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There are over 770,000 registered drone owners in the US
Over 770,000 drone owners have registered to fly in the US since the FAA made it mandatory in December 2015, Administrator Michael Huerta told drone group AUVSI yesterday. As Recode notes, that's up from 670,000 at the beginning of the year, meaning 100,000 users have signed up in the last three months alone. The FAA has also issued 37,000 Remote Pilot Certificates that let drone owners do filming, inspection and other commercial operations.
iRobot unveils super-compact Scooba 230, new Roomba 700 series
Our friends at iRobot have shrunken its hardwood cleaning child -- not Roomba, the other one -- to about half the diameter of its predecessors (6.5 inches). The Scooba 230 is maintains the same 3.5-inch height and, more importantly, is just as programmable as every other model (in an unfortunate twist of irony, it's now thinner than a Kinect sensor). Speaking of Roomba, the company's also unveiling the new 700 series with a number of cleaning and detection improvements. All autonomous cleaning discs will be available in the Sprint from iRobot's online store with the prices ranging from a penny under $300 for Scooba 230 and $450 / $500 / $550 for the Roomba 760, 770, and 780. More shots / hands-on below; full details in the press release after the break.%Gallery-112273%%Gallery-112272%
Nokia Internet Tablets to get Ubuntu and Qt ports
We've already seen Google's Android mobile OS get shoehorned onto Nokia N810 tablet, but it looks like the Internet Tablet OS is about to get even more flexible with ports of Ubuntu and the Qt toolkit. Nokia is acquiring Qt developer Trolltech, so it's no surprise the Qt is making the jump, but it looks like it'll be mostly a third-party-targeted framework, with the ITOS interface and bundled apps still using GTK+. Nokia told Ars Technica that it's exploring cross-platform possibilities between ITOS and Series60, and that it wants to see if GTK+ and Qt can coexist on the tablets like they do on the Linux desktop. That's pretty ambitious for a low-powered tablet, but we're all for more flexibility -- which seems to be in the cards with the Nokia-sponsored port of Ubuntu to ARM. Several pre-Hardy Heron versions have been ported and run off SD cards, if you're feeling adventurous -- we're not sure what the advantages are, but it's nice to know that Nokia's keeping things wide open.[Via Digg]
Nokia decapitates tablet puppy, upgrades to N800
We're not sure if the new OS or upgraded features actually give it anymore bite, but Nokia's adorable little tablet puppy has on first glance been beheaded and rebuilt with an N800 for a noggin. Actually, after an exhaustive investigation by the Humane Society, it was determined that the 770-based pup was not in fact harmed in some sort of perverse head-swapping operation, but is instead frolicking happily among retired AIBOs and broken Dirt Dogs at the robot hospital. Next up for the family is an N810-crowned model, whose QWERTY grille is sure to make other robot dogs cower in fear. Keep reading to catch a video of this precocious little fellow in action...[Image courtesy of Crave]
Nokia N800 Internet Tablet review roundup
We keep calling it an Internet Tablet like Nokia tells us to, hoping that makes it true. You know what we mean: pop-out keyboard, 3G data, other fancy stuff. All the same, there's definitely a lot to love about Nokia's N800 followup to the 770, including that peppier 330MHz Texas Instruments processor and built-in webcam. Looks like the general consensus is that the N800 is a well executed device, with a beautiful screen, but just falls short of mass appeal. Notable notable omissions include PIM functionality and PC syncing, and video playback is a bit choppy. Otherwise, the N800 should appeal to heavy internet users and VoIP junkies with $400 burning a hole in their pockets, but don't expect to replace your laptop, PDA or cellphone just yet.[Thanks, Eugenia]Read - CNET (7.7/10)Read - OSNews (8/10)Read - MobileCrunchRead - BrighthandRead - MobileBurnRead - New York TimesRead - ThoughtFix
Nokia N800 Internet Tablet unboxed
Well surprise surprise, it looks like Nokia is taking a bit different branding tact with its 770 successor, adding it to the N series and giving it a fancy new N800 moniker. Oh, and did we mention it's been unboxed? Yeah, that's right, the new Internet Tablet hasn't gotten even as much as a release date yet, but it's already been party to that most geeky of rituals. So head on past the break and see this shiny wonder for yourself, there's even some live webcam action to be had -- what's there to lose?
