DJI drones are getting an offline mode for secret flights

Chinese manufacturer DJI is adding a local data mode to its drones. Once enabled, the new feature will stop the company’s apps from collecting user data (such as photos, videos, and flight logs). Although, DJI claims the update is in response to public demand, it’s hard to ignore the security concerns recently raised by the US army. Less than two weeks ago, the military ordered staff to halt use of all DJI hardware and applications, citing “operational risks.”

Although the army did not elaborate on its memo, it’s thought the decision may have been spurred by DJI’s data collection. You see, the company’s DJI GO 4 app reportedly uploads details of flight records by default — including telemetry, video and audio — to its servers in the US, China and Hong Kong. It also doesn’t help that hackers have previously shown they can break into the app and fiddle with the drones’ flight elevation restrictions.

For its part, DJI told The NY Times it hasn’t been in touch with the military. And, its press release suggests the new mode has been in the works for months — further emphasizing it has nothing to do with the army’s decision. However, a company VP has revealed that the news may have raised alarm bells among consumers. “The Army memo caused customers to express renewed concern about data security,” DJI’s Brendan Schulman told the Times. The statements may seem at odds, but there’s reason to believe the company is looking to service its wider user base.

For proof, look no further than DJI’s integration of 3DR’s business-oriented tools with its UAVs. Ultimately, the drone-maker’s customers now span multiple industries. That’s something it acknowledges in its press release.

“[Local data mode] will provide an enhanced level of data assurance for sensitive flights,” writes the company. “Such as those involving critical infrastructure, commercial trade secrets, governmental functions or other similar operations.”

The update will start rolling out over the coming weeks, the company said. Keep in mind, enabling offline mode will block the app from updating maps or geofencing info. It will also stop notifications about new flight restrictions and software updates.

Source: DJI (press release)

Riot Games loses ‘League of Legends’ lawsuit to retired soccer star

A Dutch court has ruled that developer Riot Games must pay former Netherlands midfielder Edgar Davids for using his likeness in League of Legends. According to the ruling, a championship skin used in the game infringed on his personal image rights.

The skin in question is that of Striker Lucian — an athletic soccer player, who sports dreadlocks and goggles. As it turns out, Davids too was a soccer player whose orange-tinted goggles and dreads helped distinguish him on the pitch — alongside his skills, of course. Throughout the ’90s and ’00s, the midfielder played for a number of top-tier clubs in Spain, Italy, England, and his native Netherlands. He also represented the Dutch international side at both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. (As an aside, I once saw Davids in a London department store, his iconic look making him all the easier to spot.)

Despite arguing that League gamers would primarily recognize the skin as Lucian and not Davids, Riot Games still lost out. The court’s decision means the developer must fork out a percentage of the money generated by the skin (which was created before the 2014 World Cup) as compensation to Davids. Oddly, the soccer star famously tweeted his appreciation for the skin — noting its resemblance — back when it landed.

Thank youRT @GY4TSO @riotgames @LeagueOfLegends I think @esdavids noticed the resemblance!

— edgar davids (@esdavids) June 6, 2014

This isn’t the first time a public figure has taken legal action against a developer over the unauthorized use of their image. Just last year, a Manhattan court dismissed Lindsay Lohan’s suit accusing Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive for using her likeness in GTA V. Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega also saw his lawsuit against Call of Duty: Black Ops II publisher Activision chucked out by an LA court in 2014.

In this case, Davids has won his legal battle. But, seeing as Riot Games netted $1.6 billion in revenue in 2015 (and its parent company Tencent raked in a whopping $21.9 billion last year), the compensation may just be small change for the developer.

Source: Het Parool (Dutch)

Snapchat’s New ‘Crowd Surf’ Feature Stitches Together Users’ Concert Videos

Snapchat is currently trialling a new concert-related feature on the platform that stitches together individual video clips from different users to create one seamless video.

Called Crowd Surf, the feature uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to work out when multiple users are actively recording the same event.

By combining the two technologies, Crowd Surf is able to match clips from various users filming at different angles in close proximity, and then overlay the environmental audio seamlessly, creating what’s essentially a multi-camera video clip.

