Professor Einstein: Your Personal Genius educational toy review

We have seen everything from a smart bra to an electric skateboard here at Digital Trends, but we never imagined a 14.5-inch Professor Einstein robot would be strutting around on our coffee table explaining what a volcano is. This cute, walking, talking, automaton was designed by Hanson Robotics to teach the basics of science to kids, teenagers, and interested adults.

Professor Einstein lectures, answers questions, and even tells jokes. With the aid of an iPad or Android tablet, he can also quiz you to test your knowledge. We first saw a demo back in January when the Kickstarter campaign launched. It was successful, so we’ve spent the last week with the finished product. He’s recommended for ages 13 and up, but we enlisted my dinosaur-obsessed, astronomy-mad eight-year-old son, and his inquisitive five-year-old sister to help us with our Professor Einstein: Your Personal Genius review.

Why Professor Einstein?

Famed German physicist Albert Einstein had a profound impact on modern physics when he developed the theory of relativity. He went on to win a Nobel prize in 1921, and so great was his intellectual influence, that his very name has become slang for genius.

Professor Einstein lectures, answers questions, and even tells jokes.

There’s no doubt that Einstein is an iconic character, but he’s also morphed into something of a caricature in pop culture, and that’s exactly what this diminutive robot is – a caricature. The long white hair, the bushy moustache, and the expressive eyebrows are instantly recognizable, even for an eight-year-old.

Professor Einstein has a series of motors inside that allow him to shuffle around, roll his realistic eyeballs, point at you, and even pull expressions like sticking out his tongue. His voice is distinctly robotic, but with the same speech patterns and clipped German accent you’ll hear in every Einstein impression.

Getting started with Professor Einstein was one of the smoothest gadget set-ups we’ve ever experienced. You plug the rechargeable batteries into his legs, pull down his pants to flick on the power switch on his posterior, and download the free Stein-o-Matic app for iOS or Android.

We had a blast with the tech support voice that guides you through pairing, and the ‘50s theme carries through into the gorgeous app art. Once Einstein’s personality and intellect has been downloaded and he’s hooked up to your Wi-Fi network, you can create profiles and take your first step on the enlightening path to genius.

Educational, but relatively fun

Professor Einstein is capable of a few things on his own, but he’s really designed to be used in concert with the Stein-o-Matic app. We were immediately impressed with the quality of the software. There are a few bite-sized introductory videos covering the universe, the brain, motion, and special relativity, which Einstein narrates, giving the impression of a multimedia lecture.

There’s also a large selection of data cards, which provide information on topics from astronomy to biology to geology, with multiple choice questions designed to test your knowledge. The presentation is great and the formats have been tweaked to make them a little more engaging. For example, you must choose the wrong statement from a choice of three, or match up four terms with the relevant branch of science.

Simon Hill/Digital Trends

At the easiest difficulty level, my eight-year-old was able to answer a lot of questions correctly, and the multiple-choice format allows for a process of elimination approach. You can also ramp the difficulty up beyond my scant scientific knowledge, so there should be enough of a challenge there for teens. Hanson Robotics recommends Professor Einstein for ages 13 and up, but we think younger kids will get a kick out of it, particularly if they’re developing an interest in science.

My daughter was fascinated by Einstein at first, but immediately got bored with the app because she’s only five. She later confided that she found Professor Einstein a bit creepy, and he can be. There’s a small camera in his tie which enables him to see people and he can obviously hear, so he does turn to address whoever poses a question and sometimes points his finger at you. Although he’s clearly a caricature, he has realistic eyes and often pulls distinctly odd facial expressions. The fact they’re accompanied by a lot of loudly whirring motors doesn’t add to the illusion.

Beyond the lectures and quizzes, you can also play a couple of games. Mag-Neato is a puzzle game based on magnetism and momentum. Launch Lab challenges you to control a rocket in space, and will be immediately familiar to anyone who has played Asteroids. There’s also a series of mini games based around various scientific concepts. One top-down scroller challenges you to guide a bat through a maze using echo-location, another is based on the idea of combining different colored lasers to find a target color.

