3D Robotics teases stylish drone with pro features

3D Robotics teases stylish drone with pro features

While 3D Robotics makes some amazing drones, it’s not exactly known for its design flair. It seems that’s about to change, according to a tease of a rakish new model, however. The video (below) is light on details, but we can glean a few things: for instance, it looks like it’ll have first person view (FPV) flying out of the box, judging by an included phone clip. We’d guess you […]

Intel’s made a tinier, longer-range depth camera for phones

Intel’s made a tinier, longer-range depth camera for phones

Intel RealSense on a smartphone prototype Intel’s been a huge backer of gesture control plus 3D scanning, and so far it’s managed to integrate its RealSense technology into select desktops, laptops, tablets and even drones. The missing piece of the puzzle? Smartphones. But that’s no longer the case with Intel’s latest RealSense camera, as showed off by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich at IDF in Shenzhen today. The new module is […]

Apple and Microsoft help form lobby group opposing attempts to kill software patents (update: not lobbying)

Apple and Microsoft help form lobby group opposing attempts to kill software patents (update: not lobbying)

Few would object to legislative attempts to stop patent trolls in their tracks. However, several companies are worried these efforts might go too far — enough so that they’ve formed their own US organization, the Partnership for American Innovation. The group, which includes tech giants Apple, GE, IBM and Microsoft, wants a “balanced” approach that reduces the volume of junk patents (and the resulting abuse) while letting companies file for […]

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 will begin on June 2nd

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 will begin on June 2nd

Apple’s just announced that its annual developer conference, WWDC, will commence on June 2nd and run through June 6th. In a departure from its traditional application process, the company has already opened ticket sales on its website, but will now select attendees randomly instead of a first-come-first-served basis. That means we’re no longer likely to see the super-quick ticket sellouts we’ve witnessed in previous years, but a lottery will ensure […]

Which gadget changed your life?

Which gadget changed your life?

When we ask readers like you to help us rank the top gadgets, we usually focus on the best (and sometimes the worst). Do you have a gadget that’s changed your life? Perhaps you made a leap from the LG enV VX9900 feature phone to the mystifying world of smartphones and scooped up an iPhone 3GS (like this author did in 2009). Or when you decided to move to the […]

Twitter now shows emoji characters on the web

Twitter now shows emoji characters on the web

There’s a good chance that some of your smartphone-toting friends use emoji to express themselves on Twitter — wouldn’t it be nice to see those icons while you’re surfing the web? As of today, you can. Twitter has updated its web client to display emoji, giving you all the colorful characters that you’d expect while browsing mobile apps (and some desktop apps, too). The update won’t make it any easier […]

Google mandates Android logo on device bootup screens

Google mandates Android logo on device bootup screens

When we first booted up the new HTC One, we were greeted by a “Powered by Android” logo near the bottom of the screen; Samsung has done the same thing with the Galaxy S5. At first this may not seem like a very big deal, but thanks to some internal documents and verification from sources familiar with the matter, there may actually be a lot more to this simple logo […]