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DJI makes it easier to keep your drone out of no-fly zones
DJI's Geospatial Environment Online (GEO) software already kept pilots from flying its drones in "sensitive areas" and now the setup is getting a lot more useful. The UAV maker is making improvements to the system inside of its Go app that's used to control Phantom and Inspire drones. By doing so, DJI gives pilots easy access to its geofencing system that keeps airports, prisons and power plants permanently locked down in addition to temporary restrictions around special events like stadiums and "national security events."
How the Navy's orbiting robots will refurbish civilian satellites
Geosynchronous orbits above Earth are among the most valuable real estate in the solar system. This band of space is utilized by everything from civilian communications and GPS satellites to government-operated weather and nuclear monitors to military applications like on-demand warfighter broadband. It's also a veritable minefield of broken-down, ground-up derelict satellites.
Drone-maker DJI starts testing GPS-based flight restrictions
After some rather high-profile incidents of drones ending up where they don't belong, manufacturers rushed to find a solution. Otherwise they might have found themselves on the wrong side of some very tough legislation. DJI just launched its solution, Geospatial Environment Online or GEO. It's a geofencing system that keeps your drone from taking off in restricted areas... unless you have a verified DJI account and a credit card on file that is. See, while you can't just go out and fly through Washington DC willy nilly, you can promise to be financially accountable and DJI will turn off the restrictions temporarily.Right now GEO is in beta, so you'll have to either request access to the app on iOS by emailing flysafe@dji.com or you can download the Android APK directly. You'll also need to update the firmware on your drone. If you're not the type to mess with potentially unstable software, don't worry, the final version shouldn't be too far behind.
DJI's drone safety system has you signing up to fly in some areas
DJI is understandably nervous about where you fly its drones given that one owner trespassed on White House grounds, and it's rolling out a new geofencing system to make sure that these kinds of incidents don't happen again -- just hours after rivals 3DR did the same. Its Geospatial Environment Online service gives you updated info on where you're allowed to fly drones, including time-sensitive restrictions. You can't fly over prisons, for instance, and you may face a ban when there's a raging forest fire. However, it also has a unique way of handling exceptions: as long as you're willing to register with a payment card or phone number, you can fly in some restricted areas. In theory, this lets you enjoy your drone in more places while holding you accountable if you screw up.
First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada's high desert
Drive west on US Route 50 through a stretch of Nevada highway known as "The Loneliest Road in America" and you'll eventually find yourself in the rural county of Churchill. Once a solitary leg in the Pony Express route, irrigation transformed swaths of Churchill's high desert areas into thriving agricultural communities more than a century ago. Fast forward to today and Churchill finds itself playing host to yet another interesting dichotomy -- a first-of-its-kind power plant that generates electricity by harvesting renewable resources from both earth and sky. %Gallery-159924%
Windows Phone getting four fresh Xbox Live gaming titles, optimized for Mango
It looks like our friends over at Microsoft have outed a quartet of new Xbox Live games that will be delivered to the Windows Phone Marketplace in the not-too-distant future. Being billed as "optimized for the newest Windows Phone 7.5," the aforementioned -- and somewhat familiar -- titles include: Age of Zombies by Halfbrick, Bullet Asylum by UberGeekGames, geoDefense Swarm by Critical Thought, and Tamagotchi by Namco. Why are these touchscreen-tickling titles familiar, you ask? Three of the four have been proving their mettle on other mobile platforms. GeoDefense Swarm and Tamagotchi are currently available in the iOS App Store; Age of Zombies is available in both the Android Market and iOS App Store; and Bullet Asylum has been in the works for some time -- we were treated to a video preview last summer, which you'll find below. No word yet on release dates, but the foursome's mere presence on Microsoft's site makes us think that we won't have to wait all that long before initiating the download sequence.
Hanson Robokind puts a familiar Frubber face on robotic research (video)
He did it! As promised way back in 2007, David Hanson has turned his little Astro Boy-like Zeno robot loose upon our delicate planet. But Zeno is just one of four face options available for the Hanson Robokind -- the "almost human robot" considered "the best robot on the market" by its maker. In addition to the fully expressive Zeno, Alice, and Einstein (yes, that Einstein) faces, Hanson is also offering the static-faced Geo with fully functional eyes. Each face features Hanson's Frubber biometric skin that contracts and folds to simulate the action of your own flesh-coated facial muscles to create "millions" of possible expressions. These expressions are assisted by natural eyelid actions covering a pair of independently moving eyes, each equipped with 720p @ 30fps cameras for binocular stereo-vision. Rounding out the specs is a complete suite of sensors, microphones, optional Maxon motors, and an embedded computer with open source OS. Hanson's also working on a complete SDK it hopes to release ASAP. Prices start at $8,500 (model R-20) for a static body with motorized head on up to $14,750 (model R-50) for a maxed-out model with fully expressive head and walking body capable of 33 degrees of freedom. And hey, if you buy five expressive faces you'll get one interchangeable walking body for free. Now, get ready to get up close and personal with the entire Hanson family after the break.
2GB Eye-Fi Geo automatically geotags wirelessly uploaded photos, makes your day
Check it, wireless uploaders -- Eye-Fi has just outed its latest WiFi-enabled Secure Digital card, and this one promises to disclose your every move to anyone who'll bother to follow your image feed. Announced today, the Eye-Fi Geo is a 2GB card that will enable users to automatically upload photos from a digital camera while geotagging them as they hit the 'net. The geotagging service is included for life, and for whatever reason, this one's being made exclusively available through Apple stores and online. Of course, it could have something to do with that "seamless integration" with iPhoto and MobileMe, but we're guessing it ought to play nice with other applications and image portals as well. If you're suddenly unable to move on with your life until you've got one of these in your hands, you can snag one today for $59.99. Full release is after the break.
SNK president talks about Neo-Geo and online games [Update 1]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Nintendo_not_letting_publishers_add_online_functionality_to_games'; Ben Herman, who runs SNK Playmore USA, is almost as excited about Neo-Geo games on the Virtual Console as we are. In a recent interview, he discussed SNK's VC plans and Nintendo's operation of the system in general.According to Herman, who, of course, can't give details, SNK expects to release "a certain limited number of titles per month," which is enough to have us cheering, because that's a lot more than the N64 is getting. It's also a much brisker release schedule than the Neo-Geo ever had. The best news, in our opinion? Herman is interested in the Virtual Console as a means of releasing lesser-known and niche games. SNK isn't sure yet whether the Neo-Geo games on the VC will be the AES home versions or the MVS arcade cartridges. We had no idea there was a difference! Of course, there has to be bad news, and it's kind of big: Herman says that Nintendo is not letting publishers add online functionality to games, VC or retail, and probably will continue this restriction throughout 2007.Herman goes on to talk about Nintendo's console library, saying that Nintendo has all of the code for third-party NES and SNES games and needs only permission to release them. Which means Konami officially has no excuse for the fact that we haven't played Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse on the Wii yet. Konami, you're on notice![Update: added the sad, sad news about online games.]
Japanese Virtual Console gets two new systems
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Japanese_Virtual_Console_gets_two_new_systems'; Japanese Wii owners are quite the lucky folk, as word hit today that the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan will be getting games for the NEO GEO and MSX systems. Games for those systems will be available to Japanese consumers come this Spring, so there is still a bit of waiting. No word has hit on whether these systems' games are going to be available to Virtual Consoles outside the region, but we hope that's the case as it could pave the way for more systems to appear on Nintendo's digital downloading service.[via CVG; thanks prof-KOS!]
