Giant drone racing is here, and it’s just as awesome as it sounds

Why it matters to you

Everyone wants to create the next Formula 1. This Australian startup thinks the answer may be giant drones.

If you’ve ever flown a drone in a public area, you’ll know that doing so often attracts one or two interested parties in the form of people stopping to see what you’re doing. But drone flights aren’t yet playing to packed stadiums full of cheering fans. One possible explanation? Because they’re not freaking giant UAVs competing in hair-raising races.

That could change if Chris Ballard has his way.

The Australian founder of Freedom Class Giant Drone Racing, Ballard is the founder of a startup that’s designing, building and testing giant racing drones for what he believes may well be the next mainstream motorsport.

“What we’re looking to achieve is the Formula 1 of the drone-racing world,” he told Digital Trends. “It was very apparent to us early on that regular drone racing may be great for the pilots, but given [the drones’] small size it’s not good for spectators. You can’t see them when they’re zooming around a race course at 100km/h.”

More: Hone your drone skills with a touch of Tron in this quadcopter arena

That’s where the idea for the massive drones comes into play, but Ballard is convinced the idea has a lot more going for it than simply big UAVs.

“We’re not restricted by the traditions of motorsport, where you’re racing around a track that’s already been designed,” he continued. “With drone racing, the sky’s to limit. Literally. You can go ahead and create entirely digital courses for these things to race around. You can come up with concepts that weren’t previously possible for Formula 1 or any other type of motorsport.”

Another exciting selling point of drone racing is just how accessible it is to participants. Anyone can be a fan of Formula 1, but it takes a certain type of person to be able to compete at it. Not so with drone racing. “It’s a sport that can be inclusive of everyone,” Ballard continued. “You can be small or large, male or female, in a wheelchair — whoever you are you can still compete and have an equal chance at becoming a world champion. That’s one of the things I find so exciting about it. It really captures a market between gaming e-sports and real-life sports. It’s a unique crossover to be able to combine both of those worlds.”

So does that make Chris Ballard the Bernie Ecclestone of giant drone racing? Maybe, but it’s not going to be without its challenges. A big one is safety, which Ballard described as his “primary focus.”

“You can’t just scale up a mini drone to our size and hope for the best,” he said. “We’re dealing with about 800 percent more power than an average mini-drone. That’s a massive amount of electricity that will quite easily melt a large array of electronics.”

Ballard also isn’t the only person responsible for Freedom Class’ success. There are half a dozen other members of the team, who have collectively invested hundreds of hours of their personal time to get the project to where it is today.

More: PiBorg’s Raspberry Pi racecars are build by you, powered by AI

At present, the team has built initial prototypes of the aircraft they plan to use. The next step is to move onto new models, which will be more aerodynamic, as well as capable of achieving the kind of speeds necessary for drone racing. “We’re also implementing more systems to make it much more friendly toward racing in multiple aircraft environments,” Ballard said.

Following this, an inaugural race is planned for later this year, after which the hope is to create an international world series to bring the cutting-edge motorsport to audiences around the globe.

In other words, keep watching the skies!

Skylanders skips a 2017 console release, refocuses on mobile instead

Why it matters to you

Activision is left with few options for its own toys-to-life series after the recent cancellation of Disney Infinity, and a scaled-back approach is all but necessary at this point.

Activision’s toys-to-life Skylanders series will skip an annual console release for the first time in franchise history as its developers shift their efforts toward mobile gaming and expanded content for last year’s Skylanders Imaginators.

News of a scaled-back release schedule for Skylanders arrives in the wake of a major shake-up at Disney Interactive Studios in 2016, which led to the cancellation of the thematically similar Disney Infinity series and the closure of its creator Avalanche Software.

More: Infinity proves fleeting as Disney exits console game publishing, shutters developer

The Skylanders series launched in 2011 with the release of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure across multiple console platforms. The original game in the series served up kid-friendly, action-adventure gameplay powered by a lineup of collectible toys. An included “Portal of Power” peripheral scans Skylanders figures and summon them as in-game playable characters via NFC technology, allowing players to save their progress and use powered-up characters in subsequent series entries.