Users who later watch the video can then tap a button in the lower right of the clip to switch between angles, or simply sit back and let the transitions take place automatically as the action unfolds.

According to TechCrunch, the feature made its debut on the platform during a Lorde concert in San Francisco on Monday, the results of which can be viewed in the Featured section below the list of stories.

Snapchat says the Crowd Surf feature is still being tested, but will gradually be rolled out to coincide with more high profile events such as concerts and public speeches going forward.

Snapchat can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Snapchat
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Google Could Pay Apple $3 Billion to Remain Default Search Engine on iOS

Google is set to pay Apple nearly $3 billion this year to remain as the default search engine on iPhones and iPads, according to U.S. research and brokerage firm Bernstein (via CNBC).

According to the investor note, Google is paying out three times as much to Apple as it did in 2014 for the same privilege, with Google’s licensing fees making up a large bulk of Apple’s services business.

“Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014, and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B,” CNBC quoted analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. as saying.

“Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple, Google alone may account for five per cent of Apple’s total operating profits this year, and may account for 25 per cent of total company OP growth over the last two years,” he added.

Apple has increasingly highlighted its services business as a core component of its continued growth. In a recent conference call, for example, CEO Tim Cook said the company’s services had become as large as a Fortune 100 company over the last 12 months.

Apple’s iOS devices contribute about 50 per cent to Google’s mobile search revenue, according to Sacconaghi, suggesting Google would be unlikely to walk away from the licensing deal even if it suspected Apple would stick with Google as the default search engine anyway, given its huge popularity.

Tag: Google
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Apple’s Q2 2017 MacBook Sales Increase 17 Percent Over the Previous Quarter

Apple’s notebook shipments totaled an estimated 3.98 million units in the second quarter of the 2017 calendar year, representing a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17.1 percent, according to new data published by market research firm TrendForce.

Apple gained ground on ASUS at fifth place in the second quarter ranking, with a 0.7 percent increase over the previous quarter to leave both companies taking a 10 percent share of the market. TrendForce highlighted Apple’s decision to upgrade its 12-inch MacBook as one of the reasons behind the gains.

Apple trailed closely behind ASUS at fifth place in the second-quarter ranking. The updated 12-inch MacBook helped expand MacBook shipments by 17.1 percent from the first quarter to 3.98 million units. TrendForce also anticipates a double-digit sequential growth for third-quarter MacBook shipments as Apple will focus on the MacBook Pro series during the year’s second half.

Global notebook shipments in the second quarter of 2017 registered a sequential quarterly increase of 5.7 percent and a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent, totaling 39.96 million units. Sales in the U.S. and the arrival of new product models were said to be the main driving forces behind the second quarter shipments, with strong demand in the entire first half of 2017 exceeding market expectations.

Tapping into back-to-school sales, HP’s market share increased by 8.5 percent, allowing the company to retain first place in the global shipment ranking for the fifth consecutive quarter, while Dell posted the largest sequential increase of 21.3 percent to take third place in the ranking. Lenovo meanwhile shipped just 8.05 million units in the second quarter, representing a year-on-year drop of 2.4 percent, with slowdown in the notebook market in the Asia-Pacific region said to have had an impact on the brand’s performance.

Acer’s aggressive expansion in the Chromebook market did little to fend off rival models in the U.S., causing its notebook shipments to drop by 3.5 percent from the first quarter to 3.22 million units, with Acer remaining in sixth place in the global ranking.

TrendForce noted there are worries in the market that the strong shipment result for this year’s first half reflects demand pulling ahead, so shipments in the second half might be comparatively weak. Despite that, third-quarter notebook shipments are projected to increase by another 3-5 percent versus the previous quarter.

Apple updated its 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro notebooks in June, introducing faster processors and improved GPUs just eight months after the machines were last refreshed. It also introduced a new low-price 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar with a 128GB SSD. No other changes were made to the MacBook Pro.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is working on a high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro model that will include 32GB RAM, with production on this machine to begin early in the fourth quarter of 2017. Kuo claimed the MacBook Pro will be “the most significantly redesigned product this year” with desktop-class RAM to appeal to high-end users.

