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All-Singing, All-Dancing Robot Wows Tech Fair

A gleaming white robot that sings, dances, recites Shakespeare, mimics other famous robots and even tries to kiss passers-by drew huge crowds on Tuesday at the world's biggest high-tech fair.

Visitors to the CeBIT fair flocked to see the "RoboThespian" and its tricks, applauding loudly as the sleek machine gave a perfect performance of the famous "Hamlet" soliloquy, complete with over-the-top thespian actions and voices.

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Laptop tracks gaze, taking eye-tracking out of lab

Ever wish your eyes were lasers? A laptop prototype brings that wish closer to reality.

It tracks your gaze and figures out where you're looking on the screen. That means, among other things, that you can play a game where you burn up incoming asteroids with a laser that hits where you look.

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Perfect Make-Up Every Time, Thanks to Your Computer

Every woman's dream is to have her own personal make-up artist. That dream could soon be a reality with a computer that scans your face and suggests the perfect personalized make-up combination.

The technology, showcased at CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair, takes a 3D image of your face and measures your complexion, shadows and lines.

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Google Tweaks Search to Punish 'Low-Quality' Sites

Google has tweaked the formulas steering its Internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems "low-quality" sites.

That could be a veiled reference to such sites as Demand Media's eHow.com, which critics call online "content farms" — that is, sites producing cheap, abundant, mostly useless content that ranks high in search results.

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NYC Homeless Man Finds Daughter Through Twitter

A New York City homeless man has been reunited with his daughter after 11 years, thanks to Twitter.

Daniel Morales was given a prepaid cell phone to create a Twitter account as part of a project on homeless people called Underheard in New York.

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Google Search Formula Gets More Discerning

Google has changed its secret search formula in the United States to be more discerning when it comes to which websites are worth recommending and which should sink in the rankings.

The move announced late Thursday was part of an ongoing duel between the search titan and low-quality websites that feature only content copied from elsewhere on the Internet or use techniques to trick their way high in results.

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Nintendo Launches 3-D console in Japan

Japan's Nintendo launched Saturday the world's first video game console with a 3-D screen that works without special glasses, a device the entertainment giant hopes will reverse its sliding fortunes.

But as the DS3 makes its debut in Japan, it will be looking for a place in an increasingly crowded gaming market.

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Apple MacBooks Get Speedier with Intel Technology

Apple on Thursday unveiled an updated line of MacBook Pro laptop computers featuring new Intel "Thunderbolt" technology for moving digital films and other data "blazingly fast."

Apple upgraded the new-model laptops with the latest multi-core chips from Intel and high-definition "FaceTime" cameras for video chat and other uses.

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LinkedIn says Access Blocked in Parts of China

Career networking site LinkedIn said Friday its service had been blocked in parts of China, after the launch of an online campaign for Middle East-style rallies that has triggered official unease.

Government censors in China have long barred access to foreign social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and in recent days have heavily censored online chat about the wave of unrest sweeping across the Arab world.

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Robot Marathon Kicks Off

The world's first full-length marathon for two-legged robots kicked off in Japan on Thursday, with the toy-sized humanoids were due to run 42.195 kilometers (26 miles) over four days.

The machines began the non-stop race on a 100-meter (109-yard) indoor track in the western city of Osaka after doing knee bends or raising their hands to greet spectators.

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