After the success of the original Skylanders, the series adopted an annual release schedule that continued through 2016, producing follow-ups like Skylanders Giants, Skylanders Swap Force, and Skylanders Trap Team. Each game in the series introduced new gameplay gimmicks that required players to purchase additional toys in order to get the most from the experience, and dedicated fans now maintain large collections of character figurines.

More: ‘Skylanders: Imaginators’ Hands-On

The toys-to-life market cooled significantly in recent years, leading to disappointing sales for 2016’s Skylanders Imaginators. During an investor call this week, Activision revealed that it has no plans to produce a Skylanders sequel for consoles in 2017, and will instead continue to support Skylanders Imaginators with the release of additional characters and level packs at retail.

Activision assures that the Skylanders series isn’t over, however. A port of Skylanders Imaginators will be available for the Nintendo Switch when the console launches on March 3, and fans can expect an all-new sequel to hit mobile platforms later this year.

Xiaomi reportedly building its own processors to break away from Qualcomm

Why it matters to you

More competition in the processor market is a good thing — and it means that chips could get faster and cheaper.

Many of the major smartphone manufacturers have developed quite a dependence on Qualcomm over the years, but new reports indicate that yet another manufacturer is looking to begin building its own chips so it can move away from Qualcomm. That manufacturer is Xiaomi, and it follows in the footsteps of the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, Xiaomi is actually well into development of its own chip, which it calls Pinecone, and it could be released “within a month.” If the timing proves to be accurate, Pinecone could be the processor used in the Xiaomi Mi 6, which is expected to be released at some point in March.

More: Cuteness overload: Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4X dedicated to virtual idol Hatsune Miku

The news isn’t totally surprising. Xiaomi is using a company called Beijing Pinecone Electronics for its chip development, and the company paid $15 million for a mobile processor company called Datang, which it acquired from Leadcore Technology in 2015.

These days, almost every device manufacturer that isn’t Apple, Samsung, or Huawei relies on Qualcomm for their high-end processors. Sometimes, that presents issues. For example, the Snapdragon 810 got a little hotter than usual, and most manufacturers were left with few alternatives. Even Samsung, which has its Exynos chip division, still uses Qualcomm chips a lot of the time.

Sometimes, supply is also an issue. Samsung is one of the major manufacturers of Qualcomm’s chips, and is expected to be the only company with access to the Snapdragon 835 for quite some time — leaving other manufacturers without Qualcomm’s flagship processor option for a while.

It will be interesting to see how Xiaomi’s processor efforts affect its business model. The company has so far struggled to launch as a real competitor in the West, despite making headlines with devices like the Xiaomi Mi Mix.

What happens when robots have opposing tasks? Teach them to cooperate

Why it matters to you

AI are going to control more of our lives in the future, so making sure they work together is of great importance.

What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? That is an age-old conundrum Google is trying to solve, as when you have two artificial intelligence systems that are programmed to complete conflicting tasks, how do you stop them from fighting about it? To that end, Google is using its DeepMind subsidiary to figure out how to have AIs play nicely together.

DeepMind is running experiments on robotic “social dilemmas” and published the results in a new report, The Verge reported. The idea was to see how AIs interacted with one another when their tasks might interfere with that of another AI. Would they push through and achieve their goal regardless or do they need specialized programming to make them cooperate?

Cooperation is the key here. While Google’s experiment might seem silly (or at the very least fun to watch) as AI become smarter and take control of more facets of our lives and societal structure, we need them to work together. It’s no good if the AI powering your car decides it is more important than the AI controlling the traffic lights.

More: Give a 3D printer artificial intelligence, and this is what you’ll get

To figure out how AI might function in these environments and to try and understand the methods of improving the rate of cooperation, rather than antagonistic selfishness, Google ran some AI through a couple of games.

In “gathering,” the AI earn points for collecting apples (the green squares) but have the ability to freeze their opponent. In that context, if there are plenty of apples, the AI cooperated without much interference but when there was a scarcity of apples, they would zap each other much more often.

In the “wolfpack” game, two AI must work together to corral a third, cooperation was much more apparent because they had a common goal and because points were shared, rather than awarded for selfish actions.

This might all seem obvious to us, because that is similar to how the human brain responds to such stimuli. To be able to see AI making similar choices though, gives us a much better understanding of how AI might react to conflict in the future. That, in turn, makes it easier for us to program around it.

