UKTV Play app for iOS and Android revamps, extends free box sets line-up
UKTV Play has matched the big terrestrial catch-up services for some time, with an amazing line-up of content available for free across a wide range of platforms.
However, it has now dramatically improved its iOS and Android apps to match them in style and ease of use too.
The new version of the on demand app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices has a new landing page, with a faster, more intuitive interface. It puts the broadcaster’s shows front and centre, making them more easy to find.
In addition, new genre listings add hubs where you can find programming you most like, alongside similar content.
There is also a stack of new box sets that have been added to watch. Entire series of shows from UKTV channels Dave, Really, Yesterday and Drama are available to view on demand, including Red Dwarf, Dara O’Briain’s Go 8 Bit and Taskmaster.
“The new, streamlined interface has been designed so viewers can find something great to watch in seconds,” said Oliver Davies, UKTV’s head of digital products.
“The desktop site update has been brilliantly received by our users, helping to drive a significant increase in views, so we’re delighted to be rolling it out onto our iOS and Android mobile apps. The new-look app has a premium feel that mirrors the quality of our content.”
Huawei P10 video render shows more rounded edges and front-mounted home button
Huawei has sent out official media invites for an event on the 26 February, the Sunday before Mobile World Congress officially kicks off. We’re expecting to see the new P10 flagship, but while we may need to wait a few weeks until the real deal, Twitter tipster @OnLeaks has taken all the rumours and leaks so far, and, in collaboration with 91mobiles, has created a detailed render of what the P10 could look like.
- Huawei P10 and P10 Plus: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
And how does it look? Very good if you ask us. The edges are much more rounded than on the P9, which, in our opinion, help to give the P10 a more premium look than before.
The renders also show a front-mounted home button which is also thought to double up as a fingerprint scanner, something the P9 didn’t have. While smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung as expected to ditch the home button in favour or screen size, it could be seen as a little unusual for Huawei to go from no home button, to fitting one.
Elsewhere there’s a USB Type-C port for charging and a 3.5mm headphone port, cementing the fact that Huawei, along with Samsung and many other smartphone brands, believe there’s life in the analogue audio port yet.
- Mobile World Congress 2017: Nokia, Sony, Huawei smartphones and more
The video created by OnLeaks is just of the P10 – there’s no mention of the P10 Plus – which could with either a 5.2in or a 5.5in 2560 x 1440 Quad HD display. It should also retain the dual camera setup from the P9, and this is something that appears in the rendered video.
Of course, this is just an artist’s interpretation of the rumours that have been suggested so far, and shouldn’t be taken as a representation of the final product. Fortunately, we don’t have long to see the real P10 in the flesh.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Fit Up, Look Sharp
Between the Gear S3 Frontier and the Gear IconX smart headphones Samsung already has a healthy collection of wearable tech to hand. The Samsung Gear Fit 2, however, is something different. Not just from what Samsung has on offer, but different from the rest of the market too.
An activity tracker first and foremost, it echoes the likes of the Fitbit Blaze and Garmin Forerunner 35 in pairing a fitness focus with more traditional smartwatch skills. What sets this run-tracking, music-controlling, notification-pushing device apart, however, is its look.
There’s no squares or circles here, instead the Samsung Gear Fit 2 has gone big on the gorgeous display front by wrapping it around your wrist. It’s an impactful, elegant look, that’s for sure. But is it the runner’s choice?
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Design
- Available in black, blue and pink
- Weighs 30g for unobtrusive fit
The Samsung Gear Fit 2 looks like a fitness tracker, albeit a luxury one. It’s a good looking bit of kit, but one that goes heavy on the rubber and plastic – which you can feel.
Pocket-lint
At just 24.5mm wide, the Gear Fit 2 is streamlined and will fit wrists that measure between 155mm and 210mm around. It looks similar to the Fitbit Charge 2 in its shape, although the Samsung option better curves to the natural contour of your wrist. Combine this with a body that’s just 30g in weight, and you’ve got a device that’s comfortable to wear whether you’re walking to the shops or completing a lengthy trail run.
Although comfortable, the Fit 2 doesn’t always offer the most secure fit. A push-through button clasp lets you pick a strap notch that’s right for you. These are overly spaced, however, meaning there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself constantly switching between notches that are a little on the loose side or slightly too tight. It’s also too easy to knock the clasp open either while running or sat at a desk.
