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Gadgets News

Hands-On With The DJI Phantom 3 Professional Drone With 4K Video Camera At CES 2016

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

DJI Phantom 3 Professional Drone

The perfect drone for rookie pilots?

It sure sounds like it. DJI debuted its brand-new Phantom 3 Professional drone, equipped with a built-in 4K video camera on a 3-axis stabilization gimbal, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 Unveiled event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon.

The company’s brand-new drone doesn’t disappoint, as a perfect gift for the inexperienced drone pilot, who still desires to take HD-quality video and photo. See … you can have it all.

Not only did DJI unveil the drone Monday, but it also slapped a $999 price tag on it, making it considerably less than the company’s $3,000-plus Inspire 1 V2.0 drone that came before it.

(Photo : Mark Lelinwalla | Tech Times)

The difference between the two is the Inspire 1 is meant for experienced pilots, while the Phantom 3 Professional empowers rookie flyers to take to the sky, almost guaranteeing them HD-quality, cutting-edge 4K video. Hard to beat, especially considering as they improve their flight skills, their video and pictures will be that much greater.

The Phantom 3 Professional also touts 25 minutes of flying time off one single charge and its embedded Wi-Fi allows it a range of 1.2 kilometers. In addition, its 4K video camera is also capable of taking 12-megapixel photos.

DJI’s newest drone can be found on its website as of Monday.

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Hands-On With The Parrot Disco Developmental Fixed-Wing Drone

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Parrot Disco

Disco’s back.

Parrot pulled the covers off its developmental fixed-wing drone — the Disco — as part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016’s Unveiled event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Monday.

Reminding everyone that it introduced the very first consumer drone six years ago at CES 2010, Parrot came full circle Monday afternoon, showing off the Disco, its fixed-wing drone, which is being molded to be powered by a single propeller in the back of the aircraft. Quite impressive.

Parrot envisions this fixed-wing unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) to come right out the box, “easy to fly” and “ready to fly,” as a company rep tells Tech Times. The developmental drone could be controlled via a smartphone, tablet or special hardware controller made by Parrot.

(Photo : Mark Lelinwalla |Tech Times)

But it gets better than that, considering the developmental drone features an HD fisheye camera lens, capable of 1080p output, embedded into the aircraft’s nose. That and it might have stuck it to its competitor DJI and its new drone, the Phantom 3 Professional, which was also released just a few booths away at the same Unveiled event.

That’s because, while a rep for DJI boasted that the Phantom 3 is capable of giving pilots 25 minutes of flight time off a single charge, a rep for Parrot claimed that the developmental Disco is aiming to deliver 45 minutes of flying time.

That being said, it’s only in development, while the Phantom 3 has fully launched … with an equipped 4K video camera.

With the Federal Aviation Administration recently laying down the gauntlet for drone regulations, it seems as if DJI and Parrot are trying to make it easier for inexperienced pilots to take the skies.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Feet-On With The 3DRudder, A Peripheral That Helps You Move Around Virtual Reality

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

3DRudder

Real, honest-to-goodness mainstream consumer virtual reality is just around the corner, thanks to the work of companies like Oculus. One of the the big hurdles for the technology thus far, however, has been locomotion. How do you actually move around the exciting new virtual world?

While a number of companies are offering a big, bulky treadmill solution, 3DRudder’s got something a lot simpler in mind.

The device is a $175 board with a rounded bottom that makes it possible to move around a virtual reality environment by simply tilting your feet forward or back. It removes the need for a giant machine, and better yet for many gamers, you can pretty much sit still for the process.

(Photo : Brian Heater | Tech Times)

I tried the peripheral out along with an Oculus Rift gaming demo, and I have to say, I was pretty impressed. I got the hang of it in about 30 seconds — tilt forward for forward, back for back, shift the board to turn around and apply pressure with opposite sides of the feet to change elevation.

It was a solid experience that really added to the reality of the virtual world — and I mananged to navigate around just fine without breaking a sweat.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

XYZprinting Shows Off $499 3D Printer At CES 2016, Priding Itself On Mixing Colors

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

3D Printer

3D printers are advancing at such a rapid rate that it’s easy to overlook some of their most-basic functions — like the ability to mix colors.

It’s not that XYZprinting boasts being the first company to have a 3D printer that mixes colors. It doesn’t. But what the company does think it might have is a 3D printer that mixes colors better than any other 3D printer on the market.

