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NTSB looking into crash of Facebook’s huge Aquila drone

Everything went great, except for one (not so) small detail

Here’s an odd follow-up to story from back in June. At the time, we and a lot of other tech news outlets were excited about the first flight of Facebook’s futuristic Aquila internet-delivery drone, which seemed to go spectacularly well, even flying around well past its expected time in the sky.

Now, the NTSB is investigating after the drone apparently crashed while landing, something that Facebook didn’t really highlight that day. According to Bloomberg, the 141-foot wide drone suffered a “structural failure” on landing approach and was “substantially damaged” – as in, it couldn’t fly anymore. Facebook noted the failure deep in its post-flight wrap-up, but never really said anything about the drone crashing.

The Aquila drone is designed to beam the internet down to areas with no coverage for months at a time. Facebook says it is the first of many drones, and development will continue.

Now if we could just have Rose Black phones

It looks like Jet Black is the new black, as Samsung says it will introduce a shiny black version of their flagship phone, the Galaxy S7. Previously, the Galaxy Note 7, which you may have heard of, was Samsung’s standard bearer of polished ebony, but what with the recall and exploding battery problems, it looks like they decided to fill the vacancy in time for the holidays with the S7.

Apple’s shiny jet black iPhone 7 Plus has been a big hit, and as we’ve seen with gold and rose gold and now jet black, what color a phone is seems almost as important as what the phone can do.

Because Apple Stores aren’t crowded enough already

Been thinking about some new Apple gear for the holidays? You’re in luck as it appears the tech giant will have some one-day-only Black Friday specials going on… this Friday.

Apple passed on any Black Friday shenanigans last year, but after a few soft earnings reports, it looks like they’re now ready to tempt us with all manner of tech toys, from the usual suspects like the iPhone and Watch, to some things you might not expect, like the new DJI Mavic Drone and the lovable new Cozmo Robot.

No Black Friday pricing has been announced yet, you’ll have to wait until Friday, apparently. Apple stores will have expanded hours for the event and of course, you can use the Apple Store app to shop right from your Apple device.

Bill Roberson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I focus on producing Digital Trends' 'DT Daily' video news program along with photographing items we get in for review. I…
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