Here's something you never want to see: intruder alert, intruder alert. So catch it before it's too late!

Great news coming out of IES today. We are now taking preorders for the IES HoneyPot. Now you can setup a "sting" operation 24/7 on your network, often alerting you - and us - of an issue before it becomes a real problem.

What is a honeypot you ask? "It's a sacrificial computer system that’s intended to attract cyberattacks, like a decoy. It mimics a target for hackers, and uses their intrusion attempts to gain information about cyber criminals and the way they are operating or to distract them from other targets".

Despite the compact size of our honeypot device, it looks like a real computer system to hackers - with applications and data, fooling cyber criminals into thinking it's a legitimate target. For example, a honeypot could mimic a company's customer billing system, a frequent target of attack for criminals who want to find credit card numbers. Once the hackers are in, they can be tracked, and their behavior assessed for clues on how to make the real network more secure.

It is important to note that a honeypot isn't set up to address a specific problem, like a firewall or anti-virus software. Nor is it meant to replace these network necessities. Instead, it's an information tool that can help you understand existing threats to your business and spot the emergence of new threats. With the intelligence obtained from a honeypot, security efforts can be prioritized and focused.

WE ARE GIVING THESE DEVICES AWAY for a limited time to any of our clients that are interested. We just ask that you cover the annual subscription fee of $365...yes, just $1 per day. Contact us today (781-816-9437 or contactus@iesadvisors.com) to learn more about our devices and see how they can help add a layer of security to your network. Since the devices are plug and play, we can ship it right to your location. Simply plug it into power & Ethernet so IES can do the rest!

Save time, money, and headaches...IES now offers smart home & smart office systems.

The fast pace and ever growing possibilities of today's and tomorrow's technology are exciting. New products are available almost daily to fill our homes full of hi-tech solutions that make our lives more automated, convenient, and energy efficient.

IES technicians are here to help you choose the right devices from our vast range of home & business automation products that fit your lifestyle. We literally put the remote control of your home or business in the palm of your hands!

You can dim lights while watching a movie or having dinner, or schedule lights to turn on and off while you are on vacation. Stay green and save energy by checking to see if any lights were left on, or turn off anything that is plugged in. Consider using a programmable thermostat to increase energy management and reduce your utility bill by regulating thermostat use and temperatures based on your family's schedule.

Thinking about the office? Stay green and save energy by checking to see if any lights were left on. Want to schedule lights to turn on and off certain days of the week or just turn off anything that is plugged in? You can do that with our systems! Consider using a programmable thermostat to increase energy management and reduce your utility bill by regulating thermostat use and temperatures based on your operation hours.

An automation system also includes the safety of your family or workplace. IES offers a complete line of traditional sensors and security devices as well as camera and surveillance systems to protect your home or business. We even have the latest door locks & access controllers, communicating smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and wireless sensors to ensure that everyone is protected from dangers inside and out.

Don't forget about the fun stuff... We have wireless speakers for your smartphone or tablet, outdoor products for your yard or patio, accessories for your car and garage, a selection of smart products for kids, and everything your need for pet care and pest control.

When it comes to smart home or business automation, almost anything is possible - and IES has you covered for it all! Contact IES today for a quick quote - email us by clicking here or call 781-816-9437.

For more information on smart office systems, you can click here to visit the smart office section of our website.

For more information on smart home systems, you can click here to visit the smart home section of our website.

Got an extra $17k to burn? Buy this 18 karat gold Apple watch!

Apple expects some iPhone owners to shell out more than $10,000 for a smartwatch. And it hopes they don't care if it becomes outdated in a year.

The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant on Monday revealed pricing for the three models of Apple Watch, which will be available April 24 in nine countries. The device starts at $349 for the basic Apple Watch Sport version and goes up to $17,000 for the premium Apple Watch Edition.

