Drone deliveries are about to be a thing in Switzerland

Why it matters to you

The fact that this drone delivery system has passed the trial stage and features drones flying over urban areas is another step forward for companies keen to use the technology for deliveries.

At last, a full-fledged drone delivery operation that has passed the trial stage and gained permission to deliver items in densely populated urban areas.

OK, this particular service isn’t aimed at internet shoppers, but its imminent launch at least shows that the platform is edging toward wider use and acceptance in a range of applications.

Silicon Valley, California-based startup Matternet has been developing its drone delivery system in Switzerland in partnership with Swiss Post, and will launch an autonomous drone delivery network there next month.

Instead of flying pizza to hungry residents, or bringing books and other items to online shoppers, Matternet has focused its efforts on medicine, designing a system that will help carry vital supplies such as blood and pathology samples between labs and hospitals.

It’s notable for two reasons. First, Matternet’s delivery platform has gone beyond the trial stage, with full-time operation set to launch in October. And second, the company has been given approval to fly its drones over populated areas. Yes, this is the kind of authorization that Amazon and similar outfits are desperate to receive for drone deliveries in the U.S. However, the Federal Aviation Administration still needs some convincing that flying autonomous drones over urban areas is safe.

The company unveiled a vital part of its technology — the Matternet Station — in a video posted on Wednesday, September 20. This is a fixed docking station located at the start and finish of the drone’s journey, ensuring secure and accurate delivery to a safe, clean environment, with the recipient able to access the consignment by scanning a QR code.

“With the Matternet Station, we’re introducing an extremely easy-to-use interface that enables true peer-to-peer drone delivery,” CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said. “For healthcare systems, an integrated Matternet network means that medical items can be delivered to any hospital facility within 30 minutes. This level of speed and predictability creates substantial opportunities for improved quality of care and operational savings.”

Matternet’s autonomous M2 drone can carry a package weighing up to 4.4 pounds over a maximum distance of 12 miles, flying at around 40 mph.

Swiss Post’s Nathalie Derobert Fellay told Digital Trends earlier this year that drones were an efficient way of moving supplies from A to B: “Instead of having transportation on the road, where you may be stuck in traffic for a long period of time, transportation by drone is significantly faster. It’s also better for the patient because we can run it 24 hours a day.”

Capture all your precious moments in 4K quality with the Moment Drone

Why it matters to you

Can’t afford a videographer to follow you around? The Moment Drone might be a good alternative.

Who says a moment can’t last forever? Certainly not the team behind the Moment Drone, heralded as the best foldable 4K aerial camera. With features like auto-tracking and image stabilization, you’ll have your own personal videographer to help you document every moment of your life — if that’s what you’re into.

The lightweight drone is about as portable as any other camera you might own, with the added benefit of being able to fly. You can control the Moment with your smartphone, and can call it back to you with a one-button auto return function. Capable of flying for 15 minutes at a time, you can direct this drone to capture a wide range of memories and activities, all in 4K quality.

Despite ringing in at less than $200 (if you take advantage of early bird pricing on Indiegogo, that is), the Moment Drone features many of the same capabilities that accompany devices with a much higher price tag. For example, the camera promises to deliver 4K UHD 25 fps video and 12-megapixel images, as well as multiple shooting modes, including sweep panorama, continuous capture, and delay capture.

Thanks to Moment’s visual detection technology, the drone can track your face or your body and follow you quite literally everywhere you go. Simply turn on the auto-tracking feature and take advantage of a hands-free flying experience. Of course, if you’d rather control the drone yourself, you can easily do so with the companion smartphone app.

As impressive as the camera features of the drone are, it’s a pretty decent quadcopter, too. Thanks to its four-inch tri-blade propellers and a 1906-brushless motor, this drone promises steady flight even with gusts of winds of up to 11 miles per hour. So no, you can’t exactly fly this guy in a hurricane, but if you’re dealing with a windy day, you won’t have to worry about blurry images or your drone getting knocked out of the sky. Moment also comes with three different flight modes to fit your individual comfort levels.

Weighing in at just 400 grams (less than a pound), the Moment can be folded down to the size of a tablet, which means it’s as portable on the ground as it is in the air. Early birds can get the drone for $199 with an expected shipment date of October 2017.

