Amazon proposes a slice of the sky for commercial drones
At a conference hosted by NASA, the e-commerce company calls for a high-traffic strip of the sky to support the wider use of robotic aircraft.
Amazon on Tuesday laid out a proposal for how to regulate commercial drones in the US, suggesting that the government set aside a 200-foot-high stretch of the sky for the devices.
The concept, presented at a NASA-hosted conference in the San Francisco Bay Area on unmanned aircraft systems, would designate the airspace at an altitude of between 200 feet and 400 feet as a high-speed transit area for commercial drones -- such as the delivery drones Amazon is developing -- with a no-fly buffer between 400 feet and 500 feet. Airplanes and helicopters would fly above 500 feet, and local, low-speed drones could fly below 200 feet.
Additionally, Amazon proposed that the drones must be tracked using centralized computer systems.
"Under our proposal everybody has to be collaborative -- vehicles must be able to talk to each other and avoid each other as the airspace gets denser at low altitudes," Gur Kimchi, head of Amazon's delivery drone program, said according to The Guardian.
The Seattle e-commerce company has become a major player in the push to create new laws for unmanned commercial aircraft so it can implement "Prime Air" -- a service it's developing to allow for quick delivery of products to customers' homes using small robotic flying machines. Many drone startups are also part of the effort to expand the use of drones in the country -- hoping to use them to survey farmland, shoot movies and inspect bridges. Google, too, is developing delivery drones.
If these companies succeed in restructuring airspace laws, it could mean people will be seeing many more drones in the sky in the months ahead and they'll have access to new types of services, such as rapid deliveries. Still, the Federal Aviation Administration is likely years away from creating any framework to allow for such broad use of commercial drones. In February, it took an important stepforward by proposing requirements for drones. That proposal, however, included a restriction using drones out of a person's line of sight, meaning delivery drones remain barred under the guidelines.
Antoine Level, CEO of Squadrone System, which makes the Hexo+ drone with a built-in camera, called Amazon's proposal "smart thinking" as more people start using drones for deliveries, transportation and hobbyist activities.
"We will increasingly see more drones hanging around in everyday life as this technology evolves and becomes more ingrained in consumers' daily lives," he said.
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Microsoft promotes Windows 10 with new launch site and tutorial guide
Designed to drum up interest in the new OS, the launch site tries to convince you to upgrade, while the tutorial guide explains the new features in Windows 10.
Microsoft is trying to excite the masses about Windows 10 through an official launch site and quick guide touting its new OS.
The new Windows 10 launch site reminds us all that the new OS will officially start rolling out on Wednesday, July 29. Microsoft has dropped a series of hints on the site trying to explaining why Windows users should upgrade. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users for the first year. Further, the latest version of Windows offers a host of new features that Microsoft hopes will convince people to upgrade.
Microsoft is counting on Windows 10 to erase the bad taste of the touchscreen-focused Windows 8, which failed to catch on with consumers, especially PC users. The company is trying to get the new OS into the hands of as many people as possible. Beyond offering it free to Windows 7 and 8.1 users, Windows 10 will be available for members of the Windows Insider Program, who have been downloading and testing each new version, or build, of the OS and offering their feedback to Microsoft.
The launch site is trying to stir excitement through Microsoft's Windows 10 "Upgrade your world" theme. The site displays live tweets from Windows 10 fans from around the world as the new OS will be available in 190 different countries. Microsoft also has planned "fan celebrations" on Wednesday in 13 cities around the world. These celebrations will offer hands-on opportunities, demos, entertainment and "opportunities to meet the Windows team," according to the company.
Further, the site has listed 10 reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 10, including:
1. Familiarity in Windows 10
2. Do personal things with Cortana on Windows 10
3. Do unexpected things with Microsoft Edge
4. Game Epically on Windows 10
5. Do multiple things at once with Windows 10
6. Security in Windows 10
7. Say "Hello" to Windows Hello on Windows 10
8. A look at the great built-in apps in Windows 10
9. Continuum on Windows 10
10. Coming July 28th
2. Do personal things with Cortana on Windows 10
3. Do unexpected things with Microsoft Edge
4. Game Epically on Windows 10
5. Do multiple things at once with Windows 10
6. Security in Windows 10
7. Say "Hello" to Windows Hello on Windows 10
8. A look at the great built-in apps in Windows 10
9. Continuum on Windows 10
10. Coming July 28th
From the launch site, you can also click a button to "Upgrade for free," which takes you to a page that explains how to reserve your free copy of Windows 10. There's also a "Read the FAQ" link, which takes you to a Windows 10 Q&A page that answers a host of questions about the upgrade.
