Parrot’s new Bebop-Pro drone pack lets you scan and develop 3D models

Drone-maker Parrot has introduced what it describes as an “all-in-one aerial imagery and 3D-modeling solution”.

Dubbed the Parrot Bebop-Pro 3D Modeling, it’s a pack that includes a Parrot Bebop 2 drone with a Parrot Skycontroller 2 remote control. They work with the Pix4Dcapture app, which automatically captures aerial images, as well as the Pix4Dmodel software, which processes those images to create a 3D model. Parrot is positioning this 3D-modeling setup as a solution for real-estate and building professionals.

In other words, this is a high-performance scanning tool meant for developing commercial videos and 3D interactive models. It can also be used to capture measurements for cost estimates or 3D-model printing. The drone weighs just 500g, can be piloted easily via Wi-Fi with a mobile device or with the Parrot Skycontroller 2 (an included remote control that extends the piloting range more than a mile).

• Best drones to buy in 2016, whatever your budget

The drone also has a built-in, digitally stabilised camera (Full HD 14MP) and offers a battery life that provides up to 25-minutes of flight time. When used with the Pix4Dcapture app, which is free for iOS and Android devices, it turns Parrot Bebop 2 in a photogrammetry tool. You can define the area to map on your mobile screen, and then the app will create an optimised flight plan.

In about 10 minutes, the Parrot Bebop 2 will fly over the predetermined zone to collect images and data, and in 30 minutes, the Pix4Dmodel image processing software will analyze and convert the images and data into a realistic 3D model. Georeferenced images are transmitted directly to the cloud to be processed, and you can access and edit the footage from your desktop.

Parrot’s Bebop-Pro 3D Modeling will be available from May 2017 at http://www.parrot.com for (VAT excluded) £999.

Gmail for Android can send and receive payments as attachments

The Gmail app for Android has scored what used to be a web-only feature. It now has Google Wallet integration, so you can send and request money right within your emails. Say, you need to split the bill for a dinner — all you need to do is tap the attachment icon and click “Send money” to pay your friend. A Google Wallet pop up will ask you how much you want to send and will forward your payment as an attachment.

In case you’re typically the one receiving payments for group dinners, shared bills and the like, you can also tweak the feature’s settings to send the money straight to your bank account. The feature works even if your friends, roommates or co-workers don’t use Gmail, but only if you’re all in the US. Since it’s only available for users in the country and only on Android and the web, you’ll probably want to keep those other payment apps on your phone.

Source: Gmail

Signal’s encrypted video calling is now available to all

Signal, the encrypted chat app from Open Whisper Systems, now lets anyone chat privately on video. The feature, which first launched on Android last month, has come out of beta and is now available on both Android and iOS. The company spent the relatively short beta period “collecting feedback and addressing the issues” found by beta users, it said. As with texts and calls, video is encrypted end-to-end, so nobody, including spy agencies, can eavesdrop on your business.

Video calling is a new feature on iOS, and Open Whisper says it used CallKit to get the app “to the same level as the native iOS calling experience.” In other words, you can answer video calls with a touch directly from the lock screen, initiate them using the native contact app and see your chats on an iPhone’s “recent calls” list. The feature only works if both parties have enabled video calling, of course.

Open Whisper added a few new features requested by testers, too. You can now place peer-to-peer (P2P) calls rather than going through Signal’s server like before, reducing call latency. To make sure that your privacy is preserved, however, it’ll only do that if you initiate the call or receive one from a known contact. That way, your IP address and location won’t be exposed, as can happen in a P2P situation.

If desired, you can also change a setting to make calls through Signal’s service and avoid P2P altogether. To improve privacy, the company recently added a “domain fronting” option, routing all messages through Google’s domain to stop governments in nations like Egypt from blocking them.

WikiLeaks #Vault7 confirms CIA can effectively bypass Signal + Telegram + WhatsApp + Confide encryptionhttps://t.co/h5wzfrReyy

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017

Open Whisper recently made headlines thanks to Wikileaks, which tweeted that the CIA could bypass Signal, WhatsApp and other encrypted apps (above). However, security researchers and privacy activists called that message “irresponsible and misleading” because the apps are still secure — in fact, the CIA and hackers can only intercept communications if they gain complete access to your phone.