Fit aside, this is an elegant, uncluttered wearable. The only distraction to its smooth form are the two physical buttons on its right hand edge. The lower down button is the home/power control, while the larger upper one is the back button. Combined with a decent sized, if unusually shaped touchscreen, these make the Gear Fit 2 a joy to navigate and control.
The band is also available in a trio of colours – blue, pink and black – and can be extensively customised to your personal tastes and needs. Although the rubber strap can be removed and changed, the Gear Fit 2 uses its own proprietary clasp, so getting a replacement isn’t easy and the options are severely limited. Instead, the device’s customisation skills come from its software.
Pocket-lint
There are nine different watch faces and designs pre-installed on the device, and dozens more available to download. Each of these faces can be customised with a firm press on the screen – allowing you tweak colours and complications, such as showing the number of steps taken or switching the clock design. These customisation options aren’t quite as advanced and robust as on the Apple Watch 2, but there’s enough there to suit your own personal style.
Overall, while plastic and rubber might not usually fall into the category, the Gear Fit 2 actually looks and feels like a high-end device. That, however, is mostly down to its display.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Screen
- 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display
- 216 x 432 pixel resolution
- Curved panel hugs the arc of your wrist
The Samsung Gear Fit 2 doesn’t have a traditional screen and that, in this instance, is a good thing. There’s no squat square or even circular panel. Instead there’s a 1.5-inch curved, rectangular Super AMOLED display that wows from the off.
This isn’t an aggressive curve, but rather a subtle arc that mimics the shape of your wrist. Unlike curved smartphones we’ve seen in the past, such as the LG G Flex 2, this curve is more than a gimmick. It helps give the device a more comfortable, natural fit without making it too big or bulky. Yes, it looks a bit like the Microsoft Band of old, but it’s far less rigid and uncomfortable.
Pocket-lint
As well as boosting the device’s design, the 1.5-inch display looks great in its own right. Thanks to the 216 x 432 pixel Super AMOLED panel used, the Gear Fit 2’s screen really pops with bright, vibrant colours and deep blacks. There’s not much need for extensive, detail rich graphics on such a small panel, but everything the Gear Fit 2 pushes towards your eyes looks great. It can suffer from some reflections, however, which some simpler devices won’t.
Compared with the similar Fitbit Charge 2, the Gear Fit 2 looks like a completely different breed of device. Despite its relatively narrow form, this rectangular panel is also easy to control, and proves highly responsive to your touch commands, even when running. Thanks to its screen alone, this wearable crosses from core fitness tracker to out-and-out smartwatch challenger.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Features & performance
- Built-in music player
- Wrist-based notifications
Before we get to the Gear Fit 2’s fitness skills, its broader array of smartwatch-inspired features deserve a nod. Although there aren’t thousands of compatible apps waiting to populate this wearable like there is with the Apple Watch or latest Android Wear devices, there’s still plenty this Tizen OS-based fitness tracker offers.
Pairing with your smartphone via Bluetooth 4.2, the Gear Fit 2 can double as a music-controlling, message-relaying smartwatch rival of sorts. It’s call alerts are simple to read, with pre-written text alerts able to be sent with a swipe and a press if you can’t accept the call.
Pocket-lint
Text, email and messaging alerts are similarly elegantly presented, and although you can set your own quick responses, that’s as far as the on-device replies go.
Beyond being a high-tech messenger pigeon, the Gear Fit 2 can also be used to control your music without having to remove your phone from your pocket. It’s not just track selection you can control from your wrist either, with volume controls and track repeat options also being bestowed on the Gear Fit 2. For those who want to leave their phone at home while running, there’s an in-built music player and 4GB of internal storage (only 2GB is actually available to you), letting you store plenty of tracks on your wrist. You’ll need a pair of Bluetooth headphones though as there’s nowhere to physically plug in.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Fitness Tracking
- Built-in GPS for more accurate tracking
- Integrated heart-rate sensor
- Auto activity tracking abilities
As well as being a legitimate smartwatch rival, the Gear Fit 2 is pretty handy at keeping an eye on your regular training sessions. You don’t even need to tell it what you’re up to, as wrist wear will sense what activity you’re up to a trigger a suitable session automatically.
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If you don’t want to leave things to chance, and do want to add in extra features like GPS tracking, however, you can easily instigate your own running session by scrolling through the touchscreen menus.
Once activated, on-device running metrics are plentiful, but not always the most accessible. Although you can see your current run time, calorie burn, distance covered, pace and heart rate, all of this information is on separate screens. The large touch panel makes swiping between these easy, but you’ll still find your pace slowing slightly as you concentrate at working your way through them. We’d rather have a customisable screen option – even if it did mean smaller text for multiple metrics.
