Category: Technology

Over the years of producing cutting-edge drones, DJI has earned the moniker of being “The Apple of Drones”. DJI Mavic Air is yet another impressive drone from their assembly lines with superb features.

The first experience of using the drone makes you love it instantly.

The Quickshot feature enables you to capture Holywood-quality video footage by simply pressing a button while the Boomerang feature lets you command the drone to hover around an object and take awesome close shots.

This top drone has been mainly recommended to photography newbies, but racers can find it to be a valuable tool for capturing shots in its Sports Mode at a blistering speed of 42 mph.

Features

12MP Photos and 4K Video capturing capability
3-Axis Gimbal-Stabilized movable Camera
Vision and GPS Position-Based Navigation
8GB Internal Storage
Flight Autonomy made possible by obstacle Detection and avoidance capability
Maximum speed of 43mph in the Sport Mode
21 Minutes battery life
Foldable, compact and portable Body
Charger dock supporting multiple batteries

Mavic Air has one fascinating difference from its older yet more professional sibling Mavic Pro in that Mavic Air’s cameras sturdier while that in Mavic Pro is fragile.

Pros

1. Incredibly portability makes this drone an excellent option for photography when you are traveling to the most remote places to which you need to carry few devices.

2. With 21 minutes battery life, this drone can last longer in the air than other drones in its class. Besides, you need just 50 minutes of charging time to return to your aerial photography adventure.

3. It has a solid camera performance that ensures capture of HD overhead footages

4. The rugged construction of the drone is sturdy enough to withstand bruising impacts and scratches.

5. The charger dock allows you to charge more than one battery. It is an excellent opportunity to charge all your batteries simultaneously so that you can last longer in the air.

6. The stabilizing rig is superior to most other drones in its class and slightly better offer compared to that in Mavic Pro

Cons

1. Compared to Mavic Pro, Mavic Air has a much shorter range.

2. The drone comes with connection quirks that could have been easily avoided such having two different USB versions to perform two tasks. Instead of one unified USB option.

3. Regarding raw specs, the camera of the drone lags behind those of its peers.

Warranty Information

The drone has a 2-year warranty which looks normal. Second party owners are not eligible for the warranty.

Summary

DJI Mavic Air is certainly not the best drone out there, but it is still the best drone ever to roll out of DJI assemblies. All the right boxes about this drone are checked. The fiercest competitor to this drone is its stablemate Mavic Pro.

All things considered, Mavic Air still has impressive features compared with its predecessor especially the groundbreaking obstacle avoidance feature and its robust 8GB storage space.

Therefore, it is a drone I can recommend to anyone except if camera resolution is a factor in which case I would recommend the Mavic Pro.

U. S. Tech websites have been testing Apple’s latest product for a few days. They praised the excellent sound quality but regretted the limited use of Siri.

A marvel of software engineering, a more qualitative sound than that delivered by loudspeakers more expensive but critical intellectual limitations. American media specialized in new technologies delivered their first verdicts on the strengths and weaknesses of the HomePod, Apple’s latest creation.

Available since February 9 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia at a price of $349, the HomePod is a voice-driven connected speaker via Apple Siri’s virtual assistant that focuses on acoustic performance.

The HomePod is Apple’s response to Amazon and Google, which capture most of the market share of voice-activated smart speakers with Google Home and Amazon Echo. With these products fuelled by artificial intelligence, the digital giants hope to be able to impose their services in the users’ homes.

An excellent and easy to use speaker

All the journalists who have tried Apple’s speaker system agree on one thing: the HomePod keeps its promises regarding sound performance with excellent bass. The device’s eight speakers and seven microphones, driven by a microprocessor designed by Apple, do justice to the device’s premium positioning.

The HomePod offers the best of your music, no matter where you are. An accelerometer allows the HomePod to adapt to the room in which it is installed to deliver a spatialised sound like the Sonos speakers.

American medias also praise the ease of use of Apple’s latest product. The software and hardware know-how of the American group is once again reflected in the installation and configuration of the HomePod, which takes just a few seconds from an iPhone. The paw of the American IT group is as impressive in the sleeker style of the device, which is finally more compact than its competitors Home Max or Sonos Play: 5. A good point for Apple that capitalizes on its strengths.

An environment locked in the Apple universe.

The HomePod is designed to become the cornerstone of music listening at home. Provided you subscribe to Apple’s music streaming service, Apple Music. Unlike its rivals Amazon Echo and Google Home, Apple’s speaker only works with the home ecosystem. No need to hope to throw a song on Deezer or Spotify. Only Apple Music, iTunes, Beats1, and MusicMatch are compatible with the native features of the device.