Bill Gates wishes the Ctrl, Alt, Delete command was a bit less complicated

Why it matters to you

Not sweating past failures is good life advice, but it’s nice to know that even one of the most successful men in modern history has a few regrets.

Bill Gates said during a recent interview with CNN that one regret he has when looking back on his life and career, is in making the interrupt function on Windows PCs trigger at Ctrl, Alt, Delete. Although a classic maneuver every Windows user knows, he believes it was overly complicated and if he could have a do-over, he would make it a single key press.

When you are the world’s richest man, one of the most respected philanthropists, and have a place on the Mount Rushmore of modern computing, it has to be hard to find anything to regret. Gates doesn’t have many, saying during his chat at the Bloomberg Business Forum that he thinks to change even the smallest of details of one’s past would have a serious butterfly effect with everything else. But he would change that two-handed interrupt command.

“The IBM PC hardware keyboard only had one way that it could get a guaranteed interrupt generated,” he said, pinning some of the blame for his decision on the IBM keyboard designs of the time. “So, clearly the people involved, they should have put another key on it to make that work. A lot of machines these days do have that as a more obvious function.”

This is something Gates has brought up before. In a 2013 interview, he mentioned pushing to have a single button for the interrupt command for the sake of convenience. He blamed IBM at that time too, suggesting that the whole use of the Ctrl, Alt, Delete command was a “mistake.”

An Ars Techinca article from the time points out, though, that is not necessarily the whole story. The original command was created in the early 1980s at IBM as a way to quickly reboot from the BIOS (basic input/output system). It was supposed to be a somewhat complicated command to input, requiring two hands, so there was little chance of someone triggering it accidentally.

It was later popularized with Windows 3.0 and saw some use as a specialized login prompt for the U.S. government’s use of Windows NT, as it was hard for malware to spoof it, according to ZDnet.

Not a fan of Ctrl, Alt, Delete yourself? These are our favorite Windows shortcuts.

Snapseed gets a new look, new filters, and faster performance

Why it matters to you

Snapseed fans can download the latest update for an enhanced interface, new filters and, on iOS, a new tool.

Google’s image-editing app is getting a refresh — on September 19 and 20, Google launched version 2.18 of Snapseed, adding more speed, more filters, and an enhanced user interface. The app update comes with one more new feature for iOS users — a perspective correction tool.

The refresh is designed to allow users faster access to their favorite features to edit photos in less time, Google says. Looks, or the platform’s custom digital filters, are now located on the main screen for quicker access to those one-touch corrections. The update also brings 11 new Looks developed by the Snapseed team. Looks also allows users to create their own filters by saving a combination of adjustments. By saving the adjustments into a new Look, users can apply the custom filters to other photos without redoing each specific edit.

The refresh to the user-interface also comes with a new color scheme. With the update, Snapseed switches from a dark theme to a light one, with a gray background placed behind the photos, and white menus.

Along with the enhanced speed and user interface makeover, the iOS version of the app also includes a new tool. The perspective tool allows users to correct skewed lines. For example, wide angle lenses or a low perspective will make the parallel edges of a building appear to turn in toward each other. Google says the new tool has both an automatic correction option, and controls to adjust the skewed lines yourself.

The iOS version launched on the App Store on September 19, while the Android version followed a day later on Google Play.

Snapseed is a popular photo app because of its mix of one-tap and advanced editing tools. Google acquired Snapseed in 2012, later launching an Android version and dropping the $5 price tag to make it a free photo editor. The app saw no updates for two years, however, which had users worried the company wasn’t going to devote much into further enhancements because of that free price tag (which is eventually what happened to the Nik Collection, acquired at the same time). The latest update is the second significant change to come to the app this year, with Google adding a Curves tool in February.

Bose enters the world of fully wireless earbuds with the SoundSport Free

Why it matters to you

Given Bose’s history of excellence, its first-ever set of wireless earbuds, the SoundSport Free, are certain to appeal to audiophiles.

Headphone manufacturer Bose has announced its first-ever set of fully wireless earbuds, the SoundSport Free. Designed to compete with products like Apple’s AirPods, Bose is hoping they will find a place among the best fully wireless headphones on the market.