That huge price gap comes from the use of the materials in the watches - 18 karat gold for the high end edition versus aluminum for the sport edition - but not for any of the actual features. iPhone owners won't be able to do any more with the expensive gold number than with the entry level model (aside from show off their ability to afford a wearable device that costs more than some cars).

By pricing its smartwatch that high, Apple, one of the world's largest makers of smartphones and tablets, is setting itself up as a luxury watch seller. But the transition could be tricky. The computing world is moving faster than ever before, as technology executives like to tell us, and what's new one day may easily be outdated a few months later. Spending $10,000 - $17,000 on a golden gadget that could become obsolete in a year is a risky proposition, especially since we don't yet know if Apple will have a trade in program, how it will support older devices in the future and whether any of the components in the device are replaceable.

History has shown that buying the first generation of a new Apple product often isn't the smartest move. Apple tends to update its products in short order - usually within a year and sometimes even earlier. And it incorporates new features in each update that make the prior model less attractive.

Source: CNET

Got $100 burning a hole in your pocket? Monitor your cat's bowel movements via smartphone app.

Yes, you read that right. For just $100 you too can know when your cat takes a potty break!

We have a few different ways to make sure our cats are eating, but what about tracking the natural consequence of all that kibble? That's where Tailio comes in! It's a smart scale that sits under the litter box and monitors the, "behaviors" of your favorite feline.

The creators say that this is to make keeping an eye on your cat's health easier, and act as an early detection system for any possible ailments. They also claim that it's the first product of its kind.

Naturally, all of the collected data is accessible via a mobile app that can even send reminders for when the box needs cleaning -- you know, in case you've gotten used to the ever so sweet smell of cat urine and feces.

Ready to make your dreams of cat-poo analytics a reality? Check out the company's Kickstarter page using the link below.

Source: Kickstarter

Paper business cards may be dying. Check out this cool replacement.

The humble business card still hasn’t been killed off by digital alternatives. Being handed a piece of dead tree with contact details printed on it in ink arguably increasingly stands out in an age when digital data is so cheap and mutable.

But paper inevitably presents a barrier to accessing and utilizing the data thereon — hence alternatives such as QR code business cards, and business card scanning systems like CardMunch.
Well, here’s a third alternative in the making: SwivelCard is a paper business card that — by way of a spot of patented printing and some clever perforations — also includes a USB stick interface so the business card can be stuck into a USB port and then point the user to a particular webpage.

The webpage you associate with individual SwivelCards can also be changed — so you could update it with content specific to the person you’ve given a particular SwivelCard to, for instance. One suggested scenario there is for a wedding photographer to personalize the photo content they showcase to a potential client, for example.

And, being as it has a digital interface, the SwivelCard also includes the ability to track usage — so you can see where your business cards have ended up, and how much people are accessing them. So it’s a paper business card with analytics.

How does the SwivelCard manage to stick a USB drive onto a piece of paper? “We invented a way to print a USB drive onto/into paper.  We use a special metallic ink to print the USB contact strips & embed a small chip in the paper,” says the startup.

For those without a USB drive, the card does also include NFC and a printed QR code so the data can still be accessed in other ways.

At present SwivelCard is a patent and a prototype. Its makers are raising crowdfunds on Kickstarter to bring their smart business cards to market, but have already doubled their original target of $10,000 with a further 33 days left of the campaign — meaning they have the means to deliver on their promises.

They’re offering taster packs of mini versions of their SwivelCard for $29 and $79 but if you’re after the full fat offering — which includes all your details printed on it, with a design of your choosing — it’s now a $289 Kickstarter pledge for a pack of 200 SwivelCards, so these smarter paper business cards don’t come cheap.

If all goes to plan, the makers are aiming to ship packs to backers starting from this October.

Source: Tech Crunch

Bluetooth and a blender? Now this is the coolest cooler we have ever seen!

One of the hottest Kickstarters at the moment is also the coolest. It's hard to imagine a cooler could inspire passion, but the Coolest cooler is winning crowdfunding fans by throwing everything from a blender to a Bluetooth speaker into the mix.