And there’s so much to scroll through as the Gear Fit 2 is rammed full of sensors. Most of these are spot on in terms of performance though, with the heart-rate sensor proving particularly accurate and responsive.
Further bolstering the device’s fitness-friendly skills set, the Fit 2’s built-in GPS abilities are quick to pick up a signal and we suffered no dropouts or lost data during our testing. Running in both built up and open areas, every inch of our runs were perfectly mapped, with accurate distances and even a breakdown of our routes relayed directly on the device’s screen when the session was over.
Pocket-lint
Things aren’t so accurate when simply walking, however. The Gear Fit 2’s accelerometer-based step-counter is a bit on the generous side, regularly upping our step tally by a couple of hundred footfalls per day. You’re going to want to lower your step target slightly to accommodate for this.
There’s another problem, too: the Gear’s barometer, which is used to measure altitude and how many flights of steps you’ve walked up, is lousy. We were repeatedly told we’d hit our floors climbed target while walking along a perfectly flat road. Although stair sets were, for the most part, accurately counted, there’s too much variance elsewhere for this to be classed as a valuable addition.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Software and app
- Tizen operating system
- Android and iOS compatible
- App for fitness metrics breakdown
So many solid activity trackers are let down by an uninspired companion app. Although the Samsung Gear Fit 2 doesn’t succumb to the same pitfall, neither is it backed up by the best, most detailed software.
Pocket-lint
Although now compatible with iOS devices as well as Android handsets – although not as detailed for the former) – the Gear Fit 2 is a wearable best attuned to being paired with a Samsung smartphone and its accompanying Gear Fit and S Health software.
- S Health review: Is Samsung’s smart app in the best shape?
From the app you can see your daily step count mapped out as well as have detailed metrics of each run – from average heart rate to max speed – relayed in an easy-to-understand manner.
Although all your fitness data is presented in a user-friendly and visually appealing way, sadly there’s not much depth to your data, nor guidance on how to build up your fitness levels.
Because of this, the Fit 2 is a fitness tracker that requires you to know what you’re doing. Although you can see your heart rate staying high or your KM split times slowing down, there’s no prompting to take a rest day. Similarly, knocking your step count out of the park on a daily basis fails to trigger a prompt to increase your targets to give yourself a more challenging goal to work towards.
Pocket-lint
It’s not all top-line doom and gloom though. For those who thrive on a bit of competition, you can see where your average daily step count puts you against all other Gear Fit 2 users and, if you know friends with their own device, can create your own leagues for an added motivating factor.
Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: Battery Life
- 200mAh battery
- Decent, compact charging dock
It might not look like a traditional smartwatch, but the Gear Fit 2 has the same underpinning problem – a weak battery life. The device’s battery is supposed to last you three to four days on a single charge, but you’ll struggle to get near these claims.
Go on a short run, keep tabs on your daily step count and enjoy regular wrist-based notifications, and you’ll find yourself struggle to enter a third day without being in the battery danger zone.
Pocket-lint
Although nightly charges aren’t a must – that’s a one-up on the likes of the Apple Watch and Moto 360 Sport at least – you’ll need to connect this tracker to the mains every other evening.
Fortunately that’s a pleasingly simple process, despite the need for yet another bespoke charger. This is one of the better custom charging units out there. There’s no bizarre crocodile clip style attachment like the Garmin Forerunner 35 or pop-out body like the Polar M200, instead, there’s a small pod-like dock that you can place the Gear Fit 2 on.
Magnets help snap the gadget into place, while connection pins on both sides of the charger mean you can drop the tracker on either way up and enjoy instant and speedy recharging. It’s compact and not too ugly, meaning it’ll happily sit on your nightstand.
Verdict
The Samsung Gear Fit 2 is a well-round fitness tracker that’s more than the sum of its parts. Its integrated GPS and heart-rate sensor are both on point, while its sizeable screen is both beautiful and responsive.
While it offers core tracking skills and relayed data, there’s just not enough depth to its app to make it a must for serious fitness fans. So it depends where you sit on that scale. The battery life is so-so too, especially if you’re often exercising.
Overall the Gear Fit 2 is a great first wearable for many, while the hardened runner might want to look elsewhere.
The alternatives to consider
Fitbit Charge 2
It’s cheaper but not quite as flashy, the Charge 2 will be better for the fitness enthusiast thanks to its deeper app support.
