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Vincent Padois, head tutor at the Pierre and Marie Curie University who teaches robotics and is babysitting the Paris ICub, makes a demonstration with ICub robot, a ?hybrid embodied cognitive system for a humanoid robot" about 1 metre (3.2 feet) high, at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris September 4, 2009. Six versions of ICub exist in laboratories across Europe, where scientists are painstakingly tweaking its electronic brain to make it capable of learning, just like a human child and hoping it will learn how to adapt its behaviour to changing circumstances, offering new insights into the development of human consciousness. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Pictures of the year: Technology

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    Google adds video and voice chat to Gmail

    SAN FRANCISCO
    Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:43am EST
    A man has his picture taken in front of Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2008. REUTERS/Kimberly White

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc added a voice and video chat feature to its Gmail email service on Tuesday, launching a free Web-based service that competes with the likes of eBay's Skype.

    Technology

    Gmail and Google App subscribers can now choose to speak with friends on a video screen and simultaneously instant message them in a Google Chat box.

    The video screen can be popped out of the chat box and moved around a user's computer screen. Users can also change the size of the screen and expand it to full-screen size.

    "The idea was to make it quicker and easier to communicate with other people by whatever means is best convenient," said Google spokesman Jason Freidenfelds.

    "It's a nice alternative for businesses looking for another way for people to connect," he added.

    The feature is available for both PC and Apple computer users.

    A webcam and small web browser plug-in are required to use the video chat. Users who do not have a webcam will still be able to chat with friends by voice.

    (Reporting by Jennifer Martinez; Editing by Brian Moss)
    Technology


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