The Coolest has some features that are just plain smart and practical. It comes stocked with all-terrain wheels, gear tie-downs for strapping your extra stuff on top, plate and knife storage, and an LED lid light to shine down on the glory of its contents.

It holds 60 quarts and an internal divider doubles as a cutting board. The cutting board comes in handy when you want to slice limes for your margaritas, which you will be making with the 18-volt battery-powered rechargeable blender that attaches to the top of the cooler.

The blender certainly catches the eye, but the technology doesn't end there. There's a USB charger for powering up your smartphone and a removable waterproof Bluetooth speaker so you can blast "Margaritaville" while you're making your blended frozen beverages. The Coolest is not so much a cooler as it is a party companion.

The Kickstarter has certainly created a new cooler fanaticism. The original $50,000 funding goal got left in the dust. Now, nearly 11,000 backers are in for over $2 million with a long 49 days to go. The cooler is going for a $185 pledge. Ryan Grepper, the man behind the Coolest, is looking into stretch goals such as more colors, bigger wheels, and perhaps even a solar charger.

Check the Coolest out on Kickstarter by clicking here.

Mission Impossible technology is coming to life in this new cell phone.

Boeing is set to debut a new secure phone for government agencies and defense contractors that will self-destruct if it's tampered with. It just won't be won't be quite as dramatic as the ones in Mission Impossible. There won't be any smoke or explosions, but the contents of the device will be completely erased.

 "Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable," explained a company filing with the Federal Communications Commission, posted on the FCC's Web site Wednesday.

The company is giving few details about the phone, which will be called "Boeing Black." Pricing and an exact release date have yet to be disclosed, though it is expected to be out by this summer. But it won't be available your local Verizon  or AT&T storefront.

"It's geared towards defense and security customers. It's not aimed at the consumer," said Boeing spokeswoman Rebecca Yeamans. The phone will use Google's Android operating system, but calls and stored data will be encrypted.

Above: Boeing Black cell phone
Source: CNN

This is truly crazy! A 20 year old has built a drivable 500,000 piece Lego car.

500,000 pieces of those well known plastic blocks - and four engines with 256 pistons that run on compressed air. It was designed and built by 20 year old Raul Oaida in twenty months after he and a partner raised tens of thousands of dollars from Aussie backers. It will only cruise at 12-17 mph hour, but as shown in the video, you probably wouldn't want to go any faster.

Source: YouTube

This new light bulb will not only keep your room bright, but it will fill it with all your Bluetooth music.

The AwoX StriimLight B-10 sounds crazier than it actually is. It’s a light bulb, and it’s also a Bluetooth speaker. You screw it in, pair it to a device, and stream music to an 8W LED light bulb. The light socket powers both the speaker and the bulb, so the latter has to be screwed into a socket for the speaker to work.

It produces bright and warm-looking 3000K light that resembles the output of a fluorescent tube. It’ll screw into any E27 Edison mount.

As you’d expect, the speaker is not very good. A single 2-inch, 10W mono speaker in the middle of the LED lamp kicks out mediocre, bass-bereft audio. But those shortcomings are forgivable as the StriimLight leans heavily on gestalt principles.

Pairing it to a device is a simple process: You turn the bulb on, it beeps twice when it’s discoverable, and then you find the “StriimLIGHT” on your device’s pairing menu. Turning the lamp on and off restarts the discovery process if you have trouble finding the bulb in its Bluetooth menu; it’s basically a hard reboot of the bulb.

One little perk is that the StriimLight comes with its own remote control. The included plastic watch-battery-powered clicker is made of plastic, and lets you turn the light on and off, turn the speaker volume up and down, and mute the audio entirely.

At $100, the StriimLight may still be too expensive - at least until the audio quality is fixed. Available at awox.com/EN/striimlight.html.