Puppybot has a Nokia 770 for a head
Oh, robots, is there anything you can't do? (Don't answer that.) This latest bot that we've spotted combines the utility of a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet with the personality (and body) of a robot puppy dog. Apparently you can control its movements by using another tablet, and it'll even update its facial expressions to reflect whatever it's doing at that moment. No word on if you can launch Google Talk while it's in dog mode or if you'd just be too saddened by those digital puppy eyes to carry on a decent conversation. Either way, peep the video on the flip side for the full effect.
A few more spy shots of Nokia's 870 Internet Tablet
We knew it was shiny, but that was about it. Now we've got ourselves a few more angles of Nokia's upcoming 870 Internet Tablet, and a few more specs to be getting on with. As noted last time around, Nokia's main addition here is a fancy new webcam, which can apparently rotate to face towards or away from the user. According to our anonymous tipster, things have pepped up quite considerably under the hood, and internal memory has been bumped to 180MB, but the architecture is relatively unchanged. The 870 runs the exact same Internet 2006 OS as the 770, so no update love there. There is a fancy new integrated deskstand, however, along with a much-appreciated SD slot behind the battery cover in addition to that old RS-MMC slot which remains in the same easily-accessible spot. As you might've guessed from the pics, there's no more slide-in "dock" casing for this new version, but Nokia is including a fancy leather case, along with a microphone/headset for getting your VoIP on. Overall, the new version looks to be quite the svelte little number, and while we mourn the continued lack of a physical keyboard, we're sure we can find a few ways to have a good time with this little thing whenever it launches. Catch the rest of the juicy shots after the break.
Nokia 870 surfaces in the wild?
Alright folks, it's a blurry camphone pic, so take this with a grain of salt, but it looks like we've just got our first glimpse of the Nokia 870 in all its shininess. The followup to the 770 (and potential big brother to the 330) supposedly hides a webcam in that little lump to the left, and should have some fancier VoIP functionality, but otherwise it's mainly looking like a facelift so far. A slide-out keyboard? We're not holding our breath.[Via CrunchGear]
More mysterious Nokia GPS handheld pics surface
Still no official word from Nokia about this thing, but two "official" seeming pics have surfaced of the cute little GPS handheld, which at least gives us a bit more confidence in this device -- if little more info. We're mainly miffed at a lack of an obvious web browser on the main menu, but the device -- which some people have taken to calling the 330 -- does have some rugged good looks, and that DivX playback never hurt anybody. We'll naturally be keeping you posted. Second pic after the break.
Nokia prepping a GPS-capable sibling for the 770?
Yeah, we're still waiting for a WiMax-based, thumb board-sporting 770 successor, but until Nokia makes all of our wildest dreams come true in that fashion, it looks like they've got a cute little brother on the way to keep us occupied in the interim. About all we've got to go on so far is this fuzzy camphone pic, but the device purportedly rocks the SiRF Star III GPS chipset, along with a bit of audio and video codec support for entertainment purposes. In truth, the device bears much more of a resemblance to HP's latest iPAQ, the rx5900 Travel Companion, than the 770 line, but hopefully Nokia squeezed in some Linux and WiFi love to make it worth the effort. If it all proves to be legit, we could be seeing this little GPS unit by Christmas, so start saving that indeterminate amount of pennies!
Nokia surprises, unveils Internet Tablet 2006 OS for 770
So instead of revealing that upgraded version of the 770 Internet Tablet as we expected them to today, Nokia flipped the script on us and announced that the Google Talk and keyboard features we had been anticipating will actually be coming in the form of a software upgrade. The good news is that these new features -- part of the company's so-called Internet Tablet 2006 OS -- will be available to current 770 owners through a simple update, although those folks who were expecting a hardware QWERTY option (and not just an on-screen "thumb board") are certainly going to be disappointed. On the plus side, the new OS will support SIP-based VoIP solutions, with Nokia specifically mentioning that a version of the Gizmo Project client is forthcoming. IT2006 will become the default operating system on 770 units, and will be available as a free download to existing 770 users, beginning sometime this quarter.
WSJ sez Nokia 770 followup to feature Google Talk
We've known since February that Nokia was working on a QWERTY-sportin' followup to the 770 Internet tablet, and now the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that the included VoIP app will indeed be, as we anticipated, Google Talk. Unfortunately this means that the device will still be unable to call regular phone numbers out of the box, although G Talk members will at least be able to chat among themselves for free. The WSJ is also reporting (only to its subscribers, not to us) that sources close to Nokia have said that the new device will be officially unveiled on Tuesday, and sell for around $390 when it hits stores.