DJI will let developers fully customize its drones

Drone company DJI is expanding its efforts in the commercial sector with a new thermal imaging camera and a payload software development kit (SDK) that will allow startups and developers to integrate custom gear onto DJI drones.

The Zenmuse XT2 thermal imaging camera, developed as part of an ongoing partnership with FLIR Systems, builds upon the original Zenmuse XT which was released in 2015. Side-by-side visual and thermal imaging sensors have been designed with emergency services and disaster recovery in mind, allowing operators to capture heat signatures otherwise invisible to the naked eye. QuickTrack mode centers the camera on a selected area, while HeatTrack automatically detects the hottest object in view. The on-board Temp Alarm interprets thermal data in real-time, alerting drone operators if an object exceeds critical thresholds.

DJI’s new SDK, meanwhile, is another boon to the industrial use of drones. Startups and gear manufacturers can now develop payloads specific to their customer’s needs, thanks to what Jan Gasparic, head of enterprise partnerships at DJI, calls a “powerful, flexible and standardized platform which customers from different industries can build upon.” The potential uses for commercial drones is almost unlimited — indeed, the company earlier this month signed a deal to provide Skycatch imaging drones to a Japanese construction firm — so it seems DJI is wasting no time placing itself at the center of this expanding field.

What educators think about Apple’s new iPad

Yesterday’s Apple event showed that the company wants to make a serious push back into the education sector. This isn’t anything new, though, according to CEO Tim Cook; it’s just the company going back to its roots. The centerpiece here is a “new” iPad, a 9.7-inch tablet with Apple Pencil support that aims to woo teachers everywhere. There’s also a redesigned iWork suite that lets students doodle and create digital books within Pages; the Schoolwork app, for tracking, well, schoolwork; and a kid-friendly tool for coding AR. Apple is hoping that will be enough to win over schools.

Apple had educators onstage during its press conference, but they had been handpicked to extol the values of the iOS ecosystem. We wanted to see what others thought about the new iPad and its classroom-friendly apps.

Because, as everyone knows, Apple products don’t come cheap. The company is pricing its latest, entry-level iPad at $299 for educators, $30 less than retail. Apple said at the event that last year’s 9.7-inch model has been the most popular iPad in education “by far,” so it sees this as the perfect opportunity to get into as many schools as possible. The problem is that with Google Chromebook devices (which are also aimed at the education market) going for as low as $150, there are cheaper alternatives for school districts. And that $299 price tag is just for the iPad; if teachers want a Pencil, that’s an extra $89, plus up to another $100 for a keyboard. That puts the total price closer to $500 for the full setup.

That may be an easy pill to swallow for private schools in well-off areas, but not so much the public ones. After all, many teachers in the US have to spend money out of their own pocket to buy pencils, pens, notebooks and other essential supplies. NPR reported last December that some teachers in the US spend as much as $1,000 a year on school supplies, noting that, while they used to be able to write off up to $250, that all changed when President Trump’s new tax plan went into effect on January 1st, 2018. That’s why Apple needs more than apps to win over educators — it needs to make its products more affordable.

The majority of the teachers we spoke to seemed to think that the iPad, even starting at $299, is simply too expensive — especially when there are less costly devices like Chromebooks around. That said, many of them agree that the iPad can certainly make a difference in the classroom, thanks to its “lock-down” ecosystem (which keeps kids from wandering around the internet) and apps like Kahoot, a game-based learning platform that makes it easier to engage students.

Editor’s note: Some quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.

On the new iPad’s $299 price (without accessories)

Joe Bryant, social studies teacher at Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School in South Los Angeles: “The iPad looks like a really great tool — if you have the money to afford them for students. I teach in a low-income neighborhood, and while I do have pretty good support at our school site, there’s a limit to what is fiscally reasonable. $299 is really expensive. My current school site provides me with a classroom budget (many do not), but that budget in and of itself is $250. I’m sure someone could fiddle around with a department, school site or district budget to make buying these things financially feasible. But even if I were to buy one for myself for use in the classroom, I would need to use my own funds. My budget would be better spent on more traditional supplies. $500 for the whole setup is even more of an ask.”

Amanda Brueschke, teacher at Webb Middle School, ELDA (English Language Development Academy), in Austin, Texas: “Without a grant, there is no way whatsoever I would have the funds available to buy a class set. [But] there are always technology grants: Someone who really wants one — or even a set — will be able to find grants to cover it. It’ll be work, but the money is out there. The districts do not generally pay for them, that I know of, [and] almost all of our technology other than our teacher computers are funded or mostly funded by grants.”