Source: Open Whisper

V-Moda’s Remix speaker can be customized with 3D-printed parts

V-Moda has been experimenting with 3D printing since 2015, when it started letting customers personalize their XS and Crossfade M-100 headphones with 3D-printed shields. Just in time to kick off the music section of SXSW, the company is now taking this a step further by introducing the Remix, a Bluetooth speaker that’s customizable using 3D-printed parts made from different materials. They’re sold separately and allow you to modify the speaker’s housing, grill and sides, with prices ranging from $40 (fiber) to an insane $370,000 for a platinum version.

The Remix also doubles as a headphone amplifier, which is partially why V-Moda is pricing it higher than most Bluetooth speakers on the market. It’s available now for $300, in case you’re interested in something a bit out of the ordinary.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

Source: V-Moda

‘La La Land’ composer on electronica’s key role in the film

Damien Chazelle’s La La Land might not have won that Oscar, but it did scoop up the one for Best Original Music Score. The man behind that score is Justin Hurwitz. Anyone who has seen the film will know that the soundtrack is largely divided between vintage Hollywood musical and classic jazz — the style favored by tortured musician Seb (Ryan Gosling). But for all of its antiquity, one of the biggest conflicts of the movie is Seb’s struggle with pop success after joining his friend Keith (John Legend) in a band that fuses jazz flavors with modern electronic music. Hurwitz’s challenge, then, was not only to score the movie but also create a musical backdrop to Seb’s journey of self discovery, a journey that ultimately proves to be a crucial fork in the movie’s twisting story.

Much has been said about La La Land’s tribute to musicals of the past. And while there are only a few flecks of modern music, they prove to be crucial to the conflict Seb endures as he tussles with the dilemma of success versus following his dream. We see this interaction between old and new most clearly when Seb reluctantly joins The Messengers, a band lead by his friendly rival Keith (Legend). We learn early on that Gosling’s character is an inveterate jazz snob, to the point where his most prized possession is a stool once owned by Hoagy Carmichael. And it’s a snobbery that constantly holds him back (until — spoiler alert — it arguably sets him free).

The first time Seb jams with The Messengers, his jazz piano melody is unexpectedly interrupted by a drum machine (a Native Instruments’ Maschine, no less). For Seb this is an affront to his neo-bop sensibilities. For Keith, it’s progression — something he’s all too quick to point out to Seb as what jazz is fundamentally about. The scene is short, but it’s a pivotal moment.

“That whole sequence was a really important part of the movie, so we spent some time figuring out what that scene would be, and where in that scene the electronic drum machine would kick in, and what Sebastian’s reaction would be […] Part of the story is that Seb is a traditionalist, and Keith hauls him into this different world of music that becomes increasingly more modern, and increasingly electronic,” Hurwitz told Engadget.

This new-versus-old narrative culminates with the performance of “Start a Fire,” one of the movie’s tentpole songs. It’s also the most tech-infused scene of the movie, with appearances from Roli’s Seaboard, among other modern music gear. Hurwitz said, “With ‘Start a Fire’ it was a case of ‘let’s find a piece of music that can support and increasingly electronic soundscape as it goes on.’”

“Start a Fire” would ultimately be chosen as the soundtrack to one of the more upbeat trailers, where the song’s own progression from jazz to electro-pop can be heard from start to finish — itself something of a metaphor for Seb’s reluctant career path.

“The instruments we used in the ‘Start a Fire’ scenes were really conscious decisions,” Hurwitz said. “In the case of the Roli Seaboard, I didn’t know what that was. There was an executive music producer on the movie who was familiar with that instrument, so he suggested we use it.”

Of course, while this scene is pretty much the one concession to modern music technology in the whole movie (bar the drum-machine moment), there’s still some restraint. Too many times we’ve seen the message of “modern music” telegraphed in a heavy-handed manner. In La La Land’s most contemporary scene, there’s no awkward DJ, no lasers or Prodigy-era “edgy” beats to drill home what’s going on. Hurwitz skillfully introduces the right amount of technology to trigger Seb’s anachronistic tendencies.

“We wanted Sebastian to feel out of his comfort zone,” Hurwitz said. “Especially in the beginning, but we didn’t want anything to be too ridiculous. You know, we didn’t want people wearing Daft Punk helmets or anything too crazy.”

There might not be any Daft Punk helmets, but the scene still stands out for its musical uniqueness within the movie. It’s a lone contemporary flame in a forest fire of paper turning, orchestral scores and freestyle jazz. But it illustrates how Hurwitz worked with Director Damien Chazelle to create a movie that itself is a modern tribute to an art form of the past.