And at the Consumer Electronics Show’s 2016’s Unveiled event on Monday afternoon at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, XYZprinting showed off its new 3D printer and its ability to mix colors, hoping to make the machine available to the public during the second or third quarter of this year, as told to Tech Times by Gary Shu, XYZprinting’s senior manager of global marketing.

The proof was in the objects that XYZprinting had on display at CES on Monday, each touting an impressive mix of colors that you just don’t see pulled off as flawlessly on a widespread basis when it comes to 3D printers.

(Photo : Mark Leinwalla | Tech Times)

That being said, Shu tells Tech Times that the company has ways to go in perfecting its ability to mix colors to create beautiful 3D objects. He says that as of now, XYZ is happy that its machine can mix red and yellow, green and yellow, and blue and yellow with detailed gradiation in between — some of which can be seen above. However, Shu calls mixing black and white to get gray “the ultimate challenge.”

Still, the $499 price point for a 3D printer, especially one that seems to have a real flair for its tints and hues, seems to be a bargain.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Twitter Patent Tips Plans for Tweet-Controlled Drones

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Twitter Patent Tips Plans for Tweet-Controlled Drones

Twitter has not yet made any announcement on entering in to the unmanned aerial vehicles or UAV segment, but it appears to be working in that direction. The micro-blogging website last week was granted a patent by the USPTO that proposes a “messaging-enabled unmanned aerial vehicle” that can be controlled by tweets, and shares images or videos to Twitter accounts.

A company spokesperson when approached by CNBC about the patent, declined to comment but said, “Two words: Drone selfies.” The patent also throws some light on how Twitter plans to make use of this feature.

“Account holders of the messaging platform may control the UAV with commands embedded in messages and directed towards an account associated with the UAV. Controllable elements of the UAV include UAV location, camera orientation, camera subject, UAV-mounted lighting, a UAV-mounted display, a UAV-mounted projector, UAV-mounted speakers, and a detachable payload,” states the patent, which was filed back in June this year. It also talks about telepresence or interview functionality using the drone. It is also said that Twitter can use its Periscope app to capture and share events or interviews.

This year, we saw several companies testing their own version of drones for various purposes. Not only for pizza delivery, drones are now being also used to map glaciers and wetlands by scientists. Amazon is another e-commerce giant that has been testing drones to deliver packages. However, with advancement in drone technology the rules and regulations for them have also been stated. The US Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month released rules for drones that require registration of UAVs weighing more than 250 grams (0.55 pounds) and less than 25 kilograms (55 pounds). China alsoseems to be working on the same front.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Drone Helps Icebreaker Navigate Treacherous Antarctic

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Drone Helps Icebreaker Navigate Treacherous Antarctic

Australia’s flagship icebreaker has for the first time used drone technology to navigate treacherous Antarctic waters, overcoming significant technical hurdles, officials said Wednesday.

The Aurora Australis is on an annual resupply voyage to Australia’s Casey research station with images of sea-ice conditions from the quadcopper drone helping navigation decisions.

The Australian Antarctic Division said the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was proving to be a valuable addition to the current suite of sea-ice navigation tools, which include satellite imagery and radar.

But it has not been plain sailing in the sub-zero conditions.

“The electronics do not like snow, the batteries do not like the cold, and the drone’s compass did not like the ship’s thousands of tonnes of steel,” Australian UAV director James Rennie said.

“Because the compass couldn’t calibrate on the ship and its need to work alongside the unit’s GPS, there was potential for the UAV to behave unpredictably.

“We found that by disabling the GPS and flying the drone in full manual mode enabled the drone to operate successfully and deliver the required footage.”

The drone carried out five missions during the nine-day voyage to Casey, with a decision on its more permanent use for navigation to be made after a review of the inaugural flights.

Australia has four stations in the Antarctic wilderness and Aurora Australis has already made a resupply run to its Davis outpost. It is also scheduled to visit Mawson and Macquarie Island, delivering fuel, supplies and expeditioners for the year ahead.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Qualcomm Video Flaunts Drone Flying in Autonomous Mode

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Qualcomm Video Flaunts Drone Flying in Autonomous Mode

Ahead of CES 2016 next week, Qualcomm has given us a preview of its Snapdragon Flight drone platform in a new video, which it had announced back in September last year.