Einstein elevates the presentation, but can feel like a side prop when he should be the main event.

The games in Stein-o-Matic are a mixed bag. Most of them are accessible and relatively fun, but a few, like the one where you must deflect asteroids by dragging the moon around the earth, are an exercise in frustration. They’re intended to encompass scientific concepts in a fun package, but our eight-year-old actually preferred the data cards and questions to the games.

For each profile you create (you can create up to five), you gain points by completing activities, earning a word of praise from Einstein and advancing up the “Genius levels”. The well-designed app has a mildly addictive hook that keeps you coming back for more, but, while Professor Einstein elevates the presentation, he can feel like a side prop when he should be the main event.

A misunderstood genius?

During a conversation with a colleague on quantum mechanics, Einstein reportedly said “I can’t be sure that I understand you because you are using the wrong words.” Unfortunately, the robot Professor Einstein failed to understand us on countless occasions, but not because of semantics.

When he’s offline, Professor Einstein is severely limited. You can say “Question” and then ask him how he is, or say “Hey Professor” and then tell him to take a walk or stick out his tongue. It’s a problem we’ve encountered before, with the Cognitoys Dino, which employs IBM Watson as its brain. You need to be able to go online to get the best from Professor Einstein.

If you link Professor Einstein up to your Wi-Fi connection, then you can ask him a number of different questions and he’ll search for an answer. Queries are encrypted and routed to the cloud where Hanson Robotic’s AI formulates an answer. Einstein can tell you who he is, crack a terrible joke, or explain a trapezoid or a dynamo. At least he can in theory. In practice, we found him very clunky. You have to say, “Hey Professor” to get his attention, then wait for him to respond before posing your question.

Sometimes he would be unresponsive for a few seconds, before responding “Yes, that’s me!” Even with clear enunciation, we often got a confused or negative response to our queries, or, more often, a request to repeat the question. My kids are used to Alexa, because we have an Amazon Echo, so they understand the importance of phrasing and clarity, but Professor Einstein simply isn’t as capable. We got a software update that seemed to improve his responses slightly, but overall, conversations with Professor Einstein were a real disappointment.

Volume is another issue. Professor Einstein talks quite loudly and he doesn’t seem to have a volume control, which is an odd omission.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Professor Einstein is available exclusively on eBay for the next two weeks at $250. From August 6, you’ll be able to buy him at Amazon or http://www.professoreinstein.com for $300.

If you’re going to spend that kind of money, then you really want a responsive robot. Reflecting on our time with Einstein, most of what we liked was actually in the app, he just served as an extremely weird prop. If Hanson can improve his conversational skills, then he could help inspire kids to a career in science, but for now we’d pass on the Professor.

WhatsApp is beating Snapchat at its own game, reports 1 billion daily users

Why it matters to you

The more users on WhatsApp, the more development that will go into building cool features for the messaging service.

WhatsApp is beating Snapchat at its own game. The company announced that it has hit a milestone of 1 billion daily active users — but perhaps more interesting it the fact that Status — the company’s Snapchat Stories competitor — now has 250 million daily active users.

By comparison, Snapchat only has 166 million daily users for its entire app, not just the Snapchat Stories feature. And, many of the people who have Snapchat likely don’t even use Stories in the first place.

The 1 billion daily users is a big milestone. Not only that, but the app has also hit 1.3 billion monthly active users — which means that 76 percent of its user base uses the app every day. Also announced was the fact that users now send 55 billion messages per day, including 4.5 billion photos and 1 billion videos.

The growth has been quick for WhatsApp, which hit 1 billion monthly active users in February 2016. When Facebook acquired the company in 2014, the service had 350 million daily users.

So what do all those users mean? According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company is “still early on the monetization side” for the app and both Facebook and WhatsApp are building teams to address how the app can eventually make money. Monetizing an app that has 1 billion daily active uses could result in huge profits.