Garmin Forerunner 35
Better fitness tracking with still solid smart notifications comes at the cost of design details. A well-rounded alternative.
The Morning After: Tuesday, February 14 2017
The unlimited data battles of yesteryear are back as T-Mobile and Verizon offer all the data you might need (with fair usage caveats), and silly Nintendo party games are also making a return on the Nintendo Switch.
Big Red vs. MagentaVerizon & T-Mobile do battle over unlimited data
Over the weekend, Verizon revived the “unlimited” tier for mobile customers, promising all the data (potentially throttled after 22GB), calls and texting you can handle for $80 per month. In response, T-Mobile tweaked its One plan to include HD video and 10GB of LTE data for tethering, making for an even better deal. Whichever you choose, it looks like competition is heating up and the offers are getting better.
Get sillyA closer look at Nintendo’s ‘1-2 Switch’ mini-games
The Nintendo Switch’s silliest launch title is closer to a party game than a console title. But will 28 games be enough to keep you playing months later?
Not a good ideaPewDiePie loses Disney deal
YouTube star PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg, decided to publish videos with anti-semitic messages and imagery. As a result, Disney-owned Maker Studios has canceled its joint venture with him.
‘That’s it! I’ve come up with a new recipe!’Kitchen inspiration courtesy of ‘Final Fantasy’
Cooking and food are surprisingly significant in Final Fantasy XV. But can you really cook (and eat) these fictional recipes? And are they any good? Mat Smith gains some cooking experience (points) and tries it out.
Nier, far, wherever you are.How ‘NieR’ was brought back from the dead
Taro Yoko, director of NieR: Automata, might not have much confidence in the story he’s telling in Nier’s latest iteration. It’s a cult favorite that’s being brought back courtesy of PlatinumGames: a Japanese studio that has a reputation for producing high-caliber action games such as Bayonetta, Vanquish and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Nick Summers plays through the latest preview.
Power padApple takes a step towards wireless charging for iPhones
Rumors have suggested the next iPhone revision will support wireless charging, and Apple’s new membership in the Wireless Power Consortium seems appropriately timed to make that happen. This group governs the Qi standard most devices use; however membership isn’t a guarantee the tech will show up, or that if it does, Apple will stick with the standard.
Not exactly NetflixApple TV show trailers for ‘Planet of the Apps’ and ‘Carpool Karaoke’
Apple Music is getting closer to including Apple Television, with some exclusive shows for subscribers. Yesterday we got our first peek at trailers for two original shows, and… well, how much do you like James Corden and Shark Tank/The Voice? They don’t get many points for originality, but the effort is there — expect the first episodes of Planet of the Apps in spring.
But wait, there’s more…
- Nikon cancels DL compacts
- What’s on TV: ‘Planet Earth II,’ ‘Doctor Strange,’ ‘Chef’s Table’ and ‘Halo Wars 2’
- Democratic senators push for details on Trump’s smartphone use
- Latest Razer Blade laptop packs a 4K screen, Kaby Lake CPU
- Watch the latest ‘Ghost In The Shell’ trailer. It has some story this time.
Scientists are making VR displays that match your eyesight
One of the reasons why VR games and experiences cause headache and nausea is because headsets’ displays can’t optimize images for your eyes. A team of Stanford scientists seek to change that by developing VR displays that can adjust how images are shown based on your age and any other existing condition. For example, a lot of older people have a harder time focusing on objects close to them than younger people do. “Every person needs a different optical mode to get the best possible experience in VR,” lead researcher Gordon Wetzstein explained.
The researchers have already begun testing software fixes and two different types of hardware options. Since the main problem with current displays is that they make it difficult for your eyes to focus on one point due to their proximity to your face, the prototypes were designed to solve the issue. One of them uses liquid lenses that can be adjusted by squeezing a dial, while the other works like binoculars and moves the display screen back and forth. Both of them incorporate an eye-tracking technology to figure out where you’re looking.
At the moment, the prototypes can only help you if you are nearsighted, farsighted or presbyopic, but it can’t help you with, say, astigmatism. The researchers say this is only the beginning, though, and they’re hoping their “research findings [can] guide these developments in the industry.”
Source: Stanford University
Apple Exploring Fingerprint Sensing MicroLED Displays Sans Touch ID
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent that describes a display capable of reading a user’s fingerprint without a dedicated Touch ID sensor (via AppleInsider). The patent is interesting given current rumors swirling around the iPhone 8, which is expected to do away with the home button and integrate Touch ID directly into the display, but perhaps more noteworthy is the patent IP’s re-assignment from LuxVue, a little-known company acquired by Apple in 2014 that developed low-power microLED-based displays.