Unlike the AirPods, the SoundSport Free are specifically designed for people who lead active lifestyles, with sport fins and water and sweat resistance coming standard. The earbuds feature design elements and color choices that match modern activewear, with one option being a dotted blue exterior and bright yellow interior that should make them easy to find in a dark gym bag. Bose will also sell the SoundSport Free in a black-on-black design for those who are looking for less flash.

The Bluetooth earbuds boast 30 feet of range, and Bose says it has designed a special antenna to make sure that connectivity isn’t an issue, regardless of whether the headphones are in your pocket or elsewhere. Battery life will match the AirPods at a solid 5 hours per charge, with an included charging case that provides 10 hours of additional battery life.

In terms of controls, the top of the right earbud will let you adjust volume up or down, and a multifunction button in the middle provides access to Siri or the Google Assistant. Perhaps the coolest feature included on the SoundSport Free is a “Find My Buds” option, which will allow those with the Bose Connect App to locate the tiny in-ears should one go missing. It’s a nice touch, considering what is likely to be a hefty replacement cost. This feature is becoming more standardized in the world of fully wireless earbuds, with new competing products like the Jaybird Run offering similar functionality.

Due to be released in early October, the new Bose earbuds are currently available for pre-order on Bose’s website. They will retail for $250 — a full $100 more than the Apple option. Those interested in a set of fully wireless earbuds may see added functionality and design elements like sport fins and waterproofing to be essential enough to fork over the extra money, especially given Bose’s history of excellently designed — and perfectly functioning — headphones.

KeySmart Pro review: Tile tracking on a great key organizer is invaluable

If you lose your keys — or if you even think you might lose your keys — then this is a no-brainer.

I can’t say that I’ve ever really lost my keys. I tend to put them in the same place every time I return home. And I keep them in the same spot in my bag when I travel.

Keys, they say, are pretty important.

Having written that, I now fully expect to lose my keys in the coming days.

That brings me to a new version of an old toy. I’ve long been a fan of KeySmart — sort of a Swiss Army Knife sort of thing for your keys, so you’re not stuck with a mangled mess of metal, stabbing you in the pocket when you least expect it. And now KeySmart has gotten even smarter, teaming up with the Tile tracking service. So you can use your phone to find your keys. No extra dongles — it’s just all built in.

Let’s take a quick look.

See at KeySmart   See at Amazon

The keys, please — what is KeySmart Pro?

First things first: KeySmart is one of those key organizer things, as opposed to a simple key ring. It takes maybe 5 minutes to unscrew it, plop in your keys and then put it back together. KeySmart has a bunch of weird little accessories, too, including (and most importantly) a bottle opener, a USB flash drive, a golf divot tool — you know, normal, everyday stuff like that.

What’s new in the Pro is the integration with Tile. And that’s required some changes to the hardware. The KeySmart itself is now plastic instead of metal, and it’s about twice as thick. That’s the tradeoff you’ll have to make to cram electronics inside this thing (radio waves and metal don’t play all that nicely together), including a battery, Bluetooth radio, Micro-USB charger, buttons, LED flashlight, and a tiny speaker.

There’s a lot going on in this little thing, for sure.

Installing your keys is as easy as it’s always been with KeySmart. You unscrew the thing, arrange your keys and spacers and accessories, then screw it all back together.

The Tile tracking part of the equation

What makes this one new, of course, is the ability to find your keys with Tile. The tracking system is built into the KeySmart Pro itself, so you don’t need any dongles hanging off.

Setup was simple enough. Load up the Tile app (either from Google Play or from the iOS App Store, log in, and attach the KeySmart Pro to your account. (If you’ve been anywhere near the Internet the past, oh, decade, you’re probably good to go here.)

Organizing your keys is great. Knowing it’s much harder to lose them is even better.

If you’re new to all this tracking stuff, here’s how it works. I like to think of it as short range/long range. Say you just can’t find your keys. They’re somewhere in the house, but the damn things are just missing. Use the app on your phone to have your keys start playing a little 8-bit tune.

And that works the other way around, too, if your phone’s gone missing somewhere nearby. Double press the Tile button on the KeySmart Pro, and your phone will start making noise. Clever.

That’s short range. Long range relies on keeping track of your location in real time, and also on the kindness of strangers.

Say you lost your keys… somewhere. The KeySmart Pro also works in conjunction with your phone so that Tile always knows its most recent location. So when someone says “Do you remember where you had them last?” — you’ll actually know where you had your keys last.

