We had groceries delivered by a robot, and it was like living in the future

All the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles could lead you to believe the technology’s widespread use is right around the corner, but we’re still years away from self-driving personal vehicles being a common sight. Autonomous service vehicles, on the other hand, may arrive sooner. Online retailer and delivery company Ocado, in conjunction with technology company Oxbotica and the borough of Greenwich, London, is in the process of testing a small fleet of CargoPods — self-driving delivery vehicles that will cut out the middleman and bring orders directly to your door. CargoPods complete the “last mile” of the delivery process, which means they’re stocked in your local delivery area before being sent out, and aren’t made for cross-country journeys.

Ocado’s CargoPod delivery vehicle doesn’t look futuristic, and it can’t hold a lot of cargo. In its current guise, it holds only 282 pounds of groceries in its eight boxes, compared to the 80 boxes held by a regular Ocado van. It’s a testing vehicle to prove the effectiveness of the technology, and iron out any issues. The design, shape, and capacity of the final vehicle, or vehicles, is still to be decided.

How will it work, and what will the delivery experience be like? We went along to a trial to see, and spoke with David Sharp, head of Ocado Technology 10X, the company’s advanced technology research arm.

Watching our first robo-delivery

We first saw the CargoPod as it silently appeared from around a corner in the Royal Arsenal Riverside residential area in London. It cruised past at a leisurely 5mph, stopping outside one of the apartments. A customer had placed an order through the Ocado app, which was loaded into the CargoPod at a hub station prior to its departure.

You take your order out, close the door, and the vehicle goes on its way. It’s quick and simple.

When the little electric vehicle pulls up, an Ocado delivery person confirms the customer is the same person who placed the order; in the future this may be performed automatically, perhaps using a keycode system similar to those seen on click-and-collect lockers. The numbered compartments contain individual orders: Press the central confirmation button and the compartment with your groceries will open. You take your order out, close the door, and the vehicle goes on its way. It’s quick and simple.

Currently, there are two guys inside each autonomous vehicle because the test requires two occupants, one from Ocado to monitor and approve the delivery system, and a safety marshal from Oxbotica who activates and assesses the self-driving part of the vehicle. Their presence is for safety and research purposes, and although one puts the autonomous vehicle into action, there will come a time when he’s not needed at all; Ocado will control the fleet of vehicles from a central location.

Packed with computers and sensors

The CargoPod is packed full of computers and sensors, including stereo-vision cameras on the front and back. Oxbotica’s computer vision technology creates a virtual map for the CargoPod to follow. It doesn’t use GPS because it isn’t accurate enough for self-driving use. The vehicle is equipped with laser scanners, which detect obstacles such as pedestrians in front of it. This ensures it stops, rather than just running you down on its way to a delivery. One of the safety people inside the vehicle said it’s so sensitive at the moment that it stops for pigeons, but in the future, the system will be refined using machine learning and image recognition to understand what it’s seeing (pigeon, baby, or bicycler) and behave appropriately.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Computers manage the driving and logging of deliveries. To run a fleet of CargoPods, a central control area will need to be constructed, where people oversee the fleet. Think of an air traffic control team at an airport, but with the ability for one of the controllers to operate a pod if it gets into trouble.

In the trial, a first in the U.K., the CargoPod drives around a part of Greenwich that has plenty of space, few hazards, and is logically laid out. Introducing it into busier areas is more complicated. Ocado’s David Sharp explained why.

“Once you start getting unexpected behavior, from pedestrians or other cars, more sophisticated algorithms are needed to help the CargoPod move around,” he told Digital Trends. “For example, at the moment it keeps a safe distance behind people when confronted with them. But to meet delivery schedules and to be productive, it’ll need to understand how to maneuver around them or overtake when safe.”

