flight
Latest
UK moves another step closer towards opening the first European spaceport
While the US might be leading the race to open the first commercial spaceports, the UK is working hard to close the gap. More than six months after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shortlisted eight potential spaceport locations, the government today backed plans to make one a reality.
Mind-controlled drones promise a future of hands-free flying
There have been tentative steps into thought-controlled drones in the past, but Tekever and a team of European researchers just kicked things up a notch. They've successfully tested Brainflight, a project that uses your mental activity (detected through a cap) to pilot an unmanned aircraft. You have to learn how to fly on your own, but it doesn't take long before you're merely thinking about where you want to go. And don't worry about crashing because of distractions or mental trauma, like seizures -- there are "algorithms" to prevent the worst from happening.
Selfies may have led to a deadly airplane crash
Taking selfies while you're driving any moving vehicle is a bad idea, especially in an aircraft -- and unfortunately, those snapshots may have cost two air travelers their lives. The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that a double-fatality Cessna 150 crash in Colorado "likely" occurred because the pilot distracted himself with cellphone self-portraits shortly after takeoff. Action camera footage from a flight just minutes earlier showed the man taking selfies -- investigators believe it's no big stretch to suggest that he repeated this mistake on his final voyage.
Gogo's in-flight WiFi uses fake web security to keep you off YouTube
It's easy to understand why Gogo would curb video streaming given the limited headroom on its current in-flight WiFi service. You don't want to miss important email just because someone in row 29 is watching the latest Epic Rap Battle, after all. However, the company's approach to keeping you off those forbidden sites is raising some major security concerns. Google's Adrienne Porter Felt recently noticed that Gogo is using fake google.com web security certificates to deter people from visiting YouTube. You can bypass any warnings from your browser, but the move theoretically lets Gogo decrypt and monitor your mid-air activity on any secure website, so long as it has the matching credentials.
Breakfast Topic: Revisiting the question of flight
The developers' decision to remove flight from Warlords of Draenor zones was controversial to say the least -- some were fans of the decision and others were decidedly not. We've been without it for awhile now. After having experienced Draenor without it, how do you feel? Personally, I was a fan of removing flight. Getting my first flying mount back in Burning Crusade was a magical moment, I'll admit. Over time, though, I felt its inclusion detracted from World of Warcraft have a cohesive, meaningful world. It's often said that if you don't like flight, you don't have to use it. While that's true, players are going to use all of the tools available in a video game, myself included. I didn't like flight, but the game had flight, so I wasn't going to intentionally make my experience more difficult than that of everyone else. I stand by that. In general, I'm a fan of a no-flying Warlords of Draenor and continue to be. There is one exception: Nagrand. Treasure hunting in Nagrand proved frustrating. Those treasures felt like the developers created a zone intended for flying mounts prior to removing them. Trying to use the Steamwheedle gliders only infuriated me more -- I couldn't even see half of the treasures in the game world to know where to aim even though they were on my map. The glider moved too fast for me to look around and spot it. It's entirely possible (and likely) that I am just bad at navigation with those things, but I gave up on getting those treasures and most of them still lay unclaimed. Trying to get them made me rage more than a little, and for the first time, I wished flight was still a thing. I'm also perplexed why they added an item such as Aviana's Feather in the expansion in which they took a stand against flight. With its relatively short 10 minute cooldown, I can use it to get wherever I want to go without partaking in the actual world whatsoever, much like a flying mount. A glider-on-demand is apparently okay, but flying mounts are not. Bizarre, I think.
United Airlines attendants will get the iPhone 6 Plus to help you mid-flight
Now that Apple finally has a large smartphone, it's venturing into places that were previously off-limits. Case in point: United has announced that all of its 23,000 "mainline" flight attendants will get the iPhone 6 Plus in the second quarter of 2015. Staff will initially use the supersized handset to check email and manuals (typically on the ground) as well as handle your mid-flight headphone and snack purchases. The airline isn't stopping there, however. Future upgrades will let crews report cabin problems, and there are promises of more "customer-focused tools" to help you out. United isn't the first American carrier to use giant phones in the air, but its iPhone plans could still do a lot to make your next flight go smoothly.
United Airlines providing iPhone 6 Plus to more than 23,000 flight attendants
The iPhone 6 Plus has been dominating the phablet market since its release, but thanks to United Airlines the device is about to become omnipresent on certain flights. Today United announced they will be equipping more than 23,000 flight attendants with the devices for company use and customer service. Flight attendants will start getting their iPhone 6 Plus' in the second quarter of 2015. United says the phones will allow attendants to make retail transactions, access company email, view airline manuals, and access the company's internet network. Attendants will also be able to report and follow-up on cabin issues, including needed repairs, through the phones. There's no word yet on how transactions will be handled, but it would be simple and inexpensive to equip the phones with card readers. Sam Risoli, United Airlines senior vice president of inflight services, had this to say on the iPhone program. We are thrilled to make this investment in our flight attendants. iPhone 6 Plus will enable them to deliver an even higher level of flyer-friendly service and will offer our flight attendants simple, one-touch access to valuable work information, enabling them to better serve our customers. In addition to giving its employees the iPhone, United announced plans to develop tools for customers using the iPhone 6 Plus. Whether this will be some version of Apple Pay or simply allowing transactions on the United app, we'll have to wait and see.