The new video by the tech firm shows a drone automatically detecting obstacles and dodging them without any commands given by the user in its Autonomous flight mode. The video also shows the drone’s 3D mapping technology using its inbuilt cameras and sensors. Motion planning functionality has also been shown. Qualcomm will be giving more details about its drone platform during CES 2016 in Las Vegas.

For a quick recap, Qualcomm in September announced its Snapdragon Flight drone platform allowing designers and developers to create new products that support 4K video recording with stabilisation, GPS navigation with obstacle avoidance, and real-time flight control. The Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight is a single development board measuring 58x40mm and is based on a Snapdragon 801 SoC.

For reference, the Snapdragon 801 has a quad-core 2.26GHz CPU, integrated Adreno 330 graphics, a Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, and dedicated image and video processing hardware. Dual-band Wi-Fi n, Bluetooth 4.0 and global satellite navigation will allow for remote control and communications. Qualcomm’s Quick Charge tech will allow for rapid charging between flights, allowing for longer deployments and less turnaround time.

Qualcomm at the time of unveiling said it will be providing hardware and software aimed at high-end drones. Camera capabilities include simultaneous 4K and 720p recording and encoding, video stabilisation, image enhancement, inertial measurement, and optic flow for navigation and obstacle avoidance. There is also support for additional sensors such as a barometer.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight platform will be targeted at high-end commercial and consumer drones as well as other robotic applications. It can be implemented as a reference design or customised further by developers.

The first drones built on the platform are expected to launch in the first half of 2016, including one from Yuneec.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Lenovo Launches Modular ThinkPad X1 Tablet, Laptops, and More Ahead of CES

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Lenovo Launches Modular ThinkPad X1 Tablet, Laptops, and More Ahead of CES

Lenovo ahead of CES 2016 has unveiled several new devices it will launch at the trade show. The Chinese consumer electronics giant introduced 12 new laptops, an all-in-one system, a tablet, a monitor, two 2-in-1 laptops, two ThinkCentre-in-one systems, apart from a new budget laptop with Chrome OS and Windows 10 variants.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga will be available starting this month from $1,449 (roughly Rs. 96,300). The laptop’s Oled display model will however only hit the market in April, and its pricing has not yet been revealed. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon can be purchased in the US starting February from $1,299 (roughly Rs. 86,300). While the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet will reach the shelves in the same month starting $899 (roughly Rs. 59,700), the Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 AIO and the Lenovo ThinkVision X1 monitor will be available to buy starting March from $1,029 (roughly Rs. 68,300) and $799 (roughly Rs. 53,000) respectively.

Lenovo will start selling its ThinkPad T460, ThinkPad T460p, ThinkPad T460s and ThinkPad T560 from February starting at $909 (roughly Rs. 60,400), $1249 (roughly Rs. 83,000), $1,059 (roughly Rs. 70,400), and $969 (roughly Rs. 46,200) respectively. The Lenovo ThinkPad X260 Ultrabook, along with ThinkPad L460 and ThinkPad L560, will arrive the same month starting at $929 (roughly Rs. 61,700), $749 (roughly Rs. 49, 800), and $779 (roughly Rs. 53,000) respectively. The ThinkPad 13 Windows 10 version will however, be available later in Q2 this year starting at $449 (roughly Rs. 29,800), while the Chrome OS version will reach around June priced at $399 (roughly Rs. 26,500). The ThinkVision X24 Pro monitor is scheduled for June starting $399. ThinkCentre TIO II will be available from May, starting at $239 (roughly Rs. 15,800) for 21.5-inch display model and $269 (roughly Rs. 17,800) for 23.8-inch model. The Business Edition of Yoga 900 and MIIX 700 were also unveiled, but without pricing. While the Lenovo Yoga 900 Business Edition will be available from February, the Lenovo MIIX 700 Business Edition will be available from April.

The Chinese tech firm has also launched a bunch of accessories for laptops and AIOs, namely the Lenovo Productivity Module, Projector Module, 3D Imaging Module, ThinkPad X1 Wireless Touch Mouse, ThinkPad X1 In-Ear Headphones, ThinkPad X1 Sleeve, and ThinkPad 65W Micro Power Adapter, all of which fall in a $50 to $279 price range.