Above: AwoX StriimLight B-10

Merry Christmas! Our staff's top 5 tech toy picks are finally here!

The biggest trends this year are robotics, toys that come to life with apps, and toys that get you to do something - including go play outside. So don't worry, our handy list will help you pick out a perfect present! The best part? We've actually played with every single one of the toys on our list. While some look and sound good in commercials and online, there are a few that will drive you, dear parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles - absolutely nuts. Oh, and don't forget the batteries!

Razor electric scooter, $150
Topping out at around 12 miles per hour, Razor's electric scooters are a great choice for tweens and teens. They're stylish, reasonably affordable, and extremely durable. This encourages kids to get up off the couch and go outside, even if it's just for a spin around the block.

RoboMe, $100
This futuristic robot can run around on it's own, or use an iPhone as its face and brain, allowing it to perform a ton of cool tricks and tasks. It can act as a remote video camera, remote-control explorer, and kids can even reprogram it to say whatever they want. Fun and educational at the same time.

Lego Mindstorms EV3, $350
This isn't the same Lego set you grew up with. It's a hands-down standout for harnessing creative and thought-provoking programming potential. With infrared sensors and motion detectors, kids can quickly create complex models that blast, grab, strike, slither, roll, and shoot, in as little as 20 minutes, right out of the box.

Of course, almost every kid will want an iPad and iPhone. Our advice is to go for the iPhone 5C and iPad mini or Samsung Galaxy tablet (a cheaper alternative). Set up basic parental controls, and make them responsible should their new shiny gadget get lost, stolen or broken. We don't recommend these devices for kids, but rather for teens.

This amazing new piece of technology provides secure & easy access to all your credit and ATM cards.

Coin is a connected device that can hold and behave like the cards you already carry. It works with your debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and membership cards. Instead of carrying several cards you carry one Coin.

You can use a Coin everywhere cards are accepted including dip-style card readers and ATMs. Use a Coin just like you use your cards now at gas stations, restaurants, the mall, the gym, or other places you frequent.

The convenience and security seems to be worth it for only $100 (or $50 on a preorder at OnlyCoin.com).

Source: YouTube, OnlyCoin.com

Can't remember 4 digits to unlock your iPhone? No problem - use your face!

Awarded to Apple on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark, a patent called "Personal computing device control using face detection and recognition" envisions a method to access your iPhone and other devices based on facial detection and recognition. As such, your face would act as a password, allowing only you to answer a phone call and perform other tasks.

The technology would start by scanning your face in order to record all of its unique features, such as texture, color, size, and shape. You could run the same process for any other person whom you want to use your iPhone.

In response to an incoming call, your phone would scan your face to make sure it matches that of an authorized user. If so, the call goes through, and your iPhone displays the usual incoming call screen. If not, the device remains in lock mode with only the ringtone chiming away.

The same security could apply for incoming e-mails. Looking at the iPhone would alert you to and display an e-mail. An authorized face would prevent the e-mail alert and hide or block the actual message.

The technology seems most at home on a mobile phone. But Apple's patent points to its use on other devices, including TVs, PDAs, and personal computers. As one example, your PC's screensaver could react to your face rather than to a preset period of inactivity.

An approved patent doesn't necessarily mean this technology will become a reality. But Apple did take a first step in password evolution with the introduction of its Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S. Facial recognition is already used by other products, such as Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation. So using your face to drive your iPhone seems like a logical step at some point down the road.

Source: CNET

The end of driving as we know it...welcome Google's robo car.

Google's self-driving car initiative is moving into a new phase: reality.

Three years after first showing the world what it was up to - rolling out a Toyota Prius with laser scanning hardware awkwardly perched on the roof - Google is moving its big idea out of the lab and into the real world.

Consider recent developments: A spokesman confirmed to CNET that the company was in what were described as productive talks with automakers involving Google's self-driving technology.