Landmark update adds keywords, flight on claims
Today's Landmark update is bound to make many players smile, starting with an optimization pass that should improve framerates and help out lower-end PCs. But it's the addition of the keyword system that is particularly noteworthy, as it will give more depth and purpose to gear. Keywords will "allow items and abilities to communicate with each other," mostly to share bonuses and passive effects. Weapons now have a specific damage type (such as water), and armor now contains cool bonuses like increases your critical strike to 100% when your armor is reduced to zero. The team also announced that players can fly over claims (as long as they have permission) and can snag even more claim expansions as the limit has been increased from five to eight.
Atmospheric bounty hunter White Space explained in dev diary
Curve Studios Design Director Jonathan Biddle discussed the alpha version of his latest game White Space in a new developer diary video. In it, bounty-hunting players fly from one pretty, polygonal, procedurally-generated planet to the next to take down their targets.
EverQuest II's Aerakyn race is spreading its wings November 11th
A few weeks ago we peeked into EverQuest II's impending Altar of Malice expansion with Senior Producer Holly Longdale and Creative Director Akil Hooper. In addition to touring the zones and basking in the beauty of the artwork while weaving through dinosaurs, I also got a glimpse of the newest race coming the game and gleaned a few interesting tidbits about these scaly, winged creatures. Although not technically a part of the expansion, Aerakyn will become available to players for purchase on the same day that AoM goes live for All Access members: November 11th. Be a dragon! With a new race incoming, some players are already trying to determine whether they will bump an alt or just buy a new character slot. It's not just the opportunity to be what is arguably the first real dragonkind in the game (sorry Sarnak!) but the chance to experience the game as one of the very few flight-enabled races. The Aerakyn, like the Fae and Arasai introduced in a previous expansion, utilize their wings from day one. Of course, the actual flight mechanic cannot be obtained until the appropriate level (85), but the wings still work and the race can glide around. Unlike the Fae and Arasai, however, the Aerakyn will get to use their personal wings as all three advanced mount types.
Researchers take a hint from birds to fight airplane turbulence
We've all been there: you're trying to catch a little shut-eye on a flight when boom, out of nowhere, the plane hits a rough patch and you're dramatically roused from your slumber. Thanks to researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, those rude awakenings just might become a thing of the past. Inspired by the way birds detect and adjust to shifts in wind and airflow using their feathers, the school's Unmanned Systems Research team cooked up a series of sensors they can attach to an (admittedly tiny) aircraft's wings. Here's the thing: as well as just measuring gusts of wind as they pass across the wing's leading edge, the sensors can pick up shifting air currents in front of the wing too before they have a chance to send planes a-tumblin' (naturally, they proceeded to patent the stuff just to be safe). In its current form the tech is best suited for keeping lightweight planes on the straight and narrow, but team supervisor Simon Watkins thinks it could easily be applied to bigger vehicles -- like maybe the shiny new 777 you board down the road.
Austin's airport uses WiFi to gauge how long you'll wait in security lines
If you're a frequent flyer, you've probably panicked after realizing that a long security line could make you miss your flight. You might not have reason to worry at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, though, since the travel hub is now taking advantage of Boingo's WiFi networks to estimate security line wait times. The system works by detecting passengers' WiFi-equipped devices as they swing by security checkpoints, creating a catalog of interval data. With a few months of information, Boingo can almost always predict how long you'll be stuck in the queue -- yes, even during the holiday rush. Austin's approach doesn't require that you sign into Boingo (it's just checking for basic hardware identifiers), and Bluetooth beacons supplement the coverage.
Ryanair now lets you tweet it for real-time flight updates
When budget airline Ryanair finally launched its first Twitter account, many users wondered if they've finally have an official way to vent their frustrations via social media. Although the company does use @Ryanair to improve customer service, it only serves as a way to update followers, not to interact with them. However, following today's launch of @RyanairFlights, Ryanair has started to engage a little bit more, but only with customers who are interested in receiving real-time flight updates. The automated service asks you to follow the new account and then send it the flight number you want updates for (eg FR102). Ryanair then gets back to you with the status of that particular flight, providing scheduled departure and arrival times, and news of whether it landed early or not. Luckily, you don't have to endure that perky 'on time' jingle if it does.
