PILOT

DJI Mavic Air vs DJI Spark: Worth the upgrade?

(Pocket-lint) – The first generation Mavic Air and the DJI Spark were the two smallest drones in the company’s profuct offering when they first launched. They’ve since been replaced by the Mini and the Air 2, but if you’re looking to get into droning with something small and easy, you could still do worse than… Read more

NASA reveals flight zone for historic helicopter flight on Mars

NASA has locked in a location on Mars for the first demo flight of its mini helicopter named Ingenuity, engineers announced on Tuesday. The four-pound rotorcraft is gearing up to attempt the first powered flight on another planet, demonstrating a new capability that could unlock access to hard-to-reach areas of other celestial bodies in the… Read more

Watch this amazing footage of a drone flying right through an erupting volcano in Iceland

Last Friday, the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik began erupting for the first time in 800 years after the island nation was hit by thousands of small earthquakes. Thankfully, the eruption was small and has not put anyone in danger. Instead, it’s gifted the world with some awe-inspiring views of lava flowing from… Read more

MatPat looks at YouTube’s biggest changes over the last decade — and what lies ahead

An interview with one of gaming’s longest-standing personalities Matthew “MatPat” Patrick was on YouTube for two years before he hit publish on the first entry in the series that changed his life — and YouTube culture as a whole. “Game Theory,” a series that examines the ins and outs of popular video game franchises like… Read more

BMW’s new curved iDrive display is a ‘major step’ toward autonomous driving

BMW is pulling the curtain back on its next iteration of iDrive, the software and infotainment platform that has served as the centerpiece of the automaker’s in-car experience for the last 20 years. The eighth version of iDrive will mostly live on a new “curved” display that starts behind the steering wheel and extends halfway… Read more

Go watch this stunning FPV drone short film inside a bustling bowling alley

It’s been a while since most of us have been able to go to a bowling alley, but “Right Up Our Alley” is a new drone video that might just be the next best thing, thanks to an astonishing display of camera work and drone piloting skill, via Kottke. The video, from YouTuber jaybyrdfilms, doesn’t… Read more

How Pacific Rim’s sci-fi world was transformed into a Netflix anime

Yuki Moriyama still remembers the first time he saw Pacific Rim. He was a bit of a latecomer, and he ended up catching it in theaters with some friends who had already seen the movie multiple times. It wasn’t long before Moriyama — an art director at animation studio Polygon Pictures — was hooked as… Read more

New COVID-19 reporting tool is another patch for the US’s rickety health data system

Antigen tests run at a university in WisconsinPhoto by David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images But the CDC system doesn’t fix the foundational issue It was taking staff all day to wrangle rapid test results at assisted living facilities like Via Elegante in Tucson, Arizona. The facility doesn’t normally run medical tests, but this year,… Read more

Analysts Forecast TSMC To Double 5nm Output This Year

Home News (Image credit: TSMC) Earlier this year Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. outlined plans to increase its CapEx budget to $25 billion ~ $28 billion in 2021, many industry observers attributed the increase to building out 3-nm capacities in preparation to produce CPUs for Intel and other large customers. This is not quite the case,… Read more

Lifx’s bacteria-killing smart bulb works, but here’s the small print

The LIFX Clean is a smart bulb that can kill bacteria.Image: LIFX The Lifx Clean is a new smart lightbulb with an intriguing twist. Not only is it a fully functional color-changing lightbulb, the company also claims it is capable of disinfecting surfaces and the air around it. First announced last August, the $69.99 Lifx… Read more

DJI FPV review: fast and furious

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Cinematic first-person view or FPV drones have been a growing trend in the drone industry for a few years. Now the world’s biggest consumer drone maker, DJI, is hopping on that wave with its first FPV drone…. Read more

US drone firm Skydio valued at $1 billion as government freezes out Chinese competition

Skydio has become the first US dronemaker with a valuation of more than $1 billion, a signal of deeper investment in American-made drones after the US government blacklisted Chinese manufacturers. The California-based Skydio raised $170 million in a Series D funding round led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, as first reported by The Financial Times…. Read more

Pokémon might be famous for its games, but it also has some great gadgets

Pokémon might be renowned for its cooperative gameplay, delightful spinoffs, and making an intimidating genre approachable, but the franchise also has a long history of creative and interesting gadgets. The series is bursting with technology. The original in-game pokédex clearly takes inspiration from early Palm Pilot-like devices, for example. And if you think about them,… Read more

The US offshore wind boom will depend on these ships

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge | Images: Dominion Energy The race is on to build them New offshore wind developments are poised to help the US usher in a new era in energy — but first, they need ships. More specifically, they need massive specialized vessels capable of erecting a skyscraper-sized turbine… Read more

Motional is now testing fully autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas

Add Motional to the very short list of companies that have tested fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. The Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture announced that it has tested its vehicles without safety drivers behind the steering wheel on public streets in Las Vegas. The tests, which took place in February, came less than three months after… Read more