Katy Parker, former English teacher at corporate-owned private school Halstrom Academy in California: “I’m sure this would be quite limiting for many school districts. There are other factors to consider beyond the purchase price as well. Some school districts are better equipped than others to adapt their infrastructure to support management and maintenance of these devices. Others would simply not have the resources to sustain the use of student iPads. It depends on the district, the needs of a given community, the source of funding, the goals of administrators, and many other factors. I think the question of whether investing in a specific technology alone can bring about increased student achievement has already been answered. It doesn’t solve problems; it is merely a tool.”

Cara Conrad, geography teacher at Worthing High School, Worthing, West Sussex, England: “My current school does not have a class set of them, due to the price, and could definitely not afford to pay £299 for 30 iPads to make up a class set. We barely have enough money for glues! I think that any tablet could be used for the main things that teachers want them for: making videos, movies, presentations and research. So if there was a cheaper option, I’m sure schools would go for this. Additionally, there are many cheaper options for using technology in the classroom. There are loads of websites designed for teachers to do interactive quizzes with students using their mobile phones, [and] these are free as long as you let students use their phone in class … the idea of them sounds great, but the price and the need for staff training might stop them being used on a large scale and to their full potential.”

The new iPad.

John Gress / Reuters

On Chromebooks as an alternative, or a companion, to the iPad

Dr. Martina Blackwood, director of Instructional Technology at Dyson College: “With so many competing interests, finding the funding to support the purchase of both laptops and tablets for all may be unrealistic for some institutions. It may be best to purchase a smaller number of tablets that can be housed in a computing lab or library, where users can borrow the devices for a limited time. Laptops or desktop computers may continue to account for the majority of the tech purchases. Some courses call for the use of software that has not been made available for tablets, so having access to more robust machines will be crucial in keeping up with software needs. Chromebooks and tablets are not always equipped to meet the ever growing software needs for select disciplines.

“In addition to the prohibitively high cost of purchasing tablets for all students and instructors, we need to discuss BYOD (bring your own device) as a factor in what may appear to be the declining interest in purchasing tablets. Students and faculty often have their own devices that they prefer, and when they arrive on campus they just expect it to work seamlessly with the infrastructure of the institution. When users have selected a device that meets their needs functionally and financially, it may cause administrators to think twice about supporting a specific tablet, especially considering the rate at which these devices are upgraded. The increased size and functionality of cellular phones could also be a contributing factor in the dwindling desire to own the latest tablet.”

Bryant: “Our school uses Chromebooks, and I personally see more immediate value for our students in that product. The lack of an included keyboard peripheral for the iPad seems like a really poor choice. At the end of a lesson, I want my students to produce writing that shows they understand a topic. It’s a little difficult (though not impossible) to do that without a keyboard. Apple usually makes products marketed for higher-income customers, so it doesn’t surprise me that their product costs a lot and doesn’t have everything you need out of the box, but the minor teacher discount is kind of baffling. I also feel like Google has them beat in terms of classroom accessibility. My students use Google Suite every single day, and I utilize Google Classroom to distribute materials for lessons and track student progress.”

Brueschke: “I am absolutely much happier with the students on their iPads than on their Chromebooks (we are a 1:1 school) now that I have the iPads truly locked down. Although the iPads are more of a temptation for some reason to go off-task, the lock-down factor makes them “less fun” than their Chromebooks, and I tend to go with those before I let them use their computer. I would definitely find another way to utilize the computers if the iPads weren’t there, for things like Kahoot, but honestly, it streamlines the process of starting class activities like Kahoot so much now that they’re [all] set up. ‘Go get your assigned iPads, and we will Kahoot!’ [and] they are back in their seats within moments and the app [is] ready to go.

“Apple has always been more expensive. [Apple products] last longer, and that is supposed to be the draw. I do find that they are functional for longer, but that the students complain about them being too old and sometimes just refuse to do their work because of old tech. I would honestly rather have a Chromebook set in a classroom than a set of iPads. It is very disappointing to hear they [iPads] are less than 10 percent discounted. I’d rather have a Chromebook cart than an iPad cart — it’d cost less and I could do more with it.”

You can’t replace effective pedagogy with technology.

Joe Bryant, a high school teacher in Los Angeles.