Related Roundups: MacBook Pro, MacBook
Tag: TrendForce
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now), MacBook (Buy Now)
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A drone landed on Britain’s biggest warship and nobody cared

The Pentagon has already approved a policy giving military bases the right to shoot down drones that get too close. A lot of other countries’ governments and militaries, however, are still in the midst of figuring out how to deal with them as they become more common. A photographer operating under the name “Black Isle Images,” for instance, landed a drone aboard Britain’s biggest warship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, and nobody seemed to care.

The photographer reportedly never intended to touch down on the aircraft carrier, but he was forced to do when a strong gust of wind triggered the drone’s high wind sensors. According to The Register, he was flying DJI’s Oculus-friendly Parrot Bebop — it even snapped a picture of the ship, which is now up on BBC’s website. He decided to give himself up to a team of armed police officers guarding the warship, but “no one seemed too concerned.” He also left his phone number to the authorities, but nobody got in touch with him.

The concern over the lack of security stems from the fact that drones can be used for anything these days — from espionage to terrorism. ISIS, for instance, is known to weaponize drones, including DJI’s models, essentially turning them into flying bombs.

The photographer told the BBC:

“I could have been anybody. It was like a ghost ship. I would say my mistake should open their eyes to a glaring gap in security. This was a bit of tomfoolery but it could have been something terrible, not just for the ship and its crew but for the people of Invergordon…

It’s worth noting that HMS Queen Elizabeth isn’t active and armed yet, however, which could explain why authorities weren’t alarmed by the incident. That said, if Britain’s military wasn’t too bothered at first, it is now. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson told the BBC that it “takes the security of HMS Queen Elizabeth very seriously” and that the incident has been reported to Police Scotland. It’s now under investigation, and the ministry has stepped up its “security measures in light of it.”

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: BBC, The Register

DJI drones will get a privacy mode for secretive flights

Why it matters to you

The new feature will reassure organizations using DJI kit that any data linked to their drone flights is secure and private.

The idea that DJI’s drones are constantly connecting with the internet while in use has clearly ruffled the feathers of some of its customers.

The drone giant this week said it’s building an offline mode to enhance privacy for customers who use its remotely controlled flying machines for “sensitive operations.”

“We are creating local data mode to address the needs of our enterprise customers, including public and private organizations that are using DJI technology to perform sensitive operations around the world,” Brendan Schulman, DJI’s VP of Policy and Legal Affairs, in a statement.

Some commentators are connecting the move to a recent decision by the U.S. ArmyU.S. Army wants to analyze drivers’ brain waves to keep them awake at the wheel to stop using DJI’s machines in its operations because of “an increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities with DJI products,” according to an internal memo seen by sUAS News earlier this month. The memo revealed that the U.S. Army had issued more than 300 releases green-lighting the use of DJI drones, reflecting the Army’s interest in the technology for various missions.

But DJI told Digital Trends on Monday that it’s been working on the feature for “several months,” although admitted it’s “accelerated that effort” in a bid to get it launched by the end of September, 2017.

DJI’s local data mode is aimed at reassuring customers concerned about security and privacy, allowing pilots to fly the drones in a more secure manner.

As things stand, the company’s drone apps connect with the internet to make sure they’re up to date. They also confirm the drone has the latest maps and relevant geofencing data for the local area, while confirming other flight elements to ensure safe operation. There’s no suggestion that DJI’s apps process or handle data in a way that it shouldn’t, but it seems some customers are after extra assurances.

The new private mode, which users such as the Army or government may want to switch to for particularly sensitive missions or tasks, temporarily disables the kit’s connection with the internet. Of course, the pilot will still be able to receive live video streamed from the drone’s camera, though it won’t be able to live stream it beyond the controller.

Once back at base, the drone and apps can be reconnected to the internet to receive any important updates. The company added that the new feature won’t always be available; it depends on the specific regulations related to different locations.

Schulman said that DJI is “committed to protecting the privacy of its customers’ photos, videos, and flight logs,” adding that the new local data mode “will provide added assurances for customers with heightened data security needs.”

DJI told Digital Trends it’s preparing a document that’ll provide more detailed information about the feature, including how it intends to make it available for particular kinds of users. We’ll update when we know more.