Zuckerberg also announced metrics for Instagram Stories, which also has 250 million daily active users — meaning that both WhatsApp and Instagram are beating Snapchat at the Stories game. For WhatsApp, the 250 million daily active users of WhatsApp Stories is up from 175 million users three months ago.

A report from TechCrunch notes that the huge growth of Status since it first launched shows that Snapchat missed the mark in focusing solely on U.S. users rather than branching out across the globe.

It will be interesting to see how WhatsApp continues to grow in the near future and if Snapchat can make moves to compete against WhatsApp and Instagram.

Amazon Echo vs. Amazon Echo Show: the show has a screen but is it worth the upgrade?

After much anticipation, Amazon has finally unveiled the latest in the Alexa-equipped Echo family, the Echo Show. While the unit isn’t the easiest on the eyes, with a 7-inch touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, dual 2-inch Dolby-massaged stereo speakers, and an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor, the Show certainly has a few accessories absent from the standard Echo. Slapping a screen on the Echo certainly adds a welcome visual element to the experience; however, many of Alexa’s Skills have yet to take full advantage of the latest iteration, and many individuals may not need the added versatility of a screen-enabled Alexa. That said, is making the upgrade a worthy leap of faith? Here’s a rundown of the models to help you make the decision for yourself.

Skills and Functionality

Once the devices are set up and connected to the smartphone app, both the Echo and the Echo Show are equally capable of controlling all of your compatible smart-home appliances and accessories. However, when it comes to monitoring these smart-home devices, the Show has a clear advantage. Most notably, the Show can display feeds from smart-home cameras and video doorbells, like Nest, Arlo, Ring, and August.

Shopping on the Echo Show has a much more natural feel than with the standard Echo. For example, say “Alexa, order me some batteries,” and the Show screen will then promptly display a full catalog of batteries to choose from. If this same command were given to Echo, the device would only be capable of choosing a pack for you or reordering batteries you have previously purchased. A modest, albeit significant, dissimilarity.

This visual aspect is really what separates the two devices, and the ability to both hear and also see these cues adds clarity to the process. You won’t always need (or be able) to use the screen with some of the Amazon Skills, but those that do have video capability can be very helpful around the home or office. Mainstay Skills like YouTube are handy when it comes to watching music videos and even following along with lyrics of the latest hits (not that you can’t already do this with your phone or a basic tablet).

The Food Network Skill is currently one of the more popular Skills for Amazon Echo. The utility allows individuals to easily follow along as Alexa guides them through simple or more extensive recipes. This Skill was updated specifically for Echo Show; not only will Alexa walk you through the prep work, she will also list instructions and play tutorial videos. We can only hope Amazon builds upon this with other Skills to make the device easier to use down the road. Similarly, the visual timer is a very useful tool when preparing meals in the kitchen. Not that it’s necessarily difficult to ask Alexa how much time is remaining, but simply being able to glance at a digital readout is much more convenient and free-flowing.

As anyone who has ever asked Alexa about upcoming showtimes around town can attest, listening to a droning list of movie times can be frustrating, if not all out mind-numbingly reminiscent of Moviefone. Thankfully, with the Echo Show, Alexa will display a scrollable list of movies, showtimes, and even play trailers for your perusing pleasure. When it comes to dressing and planning for the weather, the screen allows you to view weekly and hourly forecasts. The Echo Show will actively let you visualize and tweak your shopping lists, notes, and to-do lists for a more organic hands-on feel.

At the moment, many of the third-party Skills are a little wonky and do not fully capitalize on the visual component of the Show. Amazon claims that “third-party Skills had not yet been finalized for the Echo Show,” according to the New York Times. For the time being, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Skills — feel free to enable the Digital Trends Skill.