Lenovo touted its ThinkPad X1 Yoga for its 0.66-inch thickness and 2.8 pounds (roughly Rs. 1.2 kgs) weight. According to the firm, it is world’s first convertible laptop featuring an optional Samsung Oled display. The Oled display is optional. The Windows 10 laptop also comes with an active pen for better productivity.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon at the CES 2016 was claimed to be the world’s lightest 14-inch business Ultrabook by Lenovo. The laptop includes customer-centric design improvements based on feedback. It features increased memory and storage capacity, improved connectivity, and more lightweight at 2.6 pounds (roughly 1.17 kgs) than the previous versions. The ThinkPad X1 series houses up to 1TB Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD storage; Qualcomm Snapdragon X7 LTE modem with 4G LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation support for better connectivity, and more.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 AIO (seen above) is said to sport a slim 11mm frame, making it one of the thinnest desktops in the world. It comes with anti-glare 23.8-inch display. The Lenovo ThinkVision X1 as per the tech company is the world’s first monitor to receive the TUV Eye-Comfort certification. It features a 27-inch UltraHD edge-to-edge anti-glare display and houses USB type C port as well.

The Windows 10-based ThinkPad X1 Tablet features a modular design and is rated to deliver up to 15 hours of work time when clubbed with the Productivity Module accessory. Besides several ports and dock connectivity features, the tablet houses an integrated projector as well. The projector comes as a part of the detachable battery. Intel RealSense 3D camera is also one of the highlights of the modular tablet. It is powered by an Intel Core m7 processor.

Lenovo also showcased the ThinkPad W700ds (seen below), which it claimed was the world’s first dual screen mobile workstation. Not much is known about the device for now though. The new ThinkPad T460 and T560 launched at CES 2016 were touted for their “incredible battery life”, while the 14-inch ThinkPad T460s was said to deliver the same performance but measuring just 18.8mm thin and weighing under 3 pounds (roughly 1.3 kgs). The laptop is made for business professionals. The ThinkPad T460p sports a QHD IPS display; supports up to 32GB of storage; DDR4 RAM; and comes powered by a choice of 6th generation Intel Core ‘H-Series’ processors.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X260 is a 12-inch Ultrabook that’s claimed to deliver up to 21 hours of work time with an optional battery. The ThinkPad L460 and L560 were touted for their Mil-Spec durability and “ThinkPad confidence within a high-value package.”

For students, Lenovo launched its ThinkPad 13 with a choice of Chrome OS and Windows 10. The device features USB Type-C port; up to 512GB of SSD storage, and up to 16GB memory on the Windows model. It also is said to be the first ThinkPad device to support Chrome for Business. Both ship with 6th-gen Intel Core i5 processors

The ThinkVision X24 Pro monitor comes with an integrated Intel 3D RealSense camera and multiple ports including USB Type-C. It can be clubbed with optional accessories for increased productivity. The company additionally announced its 2 nd generation ThinkCentre-in-One 22 and 24 models that will be available in 21.5-inch and 23.8-inch configurations. Both will also be available in touchscreen options.

As for the Yoga 900 Business Edition and MIIX 700 Business Edition, Lenovo says they carry the same design as their consumer-versions but include security features with a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip and extended warranty options. The MIIX 700 Business Edition 2-in-1 includes a 12-inch 2160×1440 pixel tablet display with Gorilla Glass. It also features an Intel RealSense R200 3D camera.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Users Report Surface Book Issues: Battery Drains, Sleep Mode Problems, Freezing Keyboard And More

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

Surface Book

Microsoft Surface Book has undoubtedly gained popularity with its impressive hardware capabilities. However, this also comes with a slew of bugs that the Redmond-based tech firm is trying to fix via firmware updates.

A number of Surface Book users took to the Microsoft Community forum to share problems they have encountered.

Here is a list of some issues users have reported.

Freezing Mouse And Keyboard

A few users share that they have a freezing keyboard and mouse when using the Surface Book for a long period of time.

While Microsoft already tried to provide a fix for the problem through the latest update, there are still some users who are experiencing this bug.

One user details the issue on the Microsoft Community forum.

“Today is my first day where i have worked about 6 hours on this new machine. The keyboard and mouse has locked up 4 times where i had to reboot the machine to get it working again,” says the user. “Last night it froze two times and today it froze four times. The onscreen keyboard would work but that is worthless when you’re actually working.”

