SoftBank

Nvidia has confirmed that it's acquiring UK chip designer Arm from Japanese owner SoftBank in a US$40-billion deal made up of a combination of shares and cash, though the move is yet to undergo regulatory scrutiny.

If you've heard of SoftBank Robotics, it's likely been in regards to the company's Pepper and NAO humanoid robots. This Tuesday, however, SoftBank announced North American availability of its new Whiz robotic vacuum sweeper.

Readers familiar with the latest season of Netflix series Black Mirror, in which a four-legged robot mercilessly seeks out and destroys our human protagonists, may want to look away now. It appears a secure door is no match for the fast-evolving SpotMini from Boston Dynamics.

Visitors to a Pizza Hut in Asia will soon be able to place an order, ask about nutritional info and pay for their meal without even speaking to a member of staff, or at least a human one. A robot that can interact with customers, like a glorified self-checkout, is to be piloted at the restaurant.​

Japanese tech firm SoftBank has announced that its emotion-sensing robot, Pepper, will go on sale in Japan from June 20. The company says that Pepper is the world’s first personal robot that can read a person's emotions. In addition, it has been designed to portray emotions of its own.

Aldebaran Robotics' diminutive NAO robot recently completed an internship at the Mitsubishi UFJ bank in central Tokyo. Working in customer service, the robot helped many customers with any queries they had in Chinese and English, as well as Japanese.

SoftBank's 70 percent stake in Sprint could shake up the U.S. wireless market and benefit customers.