Winner: Echo Show

Echo-to-Echo communication

Both devices are capable of Alexa-to-Alexa messaging and voice-calling between individuals with an Echo device and the compatible Alexa app, but only the Echo Show can handle video calling. This may sound like a wonderful addition to the Echo platform — and it is, mostly. There is a downfall, however. The Drop In feature — the technological equivalent of the pop-in — allows your contacts to call in whenever they want, and you don’t get the choice to decline them. You only have a few seconds to prepare for the call if someone does in fact “Drop In.” This certainly brings to mind a slew of privacy concerns; however, as is the case with the Echo and Dot, you can easily mute the Show and also block the camera.

Winner: Echo Show

Sound

Both the Echo and the Echo Show are more than capable of adequately hearing and communicating with you from the other side of larger spaces and also filling a room with music. It is important to note that neither of these speakers is a top of the line, stand-alone audio system, and pickier audiophiles will certainly have their complaints. However, connecting the line-up of Alexa-enabled devices to higher-end Bluetooth speakers will shore up these minor technological drawbacks. We’ve also compiled a list of the choicest Bluetooth speakers on the market to further bolster your Alexa-centered home audio system.

Winner: Draw

Design

To be blunt, neither the Echo nor the Echo Show are exactly the sexiest gadgets to behold, and Amazon probably isn’t holding its breath on winning any International Design Excellence Awards anytime soon. Existing as a bland black monolith, the Amazon Echo is anything but an inspiring focal point in a given room. Similarly, with a clunky build, the Echo Show looks like it was created from leftover bulk components from Amazon Prime Day 2016 rather than a nod to the inevitable Jetsons smart-home of tomorrow. However, the 7-inch touchscreen does add functionality and a modest aesthetic touch without looking nearly as utilitarian as the Echo.

Winner: Echo Show

Our Take

The on-screen capabilities of the Echo Show aren’t necessarily must-haves right now, but as the Skills begin to cater to the Show platform, we should begin to see more functionality in the months ahead.

Beyond the nitpicky but relevant aesthetic flaws of each, there are some noteworthy design drawbacks with the Echo Show. For example, the Echo Show screen is always on in some form or fashion. You can ask Alexa to turn it off, but the screen will simply dim and display the time with the background still illuminated. Similarly, if the built-in camera detects motion, the screen will again turn on. For this reason, those who are sensitive to lighting at night will certainly not appreciate this temperamental nightlight in their bedrooms.

The Echo is available for $180 and the Echo Show, the priciest in the Echo family, costs $230. That said, at just $50 more than the standard Amazon Echo, the Show is certainly worth the upgrade. But if you’re simply looking to add a little music to a room and occasionally pester a digital assistant without attempting to control your full array of smart appliances, then the basic Echo will surely suffice.

Winner: Echo Show

Buy now from Amazon:

Echo Echo Show

Amazon Echo vs. Amazon Echo Show: the show has a screen but is it worth the upgrade?

After much anticipation, Amazon has finally unveiled the latest in the Alexa-equipped Echo family, the Echo Show. While the unit isn’t the easiest on the eyes, with a 7-inch touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, dual 2-inch Dolby-massaged stereo speakers, and an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor, the Show certainly has a few accessories absent from the standard Echo. Slapping a screen on the Echo certainly adds a welcome visual element to the experience; however, many of Alexa’s Skills have yet to take full advantage of the latest iteration, and many individuals may not need the added versatility of a screen-enabled Alexa. That said, is making the upgrade a worthy leap of faith? Here’s a rundown of the models to help you make the decision for yourself.

Skills and Functionality

Once the devices are set up and connected to the smartphone app, both the Echo and the Echo Show are equally capable of controlling all of your compatible smart-home appliances and accessories. However, when it comes to monitoring these smart-home devices, the Show has a clear advantage. Most notably, the Show can display feeds from smart-home cameras and video doorbells, like Nest, Arlo, Ring, and August.