Titled “Interactive display panel with IR diodes”, the patent details a touch display that uses specifically microLED-sensing technology, rather than the traditional active matrix hardware utilized by most consumer smartphones and tablets.
The technology replaces larger capacitive sensors with smaller infrared light emitters and sensors, which sit alongside the RGB LED display substrate or on a microchip mounted to the substrate. These “interactive pixel” formations can then be calibrated to perform any number of functions, including ambient light sensing, proximity detection, and notably complex touch detection, which works by bouncing infrared light off a user’s finger and back to the sensing diodes.
In the latter operation, specific rows – or a whole portion of the display – scan for a user’s finger, which generates a proximate positioning bitmap to inform the system of the target’s location and immediate surround. Bitmaps can include data like the intensity of incoming light, enabling a deeper analysis of the object and its surface curvature – dark and bright spots corresponding to the ridges and grooves of a fingerprint, for example.
The patent describes a couple of embodiments for the technology, including a microLED display with a higher density of interactive pixels in certain areas of the screen, such as where a virtual home button may be located. Alternatively, said pixels may ramify throughout the display in sufficient number as to make fingerprint identification on any portion of the screen a possibility.
Apple has explored other systems for enhancing display fingerprint recognition in the past. As with all patents though, the standard qualification applies: Apple may deem the LuxVue invention surplus to its upcoming product requirements. However, on its own, the system goes to show that reliable fingerprint identification does not necessarily rest on Touch ID alone. With rumors suggesting Apple may incorporate iris scanning into the iPhone 8, the security implications of dropping Touch ID’s focused capacitive drive ring altogether may not be so great after all.
Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: patent, Touch ID
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Apple’s Beats 1 Radio Station Launches in Singapore
Apple’s 24/7 online radio station, Beats 1, finally went live in Singapore on Tuesday, almost two years after Apple Music first launched there (via Mashable).
The availability of Beats 1 – which does not require an Apple Music subscription to listen to – is notable for a country in which iPhones usually launch the same day as in the U.S., and where Apple’s streaming music service has proved very popular since its debut in 2015, when it went live in over 100 countries worldwide.
The lack of Beats 1 in Singapore until now has been a source of frustration among users, given that the station has been streaming to other countries in the region, such as Thailand and the Philippines, since that time.
At present, Beats 1 remains unavailable in the Bahamas, Bahrain, Burkina-Faso, China, Egypt, Jordan, the Lebanon, Mozambique, Namibia, the UAE and Qatar.
Tags: Apple Music, Beats 1
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Pokémon Go Trading and Real-Time Player Battles Coming Soon, Says Niantic
Pokémon Go fans waiting for a new reason to resume their engagement with the hit augmented reality title may have reason to cheer. According to MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, two features that were sorely missing in the game’s original incarnation – real-time player battles and Pokémon trading – are said to be coming “soon”.
John Hanke, founder and CEO of Pokémon Go developer Niantic, revealed in an interview that both co-operative trading and player vs player battles are in the works, although their introduction is likely to be staggered via a series of updates, in what he called “an abbreviated form”.
The omission of the two features around launch time was said to be down to the daunting server issues the company experienced shortly after the debut of Pokémon Go last summer. Hanke revealed that if the company hadn’t been so busy trying to keep the servers online, at least one of the features would likely have been in version 1 of the game.
“It’s going to be done soon,” Hanke told Waypoint. “It is what it is. I’ll take the massive wave of hysteria we enjoyed, and just deal with the fact that it’s caused us to take a bit longer to get the rest of the features up. We’re really happy to make our users happy.”
Tag: Pokémon GO
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The 12 Best Video Conferencing Apps for Teams
In 1884, eight years after Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson had the world’s first phone call, industrialist John Jacob Astor IV published his predictions for the 21st century. Along with ill-fated predictions of steel-covered roads and the discovery an anti-gravitational force, he also foresaw video calls.
“Telephones have been so improved that one person can speak in his natural voice with another in any part of the globe, the wire that enables him to hear also showing him the face of the speaker,” wrote Astor. Wires aside, that prediction came true.
Video calls came in starts and fits. The earliest came from AT&T’s labs in 1927, with a room full of equipment. Public videophone booths were available by the 1970’s, and in the early 1990’s you could buy a video phone for around $1,000.