Separately, Google is reported to be crafting a partnership with auto supplier Continental. And there's even the possibility of Google-powered robo-taxis sometime in the future.

Where is this all leading? The answer, naturally, is complicated. After all, we're talking about an effort to force the biggest change in the auto industry since the first Model A drove out of Henry Ford's factory a century ago. And the automakers aren't about to let Google plow through their turf unless it helps their businesses. They have their own plans with self-driving cars, and some execs scoff at Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wide-eyed remarks about making self-driving cars commercially available by 2017.

"We do not think someone will have a fully autonomous production vehicle that soon," said Daniel Flores from General Motors' advanced technology group. "Vehicles that can drive themselves are years - maybe decades - away. The technology will develop in steps to allow the vehicle to do more and act incrementally as sensors get more robust and costs come down."

That might be, but such talk isn't about to diminish Google's ambitions. Google is leading the charge on this one. It's prodding the auto industry - not to mention regulators and the insurance business - to push the whole effort at a Silicon Valley pace.

Already Nevada, Florida, and California have legalized driverless car testing on public roads, with a lobbying nudge from Google. And although plenty of other efforts are under way - from GM to Nissan and Audi - Google has the highest profile, something that surely rankles the old guard.

"Google's embarrassed the car industry by getting out ahead on this and getting all the attention," said Roger Lanctot, an automotive analyst with Strategy Analytics.

Let's not lose sight of something else: Anyone who's watched Google's swift rise in its 15 year history knows there's also a big potential side benefit. Google talks about making the roads safer, but the company's core business has plenty to gain from freeing up drivers from that task of, well, driving. How much? Americans on average spend 18.5 hours a week in a car, which adds up to a lot of time they could be checking Gmail, editing Google Docs, watching YouTube videos, and clicking ads.

 

"They're trying to free people's time so they can dedicate themselves to the Internet and Googling around," said Alberto Broggi, an autonomous vehicle researcher and professor of computer engineering at the University of Parma in Italy. "They're motivated by great innovation, but the bottom line...is business."

Source: CNET

The new school ID: iris scans.

By the fall, several schools -- ranging from elementary schools to colleges -- will be rolling out various iris scanning security methods.

Winthrop University in South Carolina is testing out iris scanning technology during freshman orientation this summer. Students had their eyes scanned as they received their ID cards in June.

"Iris scanning has a very high level of accuracy, and you don't have to touch anything, said James Hammond, head of Winthrop University's Information Technology department. "It can be hands free security."

The college will be deploying scanning technology from New Jersey-based security company Iris ID.

South Dakota-based Blinkspot manufactures iris scanners specifically for use on school buses. When elementary school students come aboard, they look into a scanner (it looks like a pair of binoculars). The reader will beep if they're on the right bus and honk if they're on the wrong one.

The Blinkspot scanner syncs with a mobile app that parents can use to see where their child is. Every time a child boards or exits the bus, his parent gets an email or text with the child's photograph, a Google map where they boarded or exited the bus, as well as the time and date.

Iris-scanning is part of a growing trend called "biometrics," a type of security that recognizes physical characteristics to identify people. As the technology becomes faster and cheaper to build, several security equipment manufacturers are looking at biometric methods like iris scanning as the ID badge of the future.

In the next year, industry insiders say the technology will be available all over-- from banks to airports. That means instead of entering your pin number, you can gain access to an ATM in a blink. Used in an airport, the system will analyze your iris as you pass through security, identifying and welcoming you by name.

One company developing that technology is Eyelock. The company's scanners are already in use in foreign airports and at high-security offices, including Bank of America's North Carolina headquarters.

Eyelock's technology records video of your eyeball and uses an algorithm to find the best image of each eye. Eyelock is also entering the school market, piloting their devices in elementary school districts and nursery schools around the country.