To fix the problem, some users suggest to force shut down the laptop, which will then reset the Bluetooth connection. Another way is to try the “two-button shut down” by pressing and holding the volume up and the power button. Wait until the Surface Logo pops up before releasing both buttons.

Not Entering Sleep Mode Properly And Battery Drains

Some owners of the Microsoft device say that closing down the lid does not enter sleep mode correctly, making the laptop very hot. This then leads to battery drain.

“After work I closed the lid, threw it in my bag and headed home,” says another user. “When I got home I took it back out and it was warm to the touch and the battery was about 15 [percent] less (25 minute car ride).”

A few users suggest to head over to the Control Panel to enable hibernate mode when closing the laptop lid.

Specifically, go to the Control Panel to activate hibernate mode. From there, locate the Power Options, then head to the System Settings.

Back-Facing Camera ‘Freaks Out’

One user says the device’s back-facing camera “freaks out” although the front-facing shooter works perfectly fine.

“Using the stock ‘camera’ app, the entire display freaks out (flickers, etc) when it uses the back-facing camera,”says the user. “But when I click the swap-camera button for it to use the front-facing (selfie) camera, it’s just fine.”

He goes on to say that it’s the whole screen that flickers, not just the camera app. The problem happens every now and then, even when the camera app and Windows updates are applied.

‘Too Hot’ And ‘Pretty Loud’

Another user reports the Surface Book he purchased in late November is “always very warm and is pretty loud” when he is using it.

“I got it in late November and it has been through at least one update as far as I can remember,” says the user. “I am afraid it’s going to overheat.”

One user suggests to ensure all updates are applied.

Issue On Starting Up The Laptop

Another user reports that when he starts the computer, he usually gets the blue screen with “swirling white circle.”

“It does this until I hold down the power button for 30 seconds and do a hard reboot,” says the user. “This happens sometimes when it wakes up from sleep, but it almost always happens when I start up the computer after being powered down.”

Unstable Wi-Fi Connection

The same user shares another problem related to the laptop’s Wi-Fi connection.

“I will be working one minute, and the next the network connection is no longer active,” he writes.

He says that the only way to temporarily patch up the issue is by rebooting the laptop.

There are also issues related to the Surface Book, so let’s hope the company throws in an update to fix these bugs soon.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Lenovo Gets a Head-Start on CES With Four New ThinkPad X1 Devices

by onkar April 4, 2024

written by onkar

ThinkPad X1 Tablet

When you’re Lenovo, you go big or go home. And the company’s already gone through all of the trouble of setting up shop in Las Vegas, so it might as well announce a whole bunch of products, right? The Chinese computer maker is actually getting a jump on just about everyone else, with several updates to its well-loved ThinkPad X1 line four days before CES is officially scheduled to kick off (not that we’re keeping track, or anything).

The centerpiece of the big refresh is the ThinkPad X1 Tablet. The Windows convertible weighs in at an ultralight 2.4-pounds and sports the company’s signature full-size keyboard.

What’s really cool here is the device’s modularity, adding functionality to the tablet with clip-on accessories, including a battery pack that bumps life up to 15 total hours, a Presenter module that brings a pico projector and HDMI port, and a the novel 3D Imaging module, which brings a rear-facing RealSense 3D camera.

(Photo : Lenovo)

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga is almost as light, weighing in at 2.8 pounds and measuring 0.66 inches thick. The tablet features a stylus-like pen for making highlights and taking notes that is stored and charged inside the device. Users can also upgrade the convertible with an optional Samsung OLED display for improved visuals.

Targeted at more business-minded users, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a 14-inch ultrabook that weighs in a 2.6 pounds. Along with the rest of the aforementioned devices, the Carbon offers up to 1TB of storage and option 4G LTE connectivity.

Oh, and there’s also a all-in-one. The ThinkCentre X1 AIO sports a 27-inch display on a thin frame and a number of options, including a USB C port the company hopes you’ll use to connect up to the new ThinkPad X1 Tablet.

The Tablet and Carbon arrive in February, starting at $899 and $1,299, respectively. The Yoga, meanwhile, is arriving later this much, starting at $1,449. Those looking to add the all-in-one to their desktop will have to wait for March. That one starts at $1,049.

[“source-techtimes”]

April 4, 2024 0 comment