Shopping on the Echo Show has a much more natural feel than with the standard Echo. For example, say “Alexa, order me some batteries,” and the Show screen will then promptly display a full catalog of batteries to choose from. If this same command were given to Echo, the device would only be capable of choosing a pack for you or reordering batteries you have previously purchased. A modest, albeit significant, dissimilarity.

This visual aspect is really what separates the two devices, and the ability to both hear and also see these cues adds clarity to the process. You won’t always need (or be able) to use the screen with some of the Amazon Skills, but those that do have video capability can be very helpful around the home or office. Mainstay Skills like YouTube are handy when it comes to watching music videos and even following along with lyrics of the latest hits (not that you can’t already do this with your phone or a basic tablet).

The Food Network Skill is currently one of the more popular Skills for Amazon Echo. The utility allows individuals to easily follow along as Alexa guides them through simple or more extensive recipes. This Skill was updated specifically for Echo Show; not only will Alexa walk you through the prep work, she will also list instructions and play tutorial videos. We can only hope Amazon builds upon this with other Skills to make the device easier to use down the road. Similarly, the visual timer is a very useful tool when preparing meals in the kitchen. Not that it’s necessarily difficult to ask Alexa how much time is remaining, but simply being able to glance at a digital readout is much more convenient and free-flowing.

As anyone who has ever asked Alexa about upcoming showtimes around town can attest, listening to a droning list of movie times can be frustrating, if not all out mind-numbingly reminiscent of Moviefone. Thankfully, with the Echo Show, Alexa will display a scrollable list of movies, showtimes, and even play trailers for your perusing pleasure. When it comes to dressing and planning for the weather, the screen allows you to view weekly and hourly forecasts. The Echo Show will actively let you visualize and tweak your shopping lists, notes, and to-do lists for a more organic hands-on feel.

At the moment, many of the third-party Skills are a little wonky and do not fully capitalize on the visual component of the Show. Amazon claims that “third-party Skills had not yet been finalized for the Echo Show,” according to the New York Times. For the time being, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite Skills — feel free to enable the Digital Trends Skill.

Winner: Echo Show

Echo-to-Echo communication

Both devices are capable of Alexa-to-Alexa messaging and voice-calling between individuals with an Echo device and the compatible Alexa app, but only the Echo Show can handle video calling. This may sound like a wonderful addition to the Echo platform — and it is, mostly. There is a downfall, however. The Drop In feature — the technological equivalent of the pop-in — allows your contacts to call in whenever they want, and you don’t get the choice to decline them. You only have a few seconds to prepare for the call if someone does in fact “Drop In.” This certainly brings to mind a slew of privacy concerns; however, as is the case with the Echo and Dot, you can easily mute the Show and also block the camera.

Winner: Echo Show

Sound

Both the Echo and the Echo Show are more than capable of adequately hearing and communicating with you from the other side of larger spaces and also filling a room with music. It is important to note that neither of these speakers is a top of the line, stand-alone audio system, and pickier audiophiles will certainly have their complaints. However, connecting the line-up of Alexa-enabled devices to higher-end Bluetooth speakers will shore up these minor technological drawbacks. We’ve also compiled a list of the choicest Bluetooth speakers on the market to further bolster your Alexa-centered home audio system.

Winner: Draw

Design

To be blunt, neither the Echo nor the Echo Show are exactly the sexiest gadgets to behold, and Amazon probably isn’t holding its breath on winning any International Design Excellence Awards anytime soon. Existing as a bland black monolith, the Amazon Echo is anything but an inspiring focal point in a given room. Similarly, with a clunky build, the Echo Show looks like it was created from leftover bulk components from Amazon Prime Day 2016 rather than a nod to the inevitable Jetsons smart-home of tomorrow. However, the 7-inch touchscreen does add functionality and a modest aesthetic touch without looking nearly as utilitarian as the Echo.

Winner: Echo Show

Our Take

The on-screen capabilities of the Echo Show aren’t necessarily must-haves right now, but as the Skills begin to cater to the Show platform, we should begin to see more functionality in the months ahead.

