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Parrot’s latest drone includes an immersive cockpit headset

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Like its Anafi predecessor, the FPV quadcopter comes with a ton of in-depth manual controls for piloting and imaging, 4K HDR video and 21-megapixel images, plus a decent 26-minute battery life. It’s also pretty lightweight at just 283g. The new model also comes with two new flight presets: cinematic and racing. The big draw for this model, however, is the bird’s eye view display.

Pair your smartphone to the model with the corresponding FreeFlight 6.6 app, place your phone in the included cockpit glasses, put them on your head on your head, and take flight. The 180-degree tilting camera — with 3-axis stabilization and 3X zoom — will give you an exhilarating view at speeds of up to 31mph (50km/h).

The main FPV head up display (HUD) shows contextual information, such as flight speed, direction, altitude and drone location. But with the click of a button on top of the headset you can easily swap to a minimal HUD interface. You can even find the drone in mid-air without removing the cockpit glasses — just switch to See-Through View, and you’ll see live video from your smartphone camera. An overlay shows the exact position of your drone — and if it’s off-screen, an icon points to its location.

Its high specs mean that on paper, the Anafi FPV isn’t really a toy, but its immersive cockpit glasses mean that it is fun to play with. Parrot’s previous Anafi model focused on decent features for a reasonable price tag, and this one stays true to that ethos, but with an extra layer of entertainment. It’s available from early September for $800/£650.

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Popular face-swapping app Zao sparks another privacy outcry

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The company quickly backtracked, updating the terms to say it would only use imagery either for app improvement or purposes users have agreed to in advance. It also vowed to delete material from the servers if a user deleted it through the app. The Zao team will “fix the [privacy] issues that we didn’t take into consideration,” according to a post from the creators on Weibo.

The course correction might have come too late for some people, however. Users have trashed Zao’s ratings on the App Store over the privacy issue, while the China E-Commerce Research Center called on the government to investigate after the software allegedly violated “certain laws and standards.”

It’s not clear there’s enough wrong for officials to take action, especially after the policy change. At the least, this serves as a reminder to check privacy policies before racing to use apps that involve your likeness and other sensitive info. It also illustrates the thorny legal issues surrounding deepfakes. How much control (if any) can a company have over these images, for example? The concept is still novel enough that many people haven’t yet considered the implications, and that could have unforeseen consequences.



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Researchers helped French police dismantle a crypto-mining botnet

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The Retadup malware, the target of the operation, has spread around the world but was particularly active in South America. It infects computers and uses their processing power to mine for cryptocurrency without the knowledge of the device’s owner. This malware was particularly concerning because it is “wormable,” meaning it can propagate from one computer to another.

The police were able to hijack the malware after the Avast security firm discovered a flaw in its command and control (C&C) server. Although Avast is headquartered in the Czech Republic, it contacted the French police as most of the servers hosting the malware were located in France.

Avast described the process of identifying the flaw, passing this information to the police, and instructing the police on how to repurpose the botnet to turn the C&C server into a disinfection server in a blog post. By taking over the C&C server and using it to distribute a malware removal script, the police could remove the malware from users’ computers automatically, with no user action required.

“The disinfection server responded to incoming bot requests with a specific response that caused connected pieces of the malware to self-destruct,” Avast representative Jan Vojtěšek said in the post. “At the time of publishing this article, the collaboration has neutralized over 850,000 unique infections of Retadup.”

Even with Retadup cleaned up, malware which deploys crypto-mining scripts continues to be a security concern. Browsers like Firefox have plans to launch tools to protect users from this threat.

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Bosch’s electric stroller technology helps push

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It will affect cameras, flash storage and other common tech items.
Tariffs hit Apple and other tech companies

Some of the tech you like is about to get more expensive. Sticking to its earlier plans, the Trump administration has formally enacted a new round of tariffs against China-made products, which will take effect September 1st. The measures will hit tech companies with 15 percent tariffs on a range of goods, with Apple potentially feeling the pinch harder than most. The hikes will affect AirPods, the Apple Watch, some Beats earphones, the HomePod and iMacs — notably, not iPhones.

Beside ‘core’ consumer tech companies, the tariffs will also affect components including cameras, flash storage, optical discs (like Blu-ray and DVD) and lithium-ion batteries. A further wave of tariffs affecting prices for phones, laptops, consoles and other tech is due on December 15th, unless something suddenly changes.

The Dark Pictures Anthology is off to a rocky start.
Co-op doesn’t change Man of Medan’s horror imperfections

The spiritual sequel to 2015’s Until Dawn, a playable slasher horror flick, has landed across PS4, Xbox and PC. Man of Medan is the first instalment of a proposed series called The Dark Pictures Anthology, which is being released on multiple platforms and published by Bandai Namco, rather than long-time partner Sony. But it’s a shaky start…

You know, the smaller one.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 review: The right size at the wrong price

The Galaxy Note 10 squeezes a 6.3-inch screen into a phone that’s about the same size as an iPhone XS. And it’s much easier to use with one hand than any other entry in the Note line.