On whether Schoolwork, educational apps and digital curricula can make a difference

Blackwood: “The inherent mobility of tablets can allow instructors the flexibility to share content and engage their students in ways that might be more challenging with traditional computers … As the number of available apps continues to grow, those in education have more tools at their disposal to bring content to life in the classroom. If the classroom is equipped with the appropriate connectors for projection, in many cases instructors can make use of tablets as they would a typical computer.

“Both Schoolwork and ClassKit have my attention. I like the idea of providing users with their own profiles and Apple IDs, which will come with increased cloud-based storage. Allowing students to work on specific assignments in select apps, or checking in on students to see how they’re progressing, mark major improvements over the current capabilities. I am looking forward to an opportunity to personally work with these new features.”

Parker: “In my experience, student engagement increases when there is an iPad involved. It is nice to have digital textbooks stored on one device. The iPad offers ways to interact with learning material that has never been available to previous generations of students. iPads also break somewhat easily, can be easily lost, and are easily separated from their chargers. Without a keyboard or mouse, it is hard to produce quality written work using only an iPad.”

Brueschke: “Anyone who says technology saves time in a classroom has never worked with students and technology. It might save time for upper-level high school teachers and teach students immeasurably important skills, but for now, a 12-year-old doesn’t have a lot of skills we take for granted. I don’t mind teaching them skills, but I do think that a learning curve has to be built in to accommodate students with low but growing skills.

“I have previously used iPads to great success in a high school credit-recovery biology class, for an ecology study the students designed themselves. The iPads (with Numbers and Pages apps) could record, analyze, and report all the data. The cameras were fantastic for putting together their presentations. Put together, the whole thing made a beautiful presentation, all in the same piece of equipment. The only tricky part was making it so that they could display with a projector. Other than that, literally the entire project was done on those iPads, including in the field, in the classroom (preparing and analyzing data) and even the presentation. It was incredible.”

Bryant: “When I taught middle school, all the teachers were issued iPad Minis, [which] we used to aid in instruction. I used it to take attendance, and I used an app called ClassDojo for classroom management. It was nice, but I never had the knack for it that other teachers had. Personally, I don’t think it made that big a difference to my teaching practice, but there were some teachers there that swore by it. I wasn’t deft enough as a newer teacher to use it and learn the ropes simultaneously.

“That being said, technology can be a great motivator for students, especially when it’s something different than what they usually do in a classroom setting. Having something like an iPad would be awesome, but it can’t help a teacher do their job better if they are struggling. You can’t replace effective pedagogy with technology.”

Conrad: “I do think iPads can be extremely useful in the classroom and can definitely help with making learning more exciting and interesting. Anything that can bring excitement into a classroom is always good: Students are so used to using technology outside of school, it makes perfect sense to bring this into the classroom. I have mainly used iPads in the past for things like iMovie, where I would get students to make trailers and films linked to their learning in geography (e.g., earthquake movies). They loved this, and it really helped them remember the topic and it was easy to use for me. I used these iPads in my school in Malaysia, where they had enough money to buy a class set.

“Also, any new software would definitely need a substantial amount of staff training, as many teachers are not up on the newest technology, and this would take time we don’t have! I myself wouldn’t have a clue how to use any new software and I am not confident enough with technology to play around and figure it out for myself. Often, new technology in schools is wasted, as teachers never get trained on their full usage potential. I can’t help but think the new iPads might go this way!”

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ season two somehow looks darker than the first

The first season of The Handmaid’s Tale ended with Offred/June (Elisabeth Moss) leaving the Commander’s house, jumping into the back of a van that was headed who knows where. Now we have a look at the second season, which will be going beyond the Margaret Atwood novel the Hulu series is based on. In a new trailer, we see Offred in the back of the van and we hear her ask herself what will happen when she gets out. “There probably is no out,” she says. “Gilead is within you.”

Throughout the trailer we see familiar faces. The Commander (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife (Yvonne Strahovski) fight about the repercussions of Offred’s leaving. Moira (Samira Wiley) protests in Canada, where she escaped to last season. We also see Ofglen/Emily (Alexis Bledel) and Janine (Madeline Brewer) in what must be the Colonies — the place misbehaving handmaids are sent to work. And Nick (Max Minghella), the likely father of Offred’s unborn child, is seen saying he’s trying to protect her, while suspicion appears to mount on those within the Commander’s house.

In some of the more darker images, we see the Commander holding a gun to someone’s head, Nick yelling in agony, the Commander whipping something or someone with a belt and dozens of handmaids in nooses.

