Articles about Drone

When it comes to capturing high-res video or running games on portable devices, storage performance can often be the deciding factor between smooth success and frustrating failure. Silicon Power is looking to give creators and gamers a reliable solution with the launch of its all-new Inspire microSDXC card.

The Inspire card is available in four capacities -- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The company says this card can hit maximum read speeds of up to 170MB/s. Write speeds will vary by model, with the 1TB version reaching up to 160MB/s and the 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities topping out at 150MB/s.

Continue reading →

If you are the owner of a DJI drone and you live in the US, you can now fly pretty much anywhere you want. DJI has announced the lifting of geofencing which blocked drones from flying over restricted and sensitive areas -- such as power stations, military buildings and the like.

The move brings US drone owners the same freedoms as those in the EU, but it could ultimately see DJI banned from the United States. But DJI is standing by its decision to lift restrictions, saying that a decade of having its geofencing system (GEO) in place has already helped to “foster responsible flight practices and prevent DJI drone operators from unintentionally flying in restricted airspace”.

Continue reading →

I’ve already written one prediction about autonomous cars -- that they’ll be far later to the market than most pundits and autonomous car inventors are suggesting. Today’s prediction is about a tangentially-related technology -- aerial delivery drones. These drones are definitely coming just as fast as regulators will allow them, but I don’t think they’ll be implemented in the way people expect. What we’ll see, I predict, is something I call Pizza-to-the-Neighborhood or PTTN.

Aerial drones are a new type of distribution network operating in a new kind of ether. They don’t travel on roads and neither do they travel in what we conventionally think of as airspace. Flying over cities, which is where these delivery drones are going to be used, airplanes are legally restricted from operating below 1000 feet unless they are actively taking-off or landing. Helicopters get to break this rule a bit because they can claim to be taking-off or landing almost anywhere, but fixed-wing aircraft have to stay above 1000 feet, making below 1000 feet the emerging realm of autonomous drones.

Continue reading →

The UK government is planning to introduce new laws to control the use of drones. Under the new legislation, drone owners may be forced to take safety awareness tests before they can take to the air.

The draft Drone Bill also sets out new powers for police, granting them the authority to seize drones believed to have been used in criminal activity. The bill also places restrictions on where drones can be used, and requires larger drones to be registered.

Continue reading →

Drones are great fun to fly, and if you’ve never had the chance to pilot one the Micro Drone 3.0 is a good place to start. The personal drone is easy enough for beginners to master, but with enough options to please more expert pilots.

Micro Drone 3.0 is small enough to fit in your hand, but offers pretty much everything you’ll require, including sensor-assisted flying, inverted flying, a camera port, and first-person view piloting.

Continue reading →

The UK government has announced plans to force private drone owners to register their devices as well as passing a safety awareness test -- a drone driving test essentially. The rules would affect drones weighing more than 250g and they come in response to an increasing number of near-misses between drones and aircraft.

The Civil Aviation Authority’s Airprox Board investigated no fewer than 22 incidents between drones and commercial aircraft in the first four months of the year, but police currently have a near-impossible task when it comes to tracing owners of drones that have been flown dangerously.

Continue reading →

Robbing the mail has a long and dishonorable history dating back to the days of the stagecoach. But UK-based online parcel broker ParcelHero is warning that automated delivery drones and droids could see the rise of a new breed of high-tech highwaymen.

The development of devices that alter the drone or droid's instructions, or simply stop them dead, is seen as inevitable. With UK online retail sales now worth more than £130 billion a year, if deliveries are to become largely automated and just one percent of items are waylaid using new technology, that's over £1bn of goods stolen a year.

Continue reading →

With CES 2017 just around the corner, tech companies have already started to announce the products they will showcase at the upcoming trade show. The Xiaomi-backed Yi Technology today reveals the Yi Erida drone and the Yi 4K+ action camera.

The new action camera is an updated version of the Yi 4K, which made its debut earlier this year. The biggest change is the addition of a 60FPS mode when recording videos in 4K resolution, which is a first for any action camera.

Continue reading →

Drones have become incredibly common in the last couple of years, and they have proved to be popular Christmas presents. But new drone owners are being warned that they are probably blissfully ignorant of the responsibilities of their new toys -- and this ignorance could prove costly.

There are very strict laws in place governing where, and how, drones can be flown. Failure to comply with these rules could lead to time in prison or an "unlimited fine" -- for people in the UK, at least. So what do you need to know before you take your drone for its maiden flight?

Continue reading →

Amazon is my favorite store. I don't just mean online either -- there is nowhere I'd rather shop, including brick-and-mortar retailers too. This is not just because of convenience either -- it has great product selection and competitive prices too. As a Prime member, I can even get my packages in two business days at no additional cost!

While I am totally satisfied waiting two days for my stuff, apparently some people aren't. Using drone technology, Amazon recently (December 7, 2016) delivered a package in a mere 13 minutes! This was the first-ever customer delivery using an Amazon Prime Air drone. Today, the company releases a video of the historic delivery, and it is pretty darn cool.

Continue reading →

Ransomware is expected to deflate a bit next year, but hackers won’t be resting on their laurels, that’s for sure. Instead, they might just move to dronejacking, for a "variety of criminal or hacktivist purposes".

This is according to McAfee Labs, whose new report, the McAfee Labs 2017 Threats Predictions Report, identifies 14 cyber-security trends to watch in 2017.

Continue reading →

"It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a drone!" may soon be a phrase we’ll all be saying. Our skies will be buzzing with these wireless devices, each on a separate mission from safe and timely delivery of a transplant patient’s new organs to expansion of critical search-and-rescue efforts. It’s clear that drones aren’t just for fun and games, but will help improve our lives in countless ways.

Drones are already in operation in a variety of industries, helping to save millions of dollars and support thousands of jobs. Telecommunications companies are now better able to monitor and maintain infrastructure, as well as plan for large-scale events, due to drone use. Complicated construction projects that require 100-foot ladder climbs can be completed in less time with less risk to employees with the assistance of drones. Energy and retail sectors are eager to enhance productivity and efficiency via unmanned aerial systems.

Continue reading →

When Amazon initially announced that it wanted to make deliveries by drone, the world became very curious. The media jumped on the story, of course, driving people to get both excited and anxious about the possibilities.

Like many things, however, the USA government bureaucracy stifled our drone delivery dreams, somewhat. While I am all for safety and testing, I hate to see progress move at a snail's pace. The UK Government seems a bit more open to the unmanned delivery idea, as it is now working with Amazon to begin testing these drones in the nation as a delivery method.

Continue reading →

Whether it says more about their work lives or home lives is unclear, but it seems that more than 1 in 3 working Americans would prefer having a better way to automate all their routine work tasks, such as booking meetings, than have a better sex life. What's also interesting is that 44 percent of those were women and 30 percent were men.

This is among the findings of a survey by automation specialist Built.io carried out in conjunction with Wakefield Research. It also finds that Americans are willing to give up some personal information in exchange for a more automated life.

Continue reading →

Xiaomi is now entering the drone market, as today the company officially takes the wraps off its new Mi Drone. The device starts at just $380, making it one of the more-affordable offerings in this segment, a price which includes a 1080p camera that's built-into the Mi Drone.

Xiaomi is also making a more powerful version of Mi Drone, which packs a 4K camera, that will be available for about $460. In both cases, the camera is paired with a 104-degree wide angle lens and a three-axis gimbal for image stabilization.

Continue reading →