The Note 10 is largely the same as the 10+. That means the same powerful performance and basically the same cameras. But, it does make tradeoffs to shave off those millimeters: Most notably it has a lower-res screen, less RAM and Samsung ditched the microSD slot. Sadly, the price didn’t get the same treatment and remains as huge as ever.

It’s connected to your phone, too.
Bosch’s electric stroller tech helps carry your baby uphill

Bosch has unveiled an “e-stroller” system that uses dual electric motors and sensors to not only reduce the effort involved in carting your young one around but prevent the stroller from going in unexpected directions. It’ll automatically study the road surface to help you push uphill, brake on the descent and keep it on track during lateral slopes. The technology will also bring the stroller to a halt if you lose control or battle fierce winds. Bosch won’t sell a model itself, though. Instead, it’ll work with partners who’ll use the platform for their own baby carriers. Swedish firm Emmaljunga will be first, with a stroller due in early 2020, but you can expect more companies to follow suit.

But wait, there’s more…

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Huawei’s flagship Mate 30 arrives on September 19th

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The US could still give Huawei a reprieve on the Mate 30 ahead of the launch, but the company isn’t counting on it. It recently unveiled its own HarmonyOS operating system, Play Store substitute and mapping service. However, without Google’s official Android OS and apps, the Mate 30 will clearly be a much less attractive option in Europe and Huawei’s other principal markets.

That’s too bad for smartphone aficionados, as Huawei devices like the P30 Pro pack powerful hardware and have some of the best cameras you can get. The Mate 30 itself is rumored to be packing quad cameras in a circular module and very curved “waterfall” edges. So, it will be extremely interesting to see how it handles a lack of Google software, if that turns out to be the case.



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Bosch’s electric stroller tech helps carry your baby uphill

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The battery system has its own conveniences. While the nine-mile range won’t allow for the lengthiest walks by itself, Bosch’s design uses 18V replaceable lithium-ion batteries like the ones used in the company’s power tools. You could borrow the battery from your drill in a pinch. A USB port can charge your devices, and a Bluetooth connection to your phone can both gauge the charge and set an alarm to prevent someone from stealing your stroller. And if you’re wondering, you can still push the carriage around if the battery is empty — it’ll just require more effort.

The hardware is suitable for single, twin and sibling strollers. Bosch won’t sell a model itself, though. Instead, it’ll work with partners who’ll use the platform for their own baby carriers. Swedish firm Emmaljunga will be first with a stroller due in early 2020, but you can expect more companies to follow suit. There might be a time when a family journey is trivially easy, even if the terrain is rough.

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Amazon found selling unlicensed cell signal boosters

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All of the six vendors spotted in the investigation appeared to be located in China with few if any contact details, and were using bogus reviews to give the appearance of popularity.

An Amazon spokesperson said that selling partners had to “comply with all relevant laws and regulations” when listing goods for sale, and the company did remove some listings after Wired got in touch. Some of the listings remained in spite of the notifications, though, and Amazon responded only by noting that its team members “constantly review and refine” the policies and methods used to ensure that products honor regulations.

In the past, Amazon has argued that it’s serving as a marketplace for these sellers and doesn’t have to shoulder their legal obligations. However, that still leaves it selling products that cause significant trouble for whole neighborhoods. And while the Amazon’s Choice label is automatically generated based on relevance to customer searches, it still implies a recommendation. Amazon may have to take stricter actions against unlicensed boosters if it wants to avoid scrutiny from regulators and politicians.

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Emulator uses AI to offer the translations your games never had

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Many classic video games are only available in one language, making it difficult to enjoy them as a non-speaker unless you have a fan translation. Now, though, you might just need the right software. Version 1.7.8 of the RetroArch emulator front end has introduced an AI Service feature that uses machine learning to translate game text into the language of your choice. It taps into services like Google’s to identify on-screen text and translate it into either an image if you don’t mind interruptions, or speech if you do. You could understand games that were previously unintelligible to you.

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The ISS’ spherical robot helper has returned to Earth

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The partners have been working on a successor that should build on the lessons learned from the first-generation robot. The new CIMON will have a “more robust” computer, better mics, improved flight control and a more conversational system that recognizes speech, determines intent and includes a call history. It’s expected to reach the ISS in December for further tests.

The station is quickly becoming a hub for robotics for multiple countries. The US recently sent its Astrobee cube robot for tests, while Russia just sent the humanoid Fyodor robot into orbit. Multiple major space agencies see robot helpers as vital for a future when astronauts will spend longer periods away from Earth, and they each have different ideas as to how to alleviate burdens and let crews focus on their missions.

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Wizards Unite’ will track activity without running the app

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It’s not certain if this will be available for both Android (via Google Fit) and iOS (via Health) users, although that’s currently the case for the Pokémon Go crowd.

If and when this arrives, it might encourage more people to play Wizards Unite. Fitness data syncing not only helps players advance sooner, it could promote exercise from players determined to level up. A gym run or long walk counts toward your goals, after all. It won’t necessarily translate to Pokémon-level audiences, but feature parity like this could help the game’s chances.



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