New Smart Drone Breaks $1K Barrier

A new aerial drone from 3D Robotics packs two computers and an array of powerful features for US$999.

Solo's two computers -- one on the craft and one in the controller -- have enabled it to make some radical breakthroughs in autonomous flight and camera control, according to 3DR.

Built on 1-GHz Cortex A9 ARM chips running Linux, the computers allow operators to preprogram the drone's flight path so they can concentrate on shooting video or stills from the unmanned aircraft system and not be distracted by piloting tasks.

Solo is the first drone to support full control of GoPro cameras and deliver live-streaming HD video to mobile devices or through its controller's HDMI port, 3DR said. Video can be delivered to the devices from up to half a mile from the point of takeoff.

"The integration with GoPro is genius, because they're almost the de facto standard for cameras on these kinds of devices," said Matt Waite, founder of the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"Because of the bang for your buck that you get with GoPros, they're everywhere," he told TechNewsWorld. "For a significant number of people buying these devices, they're not going to need to buy a GoPro because they already have one."

Gimbal Optional

To get maximum performance from a flying GoPro, 3DR also is offering the optional Solo Gimbal ($399). The gimbal, which is used to mount and stabilize a camera on the drone, gives an operator the ability to start and stop recording from the GoPro while in flight -- which reduces the amount of extraneous footage captured during a shooting session.

Combined with 3DR's mobile app or buttons on the drone's controller, the gimbal lets an operator snap stills and change settings, such as FOV, FPS and exposure compensation.

In addition, Solo's Gimbal can stabilize a camera to a tenth of a degree in pointing accuracy. It also can provide extra power for a GoPro and, combined with Solo's controller, create Smart Shots, allowing the drone's computer to take control of the gimbal for capturing what it determines to be the perfect shot.

Although Solo is priced at $999, when you add the price of the gimbal and a camera to the package, the total cost would be in the $1,600 ballpark.

"It's surprising to me that the gimbal costs so much and is not included in the main package," said Andrew Amato, editor-in-chief and cofounder of Dronelife.com.

"They did a really good job of keeping the price of the unit itself at $1,000," he told TechNewsWorld, "but I thought at least the gimbal would be included in the $1,000."

Smart Battery

For hands-off operators, Solo offers auto takeoff, landing and return home. It also has an e-brake feature for stopping the craft in mid-air.

The smarts in the drone extend to its battery. It not only keeps tabs on its power level, but also tracks the drone's distance from home base and warns the operator when it's time to return. 3DR estimates Solo's battery life to be 25 minutes without a payload and 20 minutes with one.

For Solo buyers with an eye to the future, the drone has a gimbal bay so other companies can make compatible gimbals, an accessory bay for additions such as a ballistic parachute system and LED lighting systems, and easy-to-swap motor pods for changing propulsion systems. What's more, software for the system can be upgraded wirelessly.

"This is a cool, sleek well-finished product that's going to appeal to a lot of people," said Mike Fortin, president of CineDrones.

However, commercial users may be looking for a little more that Solo can deliver.

"At the end of the day, it's still only flying a GoPro," Fortin told TechNewsWorld. "Commercial users want something that can fly a camera that is better than what your average GoPro can put out."

7 Best Tips to Extend Android Battery Life

Battery life is one of the biggest issues in the Android world today. Take your SIM card out, turn off Wi-Fi and never touch it and it'll sit there happily, lasting for a whole week on one charge. But try to use it for anything "smart" and, well, that's where the problems start.

It's no secret that smartphones are notorious battery hogs, with some devices having an almost embarrassing screen-on time. Those big luscious AMOLED and LCD screens are an obvious drain on your battery, but did you know there's lots of things you can do behind the scenes to get the most out of your Android? Here are Some tips to help you get the most out of your smartphone battery.

Tips to Extend Android Battery life.

1. Turn on power saving mode :Power saving mode is a Samsung feature which controls CPU and screen power as well as “haptic feedback” which uses vibrations to signal that a specific function has been utilized.  

You can turn it on and configure it by swiping down from your home screen and then choosing the “Settings” icon (which resembles a gear):

You will see the list of your available settings: Scroll down the list until you see “Power saving mode” and set it to “On”: 

Tap “Power saving mode” to review and configure the options. I recommend checking all three options to get the most out of power saving mode but you can pick and choose according to your preferences.

 

2.Deactivate Wi-Fi when not needed

If your phone's constantly sniffing out and trying to connect to every Wi-Fi signal in the area like a robot dog on heat, you're wasting power. Switch off Wi-Fi when out and about or when you know you're not going to be needing it. A Home screen toggle will make this easy. Think of it as something boring but essential you have to do, like always putting your seat belt on.

3.Uninstall unnecessary apps

You can never be too sure what's running itself in the background, what with all the multi-tasking, self-uploading, auto-replicating features in today's modern Android apps, so at least minimize the chances of something randomly hoovering up all your battery by constantly trying to connect to some non-existent server, by deleting any unused or old apps.

4. Reduce your multimedia use

Music and videos are the best ways I know to drain a battery.  It’s cool that smartphones can do this stuff but I find myself very conservative with my multimedia use.  I use a Blackberry as an MP3 player when I go to the gym, for instance, since it works fine for my purposes and I don’t have to run down the battery on my Android.  Consider a cheap music player to carry on the side if you just need something to listen to.

If you’re on a coast-to-coast flight and don’t care whether you run your battery down watching a movie on your device, far be it from me to stop you, but if you need your device to communicate with the outside world (such as on a camping trip) I’d skip the entertainment.

5.Use Apps:

Apps like Battery Doctor will give you a much better indication of what's literally eating away at your phone's battery over time than Android's own limited battery life checker, which could help finger something that's the key culprit in draining power. And if you can live without it, bin it.

Another Good app is Cleanmaster that i would recommend. Cleanmaster helps you keep track of what’s running on your device and can kill off processes taking too many resources.

This allows you to end programs directly. The program allows you to perform several functions; Select “Junk Files” >  Selecting “Clean Junk” can restore some of your memory, making your Android have to work less.

The “memory boost” function is somewhat similar; it can kill open apps you don’t need. There is an App Manager which works in a similar fashion to the native manager on the Android, but you can backup apps first which can be handy: 

Download These Apps which i recommend you to.

 

6.Turn off auto-syncing for Google accounts:

If you don't need every single Google account updated every fifteen minutes, just go into your Settings and Google account and turn off auto-sync for those apps you don't need constantly updated.

Steps to Disable the Auto sync mode:

• Go to the Home screen page and then select the Application section .

• Then move to the Accounts and sync option .

• Now press to it and find the auto sync option.

• Under it you have to turn OFF this option.

• And you see that your auto sync option is on OFF mode.

7.Turn Down the Brightness of your Screen

Turn down the brightness and turn off Automatic Brightness: It's probably obvious at this point, but you'll be surprised by how much this one alone helps to improve battery life. This will also help your Eyes and your android battery life too.

These were the 7 Tips i wanted to share so that it helps you to extent your Android Battery life. I hope this helps.