The HomePod logically gives its full measure with Apple Music. It is therefore aimed above all at Apple addicts, who have several products and subscriptions to the group’s services and will see no disadvantage in remaining in its universe. To play a song from a competing service, you will have to use the AirPlay protocol.

Siri use is still limited.

The analysis site Loup Ventures has put the artificial intelligence of Apple’s loudspeaker to the test against that of Google. According to the results obtained, Siri is far from overcoming his delay on Google Assistant. Less relevant, Apple’s voice was only able to provide a correct answer to 52% of the 782 questions asked during the exam.

Not fixable

Finally, it is difficult not to mention the red card addressed to Apple by iFixit. The site specializing in the dismantling of technological products scrutinized the HomePod and found that it, like other Apple devices, was simply irreparable. No easy access to components is provided.

The repair mark is irrevocable: 1/10. In other words, in the event of a glitch, it’s better to rely on a simple and straightforward replacement by Apple.

UAVs, also known as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drones, are being increasingly used in a variety of industries.

Commercial drones are used responsibly by the majority of their users, most of their applications and users have a positive impact, but their use is not without problems. Knowing that it is possible to use a drone as a mobile “flying camera” to produce images or video footage of the sky, it can also be used to spy on a company or to identify security holes.

Likewise, it is possible to use a drone as a mobile and remote delivery tool for illicit products or even to commit an attack. More innocently, but not less dangerously, UAVs can pose a safety risk if they are inadvertently flown in airspace where other aircraft are flying or over people working on the ground. Companies must, therefore, take this new threat into account and put measures in place to monitor UAVs and control them from the field.

A growing risk, involving monitoring UAVs

Last April, the British newspaper “The Guardian” reported a sharp increase in complaints filed with police services about UAVs, including cases of detection for burglary, near-flight collisions and smuggling of illegal products into prisons. With drones on sale for only 35 euros, even if most of them are used for playful purposes, the risk of some of them being misused increases.

One of the critical issues is aviation safety. As reported in August at New York’s JFK airport, a drone was seen within 30 meters of two aircraft arriving at the airport. Between August 2015 and January 216,583 UAV incidents were reported by the FAA (Federal Administration Aviation) between August 2015 and January 216.

Many of these episodes were minor incidents in which pilots or citizens on the ground reported seeing a drone fly in restricted airspace, but not necessarily a danger. However, any risk to aircraft in flight is significant and can lead to a major disaster.

UAV detection, monitoring, and control

One solution to the problem is to combine network cameras with sensors and analysis software to detect, monitor and control UAVs entering an organization’s airspace.

A few industry experts have recently developed a platform solution that aggregates sensor data and advanced video analytics algorithms on video sequences from our network cameras that establish a comprehensive detection area, provide visual localization and reduce risk. The solution’s user interface automatically generates visual alerts and notifications, while risk reduction can take many forms, such as UAV radio frequency jamming, laser signal disturbance, anti-drone deployment and fog bombing.

The solution enables the protection of sensitive sites, including 24/7 UAV detection, monitoring, and surveillance, real-time alerting and identification of potential threats, even if they are several hundred meters above ground level.

The threat posed by the development of the use of drones, whether innocent or malicious, is real and growing. From a safety perspective, it is essential that organizations of all types consider and act now on the risks to their businesses, employees, and customers.

A loophole made it possible to take control of any connected object from the manufacturer LG. In particular, it allowed the use of a robot vacuum cleaner to film the interior of a house.

Are you a fan of robot vacuum cleaners? It is true that these devices are efficient, but the fact that they are connected and equipped with sensors creates a risk to our privacy. Check Point experts have just revealed a flaw called HomeHack, allowing remote control of an LG Hom-Bot vacuum cleaner and spy on the user with the integrated camera. To prove it, the researchers made a demonstration video.

Now corrected, this flaw had a much broader impact because it concerned the whole range of connected LG objects: vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, ovens, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, etc. Millions of users were potentially exposed to this vulnerability. The problem was actually with LG’s SmartThinQ mobile application. Available on Android and iOS, it allows the user to log into their LG account and access the control functions of their connected object (s).

Unfortunately, the authentication procedure was not correctly programmed. After creating their own LG account, the researchers set up a Man-in-the-middle device to intercept requests and replace their identifiers with those of others. And bim, they were connected to a third party account. To do this, however, it was necessary to decompile the Android mobile application and remove two safeguards that the manufacturer had implemented. The first one prevented the app from running on a rooted smartphone; the second one stopped a middle-man interception by checking the authenticity of the HTTPS certificate (“Certificate pinning”).

