Drones

Drone assists in 2017 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest

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Drones can do a lot, from capturing breathtaking bird’s eye view videos, tracking your movement, and taking your selfies, to delivering what you shopped for online straight to your doorstep.

And after appearing in Super Bowl LI for Lady Gaga’s halftime show, Intel’s Hexacopter shows up in another sports stage.

This particular drone powered by Intel took its talents to the hardcourt to deliver a bounce pass to NBA high-flyer Aaron Gordon at the 2017 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest.

In the video, the Hexacopter takes off from midcourt and hovers right around the area where the rim is before dropping a bounce pass for Gordon, who catches the ball, goes between his legs, then throws it down with force.

It’s quite a sight.

Gordon, who currently plays for the Orlando Magic, grew up in Silicon Valley and says he’s always been tech-oriented. He wanted to bring a little bit of that tech savvy inside the basketball court.

A video on Intel’s YouTube channel showed the young NBA athlete practicing the drone dunk. He later on said, “I don’t even think it matters what dunk that I do. The fact that a drone is flying around [with] a basketball giving alley-oops is something that’s special in its own.”

The 2016 Dunk Contest runner-up may have needed a few more practices though, as he needed four tries before completing the dunk during the actual competition. He unfortunately didn’t advance to the second round of the NBA All-Star Event.

Nice try, Air Gordon. Nice try.

[irp posts=”9353″ name=”Nike’s new sneakers have unusual NBA 2K17 reference”]

Drones

Airpeak will be Sony’s foray into camera drone market

Slated to launch in Spring 2021

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Airpeak

The ever-competitive drone market will soon have another brand to welcome. Sony just announced its entry into the consumer drone market with the Airpeak brand, which will likely go toe-to-toe (propeller to propeller?) with established brands like DJI.

Specific details about the brand, however, remain scarce at the moment. Sony’s official website only teases a short cryptic video.

The website also mentions that Airpeak will be the culmination of “imaging and sensing technological expertise and AI Robotics” — something which Sony has with its consumer camera and robotic products.

A separate press release also confirms Sony’s plan to target video creators with the Airpeak brand. Further, the brand will bring 3R technology (Reality, Real-time and Remote) to the drone market.

The first wave of products under the Airpeak is slated to launch in the spring of 2021. In the meantime, Sony will continue to obtain feedback from users who participated in co-creating drones under the brand.

It is worth noting that this isn’t Sony’s first foray into the drone market. Last year, the company entered a partnership with ZMP to form the Aerosense company. However, that company caters specifically to the business sector. So, the Airpeak brand will actually be the company’s first for the consumer drone sector.

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Drones

How the tech world helped in the Notre Dame fire incident

Modern technology isn’t our foe at all

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In light of the recent news about the fire incident that happened in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, several companies, including those from the tech sector, have shown how much they care for the ruined 856-year-old historic landmark.

DJI

When the flames broke out, firefighters used Mavic Pro and Matrice M210 drones. The cathedral was severely damaged but thankfully, the drones helped in distinguishing where the fire had spread out. Several tweets show how helpful drones are, even during unexpected disasters like this one.

People from DJI talked about how their drones helped Paris’ Emergency Response Team in determining the fire inside the cathedral.

Apple

After the incident, many people, including popular icons all around the globe, have shown their distress about the destruction of the cathedral. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is one among those people. He even promised Apple would help in the progress of rebuilding Notre Dame’s ruined architectural landscape.

Ubisoft

Most gamers can tell that the Notre Dame Cathedral is found in the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Ubisoft, which is also a French company, said that the infrastructure was scanned using their state-of-the-art 3D mapping technology. Using data preserved for the game may help architects and builders in restoring the cathedral. As an addition, the game is for free at the Ubisoft store to honor the fallen landmark.

Image credit: Ubisoft

It may be insignificant for most people but these all prove that companies and their existing technologies can still help in times of global incidents like this.

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Drones

DJI Mavic 2 Pro Review: 1 month in

Not a perfect drone, but…

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We won’t bore you with a rundown of its specs, but instead, we’ll give you the lowdown on DJI’s new drone — what works, what doesn’t, and what’s there to love. This is our DJI Mavic 2 Pro review.

 

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