It’s just a case of encouraging cooperation through programming and not rewarding selfish behaviour as much. Perhaps programming AIs to believe they are all part of the same system, working toward a common goal. That sounds an awful lot like some sort of Super Matrix.

Samsung Civil War: Which is better, the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge?

Samsung’s two flagships have much in common, but there are some key differences. You can read our full reviews for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge to learn which one you want, but we thought a head-to-head comparison might make your decision a little easier.

More: Don’t be afraid of using your Galaxy S7: Samsung says it’s just fine

On the surface, Galaxy S7 Edge boasts a bigger screen and two edges. The standard S7, on the other hand, has a traditional design and a more petite frame. Both are excellent phones that are more than worthy of filling your pocket, but which one is right for you? Below are key differences between the two Galaxies.

Specs and camera

Galaxy S7

Galaxy S7 Edge

Size
142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm (5.61 x 2.74 x 0.31 in)
149 x 72 x 7.62 mm (5.85 x 2.85 x 0.30 in)
Weight
5.36 ounces
5.54 ounces
Screen
5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED
Dual-edge, 5.5-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED
Resolution
2,560 x 1,440 pixels
2,560×1,440 pixels
OS
Android 7.0 Nougat
Android 7.0 Nougat
Storage
32/64GB
32/64GB
SD Card Slot
Yes
Yes
NFC support
Yes
Yes
Processor
Qualcomm MSM8996, Snapdragon 820 (U.S. Models),
Exynos 8890 Octa (International Models)
Qualcomm MSM8996, Snapdragon 820 (U.S. Models),
Exynos 8890 Octa (International Models)
RAM
4GB
4GB
Connectivity
Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+
Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+
Camera
Front 5MP, Rear 12MP
Front 5MP, Rear 12MP
Video
2,160p 4K UHD
2,160p 4K UHD
Bluetooth
Yes, version 4.2
Yes, version 4.2
Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Yes
Water Resistant
Yes
Yes
Battery
3,000mAh
3,600mAh
Charger
Micro USB
Micro USB
Quick Charging
Yes
Yes
Wireless Charging
Yes, Qi and PMA
Yes, Qi and PMA
Marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store
Color offerings
Black, white, gold, silver
Black, white, gold, silver
Availability

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile

DT Review
4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5 stars

When it comes to specs, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are evenly matched. Both U.S. models rock Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processors and 4GB of RAM, which result in super speedy performance. The European counterparts for the S7 and S7 Edge have Samsung’s Exynos octa-core onboard, which is said to be weaker than the Qualcomm chips, but not noticeably so. The two Galaxies also have special water cooling systems inside to keep the heat down while gaming or taking on processor-heavy tasks, though both do get warm in your hand. In terms of performance, these two are completely tied.

More: Google Pixel vs. Samsung Galaxy S7: Which 5-inch flagship is right for you?

Both phones start at 32GB of storage and support expandable storage via MicroSD cards up to 200GB, so there’s no difference there, either. The 12-megapixel, dual-pixel back cameras on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are among the best smartphone cameras you can find. The f/1.7 aperture and the 1.4µm dual-pixels allow more light to enter the sensor and result in stunning photos in an array of lighting conditions.

As usual, Samsung’s camera app is fast and capable, and the new dual-pixel tech boosts low-light performance to entirely new levels. Although it can occasionally blow out night time shots, the camera typically takes great shots with very little light. Sometimes the resulting pictures are even better than ones taken with the iPhone 6S Plus, which is a fantastic feat. The front-facing 5-megapixel cameras are equally matched and take decent selfies.

Spec-wise, these two are tied.

Specs winner: Tie

A smartphone stabilizer that is smaller than a smartphone? Now that’s Fancy

Why it matters to you

Fancy’s small size may mean it’s more likely to be on-hand when you need it.

Smartphone stabilizers are more pocketable alternatives to tripods, but one company is taking pocketable to the extreme. The Fancy Stabilizer is an electronic smartphone gimbal but it actually takes up less space than that smartphone.

The Fancy Stabilizer comes from Wewow, a China-based company with five gimbals currently on the market ranging from GoPro to DSLR stabilizers. Launching on Indiegogo on Friday, the Fancy Stabilizer is the smallest and lightest smartphone gimbal on the market, according to Wewow.