Check Point discovered this flaw last July. LG released a patch in September. If you are a user of LG connected objects, make sure you have the latest version of the mobile application (1.9.23). It is also advisable to update the firmware of the devices, which you can do directly from the application dashboard.

The next Mac targeted at professionals, the iMac Pro, has reached monstrous speeds; that’s what emerged. The data comes from GeekBench where the results of two machines that would be just two iMac Pro machines appeared.

The first, an 8-core core, would have scored 23,536, the highest score ever seen, of course, for any iMac. Performance would be 21% higher than today’s most powerful iMac, the 4.2 GHz 5K with an average score of 19,336.

iMac Pro means high-performance

Seeing the speed of the 12-core iMac Pro, a Mac in the mid-range, we have monstrous results: 35,917 points that sweep even the latest model of the Cupertino based firm.

It should be noted that, in these tests, the 18 core model is still missing. We are sure that this machine will leave everyone open-mouthed and will burn any other competitor, giving the edge too many other devices on the market today, even very high-end ones.

Now we are all waiting for the release of this new iMac Pro that has scored so high and unprecedentedly. We look forward to 2018 for further developments.

Benchmarks show specially adapted Xeon chips

An exciting aspect to emphasize is what emerges from the benchmarks; the Xeon processor used by iMac Pro is calibrated on clock speeds lower than Intel’s standard products. It may be due to the heat dissipation problems that Apple’s compact machine, like the one Apple, is preparing to present, is more complicated than those devices that have the usual tower or mini-tower shape.

Benchmarks have now revealed Macs that work with hitherto unknown Intel chips – which suggests that they are not “Hackintosh.”

These are computers with an 8-core 3.2 GHz Xeon chip with the model designation W2140B and a 10-core Xeon chip with 3.0 GHz and the designation W2150B chip. The “B” variants of these chips have not been known so far; it is likely to be processors adapted by Intel for Apple – which apparently works at a slightly lower clock frequency to limit the heat build-up in the compact all-in-one iMac package. You will of course still need to do regular maintenance on your websites and use a software such as clean my mac 3 avis!

Even if the chips are obviously clocked down a bit, geekbench results are impressive: The 8-core model achieves a value of 23,536 points in the multi-core test – significantly more than the fastest iMac to date, the current Retina 5K iMac with 4.2 GHz 4-core Core i7 processor, which “only” reaches 19,336 points.

Are you lost between all Wi-Fi 802.11 declinations (a/b/g/n/ac/ad/ax/ah…)? MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Aware and TimeSync don’t tell you much?

Let us, therefore, go back to the basics of understanding what this is all about. Because yes, not all “Wi-Fi” is the same, far from it!

Behind the “Wi-Fi” name lies a myriad of technologies and standards, each with its particularities. The best known are of course the 802.11b/g/n/ac, but there are many others. To add some complexity, there are sometimes significant differences within the same standard.

So, between two Wi-Fi 802.11n and 802.11ac routers there can be significant gaps in performance and functionality, so it’s important to know what it’s all about before you make your choice. To avoid being lost in the jungle of acronyms, here is a glossary of relevant terms to know.

Frequency and rate reminders

Before entering deeper into this subject, an important reminder: the evoked flows are theoretical maximums. They will therefore always be lower in practice, even under perfect conditions. Then know that the signal is disturbed by the presence of walls, a microwave oven (on the 2.4 GHz band) and depends of course on the distance. This can cause flow rates to drop rapidly and the connection to be cut off, even over short distances.

Also, in Wi-Fi, the manufacturers always talk about Mb/s (or Gb/s) and not about Mo/s (or Go/s): to convert them you have to divide them by 8. Thus, 300 Mb/s gives “only” 37.5 MB/s, while 1 Gb/s corresponds to about 125 MB/s. Here again, always in theory and of course at most (see our test of Google Wifi to be well aware of it).

As in mobile telephony, the lower the frequency, the farther away it is. However, higher frequencies have more bandwidth to reach higher speeds. In Wi-Fi, the most commonly used are 2.4 GHz (best range) and 5 GHz (best rate).

The youngest will undoubtedly remember the 802.11a (up to 54 Mbps) in the 5 GHz band and the 802.11b (up to 11 Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band, both standards dating back to 1999. The 802.11b was replaced in 2003 by the 802.11g. It is backward compatible with the previous standard and capable of climbing up to 54 Mbps.