A very tasty treat is on its way to astronauts aboard the space station

Why it matters to you

It’s somehow comforting to know that astronauts aboard the space station can enjoy the same tasty treats as the rest of us back here on Earth.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are about to take delivery of goods from a Dragon capsule following another successful rocket launch by SpaceX at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday.

This particular 6,400-pound delivery contains a bundle of science experiments that include a number of live mice. But the astronauts probably have their mind set on something else that’s been packed inside the capsule. Something cold, sweet, and really rather tasty. Something they don’t get much of in space. We’re talking ice cream!

The unmanned Dragon cargo ship is currently on its way to the ISS and is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday morning. It’s then that all hell could break loose on the space station as the crew scrambles to get at the freezer containing the icy treat.

Packed into 30 small cups, the ice cream flavors include chocolate, vanilla, and “birthday cake,” presumably that particular one is for newly arrived American astronaut Randolph Bresnik, who turns 50 in September.

Deliveries to the ISS of regular ice cream (not that nasty freeze-dried “astronaut ice cream“) doesn’t happen every day, so the current space station crew are in for a real treat. So long as they like ice cream, that is.

By coincidence or design, there’s also another kind of ice cream heading to the space station aboard the Dragon. It’s actually a scientific experiment called the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass, which NASA is calling, ahem, “ISS CREAM.” See what they did there? The three-year experiment will measure the charges of cosmic rays, with the collected data helping researchers with the “fundamental questions about the origins and histories of cosmic rays, building a stronger understanding of the basic structure of the universe,” NASA said.

Food fun

The last time we heard of ISS astronauts getting excited about food was when they tried some lettuce back in 2015. No, the excitement didn’t come from their overriding love for the leafy green vegetable, but instead because if was the first food to be grown and harvested right there on the space station. The lettuce-based meal was part of ongoing research to find ways for astronauts to grow food in space so that they can sustain themselves on future missions into deep space. It’s not clear if NASA is working on an ice cream maker.

Blizzard isn’t ditching the Battle.net name after all

Some fans got sad when they heard that Blizzard plans to ditch the Battle.net name after two decades online. Others shrugged it off: it’s new name doesn’t matter anyway. It’s always going to be called B.net. After hearing its fans’ thoughts, the video game developer has decided to scrap its plans. The team said they changed their decision, because they understand that names matter, and that Battle.net “represents years of shared history and enjoyment, community and friendship…”

That said, the company is tweaking the platform’s name a bit: in an announcement posted on its website, it revealed it will now refer to the online gaming platform as Blizzard Battle.net. It will also be reworking its logo to reflect the change. This solves one of the issues the company wanted to address, since “Battle.net” alone makes it sound like the platform is a separate brand. By compromising and simply tacking the company’s branding to the platform, Blizzard is keeping fans who’ve been around for years happy. It’s also saving itself the trouble of thinking of a new name that might never reach Battle.net’s level of recognition.

Source: Blizzard

Aetna may offer customers a free Apple Watch as a perk

Health insurer Aetna is already giving its workers free Apple Watches (plus a handful of regular customers), but it now looks ready to expand those bonuses to everyone. CNBC sources understand that Aetna is in talks with Apple to offer a free or discounted Watch as a perk to all eligible customers — no small number when Aetna covers 23 million people. It’s not certain what the deal would look like, but Aetna would like to hand out wristwear early in 2018.

Neither company is commenting on the apparent leak. With that said, the talks reportedly involve executives as well as chief medical information officers from hospitals around the US. This isn’t a casual exploratory talk, in other words.

It’s no secret why Aetna would consider handing out Apple Watches like so much candy. As one of the tipsters says, Aetna hopes that this would encourage customers to lead a healthier life. Whatever money Aetna spends on smartwatches could easily be worthwhile if it results in fewer insurance claims. Apple, meanwhile, might see this as part of its growing plans to become a mainstay in digital health. If it’s willing to take a financial hit, an agreement could score millions of new Apple Watch customers (some of whom might become repeat customers) and cement the Watch’s reputation as a fitness tool.

Source: CNBC