And should your keys come into range of someone else who uses Tile, it’ll piggyback on their phone to let the Tile system know where they are. (That’s far less creepy than it sounds, at least in my experience.)

So what’s it like to use?

That’s also standard stuff when it comes to KeySmart and Tile, though. The question for me is what it’s like to use the KeySmart Pro.

And the answer is pretty much “If you’ve used a KeySmart, you know what you’re getting here.”

As I mentioned previously, I’m not crazy about switching from metal to plastic. (Though I certainly understand why it was done.) It just doesn’t feel as nice — not that I’m all that worried about how nice my key organizer feels. Worse than that, though, is the additional thickness, though that’ll vary a little depending on how many keys and accessories you have. (I’ve got six total; three on each side.)

There’s also the asymmetry in the two halves, which definitely bothers me more than it should. And the addition of buttons tells my brain that I’m not using something that’s much more complicated in its new iteration than it was previously. (On the other hand, that’s a conscious choice I made. So pipe down, brain.)

I’m also not in the habit of losing my keys. So I’m going to consider the Tile integration to be insurance, not something I actively use. But since it’s here…

Tile is super easy to use. You just load up your account on your phone with your device — you’ll add KeySmart Pro in the “View all partners” section — and it starts working. It works with your phone to figure out location and where they KeySmart Pro was last. That’ll get you in the ballpark.

Hit “find” and the KeySmart Pro starts playing a little tune, the better to find it with. (There are eight options for ringtones.) It’s fairly loud, so there’s a pretty good chance you can track it down.

Then there’s the whole Tile Network thing that goes into effect if you’ve really left your keys somewhere. Assuming your KeySmart Pro still has power, sending out the Mayday will cause anyone else who uses Tile to be able to passively “see” your KeySmart Pro and report back its general location. (And maybe they’ll even hear it and turn in your keys somewhere.)

And that’s pretty much it. Is it foolproof? Nope. Is it way better than dropping your dumb keys somewhere and hoping your dumb self can find ’em? Absolutely.

One more thing: the LED flashlight. It’s a handy little addition. It’s far from the brightest thing you’ll ever see, and I wouldn’t want to go solve mysteries out of the back off a van with a bunch of kids with this thing.

But it’ll help you get your key into the lock.

(By the way, if you just want a KeySmart with the flashlight, they now have the KeySmart Bright.)

A word on battery life: First, saying to yourself “I need to charge my keys” is kind of ridiculous. Second, KeySmart Pro charges over Micro-USB, which is a previous standard and really shouldn’t be used in any new products. (In other words, grrrrrrrr.)

Third, I don’t actually know how long the 40mAh battery (yes, that’s four-zero) lasts. Mine’s been going strong for a couple weeks now. KeySmart says you should be able to get a couple months of use out of it “if you go easy on it.” (I’ll update here if I see something wonky.)

The bottom line

Again, there are a couple ways to look at the KeySmart Pro. First is that it’s a kick-ass key organizer, albeit not inexpensive at $70 retail. I’ve been a big fan of the less expensive original for a long time now. (And we’re talking about a “my own money” kind of thing here.) And now I have a bottle opener and a flashlight on my keys? Awesome.

Second is that if you lose your keys — like, a lot — this is no-brainer. Pick one up ASAP. Or even if you worry that you might lose your keys. The Tile integration is excellent, and super easy to use.

It kind of makes you wonder why you weren’t using this already.

See at KeySmart   See at Amazon

Try out DirecTV Now for a month at absolutely no cost to you

If you’ve been looking to make the move to streaming all of your media, including your television shows, this may be the promotion for you. Right now, DirecTV is offering a free one-month trial of its DirecTV Now service when you use the coupon code RULESFREE9. The normal free trial period is only 7 days. You can sign up for any of the packages, including the most expensive options, and still get the first month for free.

DirecTV Now plans start at $35 a month for 60+ live channels and go as much as $70 a month for $120+ live channels. You can also add other premium channels, like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz. If you’re looking for local channels, make sure you pick up an OTA HD antenna.

Be sure to set a reminder for when your one month is coming to an end so that you can change your lineup selection or cancel before you get billed again.