Beyond the nitpicky but relevant aesthetic flaws of each, there are some noteworthy design drawbacks with the Echo Show. For example, the Echo Show screen is always on in some form or fashion. You can ask Alexa to turn it off, but the screen will simply dim and display the time with the background still illuminated. Similarly, if the built-in camera detects motion, the screen will again turn on. For this reason, those who are sensitive to lighting at night will certainly not appreciate this temperamental nightlight in their bedrooms.

The Echo is available for $180 and the Echo Show, the priciest in the Echo family, costs $230. That said, at just $50 more than the standard Amazon Echo, the Show is certainly worth the upgrade. But if you’re simply looking to add a little music to a room and occasionally pester a digital assistant without attempting to control your full array of smart appliances, then the basic Echo will surely suffice.

Winner: Echo Show

Buy now from Amazon:

Echo Echo Show

Sling TV adds pay-per-view events starting with UFC 214

SlingTV is taking another step toward replicating the traditional pay-TV experience: Offering pay-per-view events. If you’re impatient, know that it starts this weekend with UFC 214, so you won’t have too long to wait before testing it out for yourself.

“Although we haven’t announced specific plans to offer other fights, we will carry additional pay-per-view events in the future,” the company told TechCrunch. “Integrating UFC 214 directly into the Sling TV experience is the next step in Sling TV becoming a true cable replacement.”

You won’t be able to use Sling’s cloud DVR to record Cormier and Jones beating the snot out of each other (again), however. Now to see if other streaming services start baking in pay-per-view events like this. UFC 214 will run you $59.99 in addition to your monthly subscription fee.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Sling TV

‘Modern Warfare Remastered’ hits Xbox and PC as a standalone title

It’s no secret that including the remastered version of the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare helped sell copies of the latest in the series, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Unfortunately, you could only get the revival in an $80 bundle with the new game — until Activision bowed to demand and planned a standalone version of the remastered 2007 classic, which came out exclusively for PS4 last month. After a grace period, the game is now out on Steam, and Xbox One for $40.

The remaster includes the original game’s solo campaign plus 16 retouched multiplayer maps. Surprising no one, there’s already a $15 DLC pack on Steam that includes four (and only four) additional maps. But if you don’t want to shell out even more than the sticker price, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is getting a free bonus map as part of Activision’s franchise-wide “Days of Summer” event — a beachy wonderland to dominate those upstarts who didn’t master these levels the first time they came around.

Source: Windows Central, Steam

This is how Doomfist invades ‘Overwatch’

Doomfist is here. Overwatch’s 25th character went live across PC and consoles today, finally making the game’s most famed, punch-drunk villain playable for everyone. Doomfist is a damage-dealing offense character with a transhumanist twist: He has a cybernetic arm that deals incredible punching power, plus a small hand cannon that fires in bursts of four, no manual reload required.

Fans have been waiting for Doomfist to hit Overwatch since the game’s announcement video, which teased him as the most war-hungry menace the world had ever seen. Now that he’s out in the wild, we (finally) went hands-on with Doomfist on Facebook Live. Here are our initial thoughts:

First, “Doomfist” is a fantastic name.

Second, he’s a truly fun offense character. With his massive, shiny arm, Doomfist may look like a tank, but he’s actually designed to swoop in and assassinate enemies with powerful bursts of damage. The existing lineup of offense characters in Overwatch are gun- and sword-based, making Doomfist immediately unique. He has a projectile weapon in the hand cannon, but that’s far from his main ability — Doomfist is, unsurprisingly, all about punching.

And, boy, does it feel good to punch things as Doomfist. One of his abilities, Rocket Punch, is particularly satisfying to land. It essentially allows Doomfist to fly toward enemies and smack them backward, dealing extra damage if they crash into a wall. It’s a charged ability, meaning the longer you hold down the appropriate button, the more damage it’ll do — however, after a few seconds at full power, the move is automatically triggered, sending Doomfist soaring in whichever direction he’s facing.