"Imagine a world where you're no longer reliant on user names and passwords," Eyelock CMO Anthony Antolino told CNNMoney. "If we're going through a turnstile and you have authorization to go beyond that, it'll open the turnstile for you, if you embed it into a tablet or PC, it will unlock your phone or your tablet or it will log you into your email account."

Eyelock's airport security technology can process up to fifty people per minute.
"You walk through without stopping, you look at the camera, it recognizes you in less than one second," Antolino said. "In the case of customs, by the time you approach the customs agent your profile would pull up and present your documents for authorization."

Though some privacy advocates worry that convenience could be coming at the expense of security.

The iris scanning companies note that the data their scanners collect is encrypted -- an outsider would only see 1s and 0s if they went in search of your iris scans. And the companies themselves don't collect any of the data -- the schools, airports and businesses that use them own the data.

"It's sort of like a brave new world; the new technology is sort of scary," said Page Bowden, a parent of a student at Winthrop University's on-campus nursery school. "But when you stop to actually think about it, and think about the level of security that [it] affords you as a parent and your children, it's worth it."

Source: CNN Money

New glove phone takes the saying "talk to the hand" to a whole new level.

For Sean Miles of Designworks in the U.K. decided that the true joy of wearable tech was a driving glove that you can talk into.

He listens to his thumb. He talks into his little finger.

I can just imagine millions of nerds and teenagers desperate to meld their inner Michael Jackson. They would surely pay fortunes to get their hands onto and into one of these gloves.

Sadly, this is not a commercial project. The Brits have often found commerce a touch beneath them.

Instead, Miles was approached by phone company 02 Recycling to create experiments.

His last was the highly hygienic shoe-phone.

Here, he said his biggest obstacle was making the technology work with the fabric of the glove.

He used a Bluetooth device, and the principles are as simple as the glove itself: the earpiece is in the thumb, the speaker is in the little finger.

Miles was simply trying to take an everyday object and convert it to technological use, rather than force even those who don't wear glasses to resemble people from a blissful future.

Soon, perhaps every item that we currently believe is merely clothing will suddenly have a simultaneous technological use.

Source: CNET

This interactive tech toy is sure to keep you entertained for hours with its countless possibilities.

MaKey MaKey is an invention kit rolled out by two MIT graduates for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple invention kit for beginners and experts doing art, engineering, and everything inbetween. What you create is completely up to you! Simply, load up a computer program or any webpage to get started.

MaKey MaKey works with any laptop or computer with a USB port and a recent operating system.

Check out this cool YouTube video of some crazy MaKey MaKey stuff:

Looking for a personal drone? Look no further!

Imagine carving your way down a particularly challenging slope, your skis kicking up clouds of snow, trees flying by, your death-defying stunts captured perfectly on camera. And you're all by yourself.

How would you pull off such a feat?

Short of those with a film crew on hand, or at least a buddy with a GoPro camera tracking your every move, it's hard to imagine it being possible at all, let alone while you're alone.

But you may not have to imagine it for long...


Next week, a startup called Universal Air will finish shipping out its entry level R10 quadrotors, a drone whose advertised combination of low price, reliability, and durability inspired more than 400 people to fund the company's Kickstarter campaign to the tune of almost 15 times its financial goal. UAir, as it's known, had hoped to raise $15,000 and ship 30 R10's, according to co-founder Max Bruner, but ended up bringing in $220,000 and facing one of the problems many super-successful Kickstarter projects experience: the inability to quickly satisfy demand.

Bruner said that the R10 was initially meant to be a prototype, but with so much interest, UAir had no choice but to ramp up to a production-quality drone. And now, those who ordered the UAV will soon be getting their hands on an aircraft said to be ideal for allowing amateur photographers and videographers to shoot from the air, yet which users can fly with an Xbox controller or an RC transmitter.

Cool as the R10 might be, though, it's not up to the task of autonomously tracking you while you barrel down a ski slope.