See at DirecTV

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Moto G5S Plus coming to the U.S. Sept 29 for $230

The best of Motorola’s mid-range product line is coming to the U.S. at the end of September.

Back in August, Motorola quietly unveiled revamped “special edition” versions of its popular Moto G5 and G5 Plus smartphones, aptly titled Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus.

Today, the larger and more expensive of those two phones goes up for pre-order at a number of U.S. retailers prior to its release September 29.

Available in Lunar Gray or Blush Gold, and in 32GB ($229.99) or 64GB ($299.99) variants, the phone sports a larger 5.5-inch 1080p panel than the regular G5 Plus, and has more metal (this one is called an all-metal body) and an upgraded dual camera system, with two 13MP sensors. Keep in mind that both variants are $50 until September 28, after which time they’ll rise to $279.99 and $349.99 respectively.

The phone still runs the same Snapdragon 625 processor as its Moto G5 Plus counterpart, but the $229 32GB entry level model comes with 3GB of RAM instead of 2GB, while the 64GB variant maintains the same 4GB of RAM. When purchased unlocked, the phone works with all four major U.S. carriers, including Verizon and Sprint.

Motorola will continue to sell the Moto G5 Plus in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, and once the special pricing ends, the G5S Plus will sit some $50 more than the older model.

This week, Motorola also announced that its Moto X4 “budget flagship” would be coming to the U.S. both as an Android One/Project Fi device and unlocked through Motorola retail.

See at Motorola

How to use multi window mode on the Galaxy Note 8

Multitask using two apps on one screen with multi-window mode on the Galaxy Note 8!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 delivers the tallest screen yet in this line of phones. This, of course, means that using multi-window mode is more awesome than ever before. We’ve got the details on how to use multiple windows with your Note 8 so that you never miss an email or a message!

• How to open multi window mode
• How to close multiple window mode
• How to rotate window placement

How to open multi window mode

Multi-window mode lets you have two apps open and available for use at the same time. There isn’t any need to set anything up, you just need to know how to launch multi window mode in order to get started.

Open the first app you want to use.

Press and hold the return button.

Tap the multi window icon.

Tap to select a recent app to open in multi window mode.

How to close multi window mode

While multi window mode can be handy in a lot of cases, you may want to close it when you don’t need to keep an eye on multiple apps. Thankfully this is easy, and in just a few taps you’ll be good to go!

Tap the seam between the two open apps.

Tap the X to close one of the apps and leave multi-window mode.

How to rotate window placement

If you want to switch which app in multi window mode is at the top of your screen, all you need to do is rotate the open apps. This literally just takes a few taps and you’ll be good to go!

Tap the seam between the two open apps.

Tap the rotate icon to rotate which app is on the top and which is on the bottom of your screen.

Questions?

Do you still have questions about using multi-window mode with the Note 8? Have you used this feature? Let us know about in the comments below!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
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• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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The Canon Rebel t6i DSLR camera is down to a great low price refurbished

Canon’s “Pumpkin Spice Sale” is discounting already discounted refurbs by up to $450!

Please stop pretending your smartphone photos are awesome just because you tilted the screen and put a sepia filter on them. Step up your photography game with a real camera – a digital SLR. Canon’s refurb store regularly has some of the best deals on DSLRs along with a full one-year warranty and great customer service. Right now Canon is having a “Pumpkin Spice Sale” discounting already refurbished cameras and lenses, similar to the Labor Day sale we shared a few weeks ago.

The best deal in this sale is the Rebel EOS t6i camera, including one with the body and a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM starter lens for $498.99. That’s a $95 drop compared to other refurbs and an almost $250 drop off a new kit.

Learn everything there is to learn about the Canon t6i through DPReview.com’s in-depth break down of the camera. Too long, didn’t read: “The camera is an evolutionary follow-up to the T5i, adding a higher resolution sensor and improved autofocus, but with no significant changes in physical design. Its image quality is on par with most of its peers and the camera is capable of creating beautiful photos.”

While the t6i is a great camera and you can’t go wrong with it, its predecessor, the Canon Rebel EOS t5i is also an amazing DSLR and more entry-level in price. You can get a refurbished t5i with the same 18-55mm lens kit for about $100 less from the same store.

Be sure to check out the full list of cameras on sale if you want to add to your collection or throw in some extra lenses for your new kit.

See at Canon

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