Rocket Punch allows Doomfist to take enemies by surprise and pick off anyone who splits off from the team. But, since it has such a long attack runway, lining up the shot is a tricky prediction game that leaves Doomfist vulnerable for seconds at a time. Long enough to get sniped by Widowmaker, at least. Of course, that’s exactly what makes the move so satisfying when it actually connects. Rocket Punch is powerful, but it takes skill to truly work.

His other abilities work well on their own or as a follow-up to Rocket Punch: Seismic Slam makes him leap forward (again, he’s all about diving onto that back line) and pop nearby enemies toward him. It’s a good idea to follow that with a Rising Uppercut, which throws Doomfist and his target high into the sky. Add in some shots from the hand cannon and that’s a lethal combo for nearly every character.

Doomfist’s ultimate ability, Meteor Strike, is a natural evolution of his collected abilities: He disappears into the sky and players control his landing point, ideally positioning it in the center of the enemy team. When Doomfist lands, he deals a ton of damage to anyone in his circle. And, yes, it feels awesome.

Overall, Doomfist is a welcome addition to the Overwatch roster. He adds a melee option to the offense lineup and his leaping moves ensure Winston won’t get too lonely as he dives healers and damage dealers. At 25 characters, Overwatch is looking good.

Sling’s video production device can use DJI drones for footage

Earlier this year, Sling released its multi-camera video production device SlingStudio that made it a heck of alot easier to juggle multiple feeds for live or edited video. Today the company announced that the platform will now be compatible with DJI drone systems, including models from the Phantom, Inspire and Matrice series. “SlingStudio simplifies production for videographers looking to film with multiple drones, or drones in combination with ground cameras,” said Dish CTO Vivek Khemka in a statement, “Its wireless, drone friendly setup allows drone pilots to capture footage without being limited by cords or cumbersome film equipment.”

The drones’ remote controllers can plug into SlingStudio’s HDMI port or they can connect to the device wirelessly with Sling’s CameraLink wireless adapter. Video feeds stream through the drones’ controllers and are then routed to the SlingStudio hub. The controllers and hub just need to be within 300 feet of each other. Up to 10 video sources can be incorporated, including DSLR cameras, video cameras, smartphones and personal computers along with DJI drones. Four videos can be monitored and edited simultaneously via the iPad Console app and streamed live to outlets like Facebook or YouTube. Recordings are also saved for post-production editing.

The incorporation of drone filmography is a smart and really useful move on Sling’s part and makes SlingStudio even more appealing for those who want professional multi-angle video production without a professional price or crew. “We’re excited to see how crews flying DJI drones will incorporate this technology to bring a new element of storytelling to their live video projects,” said DJI marketing director Ryan Tong.

Source: SlingStudio

Bipartisan Senate legislation would modernize digital privacy

A group of senators introduced two bills today to modernize digital privacy. The current federal statutes derive from the Electronics Communication Privacy Act (ECPA), which was passed in 1986. One of their big motions extended phone wiretap laws to include communications between computers — but a lot has changed in the last 30 years, and the bills want to bring American law up to date.

The first, the ECPA Modernization Act introduced by senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), would update the law to require government agencies to get warrants for accessing emails. It would also require warrants for location data (historical and real-time) and reports from the FCC and GAO on law enforcement’s mobile data-intercepting Stingray devices. Of course, the proposal deliberately states that its language wouldn’t affect any stipulations laid down by the Wiretap Act or FISA.

ECPA Modernization Act by Senator Mike Lee on Scribd

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the new legislation.

“Technology has advanced rapidly since 1986, but our laws have not. ECPA was passed before the invention of many communications devices commonly used today, including the internet and smartphones. Yet, Congress has yet to follow the examples of many states to update our privacy laws,” said ACLU legislative counsel Neema Singh Guliani in a statement. “The proposed bill would make clear that the Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement to get a warrant in order to access emails, location data, and other sensitive information. It would also ensure that the government complies with its obligation to notify individuals when their location and content information is requested.”