The future is still ‘hazy’

The potential for electric last-mile delivery vehicles to cut down on traffic and pollution is undeniable, but when will the technology become more than a test, and what else will it bring? When we asked Sharp how long it would be before the CargoPod wouldn’t need anyone inside it, and could go about its business completely autonomously, he described the timeline as “hazy.” Ocado will continue experimenting even after the Greenwich trial has finished, so the systems can be perfected in a more controlled environment.

“Over the next 10 to 15 years, we’ll see increasing sophistication inside these autonomous vehicles, to the point where they’re as good at driving as you or I,” Sharp said.

“In our warehouse operation, robots are used to move goods around, and in the future, robots will pick items and box them up.”

Ocado also expects major car manufacturers to introduce more autonomous driving technology into cars in 2021, which will help drive down costs and increase adoption. Autonomous delivery vehicles, and other innovations in robotics, also fits in with Ocado’s plans for its Instant Order predictive ordering system, where Ocado guesses what you want based on what you’ve ordered before.

“In time, we expect smart kitchen appliances to help predict what you need,” Sharp said. “In our warehouse operation, robots are used to move goods around, and in the future, robots will pick items and box them up. In the last-mile area, all goods are delivered by Ocado vans with a driver, but some people may be happy to receive deliveries in a different way, without a driver.”

Practice makes perfect

Ocado knows what it’s doing with online delivery. It not only operates its own retail business, but also provides the technology for others to use. After several failed attempts, U.K. supermarket Morrisons partnered with Ocado to operate its online delivery business, and it became one of the world’s fastest growing online grocery companies, going from zero to 200 million British pounds in a single year, then reaching 300 million in the second.

Oxbotica’s equally talented in the autonomous vehicle and software space. It provides the Selenium platform for the car, and the Caesium tracking and delivery platform that the CargoPod relies on. It’s also working on controlling future vehicles that will one day roam the surface of Mars.

Ocado is hardly the only company working on self-driving vehicles, for delivery purposes or otherwise; there’s competition from Amazon, Google, Uber, Apple, and various car manufacturers. But it’s one of the first to give such a clear indication of what the experience will be like for us, the people who actually place the grocery orders and meet the vehicle.

Ocado’s vision for autonomous delivery is as it should be: Simple, fast, and surprisingly normal.

We had groceries delivered by a robot, and it was like living in the future

All the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles could lead you to believe the technology’s widespread use is right around the corner, but we’re still years away from self-driving personal vehicles being a common sight. Autonomous service vehicles, on the other hand, may arrive sooner. Online retailer and delivery company Ocado, in conjunction with technology company Oxbotica and the borough of Greenwich, London, is in the process of testing a small fleet of CargoPods — self-driving delivery vehicles that will cut out the middleman and bring orders directly to your door. CargoPods complete the “last mile” of the delivery process, which means they’re stocked in your local delivery area before being sent out, and aren’t made for cross-country journeys.

Ocado’s CargoPod delivery vehicle doesn’t look futuristic, and it can’t hold a lot of cargo. In its current guise, it holds only 282 pounds of groceries in its eight boxes, compared to the 80 boxes held by a regular Ocado van. It’s a testing vehicle to prove the effectiveness of the technology, and iron out any issues. The design, shape, and capacity of the final vehicle, or vehicles, is still to be decided.

How will it work, and what will the delivery experience be like? We went along to a trial to see, and spoke with David Sharp, head of Ocado Technology 10X, the company’s advanced technology research arm.

Watching our first robo-delivery

We first saw the CargoPod as it silently appeared from around a corner in the Royal Arsenal Riverside residential area in London. It cruised past at a leisurely 5mph, stopping outside one of the apartments. A customer had placed an order through the Ocado app, which was loaded into the CargoPod at a hub station prior to its departure.

You take your order out, close the door, and the vehicle goes on its way. It’s quick and simple.

When the little electric vehicle pulls up, an Ocado delivery person confirms the customer is the same person who placed the order; in the future this may be performed automatically, perhaps using a keycode system similar to those seen on click-and-collect lockers. The numbered compartments contain individual orders: Press the central confirmation button and the compartment with your groceries will open. You take your order out, close the door, and the vehicle goes on its way. It’s quick and simple.