More: Can’t decide between electronic or mechanical gimbals? Steadicam Volt is both

When not in use, Fancy is just 1.7 inches wide, about 4.4 inches tall and less than an inch thick. That compact body still holds an electronic stabilization system and an adjustable phone clip that pulls out to adapt to any smartphone, Wewow says. The Fancy weighs in at just over six ounces. While the body of the stabilizer can be used handheld, a standard tripod screw allows the stabilizer to be used with a selfie stick for a better grip.

Fancy also includes a built-in LED to add light to the shots, though that is positioned underneath the smartphone on the front of the gimbal and not above the lens like a traditional camera flash.

The built-in battery can power the stabilization for up to eight hours, or charge your smartphone in a pinch.

Wewow aims to help Fancy live up to its name in style too — the stabilizer comes in five different colors with a metallic finish. For the selfie lovers, there is a small mirror on the back.

Wewow says the stabilizer is fully developed and tested, with the crowdfunding campaign raising the manufacturing costs. The company aims to raise $5,000 and is already nearly a third of the way there. If the Indiegogo campaign and manufacturing process is successful, the earliest backers can pick up the Fancy Stabilizer for $89. The company expects the retail price to sit at $128.

How to fix drift problems with Daydream View

Having your controller drift off while you’re in the middle of a game can be frustrating, but it is fixable.

Google Daydream offers a new way to interact with your world while in VR. With the use of the remote you are given are a greater degree of ability to easily zip from one menu to another with aplomb and ease. At least, when the remote is working properly that how it seems. While controller drift during a video can be distracting, if it crops up during a game it can seriously throw you off of your stride.

Thankfully, there are a few different ways to troubleshoot this problem so that it doesn’t ruin your VR gaming experience.

Read more at VR Heads!

What color LG Watch Sport should I buy?

What LG Watch Sport Model should you buy? That depends…

The LG Watch Sport is a big watch for thick wrists, or at least people who are willing to carry 89.4 grams and 14mm of stainless steel goodness.

And while the rounded aesthetic may be the most universally appealing shape for watches these days — practically every Android Wear watch released in the past 18 months has been round — color also matters, and that’s where things can get a bit tricky.

Unlike the LG Watch Style, which is, well, stylish in three colors, including rose gold, the Watch Sport is a bit more sedate in its palette options, offering just two: Titanium (black) and Dark Blue. In reality, as different as those depictions sound, the two colors are very similar — almost to a fault. Let’s explore them, and which one you may want to buy.

Note: The Dark Blue version is currently a Google Play exclusive in the U.S., and like the lighter blue Pixel at its launch, it may be a little hard to come by for a while.

Titanium (black)

This is the standard model, the one that you will likely see sold in stores and on wrists, and the one that Google, LG and its carrier partners will push — hard. That’s OK, because it’s extremely attractive, with a lovely brushed stainless steel chassis and dark grey band to match. The dual tone is lovely, complementing one another, and that’s a great thing, because the bands are not user-replaceable.

Dark Blue

As noted above, this is currently a Google Store exclusive in the U.S. so it may be hard to come by for a while — and it may never come to other regions. That’s OK, too, because it looks very similar to the Titanium model, and may even be confused for the more ubiquitous version in some lighting conditions. The brushed stainless steel has a blue tinge, and the rubberized band is slightly darker than its Titanium counterpart, but otherwise the two models have considerable similarities.

Which should you get?

The quick answer is that you should probably get the Titanium model. It’s going to be much easier to find, and combines the simple elegance of a dark silver bezel with a dark grey watch band, making it appropriate for almost any situation.

If you’re more adventurous, or covet the things that few people are allowed to have, the Dark Blue model is going to be up your alley. The way its subtle cobalt hue glimmers in the right light helps it stand out from its more familiar counterpart, but at the end of the day there is very little between it and the Titanium Watch Sport.

Where to buy the LG Watch Sport

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!

Muzei is once again the best way to find awesome wallpapers on Android

The best wallpaper app has gotten better, again.