The second bill, the Email Privacy Act, specifically requires the government to get warrants for emails, no matter how old they are. This ends an ambiguously-worded clause in the original ECPA that didn’t require authorities to get a warrant before accessing digital correspondence older than 180 days so long as they were stored on a third-party server.

Email Privacy Act by Senator Mike Lee on Scribd

It’s unclear how far these bills will get, given that a House bill updating the ECPA stalled in the Senate last year. The same legislation passed the House again in February and is awaiting the Senate’s version.

Source: Office of US Sen. Mike Lee (ECPA Modernization Act), Office of US Sen. Mike Lee (Email Privacy Act)

Review: The Moshi IonBank is a fashion forward battery bank

I don’t know about you, but my phone dying adds a great deal of stress to my life. I’ve gotten so used to having my phone around to do every little thing I need that suddenly being disconnected feels foreign. I use my phone for everything from turning on the lights, to changing the temperature of my thermostat, to taking pictures of my daughter and navigating using maps.

For that reason, I’m kind of obsessed with portable battery banks. Yes, there are a million out there and I’ve probably owned or tested about half of them but my search for the perfect one still goes on. Moshi recently sent over the IonBank for me to try out, and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. Not only does this thing perform very well, it looks fantastic while doing it.

What you’ll notice first about the IonBank is the brushed aluminum and “vegan” leather that sits on the top of the battery. The back and sides have a more traditional hard plastic that stands up to falls and knocks very well. I’ve had the battery for about two months and I’ve not had a scratch on it yet. I love the look of the gray brushed aluminum against the darker leatherette. Moshi described it as Vegan Leather and while it does feel a little bit like leather, you’ll definitely notice the difference between it and real leather. But, if we’re being honest, I don’t need or want leather on a battery bank. Sure, I want it to look and feel good but that’s overkill.

Vegan leather flap hiding the two embedded cables

Under the vegan leather flap sits two cables, one USB type-C, and one USB type-A. Battery banks are increasingly embedding the cables and this is a trend that I love. I never have to worry about carrying a cable with me in addition to the battery bank and all I need to charge it back up is a USB port on a computer or a USB type-A wall adapter, which are everywhere. The only situation where this is a negative is if you’re trying to share your USB type-C IonBank with a friend who has an Apple device, but you could always grab an adapter and keep it handy if you run into this situation more than once.

The IonBank also a USB type-A port on the side so you can plug additional cables in to charge other devices. Next to that port is a button and four LEDs that indicate how much juice is left in the battery. The lights don’t get overly bright which is nice for checking out the battery level at night (which I have done more than once) but can be a bit of a hassle during the day. This isn’t a huge problem, but this is such a good battery bank that I struggle to find negatives.

You can get the IonBank in 10k, 5k, and 3k varieties and in a couple of colors. Right now you can only get the IonBank 5K with a USB type-C port on Moshi’s site, the rest have lighting connectors. It charges up at 1.5 Amps which is slower than the version with a lighting cable for Apple device. This is slightly disappointing since Android devices can charge at far faster rates than Apple devices. According to Ampere, I normally pull anywhere from 1010 mA to 1500 mA which is maxing out the IonBank’s stated charging speed. I’ve conducted these tests in the 25 – 75% battery range as this is when most people are grabbing a battery bank.

All-in-all, I really like the IonBank. It’s expensive at $79.95 on Moshi’s site but I think Moshi feels like they can charge a bit more because of the quality materials. Not often are you going to find something that looks this good. I wouldn’t find it out of place on the desk for a corporate officer or executive. Still, it is expensive. There are a lot of other options out there that cost a lot less with a higher capacity. If you’re looking to get something that looks better than those with built-in cables, the Moshi IonBank might be the one for you.

Buy the Moshi IonBank 5K!