Currently, there are two guys inside each autonomous vehicle because the test requires two occupants, one from Ocado to monitor and approve the delivery system, and a safety marshal from Oxbotica who activates and assesses the self-driving part of the vehicle. Their presence is for safety and research purposes, and although one puts the autonomous vehicle into action, there will come a time when he’s not needed at all; Ocado will control the fleet of vehicles from a central location.

Packed with computers and sensors

The CargoPod is packed full of computers and sensors, including stereo-vision cameras on the front and back. Oxbotica’s computer vision technology creates a virtual map for the CargoPod to follow. It doesn’t use GPS because it isn’t accurate enough for self-driving use. The vehicle is equipped with laser scanners, which detect obstacles such as pedestrians in front of it. This ensures it stops, rather than just running you down on its way to a delivery. One of the safety people inside the vehicle said it’s so sensitive at the moment that it stops for pigeons, but in the future, the system will be refined using machine learning and image recognition to understand what it’s seeing (pigeon, baby, or bicycler) and behave appropriately.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Computers manage the driving and logging of deliveries. To run a fleet of CargoPods, a central control area will need to be constructed, where people oversee the fleet. Think of an air traffic control team at an airport, but with the ability for one of the controllers to operate a pod if it gets into trouble.

In the trial, a first in the U.K., the CargoPod drives around a part of Greenwich that has plenty of space, few hazards, and is logically laid out. Introducing it into busier areas is more complicated. Ocado’s David Sharp explained why.

“Once you start getting unexpected behavior, from pedestrians or other cars, more sophisticated algorithms are needed to help the CargoPod move around,” he told Digital Trends. “For example, at the moment it keeps a safe distance behind people when confronted with them. But to meet delivery schedules and to be productive, it’ll need to understand how to maneuver around them or overtake when safe.”

The future is still ‘hazy’

The potential for electric last-mile delivery vehicles to cut down on traffic and pollution is undeniable, but when will the technology become more than a test, and what else will it bring? When we asked Sharp how long it would be before the CargoPod wouldn’t need anyone inside it, and could go about its business completely autonomously, he described the timeline as “hazy.” Ocado will continue experimenting even after the Greenwich trial has finished, so the systems can be perfected in a more controlled environment.

“Over the next 10 to 15 years, we’ll see increasing sophistication inside these autonomous vehicles, to the point where they’re as good at driving as you or I,” Sharp said.

“In our warehouse operation, robots are used to move goods around, and in the future, robots will pick items and box them up.”

Ocado also expects major car manufacturers to introduce more autonomous driving technology into cars in 2021, which will help drive down costs and increase adoption. Autonomous delivery vehicles, and other innovations in robotics, also fits in with Ocado’s plans for its Instant Order predictive ordering system, where Ocado guesses what you want based on what you’ve ordered before.

“In time, we expect smart kitchen appliances to help predict what you need,” Sharp said. “In our warehouse operation, robots are used to move goods around, and in the future, robots will pick items and box them up. In the last-mile area, all goods are delivered by Ocado vans with a driver, but some people may be happy to receive deliveries in a different way, without a driver.”

Practice makes perfect

Ocado knows what it’s doing with online delivery. It not only operates its own retail business, but also provides the technology for others to use. After several failed attempts, U.K. supermarket Morrisons partnered with Ocado to operate its online delivery business, and it became one of the world’s fastest growing online grocery companies, going from zero to 200 million British pounds in a single year, then reaching 300 million in the second.

Oxbotica’s equally talented in the autonomous vehicle and software space. It provides the Selenium platform for the car, and the Caesium tracking and delivery platform that the CargoPod relies on. It’s also working on controlling future vehicles that will one day roam the surface of Mars.