“That was part of Damien’s goal with this movie too,” Hurwitz said. “The movie is obviously inspired by older movies, older musicals. Genres that are associated with the past. But Damien was making something that feels modern, feels contemporary, that feels fresh. That feels very much its own take on that genre.”

When you have a movie that’s not only about music but also a musical about music, one has to wonder if the character of the person that scores it inevitably seeps into the musical protagonist. When I asked Hurwitz about his own musical leanings, any such notion was short lived.

“I think I’m more progressive than Seb,” he said. “Honestly, what’s on the radio in my car when I’m driving is top 40. I love pop music.” However, when he was pressed specifically about jazz, it turned out that Hurwitz and Seb might still have some things in common. “I have nothing against modern jazz. I just don’t know it as well as I need to. I need to start getting more into what’s been happening with jazz in the past 30 plus years.”

It’s ultimately Legend’s Keith that sums up the movie — and its score — best when he gently reminds Seb after their jam session, “How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist?” And with a healthy collection of Oscars and Golden Globes with La La Land etched on them, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

Samsung’s The Frame TV doubles as an art piece

Samsung has hyped its 2017 TV lineup to the Moon and back, but it still has room for a few surprises. The tech giant has offered more details about its previously-teased The Frame, a TV that’s designed to (you guessed it) double as a picture frame. Switch on an Art Mode and it’ll display over 100 pieces of art whenever you’re not using it — effectively, it becomes another part of your home decor. It’s clearly meant to hang on your wall (it uses Samsung’s new gapless wall mount and Invisible Connection), and you can swap out bezels to match the look of your living room. There’s also an optional Studio Stand if wall placement isn’t in the cards.

The company is shy on specs and pricing for The Frame, but it is willing to commit to a launch sometime this spring. We wouldn’t expect it to be a budget set, though, given that Samsung’s earlier Serif TV carried a hefty price tag relative to its screen size.

Also, it’s a good day if you’ve been waiting to buy one of Samsung’s QLED sets. The company now says that its latest-generation quantum dot TVs are available now, with prices currently starting at $2,800 (decidedly higher than mentioned in February) for the 55-inch Q7 and topping out at $6,800 for the 75-inch Q8. There’s no word on the Q9 yet, unfortunately. Again, the focus is on raw image quality: metal quantum dots promise a wider range of color regardless of the brightness level, and you should also see both higher brightness as well as deeper black levels.

To top things off, Samsung is also outlining when key peripherals will arrive. The M9500 4K Blu-ray player will show up in April for $399, while the all-in-one MS750 Sound+ Soundbar will land in the summer at an as yet unknown price.

Source: Samsung

UK to make online ticket-buying bots illegal

A new amendment slipped into the Digital Economy Bill, which is now pretty close to becoming UK law, would make the use of online tout bots that hoover up tickets to popular music, sport and other events a criminal offense punishable by unlimited fines (but not imprisonment). Websites typically limit the number of tickets an individual can buy for obvious reasons, but computerized tools that circumvent these caps allow scalpers to buy more than their fair share, if there is such a thing in this context.

This sucks for consumers, as it makes buying legitimate tickets a maddening race. Lose that sprint, and one of your only options is to buy them from a reseller like Viagogo or StubHub at a mark-up, which are sometimes obscene depending on the event/seats, not to mention the sites’ additional fees. Making the use of bots a criminal offense should restore some order to the secondary ticketing racket, though how it would be policed and the law enforced requires a little more forethought.

The UK government has been looking to address problems with ticket touts and resellers for a while now, taking evidence from industry stakeholders and commissioning a report by Warwick University Economics Professor Mike Waterson. The general consensus is that, with state aid, primary ticket vendors and resellers should be responsible for building abuse-resistant systems, and work with the police when breaches of the law have occurred. The Competition and Markets Authority are already investigating resellers to make sure they are giving customers all info relevant to their purchase, such as exact seating location, where the tickets are coming from and what restrictions may apply.

Ticket touts aren’t just a problem in the UK, of course. At the end of last year, then President Obama outlawed the use of ticket bots across the US, following New York State’s earlier, regional ban.

Via: BBC

Source: Digital Economy Bill (1), (2)

The 24th ‘Overwatch’ character arrives next week

Orisa, the latest character to enter the Overwatch fray, will be widely available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 21st. Orisa is an “anchor tank,” as Blizzard calls it — this means she’s the kind of massive, damage-absorbing hero that an entire team can rally behind and use as a home base, even in the middle of hectic fights. Reinhardt is another example of an “anchor tank” in Overwatch.

