A notorious runaway robot - that has escaped from its lab twice - has been arrested by police at a political rally. Promobot was supporting Russian Parliament candidate Valery Kalachev in Moscow when authorities attempted to handcuff it and take it away. It is believed that the arrest occurred after a member of public called police as Promobots were recording the opinions of voters on a variety of topics "for further processing and analysis by the candidate's team."

The U.S. government granted Walmart a patent last week that indicates the company is planning to roll out a system that allows shopping carts to drive themselves. According to the patent request, the carts will be equipped with detachable motors that have sensors and video cameras. Customers will be able to request a cart using a "user interface device" -- potentially a smartphone -- and the roaming motors will be able to fetch a cart and bring it to a customer.

eBay is behind an over-the-top achievement down under. Australia’s largest marketplace — Australian retailer Myer — announced that it has teamed up with eBay to “provide a glimpse into the future of shopping by developing and launching the world’s first Virtual Reality Department Store.” Throughout the VR experience, Australian customers can browse more than 12,500 Myer products and they can be selected and added to cart using eBay Sight Search, this morning’s announcement reads. 

Got a General Electric oven, fridge, dishwasher or washing machine and an Amazon Echo? Well now you can ask Alexa for a little help around the house. GE Appliances, a Haier company, has announced the first Alexa skill that allows control over a large range of appliances in its line. So you can preheat the oven, ask what the wash cycle is and more if you have the right smart home devices from GE. All the specific connected appliances even have the same name - Geneva - which should simplify your questions as long as they're specific.

Claw arms hardly make a drone look less terrifying, but they could make it more useful. That's the promise of Prodrone's latest hoverbot, the snappily-named PD6B-AW-ARM. This claw-handed drone can fly up to 6 km per hour and stay in the air for 30 minutes. Using its two five-axis robotic arms, it can lift a whopping 44 pounds, which is the equivalent of a four-year-old child. The Japanese drone-maker says its eerie new toy will have a range of industrial uses, from lifting cargo to cutting cables -- but could also drop a lifesaving buoy.

Not only is augmented reality helping us capture all the Pokémon, it’s also made its way toRebecca Minkoff’s fall preview show at Fashion Week this Saturday. About 350 fashion-forward individuals will get an up-close look at the new line in person, but those not able to snag a ticket can feel like they are right there with a 360 live experience provided at the show. And, something even more telling of where the fashion industry is headed — they’ll also be able to see how Minkoff’s newest line looks on their own body using an app called Zeekit. Minkoff and her brother/co-founder Uri Minkoff …

Some top gadget makers are holding off on any new smartwatch releases until next year, CNet reports. “LG, Huawei and Lenovo's Motorola unit will not release a smartwatch in the waning months of the year,” it writes. “While LG launched a watch in the first half, it'll have been more than a year since Huawei and Motorola offered an update on their wearables.” All three companies use Google's Android Wear software.

Boston officials plan to start testing self-driving vehicles on city streets by the end of the year as part of a partnership between the City of Boston and the World Economic Forum. City and state officials will work with the Switzerland-based forum, along Boston Consulting Group, and other cities on the project, will also develop policy recommendations for the fast-emerging technology. But the city on Wednesday declined to reveal which technological companies or manufacturers it will work with, how many cars could be on the roads, or where they may be tested. Kris Carter, co-chair of the city’s Office of …

Fox Sports is taking viewers close to the action by broadcasting the upcoming college football matchup between Ohio State and Oklahoma live through virtual reality for all Android and iOS users. The broadcast is a partnership between Fox Sports and LiveLike, a VR company based in New York. The game will be available to anyone with a compatible smartphone and will require no extra equipment or peripherals.

What do critics make of Apple’s latest Apple Watch? For better or worse, it’s a “fitness tracker,” according to The Verge. “The Apple Watch Series 2 is exactly that,” it writes. “It’s what Apple had resisted calling its wearable for the past year and a half, even declining to categorize it as such when citing industry rankings, opting for the ‘smartwatch’ category instead.”