Ocado is hardly the only company working on self-driving vehicles, for delivery purposes or otherwise; there’s competition from Amazon, Google, Uber, Apple, and various car manufacturers. But it’s one of the first to give such a clear indication of what the experience will be like for us, the people who actually place the grocery orders and meet the vehicle.

Ocado’s vision for autonomous delivery is as it should be: Simple, fast, and surprisingly normal.

Apple files patents that could transform AirPods

Why it matters to you

Apple hasn’t entered the world of fitness hearables, but it could soon. A recently discovered patent shows the AirPods with biometric scanners.

Apple may be looking to break in to the “hearable” game with the popular wireless earbuds it calls AirPods.

Patent tracking site Patently Apple, which is dedicated to — you guessed it — following and reporting on Apple’s patent applications, noted on Tuesday that the Cupertino, CA-based company had been granted 43 new patents, including patents related to iPhone 6 design, graphics rendering, and even systems related to golf scoring.

While many of the patent listings are vague, one in particular stands out: United States Patent 9,699,546, covering “earbuds with biometric sensing.” In a field saturated with great wearable earbuds — like Bragi’s Dash, Samsung’s Gear IconX, Jabra’s Elite Sport, and many more — it’s surprising that Apple hasn’t yet made many big moves. The issuance of this patent could signify that the AirPods (which feature Siri compatibility, beamforming microphones, and motion sensors, among other things) are bound for a smarter future.

Earphones like the Elite Sport use biometric scanners — located near the part of the monitor that touches your tragus — to track things like heart rate. According to Pocket Lint, Patently Apple also uncovered plans to outfit wireless earbuds with EKG sensors and impedance cardiography sensors (devices that measure electrical currents and conductivity), lending credence to the theory that Apple might have more fitness features in mind for the AirPods.

Wireless earbuds have grown in popularity of late, likely because they effectively reduce the number of gadgets necessary for engaging in “smart” exercise routines. Where once you needed a FitBit on your wrist, a phone in your pocket, and a pair of wired earphones hanging past your torso, knowledgeable gym-goers can simply carry a pair of tiny, wire-free earbuds without sacrificing functionality.

Among the litany of patents published on July 4th, Apple filed patents related to the HomePod speaker — specifically, spatial awareness technology to let the speaker adjust to its location within a room — and even to the technically-still-a-rumor-but-basically-guaranteed iPhone 8. Meanwhile, the company’s recent deal with Samsung means that, come 2018, top tier iPhone models will be equipped with high-contrast OLED displays.

You’d be foolish not to buy a refurbished Echo for just $90 today

The Thrifter team is back again, this time bringing you the best deal you’ll find on a certified refurbished Amazon Echo!

If you’ve been eyeing the full-sized Echo and haven’t dropped the cash on one already, today’s the day. Leading up to Prime Day, Amazon has dropped the price on a certified refurbished Echo down to just $89.99 for today only, which is the lowest this powerful smart speaker has ever been. What makes the timing of this deal even more important is that Amazon plans to offer voice exclusive discounts on Prime Day, meaning you’ll need an Alexa-enabled product to take advantage of them. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get one in time to participate in those discounts if you order now!

Amazon says the certified refurbished Echo have been tested and will look and work like new. You can pick one up in your choice of black or white, and at this price, you won’t want to miss out. If you aren’t already a member of Amazon’s Prime service, now is also a great time to sign up for the free 30-day trial. This will not only allow you to grab a discounted Echo today, but also take part in all the Prime Day fun that is right around the corner.

See at Amazon

Prime Day 2017 is coming! Follow along with our live blog to discover the best deals first!

Latest Windows 10 preview takes the headache out of high DPI

Because of old legacy programs, using Windows with high-res displays has always been a little tricky, especially if you’re switching between multiple screens. The latest preview build pushed to Insiders helps with that problem by changing the way Windows tells a program what DPI it’s using. With the new build 16237, if a user changes the resolution of the display by docking/undocking or adjusting a setting, they’ll only need to close and reopen most programs to fix any blurriness, instead of rebooting or logging out.