Orisa is a mix of Reinhardt (a big, healthy character with a giant shield) and Zarya (who has a laser gun and barriers she can throw onto her allies). But, she has four legs. And she’s a robot. And she was built by an 11-year-old genius, Efi Oladele, who lives in the peaceful city of Numbani.

But that’s enough backstory. Here’s what Orisa actually does: Her main gun has two functions, Fusion Driver and Halt. Fusion Driver is a projectile-based, long-range machine gun that causes her to move more slowly as she’s firing. Meanwhile, Halt allows Orisa to shoot out a graviton ball that can then suck in all nearby enemies for easy pickings. Think of Halt as a mini version of Zarya’s ultimate.

Fortify is a pure tank ability, reducing Orisa’s damage intake by 50 percent and making her immune to attacks that would cause her to move position or fall off a ledge. Orisa isn’t selfish though: Another ability, Protective Barrier, allows her to launch a shield that protects her teammates from enemy fire.

Finally, Orisa’s ultimate ability is Supercharger. She always carries “The Drum” on her back, and when her ult is charged, she can throw it on the ground to provide a 50 percent damage boost to any teammate in the Drum’s line of sight. The enemy team can kill the Drum, so Orisa has to be crafty with its placement, either hiding it behind a barrier or setting it up where the enemy team can’t see it.

“We wanted another tank that teams could build around and position around,” Game Director Jeff Kaplan said earlier this month. “Even though we think that tanks like Winston and D.Va are really great in what they bring to the game, they’re not necessarily bringing what Reinhardt was bringing. So we hope that in Orisa, there is now another option to do a low-mobility tank but one that brings a high amount of protection in her protective barrier.”

Apple Pay Headed Directly to Restaurant Tables With ‘PrestoPrime EMV’ Terminals

Pay-at-table terminal manufacturer E la Carte today announced that Apple Pay is coming to its new state-of-the-art “PrestoPrime EMV” line, thanks to an included NFC reader that will also support Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and mobile wallets that use QR codes. E la Carte’s previous terminals included NFC, but lacked EMV certification, which Apple Pay requires since it complies to the latest EMV standards for tokenizing transactions.

With the addition of Apple Pay support, restaurant guests will be able to pay for their meal at the table with a quick tap of their iPhone. Users can also pay with a traditional swipe method, or use the new EMV chip reader to insert any newly-issued credit card with a chip inside of it. The terminals also have a “store and forward” ability that allows guests to continue to pay for food and drinks even if the restaurant loses power or internet connectivity.

“Brick-and-mortar payments and security requirements have changed dramatically in the last 5 years. We wanted to take a leadership role in helping our partners navigate these volatile waters, while also generating direct operating benefits that offer a real hard dollar ROI to recoup their investment,” said Raj Suri, CEO and founder of E la Carte. “Combining robust security with a frictionless user experience, PrestoPrime EMV sets the bar as the best tabletop platform available to restaurant operators.”

Pay-at-table terminals have become more popular over the years, with companies like E la Carte and Ziosk offering customers quick access to menus and payment methods at restaurants like Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and more. Most of the terminals, including PrestoPrime, also include limited paid gaming features intended to pass the wait time for food orders.

E la Carte’s reach in the industry currently extends to over 1,800 restaurants across the United States, centering on Applebee’s and Outback Steakhouse locations.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Apple Hires iPhone Security Expert Jonathan Zdziarski

iPhone forensics expert, security researcher, and former jailbreak community developer Jonathan Zdziarski today announced he has accepted a position with Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture team. He did not reveal his official starting date or responsibilities at the company.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a position with Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture team, and am very excited to be working with a group of like minded individuals so passionate about protecting the security and privacy of others.

This decision marks the conclusion of what I feel has been a matter of conscience for me over time. Privacy is sacred; our digital lives can reveal so much about us – our interests, our deepest thoughts, and even who we love. I am thrilled to be working with such an exceptional group of people who share a passion to protect that.

Zdziarski has provided input on a number of important iOS-related security matters over the years, ranging from Apple’s high-profile battle with the FBI over unlocking an iPhone used by a shooter in the 2015 San Bernardino attack to smaller incidents such as a potential WhatsApp flaw uncovered last year.

Zdziarski was known as “NerveGas” within the jailbreaking community. He was formerly part of both the iPhone Dev Team and Chronic Dev Team.

Zdziarski used to be an active Twitter user, but it appears he has disabled his account recently, possibly due to his employment at Apple.

Tags: security, Jonathan Zdziarski
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