To delve more into the inner workings of Windows 10, Microsoft has also published a 14-page tutorial guide highlighting the OS's key features. The guide dives into such features as the Cortana voice assistant, the new Edge web browser, the Xbox gaming app and the new Start menu.
Microsoft will start the launch of Windows 10 on Wednesday by pushing the upgrade to members of the Windows Insider Program. The upgrade will then segue to Windows 7 and 8.1 users who have reserved their free copy. The company is using a phased approach so that it can fix any bugs found in the initial stages and fix them as the rollout moves forward.
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Can OnePlus 2 equal success for a small smartphone startup?
OnePlus, a small Chinese upstart, drew big hype after it released the OnePlus One -- a smartphone geek's smartphone. With its follow up device, the OnePlus 2, it looks to take the next step.
You've heard of Apple, Samsung, Motorola and Google. Now, a Chinese startup called OnePlus hopes you'll think of it too.
When the company last year unveiled the OnePlus One, the newest entrant into an already crowded smartphone market, it was sleek, affordable and well-reviewed. It was also only sold by invitation and in limited quantities.
The OnePlus One became the smartphone geek's smartphone. The $249 phone ran CyanogenMod, a stripped-down version of Google's Android software for mobile devices. It was well-liked among hardcore Android fans. To date, the company says it has sold almost 1.5 million devices.
The company's next act is even more ambitious, with a device appropriately named OnePlus 2. The device, being unveiled Monday night, will cost $329 without a contract and will still only be available on an invite-only basis. But this time, the company's prepared for excited fans -- it will have as many as 50,000 phones ready at launch.
There's also more at stake. When the Shenzhen, China-based company was founded in in 2013, it was a 10-person team. Now it's got 900 people strewn across a handful of offices, including ones in Taipei and Bangalore, while the company is also eying an office in Europe. (Carl Pei, OnePlus's 25-year-old co-founder and global director, says a US headquarters is probably a year or two away.) The OnePlus One was a surprise hit, but with its follow up act, the company has to prove it's more than just a niche flash in the pan. The new phone has also ditched CyanogenMod in favor of a version of Android developed in-house by OnePlus, which the company has dubbed Oxygen.
Samsung and Apple are the top two smartphone makers in the world. There's little chance a small startup like OnePlus could topple those empires overnight, but the hype around the upstart company suggests there is more room for competition than previously thought -- especially from a two-year-old newcomer with a shoestring marketing budget. The company joins several other handset makers -- like LG, HTC or Sony -- that have been vying to compete with the market leaders.
That's why the company initially only made 1,000 smartphones, afraid that if it made too many and didn't sell them, the company would go under. With such little inventory, OnePlus set up an invite-only system to make sure everyone who wanted a phone could get one immediately, without having to wait for backorders. But people who bought the phone -- which was available in 17 countries including the US -- began spreading the word, and demand soared.
"It's had a viral effect," Pei said in an interview. He swears the gambit wasn't a marketing stunt: "It was just us getting lucky, stumbling upon this."
Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC, said the company became popular with uber-geeks hoping to see an upstart succeed in what's often considered a locked-up market. "OnePlus is the Little Engine that Could," he said. "At the very least, it's staked its claim as a differentiated Android phone."
OnePlus isn't the only Chinese smartphone company looking to make a bigger push in the United States. Xiaomi, whose global vice president was a key executive for Google's Android mobile operating system, is slowly trying to woo US consumers. It doesn't have a smartphone available in the US yet, but in May it launched a Web store to lay the groundwork for its inevitable US debut.
Will it all add up?
Pei is brash, young and confident -- his Twitter handle is @getpeid and he has a nonstop smirk on his face while he talks about his phone. He was born in Beijing but grew up in Sweden and now shuttles between Shenzhen, the US and Europe living out of rentals on Airbnb, the apartment and home sharing service.
But his goal is lofty. When Pei, CEO Peter Lau, and other members of the early team started the company, they asked each other what was the most user-friendly smartphone maker in the world. They agreed it was Apple. But they could not agree on a clear No. 2.
"No one that made Android phones cared about the product as much as Apple did with their phones," said Pei. "That's where we saw the opportunity."
This time around, the company has a few more tricks -- and a bigger budget -- to market its new device. Even the launch itself has been beefed up: OnePlus is unveiling the product during a keynote that will be streamed in virtual reality. It can be viewed on Google Cardboard, the Internet giant's build-it-yourself VR headset.
The company is also setting up popup shops in nine cities around the world, including New York City's Times Square, where people can try out the phone. OnePlus will also advertise the phone on the giant Nasdaq billboard in Times Square.
Of course, taking on Apple, Samsung and Google is no easy task. Pei said he feels good about the new device but understands the difficulty.
"We're are super anxious about our second product," admits Pei. "A lot of people are one-hit wonders."
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