That’s not the only feature getting some love either. Notification action buttons are scaled across the full notification and the first one in each group is expanded so it’s easy to read. Emoji are easier to use now that search in the panel supports the new 5.0 set and it’s ready to describe what each one actually is if you hover the mouse arrow over it. Also, accessibility is improved now that Edge can read out loud on all websites and on PDFs. Sure, Timeline cross-device syncing isn’t ready to use yet, but there are plenty of other tweaks on their way this fall, and preview users can start testing them out now.

Source: Windows Blog

PlayStation Vue drops its cheapest packages, now starts at $40

Until now, in some areas, PlayStation Vue offered “Slim” versions of its streaming TV packages that dropped local TV channels and cost $10 less than the standard options. Now, as it’s rolled out local broadcasts from more networks and in more places it has pulled the plug on those Slim options. Without the $30 per month Slim Access bundle, now its cheapest offering is the standard Access package that costs $40 per month.

On its website, PlayStation Vue says that as of yesterday new customers can no longer sign up for Slim bundles, while customers currently on them will retain their subscription for three months before it switches to the non-Slim version (at the higher cost). In a statement published by Deadline, the company said “The transition to standard pricing for all markets was always part of our roadmap since we launched PlayStation Vue nationwide and began rolling out local broadcast affiliates in markets with Slim plans.”

The new lineup is certainly simplified, but cord-cutters looking to save every buck on channels they don’t want (or can get for free via antenna) may need to look for another option.

I heard PlayStation™Vue pricing is changing. Can you tell me more?

Effective 7/6/2017 for new customers, PlayStation™Vue plans will have the same nationwide pricing, as follows:

Access: $39.99/mo*

Core: $44.99/mo*

Elite: $54.99/mo*

Ultra: $74.99/mo*

If you are already subscribing at one of the prices above, your price will not change.

If you have Access Slim, Core Slim, Elite Slim, or Ultra Slim pricing, you will keep your current price for three billing cycles after the July 6 pricing change announcement. At the conclusion of this period, your monthly subscription will change (on your subscription renewal date) to the pricing above, based on the plan you have. If you upgrade, downgrade, or re-subscribe during this special pricing period, currently available pricing will apply.

*Taxes may apply.

Source: Deadline, PlayStation Vue FAQ

Surface Pro suffering from all-too-familiar random hibernation problem

Why it matters to you

You’re not alone if your new Surface Pro is randomly hibernating, but never fear — Microsoft is investigating.

Microsoft’s Surface line is full of excellent machines, including the Surface Pro, the Surface Book, the Surface Laptop, and the Surface Studio. Each is solidly built and brings something exciting to the table. But Surface has also been plagued with some technical glitches, particularly early in each machine’s lifecycle.

The Surface Pro line is a case in point, where both the Surface Pro 3 and 4 suffered early battery life and sleep issues that tormented users for months. Firmware and driver fixes eventually cleaned things up, but the stigma of poor reliability remained. Now, the new 2017 Surface Pro is having some of the same issues, as OnMSFT reports.

The issue first came to light on June 17, 2017, when users began reporting the issue at the Microsoft Community support forum. The issue is described as the Surface Pro randomly shutting off without warning, which as it turns out has involved the affected machines deciding to hibernate at random intervals outside of whatever power settings have been configured.

Complaints continued to be posted to the support thread, until Microsoft acknowledged the issue on June 28, 2017, and promised to investigate. According to a company support representative:

“We are aware of a small group of customers reporting a scenario with their new Surface Pro in which the device inadvertently hibernates. We are investigating this issue.”

The issue has suddenly become more visible given a story published by Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott. Like Thurrott, we did not experience the issue with our Surface Pro review unit, but enough users have reported the issue that it’s questionable if it’s only a “small group of customers” who are affected.

Some users are reporting data loss due to the issue, but if it’s indeed a hibernation problem then data loss shouldn’t be much of a concern. If machines are simply shutting off instead, then that would account for users losing data due to applications not being shut down cleanly.

