As drones get more sophisticated and continue to expand their capabilities, many are calling for the FAA to issue some sort of safety guidelines, and six years after an initial effort, it looks like it may finally happen.
The Wall Street Journal reports the new rules will include a 400-foot elevation cap, daytime-only flying and the drone pilots must remain in normal visual contact with their aircraft. U.S. drone pilots won’t like those rules, which seem made for drone tech circa 2008, and not for the advanced aircraft now available. Just last week, we featured the Parrot Bebop drone, which can fly over a mile from its pilot while transmitting live video to a virtual reality device.
But, high-flying drones do pose a danger to aircraft with actual people in them, so something needs to be done. Is the FAA on the mark or out of touch? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.
What tech do you carry around with you each day? A smartphone, a tablet or a laptop? All three? Well, the folks behind the Dragonfly Futurephone hope to change that.
Blending a phone, a tablet and a laptop, the Dragonfly features an innovative, transformer-like design that incorporates all three tech mainstays into one device. The laptop form factor features dual side-by-side 7-inch touchscreens and it can switch between Windows and Android operating systems. With a few twists and turns, the device becomes a smaller tablet and one screen completely detaches to function as a phablet phone.
There’s also a slide-out trackpad, stylus and a hidden Bluetooth earpiece. Bay Area firm IdealFuture is behind the Dragonfly, and they’ve long ago hit their fundraising goals, so if you want one of the first ones, it’s gonna cost $600.
There’s all kinds of ways to get into the Guinness Book or World Records, but not many are as, well, practical, as competitive parallel parking.
A Chinese driver who had recently been unseated as the parallel parking champ saddled up to reclaim the crown, and he only needed to beat a tick under 4 inches of clearance to do it. Using a parking maneuver made famous by the Blues Brothers, Han Yue swings a Mini into the sport with just 3.15 inches of clearance – a new record! Congrats to Han, you can drive our car anytime.
Your host today is Caleb Denison. Miss a day? Watch all the episodes of DT Daily right here. And be sure to catch our latest podcast.
