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Amazon surprised a lot of folks when the company unveiled plans to develop a fleet of flying drones that could deliver packages weighing 5 pounds or less to customer’s doors in a matter of minutes.
But Amazon is hardly alone in this endeavor. TacoCopter wants to deliver Mexican food by air (but probably won’t be able to for a while). Zookal wants to delivery textbooks by unmanned drone in Australia. And now it looks like UPS may be looking to use drones in addition to trucks in some situations.
The plans are all pretty much just plans for now — federal regulators still need to set guidelines for drones flying to and fro before the skies start filling up with them. But it’s looking increasingly likely that in a few years drones will be doing more than spying on you.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- UPS is also considering delivery-by-drone service
At this point UPS is “evaluating” drone delivery and hasn’t settled on any plans. It’s not clear if drones would actually deliver packages to your door, or simply help around the warehouse. [The Verge] - Toshiba buys assets of bankrupt SSD maker OCZ for $35 million
OCZ filed for bankruptcy recently, but the company’s assets will live on… as part of Toshiba. [Ars Technica] - An unannounced LG V510 tablet is rumored to be a new 8 inch Nexus tablet, could have same specs as the G Pad 8.3
Apparently some folks had thought the unannounced LG V510 would be a new Nexus 10. But it looks like it shares a screen size (and other specs) with the $349 LG G Pad 8.3, suggesting that if it is a Nexus tablet, it’ll probably have an 8.3 inch screen. [Unwired View] - Google Glass is now an expensive music player, official Play Music app hits Glassware
Because you’ve always wanted to spend $1500 on a glorified (internet-connected) MP3 player… [+Stephen Lau] - Android app Reddit Sync launched a major update, but also launched a “classic” version for folks that don’t like it
It’s nice to get frequent updates to a mobile app… but sometimes you download an update, don’t like it, and there’s no going back. The developer of Reddit Sync offered users a way back. [reddit] - PlayOn adds support for HD streaming
PlayOn is an app that lets you stream internet video to a game console, Roku, or other supported device by routing it through your PC first. That way you can access apps which may not otherwise be available such as Hulu, Amazon, or HBO Go. [PlayOn] - Buy a Kindle Fire HDX from smile.amazon.com and Amazon will donate $20 to charity of your choice (limited time)
Amazon’s Smile site normally lets you designate a charity to send 0.5 percent of your purchase price to. But for a limited time you can send an even larger chunk of change when you buy a Kindle Fire HDX. [Amazon] - Vuzix M100 smart glass goes up for pre-order
Google isn’t the only company hoping to cover your face with a wearable computer. After launching a developer preview, Vuzix is now taking pre-orders for its M100 wearable device. [Android Community]
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Everything can be used as a potential weapon. Please
Sounds like a great opportunity for terrorists to deliver bombs, chemical or biological agents using lookalike drones. No thank you.
Would you also like to ban cars?
No, but this does provide an excellent opportunity for terrorists. Just making an observation.
I guess one could also say that about remote controlled model airplanes and helicopters or quadcopters that are easily bought and flown.
Yes, but main issue is maintaining control… If these drones can be easily hacked then they could be used as weapons of opportunity and that’s something that could be hard to protect against…
Especially, if they allow these drones to be automated… then tampering will be a lot harder to detect… Like someone could just intercept a drone, replace the package with a bomb and then let it continue on its delivery…
So, without proper monitoring and secure control systems then it could be something to worry about…
It doesn’t mean we should block the sale and use of drones but it does mean we should have something in place to help protect against the potential misuse of the technology…