Items tagged with drones
Intel has announced the latest its long line of RealSense Tracking Cameras, the T265. The chipmaker is touting the T265 as a new class of standalone inside-out tracking devices that can give developers the tools they need to build autonomous devices with high-performance guidance and navigation. Intel's T265 tracking camera uses proprietary visual simultaneous localization, and mapping (V-SLAM) tech that Intel says is key for applications that need a "highly accurate and low-latency tracking solution," and it notes its tech is ideal for robotics, drones, augmented reality, and virtual reality....
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SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd., the world largest producer of consumer drones, recently discovered several cases of fraud within their own company. The Chinese technology company may lose more than $150 million USD (1 billion CN¥) due to the corruption. DJI is currently investigating the cases and have already contacted law enforcement. DJI discovered the corruption through a routine quality check. Various employees inflated the cost of drone parts in order to line their own pockets. The China Securities Journal reported that at least 40 people had already been investigated and several employees...
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Let me say right off the bat that I am not the guy you want flinging $1,200 drones through the sky, especially around cliffs, the ocean, and dense forests, all of which are common where I live. But I took one for the team and decided to check out the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom anyway. You see, I have issues with both directions and spatial relationships; I can get lost in my shower, and concepts such as "north," "south," and "up the road" are foreign to me. Thus, on the road, I simply drive where my wife points. (Also, I should mention that I'm old and cranky. Possibly because my wife is always pointing...
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Most of the time when there is a legal issue involving the use of drones, it's because the owner flew the gadget in a restricted area—there are strict rules that govern the use of drones. In China, however, authorities arrested over two dozen suspects for allegedly using drones to smuggle Apple iPhone devices worth an estimated 500 million yuan (around $79.8 million in US currency). A local Chinese report by the Legal Daily says 26 suspects used drones to life a pair of cables each measuring 660 feet long, and essentially creating a zip line between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, according to Reuters....
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There is good money to be earned from being an software exterminator. Several companies have so-called bug bounty programs in place in which they pay out rewards for rooting out certain software flaws and vulnerabilities. DJI, a major player in consumer and professinal drones and aerial imaging technology, is the latest to the join the fray. Through its Threat Identification Reward Program, researchers can earn up to five figures per bug. "Security researchers, academic scholars and independent experts often provide a valuable service by analyzing the code in DJI’s apps and other software products...
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In case you did not know, professional drone racing is a thing these days. The top dog in the drone racing circuit is the Drone Racing League (DRL), which just recently tested what is officially the fastest racing drone in the world. Guinness World Records was on hand for the record breaking attempt for the "Fastest ground speed by a battery-powered remote-controlled quadcopter," which DRL set with its RacerX drone. In order to set the record, the drone was required to fly back and forth across a course measuring 100 meters (328 feet). Guinness World Records goes by the average of the top speed...
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Snap, formerly known as Snapchat, is best known for its popular app that allows users to take pictures and videos that are viewable by recipients for up to 10 seconds. It became a huge hit and is still being widely used, though Snap apparently has other aspirations that include hardware. Hot the heels of announcing special eye-wear for Snapchat, word on the web is that Snap wants to build a drone. That information comes courtesy of three people who told The New York Times they've been briefed on the matter, but asked to remain anonymous because the details are not supposed to be made public. According...
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Given how popular drones are nowadays, it's becoming more common to see them put to use in new and imaginative ways. Unfortunately, folks don't always know where and when it's safe to fly them. In some cases, users might know, but still disregard the rules put in place for safety in the skies, and instead just take their chances anyway. And it just so happens Lady Gaga is a performer known for taking chances... We learn today that the NFL might betray a no fly order from the FAA (as the organization has put in place in the past) at tonight's Super Bowl Half-Time show, though something...
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It appears that consumers are just now getting used to the idea of self-driving cars. Many mainstream car companies are offering vehicles with lane-keep assist, automatic cruise control, and auto braking. In addition, companies like Tesla and Waymo have made serious inroads in bringing fully autonomous vehicles closer to production reality. But what about self-flying aircraft? Are we ready for that? According to Airbus, that autonomous flying future will soon be upon us to spare people from bumper-to-bumper traffic along the motorways. The company has embarked on Project Vahana, which is a Vertical...
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Flirtey, the drone delivery service that made headlines earlier this year for partnering with Domino's Pizza to deliver pies by sky in New Zealand, is back in the news. This time it is for a commercial collaboration with 7-Eleven, the popular convenience store chain. The two outfits completed a month-long test of delivering goods purchased from 7-Eleven by drone to customer homes in the United States. Welcome to the future, folks. As one of the customers who participated in the program notes, this is like "the real-life Jetsons." This also marks an historical moment for Flirtey, which can now brag...
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Amazon announced this morning that its Prime Air drone delivery service is off to an excellent start. While many thought that Prime Air was little more than fantasy when Amazon first announced the initiative three years ago, the first beta flight involving a paying customer actually took place without issue on December 7th. The customer, only identified at Richard B., is located just two miles from Amazon’s Prime Air fulfillment center. The first Prime Air delivery consisted of an Amazon Fire TV (4K model, of course) and a bag of popcorn to most likely kick back and enjoy the inaugural season of...
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Apple Maps got off to a rocky start when it launched in September 2012, and its early high-profile failures resulted in the ouster of Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS. While Apple Maps has improved significantly over the past four years, many consider the mapping application to still be behind market leader Google Maps when it comes to mapping data and performance. According to a new report, Apple is looking to catch and perhaps surpass Google thanks to the use of aerial drones that will be able to quickly monitor changes to roads, record new construction and even identify road signs....
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Uh oh Houston, we have a problem. Er, make that San Mateo, the city in California where action camera maker GoPro is headquartered. GoPro has also begun dabbling in drones, though things have gotten off to a somewhat rocky start. By that we mean the company has issued a recall for its first drone, called Karma, while it figures out and fixes an issue that can cause it to lose power during flight. The good news for GoPro is that the market isn't flush with Karma drones. Only around 2,500 units have been purchased by consumers since the Karma launched last month, so this is far from a disastrous...
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In the technology sector, you either adapt to an ever-changing landscape and innovate or whither away and day (some companies quicker than others). Enter GoPro, a household name in the action video recorder market for adventure seekers. Demand for the company's Hero line of cameras has dwindled causing it to post a loss in the third quarter. Can drones lift the company back up? GoPro collected $240.6 million in revenue for the three month period ended September 30, 2016, down 40 percent from $400.3 million year-over-year. After paying the bills, GoPro tallied a loss of $104 million for the quarter,...
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