The first season of The Handmaid’s Tale was a big success for Hulu, winning a number of Emmys and Golden Globes. Season two debuts April 25th.

Source: Hulu

Airbnb starts sharing Chinese hosts’ info with the government

China is determined to make foreign companies bow to its surveillance rules, and that extends to home rental services. Airbnb has told hosts that it will start providing their information to Chinese government agencies on March 30th in order to obey regulations. The country requires that citizens and visitors alike register their addresses with police in the first 24 hours after they either arrive in the country or stay at a hotel.

The company was quick to note that this is “similar to other hospitality companies” that operate in China, and that those worried about the consequences could deactivate their listings.

Airbnb hasn’t elaborated on just what it’s disclosing. However, a spokesperson told Reuters that it honors Chinese law. The company started its own Chinese division and moved data onshore to make sure it stayed in the country’s good books.

As with other foreign companies operating in China, Airbnb is in an awkward position. It has to show concern for privacy in countries like the US, but it also has to erode privacy in China if it wants to maintain a presence in the largest market on Earth. It could stay out on principle, but it would risk being permanently locked out of China as local competition cemented its dominance.

Source: Reuters

Google Home’s multi-room audio now works with Bluetooth speakers

Google Home is getting a long-awaited feature: Bluetooth. Previously, only Google Cast-enabled speakers could be looped in to a network of Home-commanded devices. Now users can pair their speaker of choice with the dedicated Home app and voice command it to play your tunes or podcasts.

You don’t even have to specify the speaker: By making it the default audio projector, just use the Home-standard “Hey Google” prompt and voice-command away. (You’ll still have to talk into whatever device has the Home app installed, not the speaker in question.) Users can even add a Bluetooth speaker to a group, if they have one set up. This effectively enables multi-room audio without needing a Home device or Chromecast in each space.

And seeing as you can use Home with any music provider, unlike Amazon Alexa, which is limited to playing audio Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn, this update enables a much more liberated audio experience. Apple’s Homepod, as usual, remains behind in this race.

Source: Google

Ecuador cracks down on Julian Assange’s internet access

The Ecuadorian government just suspended Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s internet communications, preventing him from sending tweets or other messages from the South American country’s embassy in London. Assange, granted Ecuadorian citizenship this year, has been living at the embassy for six years to avoid extradition for rape charges in Sweden (which have since been dropped).

COMUNICADO OFICIAL | El Gobierno de Ecuador suspende las comunicaciones de @JulianAssange. pic.twitter.com/sr4kArFSxw

— Comunicación Ecuador (@ComunicacionEc) March 28, 2018

This isn’t the first time Assange has been cut off from the internet, though the last time his Twitter account went silent may have been a fluke. Before that, the Ecuadorian government also temporarily shut down Assange’s access to the internet after WikiLeaks published information from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

As translated by a Twitter user as a reply to the original tweet, the Ecuadorian government says that it suspended “the systems that allow Julian Assange to communicate with the outside world” from within the embassy itself. Apparently, Assange breached a written agreement to not send messages that interfered with other governments. While not naming Assange’s last tweet, which fired back at a UK minister who called Assange a “miserable little worm,” the document asserts that Assange’s tweet “puts at risk the good relations that the country maintains with the United Kingdom.”

Via: BuzzFeed

Source: Ecuadorian Embassy/Twitter

Uber trucking exec Lior Ron is leaving the company

The fallout from Uber’s fatal self-driving car collision may extend to its leadership. A CNBC source has claimed that Lior Ron, the co-creator of Otto and thus the co-founder of Uber’s trucking unit, has left the company. While it’s not certain why he would have left, the exit would come just days after the Arizona crash that took the life of a cyclist. We’ve asked Uber for comment, but it declined to comment to CNBC beyond saying it remained “fully invested in and excited about” the Uber Freight business Ron has overseen since joining the transportation tech giant.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed Ron’s exit, and added that he wasn’t involved in Uber’s self-driving unit.

Ron had founded Otto’s autonomous trucking business alongside Anthony Levandowski, who has been at the heart of a Waymo lawsuit accusing Levandowski and Uber of stealing trade secrets to build its driverless car system.

Whatever the reasons, Uber is facing particularly close scrutiny that would put heat on Ron and other leaders. There are fresh concerns that a decision to reduce the number of sensors on Uber’s test vehicles created blind spots. Also, it doesn’t have nearly as much real-world testing experience as rivals like Waymo. Those factors might not have contributed to the crash, but they certainly haven’t helped Uber’s case in light of the Arizona tragedy.

