's "building whisperer" has been listening to the Louvre to make the famed Paris museum better at protecting art, saving energy, and staying open for its millions of annual visitors.

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Austerity Brings Smaller Cars to Geneva Auto Show

Automakers are thinking small — in size, not ambition.

After years marked by environmental concerns, then the economic downturn and now European austerity measures, car manufacturers have honed their products to cater for cost-conscious buyers.

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Abu Dhabi Gets Full Ownership of Chip Manufacturer

A microchip manufacturer controlled by the Abu Dhabi government says it has reached an agreement to acquire a minority stake held by former owner Advanced Micro Devices.

The chip company, Milpitas, Calif.-based GlobalFoundries, said Monday that it would acquire AMD's share but retain the producer as a key customer.

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Internet Muscles in on World's Biggest IT Fair

Internet players are set to make a big splash at the world’s biggest IT fair opening in Germany Monday, likely to widen the event's appeal from a traditional devotion to pure technology.

While CeBIT, held in Hanover, tends to focus on the business side of technology, it has been overshadowed recently by the gadget wizardry unveiled at other showcases in Las Vegas, Berlin or Barcelona.

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