Then, apps and wider bandwidth came, and video calls and conferencing became more ubiquitous–as long as you had a decent internet connection and a capable device, that is. Today, if you’re shopping and want advice from a friend, a video call is only a couple taps away. If you need to interview or consult with a dozen people who live in another city, you can do so face-to-face without leaving your desk. Sometimes, FaceTime is clearer and cheaper than a “normal” phone call.
And yet, team video calls can still be an exercise in frustration, with delayed video, glitchy graphics, and batteries drained in minutes. We know.
As a fully remote team, Zapier relies on video conferencing to hold team meetings, share ideas, and check in on each other. We’ve tried a lot of video call apps—and have suffered through one too many terrible calls. And so, after trying nearly two dozen video conferencing apps, we’ve settled on the ones that consistently work well.
Here are the best apps to make a video call whenever you want, including the brand new Amazon Chime and our team’s long-time favorites: Zoom, Appear.in, and Hangouts.
| App | Icon: | Best for: | Free for: | Plans from: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appear.in |  |
Quick, small group chats in a browser | 8 users | $12/mo |
| FaceTime |  |
One-to-one video calls that feel as simple as a phone call | 2 users | N/A |
| Gruveo |  |
Receiving one-to-one video calls in your browser with a dedicated line | 2 users | $12/mo |
| Slack |  |
Making a call directly from team chat | N/A | $8/mo |
| Zoom |  |
Reliable, clear group video calls | 50 users | $14.99/mo |
| Google Hangouts |  |
Quick calls from Google Calendar | 25 users | N/A |
| GoToMeeting |  |
Professional video conferencing and webinars | 3 users | $19/mo |
| Amazon Chime |  |
Jumping on a call right on schedule | 2 users | $150/mo/user |
| BlueJeans |  |
Video conferencing from any device | N/A | $19.95/mo |
| Rabbit |  |
Showing a video to a group | 25 users | N/A |
| Pexip |  |
Presentations across multiple video conference systems | N/A | $25/mo/user |
| Join.me |  |
Collaborating in a call | 10 users | $20/mo |
| Cisco WebEx |  |
Working around a virtual whiteboard | 3 users | $24/mo |
This autonomous flying taxi will start picking up passengers this summer, apparently
Why it matters to you
If something like this ever gets off the ground, it could revolutionize the way we move around our cities.
Remember that tiny flying taxi that caused a buzz at CES 2016? That’s right, the egg-shaped contraption that resembles a kind of giant quadcopter.
Well, it seems the simply named “184” vehicle is ready to take to the skies this summer, ferrying paying passengers around the Emirati city of Dubai, according to an AP report.
Developed by Chinese firm EHang, the 184 takes its name from having one passenger, eight propellors, and four arms. Perhaps there should be a “0” too, for zero pilots. Yes, this particular bit of kit operates sans driver.
It’s for real, apparently
The plan for EHang’s autonomous flying machine was announced this week by Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency.
Perhaps wary of sketpics in the room scoffing at the idea of an over-sized, multi-rotor, person-carrying copter going into service anytime soon, al-Tayer added, “This is not only a model – we have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai’s skies.”
The remarkable aircraft requires no skills or effort to operate. You just climb inside, tap your destination on a digital map, then sit back and enjoy the view. There’s no joystick to handle, no levers to mess with, and no buttons to press.
The 184 stands at about 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighs around 440 pounds (200 kg). Battery powered, it can fly for around 30 minutes at an average cruising speed of 62 mph (100 kmh).
More: Uber wants to beat traffic jams with its own multi-rotor flying machine
The company’s CEO, Hauzi Hu, said last year that it’s been “a lifetime goal … to make flight faster, easier, and more convenient than ever.”
Hu said his unique machine has the potential to make “a global impact across dozens of industries beyond personal travel,” adding, “The 184 is evocative of a future we’ve always dreamed of and is primed to alter the very fundamentals of the way we get around.”
And it’s not just Dubai’s government that’s taken a shine to the 184. In May 2016, authorities in Nevada revealed a plan to support Guangzhou-based EHang to test its aircraft with a view to launching an aerial taxi service in the state.
Whether the 184 really does have any hope of getting airborne as part of a full-fledged taxi service is anyone’s guess, but the company has invested so much time and money in the plan that we’d like to think it could be flying along the Las Vegas Strip or over the Burj Khalifa at some point in the not-too-distant future.
But would you get in it?
AIVAnet 