But while the R10 is meant to appeal because of its low price and its durability, UAir is hoping that initial UAV is just the beginning. The company is readying its next drone, a slick and easy-to-use aircraft expected to go on sale in July that stands apart from competing consumer products like the Parrot AR Drone, and a number of expensive hobbyist kits with more functionality, by offering both a low price and the ability to carry a payload like a GoPro camera. The Parrot, by comparison, shoots HD video with a built-in camera, and Bruner believes users are going to want better optics than that, but without paying the hefty prices of more sophisticated but harder-to-use hobbyist rigs.

Yet UAir's ultimate product isn't its next drone. Rather, it's the UAV the company hopes to get off the ground sometime in the first half of 2014. That, said Bruner, will be a fully-autonomous quadrotor aimed at the adventure sports market. The idea? Allow someone to go skiing, or rock climbing, or high-diving, and know that their drone is following them the whole way, thanks to an on-board tracking beacon, shooting HD photos or videos the entire time.

As with the current-gen Parrot AR Drone 2.0, UAir's future UAV is expected to feature Wi-Fi connectivity that allows a user to take the drone with them and count on it staying close by, regardless of whether or not there's an accessible Internet connection. As long as a user can establish a Wi-Fi connection between their mobile phone and the drone, "you're good to go," Bruner said.

Surveillance but not invasion of privacy

Like many drone makers, UAir UAVs make surveillance easy. But Bruner said a combination of U.S. Federal Aviation Administration restrictions and the company's own concerns about privacy invasions led it to focus on Wi-Fi as a connectivity technology. That's because, he said, using Wi-Fi means that the drones are limited to being within line of sight of the user. That doesn't fully preclude snooping, of course, but it makes it a bit harder.

Still, even with that limit on how far away a user can be from the drone, UAir thinks its products are going to be popular with industry.

Although UAir is clearly planning on being a player in the consumer drone market, Bruner said that another big part of its business is to provide surveillance services to a wide range of industries. That's why Bruner said UAir's real business isn't selling drones, but rather a platform built to make it easy for the startup to nurture relationships with commercial partners.

Clearly, the company wants to make inroads with the photography and videography communities, but UAir is also hoping it can convince those in other industries -- such as mining, farming, or insurance, to name a few -- to get on board. And part of its pitch is that the drones, while designed to carry cameras, can also carry a range of sensor packages purpose-built for industry. So, for example, Bruner imagines the company's drones being used for things like overflights of mines to look for environmental impacts; low-cost home roof inspections; and even crop fertilization. "We think there's a whole [software as a service] market," Bruner said.

Others think so too. Airware, a recent alumni of the prestigious Silicon Valley incubator, Y Combinator, is also pursuing a drone platform strategy. But that company doesn't plan on selling UAVs itself.

As such, UAir could have an advantage selling on both sides of the business. And it's also considering a series of data analytics tools that can help its clients better understand their businesses. "We might be giving a farmer more information about when and where to fertilize crops," Bruner said. "Drones are the beginning of the autonomous services market. There's a whole new market out there. We're just in the infancy of service robotics."

Source: CNET

Ever dreamt that you were a superhero? Here's your chance!

A group of students at the Royal College of Art in London have created two masks that can give you superhuman sight and hearing.

The first prototype covers the wearer's ears, mouth and nose and uses a directional microphone to give him the ability to hear an isolated sound in a noisy environment. For example, you could target a person in a crowd and clearly hear his words without the surrounding noise.

The other prototype is worn over one's eyes. A camera captures video and sends it to a computer, which can apply a set of effects to it in real-time and send it back to the wearer. One can, for example, use it to see movement patterns, similar to the effects of long-exposure photography.

The team behind project Eidos — Tim Bouckley, Millie Clive-Smith, Mi Eun Kim and Yuta Sugawara — see many possible applications of this technology. For example, one could use the visual mask it to analyze movement and technique in sports. In another example, concert-goers could use the hearing mask to focus on a certain performer at a concert.

Source: CNN