DJI’s New First Person View (FPV) Drone System Brought VR to the Real World

DJI, the leading Chinese drone company, launched an all-in-one FPV drone system, which significantly improves video quality and control latency. The system includes a drone, a pair of goggles, a remote controller and a motion controller. FPV drones give user a pilot's-eye view from the aircraft thanks to the combination of video goggles and a low-latency feed from the drone's camera. With impressive technical specs, such as 4K 60fps video quality, 120Mbps recording speed, and 87mph (140km/h) maximum speed, DJI FPV brings a vivid experience for users. According to the reviews, this is the most exciting and interesting commercialised application of VR, and this helps to promote drones to broader consumers. Although added to the US entity list in December 2020, DJI said its products would remain on sales in America. However, this may be the opportunity for other players. In February 2021, California-based Skydio became the first American drone maker to be valued at more than $1 billion after a Series D funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Growth Fund. According to Forbes, Skydio drones are owned by more than 20 US police agencies. With regulations and policies launched in the US and EU, more application of drones will be seen in both consumer and industrial sectors.

Microsoft Joins Autonomous Car Race with Cruise Automation Investment

Cruise and General Motors announced they have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. The companies will bring together their software and hardware engineering excellence, cloud computing capabilities, manufacturing know-how and partner ecosystem to build an autonomous car platform. To unlock the potential of cloud computing for self-driving vehicles, Cruise will leverage Azure, Microsoft’s cloud and edge computing platform, to commercialize its autonomous vehicle solutions at scale. Microsoft, as Cruise’s cloud provider, will also tap into Cruise’s deep industry expertise to enhance its customer-driven product innovation and serve transportation companies across the globe through continued investment in Azure. Microsoft will join General Motors, Honda and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of Cruise to $30 billiion. In addition, GM will work with Microsoft as its public cloud provider to accelerate its digitization initiatives, including collaboration, storage, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. GM will explore opportunities with Microsoft to streamline operations across digital supply chains, foster productivity and bring new mobility services to customers faster.

Samsung Shows Off Housekeeping Robots at Virtual CES 2021

Samsung unveils three housekeeping robots to help humans perform chores with its latest applications of AI technologies at CES 2021. They can pick up items around the house and act as personal assistants. And one of those, a smart vacuum that also doubles as a security camera, will be available in the US in the first half of 2021. Samsung is making a big push in artificial intelligence. The technology, which gives devices the ability to act on their own, is seen as the next big wave of computing. Instead of swiping on smartphone screens, people will talk to their devices or ever-listening microphones around homes and offices. As Sebastian Seung, president of Samsung Research, said during CES press conference, AI is about being more personal and predictive, and it is about benefiting every day by being a core part of the products and services people enjoy. For example, JetBot 90 Ai+, the smart vacuum robot, uses object recognition technology to identify and classify objects to decide the best cleaning path. Lidar and 3D sensors let the JetBot avoid cables and small objects. Users can set no-go zones and monitor the progress on smartphones. Bot Handy, the housekeeping robot, relies on AI technology to recognise and pick up objects of varying sizes, shapes and weights. Bot Handy can fill the dishwasher, separate the laundry, set the table and even pour a glass of wine.