With the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 machines, and to a lesser extent the Surface Book, Microsoft took a few months and numerous firmware and driver updates to resolve the ongoing issues. That led a Microsoft vice president, Barb Bowman, to recommend that anyone who has experienced the problem to return their Surface Pro and restart the standard 30-day return policy. Taking that route could save significant frustration if it takes Microsoft a while to resolve these issues as well.

Google Calendar catches up to other iOS apps with a… widget

Google Calendar’s iOS app now has an easier way to keep tabs on a busy schedule. An updated version of the app includes a Today View widget that shows your upcoming events at a glance. If you have a packed day with three meetings, you won’t have to launch the app to get an all-too-painful reminder of your itinerary. The concept certainly isn’t new on mobile devices, including on iOS (Apple has had its own “up next” calendar widget for a while), but it could prove a lifesaver if you depend on Google’s internet services and can’t afford to miss an appointment.

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: App Store

Prince’s music videos hit YouTube following ‘Purple Rain’ reissue

Though Prince took major efforts to keep his work offline, a lot of it has been slowly making its way back to the internet since his death. The newest online addition of his increasingly accessible body of work are a handful of music videos posted today on YouTube and Vevo. An official Prince account has uploaded official music videos as well as live performances of hit songs like “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” from the album Purple Rain.

In 2015, Prince pulled all of his music from every streaming service except Tidal, but in February, it returned to services like Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music. Last year, Prince’s estate sued Roc Nation over Tidal’s exclusive hold on Prince’s discography while making a deal with Universal Music Group to manage the artist’s catalog — a deal that’s now being rescinded.

The videos now available on YouTube follow last month’s release of the Purple Rain – Deluxe Expanded Edition, which included a remastered version of Purple Rain as well as 11 previously unreleased songs, a number of remixes and a concert film. As of now, there are six videos on the official Prince YouTube channel and if you’ll excuse me, I need to go watch them all immediately.

Via: Pitchfork

Wireless Charging Accessory Might Not Ship Until After New 2017 iPhones Launch

Apple’s upcoming 2017 iPhone lineup is expected to include an inductive wireless charging feature enabled through a standalone charging accessory, and new information shared by Apple blogger John Gruber suggests the accessory might not ship alongside the iPhones in September.

In a tweet shared this evening, Gruber says he’s heard that the inductive charging accessory will be sold separately rather than included with the iPhones, a rumor we’ve heard previously, and that it might be shipped later in the year alongside an iOS 11.1 update.

I’ve heard that inductive charging will (a) be sold separately, and (b) might be late, waiting for iOS 11.1 (a la Portrait mode last year). https://t.co/N65dHMNQIJ

— John Gruber (@gruber) July 8, 2017

Gruber’s wording says the charging accessory “might” be late, so the delay is not confirmed, and it is not yet clear why Apple would hold off on shipping the rumored standalone charger.

Early rumors about the OLED “iPhone 8” and its two companion devices, the “iPhone 7s” and the “iPhone 7s Plus,” suggested Apple was considering a long-range charging feature, but that technology is still new and there are likely many hurdles to overcome before it’s ready for inclusion in a device like the iPhone.

Instead, Apple is rumored to be introducing Apple Watch-style inductive charging, enabled through a standalone charging accessory.

An example of a Qi wireless charging solution
In a research note published earlier this week, trusted KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the three iPhones coming in 2017 will adopt glass bodies to facilitate WPC-standard wireless charging functionality. WPC-standard refers to the Wireless Power Consortium (Apple is a member), which supports the Qi wireless charging functionality built into many Android devices.

If Apple’s upcoming iPhones do indeed support a universal inductive charging technology like Qi, the devices could potentially work with a range of already-available charging solutions once the wireless charging feature is enabled. Apple’s exact plans for its inductive wireless charging solution remain unclear, however, and it could be limited to Apple-designed accessories.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
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