Kitty Hawk Flyer
Flyer aircraft. © Kitty Hawk.
Kitty Hawk, a company backed by Google cofounder Larry Page, is dedicated to dreaming up flying machines. This week, it released a video showing a prototype of an electric pleasure over-water craft. The Flyer does not require a pilot’s license, and learning to fly it is said to be a breeze. Kitty Hawk expects to start selling the Flyer by the end of 2017. You can already put down $100 to place your name on the waiting list and obtain a $2,000 discount on the finished machine.
⇨ Engadget, “Kitty Hawk’s Flyer isn't the flying car you were promised.”
Waymo accepting applications
Chrysler Pacifica. © Waymo.
Waymo, Google/Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, is looking for hundreds of families in the Phoenix, AZ area to test-use its self-driving vehicles in real-world conditions. The vehicles are Chrysler Pacifica mini-vans, a model that has already been used for other tests. “We’ve given 10,000 rides internally, but if you’re just providing experiences to folks inside the company, you’re missing the broader range of diversity,” John Krafcik, Waymo’s chief executive, said. Rather than offering people one or two rides, the goal of the program is to give participants access to a fleet of 600 vehicles every day, at any time, to go anywhere within an area about twice the size of San Francisco. Test families will access the service for free. Waymo says that, for safety and regulatory reasons, a Waymo employee will sit in the driver’s seat, which may keep some families from sharing and bonding…
⇨ Bloomberg Technology, “Alphabet’s self-driving cars to get their first real riders.”
Fallen in the line of duty
K5. © Knightscope.
It’s robots vs. humans. Last year, a Knightscope security robot knocked over a toddler in a shopping centre. This year, one of its colleagues was tipped over in an altercation with a drunk. The robot escaped with a few scratches. Knightscope, a company from Mountain View, charges 7 $ per hour for its security robots which, among other things, can read 300 license plates per minute, stream 360-degree videos, detect guns (soon), and alert live security guards in case of anomalies. Among Knightscope’s clients are Microsoft and the Sacramento Kings.
⇨ Ars Technica, “Silicon Valley security robot beat up in parking lot, police say.”
ARM Image Processor
© ARM.
ARM has unveiled the Mali-C71, an image signal processor (ISP) specifically designed for automotive applications. New driver assistance and autonomous driving systems require an increasing number of on-board cameras, but images produced must be processed and analyzed in real-time. Unlike a traditional camera, the goal of the Mali-C71 is not to produce pretty pictures, but to provide the highest possible levels of clarity and reliability and an ultra-wide dynamic range (24 stops). This processor is the first imaging product of a new family called Mali entirely dedicated to image processing; ARM has other image processors in the works, optimized for other uses. For mobile phone applications, the ISP can come not as a separate component but built right in a SoC, along with the CPU and GPU.
⇨ ARM Community, “Picture perfect: Driving next-generation image processing for automotive.”
⇨ The Verge, “ARM designed an image signal processor, and that’s a big deal.”
See-through Galaxy S8
See-through Galaxy S8. © JerryRigEverything.
You’ll either love it or hate it. If you’re a lover, and willing to give up the manufacturer’s guarantee, Jerry (he of YouTube JerryRigEverything fame) can show you how to make the glass backing of your Galaxy S8 totally see-through. Judging from the video, the diceyest step seems to be the removal of the panel, especially disconnecting the fingerprint recognition system and camera. Then, just use a solvent to remove the paint and protective film. Jerry also removed the wireless charging block, which covered too many pretty components. Transparency comes at a price: you’ll lose your manufacturer’s guarantee, your phone will no longer be under warranty, it’ll no longer be waterproof and it will (maybe) have lost its wireless charging feature. But it will look cool and unique. Unless Samsung starts selling its own transparent models.
⇨ The Verge, “You have to live life on the edge to get this transparent Galaxy S8 phone.”
