We were always curious as to why computers don't make it easier to take advantage of that fancy little Bluetooth headset of yours -- why buy a whole 'nother headset for Skype and Counter Strike (is that what kids are up to these days?) when your ridiculously overpriced Jawbone will do just fine? Callpod's newly released Drone USB Bluetooth adapter makes your Bluetooth headset look just like a regular headphone / mic combo to a PC or Mac, perfect for chewing out the kids from your hotel room over some long-distance Skype without messing with a tangle of wires. Callpod is also touting a 100 meter wireless range, and can naturally do regular, boring Bluetooth chores like transferring files and tethering your keyboard. The Drone is available now for $50.

[Via Crave]

You may remember this little dumbell-looking Recon Scout drone we saw last year, when it had just been implemented in the military. If you'll recall, the robot selflessly allows itself to be thrown into wild and unpredictable situations deemed "too risky" for people, then transmits grainy video back to an Operator Control Unit. Well, it turns out that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was interested in this rugged bastion of self-sacrifice, too. They can apparently envision all kinds of nightmare scenarios where prisoners have weapons and no human wants any part of it -- which is why they've agreed to a rental contract where they get ten devices and developer ReconRobotics gets feedback from the Department in exchange. Seriously though, aren't there any jubilant tasks we could set this guy to? He's getting to be such a killjoy.

We didn't even flinch when we heard that hovering drones employed by Big Brother were going to work in the UK, but somehow those buggers have managed to wander over to America's east coast. Granted, the pilotless drones -- crafted with good intentions by Honeywell -- that are slated to report in to the Miami-Dade police department aren't exactly the same, but they are expected to be used for similar duties. More specifically, they'll be loosed in order to oversee "urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting." According to a department spokesman, the fuzz are only looking to use it in "tactical situations as an extra set of eyes," but don't be shocked to see flashing lights from a vehicle without wheels next time you're rolling (a little too) quick down South Beach.

Sure, you laughed yesterday when you heard professor Noel Sharkey warn against the impending, apocalyptic man vs. machine battle that was to come, but this news may have you singing a different tune. A pilot program in Nevada which employed robotic sentries to patrol Hawthorne Army Depot is getting an upgrade: 24 brand new drones called MDARS, or "Mobile Detection and Assessment and Response System." The $40 million purchase will nab the Army diesel-powered robots which operate at speeds up to 20 MPH, use RFID tags to keep track of locks and barriers, and can run for 16 hours without refueling. Though the bots have been tested with automatic weapons, these new versions will be equipped with non-lethal armaments, thus making them considerably less deadly when Skynet goes online.

[Via Wired]

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology recently demonstrated a fuel cell system that can power an RC plane for up to 5 hours on just 500 grams (17 ounces) of liquid hydrogen, and is expected to power a UAV variant of the plane for up to 10 hours when the autonomous pilot system in completed. KAIST hopes to use the tech in a future Korean military UAV, and, pending funding, expects to have a complete production-ready drone within two years. Sadly, there's no word on when Korean kids will be able to hold all-night drone-flying stamina contests, but we're waiting for that YouTube video pretty eagerly.

[Via AutoBlog Green]

It's often been said that where there's water there's life, but NASA now looks to be seeing if the same can also be said of good 'ol methane, with New Scientist reporting that researchers at the agency have drawn up plans for a rocket plane that could one day sniff out sources of the gas on Mars. If it's given the go ahead, the plane would parachute down to Mars before being cut loose at an altitude of 1.5 kilometers, when the plane's rockets would kick it send it skimming across the Martian surface. On board sensors would then be able to detect methane at levels as low as a few parts per billion, as well as determine the source of the gas, which some speculate could be living micro-organisms. Of course, there's no indication of when that might take place, with the plane already failing to make the shortlist for NASA's 2011 Mars Scout mission.

Man, it's a good thing we only write about "piloted drones", right? Check out this voicemail the San Francisco Chronicle received from a reader who got WAY too bent out of shape over the paper's use of the phrase "pilotless drone" in the sub-title of an article about UAVs.

P.S. - Someone please remix this.

[Via reddit]

LISTEN

Creating a robot that can manage to fly around a room on its own without hitting a wall is a mean feat to pull off, but that's exactly what a team of professors at MIT have managed to do. Their multiple-UAV test platform is capable of complex tasks like following moving ground-based objects with little or no direct control from a human -- yup, unfortunately that geek dream of a cockpit will no longer be required if these guys get their way. The current test setup is made up of $700 four-rotorblade helicopters, monitored by networked computers, which could theoretically allow a single person -- or even a bored student with an internet connection -- to control several UAVs at a time. Current flying drone systems require a team of trained personnel to keep a single UAV airborne and on target, so this endeavor is certainly a step up in software terms. How well the test system will transition from tracking radio controlled cars in a lab to lets say, a stolen car going at 125MPH, remains to be seen.

Read - Videos of the UAV in action
Read - The Boston Globe

The folks who keep planes from crashing into one another over at the FAA were none too pleased to read about that little UAV demo conducted by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department this weekend, with the agency telling Sheriff Lee Baca and company to keep their drone grounded pending the result of an investigation. What's more, the department could actually face disciplinary action for the SkySeer's inaugural flight -- FAA spokesperson Laura Brown commented that although the agency wasn't "peeved," they were "definitely surprised" that authorization had not been requested for the trial. Commander Sid Heal, point man for this program tasked with spying on Angelinos locating criminal suspects, lost hikers, and missing children, countered by arguing that since private citizens can fly model planes without FAA clearance, it's puzzling that providers of a so-called public service would be required to do so. While this temporary delay will probably come as a relief to Big Brother-fearing privacy advocates, it still seems pretty inevitable that one day thousands of these drones will be patrolling every major city in America, along with millions of other walking, crawling, rolling, swimming, and hovering robots keeping an eye on every square inch of public space.

[Thanks, Joel J.]

We knew that something like this was coming sooner or later, and now the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has officially begun testing what will likely be the first unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle to be deployed domestically in an urban environment. Called SkySeers, these three-pound, six-foot wide drones will initially be used on an as-needed basis to replace helicopters in searching for criminal suspects or lost children and hikers, according to Commander Sid Heal, as the $25,000 to $35,000 upfront cost of each plane will quickly be recouped by the $1,200 saved for every extra hour a copter can stay grounded. Since each of the foldable, GPS-guided SkySeers -- which are equipped with remote-controlled thermal and pan-tilt cams -- can only stay aloft for a maximum of sixty minutes, it's not yet feasible to use them as round-the-clock watchdogs, but privacy groups are concerned that eventually the sky could be filled with drones ripe for all kinds of abuse. Still, unless you're involved in some shady activities, a few more cameras peering down from the sky shouldn't bother you much more than the bevy of ATMs, security cams, and cameraphones already capturing your every move from the moment you step out of the house in the morning.

[Via The Independent, pic courtesy of Octatron]