Engadget Daily: Windows 10 preview, the deal with vape modding and more!
Wondering what all the e-cig hullabaloo is about? Today, we take an in-depth look at the birth of vaporized nicotine and its growing, mod-addicted community. That's not all we have on deck though -- read on for our news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Watch a tiny robot fly an aircraft nearly as well as a real pilot
Autonomous aircraft are likely to be the future of air travel, but we're not quite there yet; even with autopilot systems in place, most airplanes are designed with human pilots in mind. South Korean researchers may have a clever robotic stopgap, however. Their tiny PIBOT automaton uses a mixture of flight data and visuals to fly using real controls. It still needs intervention shortly before touchdown, but it can otherwise take to the skies as well as many organic air crews -- it may even be a bit better in a few areas, since it uses its camera to align neatly with the runway on takeoff and landing.
Airbus' helmet display concept would take your mind off your flight
If you've ever been on a long flight, you've probably wanted to tune out your fellow passengers -- and plugging in some headphones is only going to do so much. If Airbus ever brings a recently patented helmet display to market, though, you may never have to put up with mid-air distractions again. The headrest-mounted wearable would combine headphones with visor-projected video, producing "sensorial isolation" while you're watching movies, listening to music or playing games. It could even beam a virtual keyboard on to the tray or seat back, so you wouldn't need controllers that take up your already limited space.
The death of the original jumbo jet, Boeing's 747-400
Later this month, Cathay Pacific's 747 will fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong for the very last time. It's a story we're hearing from nearly every airline still flying the most recognizable passenger jet in aviation history -- rising fuel costs are prompting carriers to ground their fleets, opting to shuttle passengers in more modern (and efficient) airliners instead. Hundreds of 747s still take to the skies every day, but their numbers are dwindling, with Boeing's 777-300ER and 787 Dreamliner, as well as the enormous Airbus A380, picking up the slack. The flagships of yesteryear now litter the desert, with several sites in California serving as a permanent resting place for the plane that was once known as the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747-400.
Why your brand-new plane doesn't have a seat-back TV
Earlier this year, I boarded a United flight from Newark to San Diego. After passing the first few rows, a young boy turned to his mother and asked, "Why aren't there any TVs?" "It's probably an older plane," she responded -- but that couldn't be further from the truth. The aircraft, a 737-900 with Boeing's Sky Interior (a Dreamliner-esque recessed ceiling lit with blue LEDs), had only been flying for a few weeks. It looked new, and it even had that "new plane smell" most passengers would only associate with a factory-fresh auto. But despite the plane's clean and bright appearance, the family only noticed the glaring absence of seat-back screens. To them, our 737 might as well have rolled off the assembly line in 1984.
The rise and fall of features in World of Warcraft
I've been playing World of Warcraft since its inception. As a result, I'm as likely to view the game through the lens of my experiences as any player. One of the reasons I'm so thoroughly anti-nostalgia is because I'm actually incredibly nostalgic. If I don't stop myself, if I don't actively make an effort not to, I'll drown in falling down the well of this is how it was and just spend hours annoying the crap out of people who started playing after me. In one guild, I remember doing exactly this - I would spend all raid reminiscing with the other old hands (there were like four of us) and driving the newer raiders crazy comparing fights to raids from BWL to Blackwing Descent. Remember - every fight can be compared to Omnotron. Every fight. One of the ways this shows up is when any new feature is introduced to the game. As a writer for the site, I always try and stay objective about a new feature, and often, I come to love them - I'm a huge fan of transmogrification, for example, and when they announced reforging a few years back I knew immediately it was going to become a mandatory and huge part of gear strategy. But the fact is this - on an emotional level I hate every single new feature as soon as I hear about it, because they're not my World of Warcraft - it takes an effort on my part to be open minded and I don't often succeed. As an example - I've written multiple posts essentially defending the decision to remove flight for a while in Warlords' 90 to 100 zones and leave it out. But the fact is, flight was introduced back in The Burning Crusade and I've gotten used to it. I understand and I support the decision from a design perspective. But emotionally? Emotionally I have flying mounts and I want to fly on them. I just plain like being able to shortcut all the things on the ground, even while I get why the design doesn't support it. This divide between what's new and most probably better for the game and my own desires while playing the game isn't limited to wanting flight, either.
The TSA won't let you board some flights unless your devices turn on
You know how airport security will occasionally ask you to turn on a phone or laptop to prove that it isn't hiding explosives? Well, that's no longer just a rare inconvenience -- if you take certain flights, it's mandatory. The TSA now requires that you power on your gadgets when flying to the US from "certain overseas airports." If you have a dead battery, you're out of luck. You'll likely have to leave that hardware behind, and you might go through "additional screening" at the same time.