Muzei, the wallpaper app that’ll give you a new wall as frequently or infrequently as you like, from tons of different sources and with a cornucopia of options, has released Muzei 2.3, the largest update in a while, and it brings new features to your phone and your wrist with its Android Wear 2.0 features. There’s a whole lot in here to enjoy, so let’s get to it:

• Permissions and My Photos: Muzei only had one ‘dangerous’ permission it required, the storage permissions for My Photos, and now it is completely optional. My Photos itself has also gotten a huge overhaul both over and under the hood.
• Direct Boot: Many live wallpaper apps won’t run until a device is unlocked after a reboot, but Muzei isn’t one of them thanks to Direct Boot, which will let you see your custom wallpaper immediately after a reboot.
• Quick Settings and App Shortcuts: In Nougat developers have the ability to create tiles for users to add to their Quick Settings, and Muzei has chosen to implement a Quick Settings tile to help you quickly get to a new image. Additional, Muzei now has Android 7.1 App Shortcuts to quickly get you info about your current wallpaper.
• Individual photo changes: No longer do you have to import every photo you add to My Photos and keep two copies on your phone. Thanks to the Storage Access Framework and ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT, Muzei gets persistent access to photos, be they local or cloud-based. This is contingent on the source app supporting ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT, which many apps including Google Photos do not. These photos will still have to be imported.
• Folder support: You can now add entire folders to Musei rather than just individual folders, complete with automatic updates to pull in new photos added to a folder. This relies on another Storage Access Freamwoork action, one that is less prevalently used than ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT.
• Find older artwork more easily: Muzei’s Document Provider now allows you to browse past artwork by date or source so that you can find your favorite Muzei walls.
• Android Wear 2.0: Muzei is taking advantage of complications and offering Muzei background images and artwork info to other Wear 2.0 faces, meaning your Muzei wallpaper can come to any compatible 2.0 watch face.
• Reliability improvements: Muzei updated the minimum API level in Muzei 2.3 so that it could switch from a Support Library to a framework version of ScriptIntrinsicBlur, letting devices that consistently crashed before to now enjoy Muzei stably. Reliability loading new wallpapers, especially on poor data connections, is still in the works, but the MuzeiArtSource API is being rebuilt for compatibility with Doze, AppStandby, and other background optimizations.

Download Muzei (free)

Best Android Wear 2.0 Apps

You’re going to want to install these.

It’s a new day for Android Wear. Apps are no longer sidecar-style programs that share data back and forth from your phone. Instead, the apps are installed directly on the watch and run completely independently of the phone. This means apps need to be able to do everything on the watch, so design and functionality matter more than ever. Here’s a look at the Android Wear apps that work best in this new 2.0 world!

More: The definitive Android Wear 2.0 review!

Note: This list will be constantly updated with new great Android Wear 2.0 apps when they’re made available!

Google Fit

Google Fit has received a substantial update with Android Wear 2.0, and it’s great for everything from basic daily step tracking up to runs and gym workouts. The interface is very well situated to show you snippets of information on the small watch, then give you deeper looks at everything in the Fit app on your phone.

After using the new Fit it’s clear to see why Google is so proud to promote it in Android Wear 2.0.

Find on Google Play

Recordr

It doesn’t matter if you need to take a quick note for yourself or you’d like to document something discretely, the ability to use the microphone on your wrist can be powerful.

The Recordr app makes it super easy to grab audio, and when it’s recorded you can keep it on the phone or quickly transfer it to the watch in case you need to share or push to Drive.

Find on Google Play

Google Keep

The ability to quickly check off boxes in Keep is not only great for feeling productive, it’s a solid reminder system that doesn’t require a calendar.

As great as Keep can be on the phone, on the wrist you get a quick glance at lists when the Always-On display is enabled and plenty of space to check off boxes when you’re mobile.

Find on Google Play

Facebook Messenger

This app is one of the few set up to act as an advanced receiver instead of a smaller version of the app. Instead of the full Facebook Messenger experience, this watch app shows up as a normal notification but gives you more options when responding to people hitting you up on Facebook.

The only downside here is you get a Messenger icon taking up space in your drawer that doesn’t actually do anything, but that’s a small price to pay for more Messenger features.

Find on Google Play

Find my Parked Car

Finding your car in a big parking lot has never been easier with GPS on your phone, and the only way that can happen faster or more conveniently is from your watch!

This setup is simple, and leaves little to the imagination. Drop a pin to mark your parked car, and if you’re far enough away that you need GPS there’s a button to throw you immediately into Google Maps for navigation.

Find on Google Play

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!