Source: CNBC

Reddit dumps bitcoin as payment option

Since 2013, you’ve had the option of paying for Reddit Gold membership with bitcoin in addition to the usual credit card and PayPal choices. However, you now have to do it the old fashioned way: a moderator has confirmed that Reddit has stopped accepting bitcoin. The social site wants to “watch the progression” of Coinbase Commerce (which lets merchants take various cryptocurrencies as payment) and deal with purchasing glitches before deciding whether or not it restores the feature.

It’s not a backlash against bitcoin, then, but it’s still something of a blow for the digital money format to lose one of its earlier big-name adopters. It also suggests that other stores might join Reddit in holding off on Coinbase’s new platform until they’re comfortable knowing that they can depend on it. The currency still only has a handful of major adopters, and some of them have been backing off due to its volatlity. It may need more stability (both technically and price-wise) if it’s going to continue to grow.

Via: Coindesk, Bloomberg

Source: Reddit

Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘It’s Not True That the iPhone is Not Made in the United States’

“It’s not true that the iPhone is not made in the United States,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said this morning in an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes in a response to criticism about its ties to China and other countries.

“We have always made the parts here,” Cook said. “People just look at where the final product is assembled.” In a global world, he explained, manufacturing and assembly needs to be done in a variety of places.

Image via Recode
As Cook has said multiple times in the past, key iPhone components are manufactured in the United States. Display glass for the iPhone and iPad, made by U.S. manufacturer Corning, comes from Kentucky. The Face ID module for the iPhone X comes from Texas. Various chips for Apple devices are also built in the United States, according to Cook, as is equipment for manufacturing the iPhone.

Components manufactured in the U.S. are shipped abroad, with devices assembled by suppliers like Foxconn and Pegatron in China.

Cook said “political pressure” doesn’t push Apple to add U.S. jobs, as it’s something the company is already doing. As Cook often says, Apple could “only have been created in the United States,” and Apple wants to give back. “Businesses should be more than just building revenues and profits,” Cook said. “They should be building people.”

“We know that Apple could only have been created in the United States. We know that. This company would not have flourished in any other country in the world. We love this country. We are patriots. This is our country and we want to create as many jobs as we can in the U.S. We don’t need any political pressure for that.”

Apple in January outlined a five-year plan to contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy through job creation, existing investments and manufacturing, and new investments. Apple has established an Advanced Manufacturing Fund, for example, to invest in U.S. manufacturing. Apple has thus far invested $200 million in Corning and $390 million in Finisar.

On the topic of job creation and automation, Cook said that it’s important to “get comfortable” with “the notion that education is lifelong.” Jobs, he says, will be “cannibalized over time and replaced by others.” Continuously learning is important, which is why Apple puts such a focus on teaching students of all ages to code. “The jobs of tomorrow are heavily software based,” he said.

“There’s an element of what each of us do, which will be automated over time. That’s not bad. But we need to think about training for the jobs for tomorrow, which will be software-based.”

He said he does not believe the narrative around “doom and gloom” is correct, but he does believe government and businesses need to work together on job retraining and creation for industries that are being automated. “We should not all sit around waiting for government to tell us what to do,” he said.

Tim Cook’s full interview will air on MSNBC on Friday, April 6 at 5:00 p.m. in a segment titled “Revolution: Apple Changing the World.”

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

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Apple Watch Series 3 With LTE to Expand to Thailand on April 5

The Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE is still available in a limited number of countries, even months after its launch, as Apple works to establish connectivity deals with various carriers.

Starting on April 5, customers in Thailand will be able to purchase an LTE Apple Watch Series 3 model through TrueMoveH, according to Apple’s cellular Apple Watch availability page.

Apple users in Thailand have previously been able to purchase WiFi + GPS Apple Watch Series 3 models, but the LTE version has been unavailable in the country.

With the addition of Thailand, Apple Watch Series 3 models with LTE connectivity will be available in more than a dozen countries and territories, including the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Apple Watch Series 3 LTE models were initially available in China at launch but have been discontinued indefinitely as Apple attempts to work out regulatory issues. Apple expects LTE Series 3 models to return to the country at some point in 2018.

While the Apple Watch with LTE is limited in availability, the Apple Watch Series 3 with WiFi and GPS is available in many more countries around the world.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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