Friday, 1 May 2020

ET Mother’s Day Deals: $100 Off Apple Watch Series 5, Apple AirPods w/ Charging Case $135, $250 Off Meural Canvas Digital Photo Frame

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, but if you haven’t picked up a gift for your mother yet then don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time. In this article, we’ve got great suggestions for what to buy your mother this year, and you can get these sent straight to you or her without having to go out.

Apple Watch Series 5 GPS 40mm ($299.00)

Apple’s newest smartwatch is the company’s first to feature an always-on display, which remains illuminated and provides on-screen information for the entire time the watch remains on. Like last year’s model, the new Watch Series 5 offers up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. For a limited time, you can get one from Walmart marked down from $399.99 to $299.00.

Apple AirPods w/Charging Case ($135.99)

What better way to celebrate your independence than with a pair of high-quality earbuds to help block out bothersome external noises and enjoy your music? You can get Apple’s AirPods today from Walmart marked down from $159.00 to $135.99.

Featured Deals

  • Apple Watch Series 5 40mm GPS Smartwatch for $299 at Walmart (list price $399)
  • Apple Watch Series 5 44mm GPS Smartwatch for $329 at Walmart (list price $429)
  • Apple iPad 10.2″ 32GB WiFi Retina Tablet for $279 at Walmart (list price $329)
  • Meural Canvas Leonora 27″ Full HD Digital Photo Frame for $345 at Adorama (list price $595)
  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Intel Core i7-1065G7 Quad-core 13.4″ 1920×1200 2-in-1 Touch Laptop (Refurb) for $1199 at PCMag Shop (list price $1649)
  • Apple iPhone SE 4.7″ 64GB Smartphone + $150 AT&T Visa Reward Card for $5/month at AT&T Wireless
  • New Apple MacBook Air 2020 Model Intel 10th Gen Core i3 13.3″ 2560×1600 Laptop for $949.99 at Amazon (list price $999)
  • Apple AirPods Pro for $224.99 at Verizon Wireless (list price $249)
  • iRobot Roomba 890 WiFi Robot Vacuum for $279.99 at Walmart (list price $499.99)
  • iRobot Roomba 960 WiFi Robot Vacuum for $399.99 at Dell (list price $499.99)
  • Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 40mm Aluminum Smartwatch for $119.99 at Best Buy (list price $199.99)
  • Fitbit Versa 2 Health and Fitness Smartwatch with Heart Rate for $149.95 at Amazon (list price $199.95)
  • Hyperice Hypervolt Vibration Massage Device for $299 at Best Buy (list price $349)
  • Green Extreme T200 1080p Webcam for $99.95 at Adorama (list price $130)
  • Acer Chromebook 715 Intel Core i3-8130U 15.6″ 1080p Touch Laptop for $369 at Walmart (list price $549.99)
  • Alienware New Aurora R9 Intel Core i7-9700K 8-core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2070 SUPER, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD for $1709.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $2249.98)
  • Alienware Aurora R8 Intel Core i7-9700 8-core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2080 SUPER, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD for $1404 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1629.99)
  • Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD for $1296 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1449.99)
  • Alienware m15 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 15.6″ 1080p Gaming Laptop with RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1349.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1913.98)
  • DJI Mavic Mini Fly More Combo Foldable Drone with 2.7K Camera and Remote + Bonus Accessories for $524 at Adorama (list price $796.29)
  • DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Fly More Combo Foldable 4K Quadcopter Drone for $999.99 at Best Buy (list price $1299.99)

Check out more deals from TechBargains.

Apple Devices

More Apple Deals here.

Amazon Services

More Amazon Deals here.

Wearables

  • Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 40mm Aluminum Smartwatch for $119.99 at Best Buy (list price $199.99)
  • Fitbit Charge 4 GPS Fitness Tracker with Filler Items for $118.97 at Verizon Wireless (30% off 3 items, Add 2 other items to cart – list price $149.99)
  • Fitbit Versa 2 Health and Fitness Smartwatch with Heart Rate for $149.95 at Amazon (list price $199.95)
  • Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker for $99.95 at Walmart (list price $149.95)
  • Fitbit Inspire HR Fitness Tracker for $69.95 at Walmart (list price $99.95)
  • Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch with Heart Rate Monitor for $99.99 at Best Buy (list price $119.99)
  • Garmin Vivofit 4 Activity Tracker for $49.99 at Dell (list price $79.99)

More Wearables Deals here.

Smart Home

  • iRobot Roomba 890 WiFi Robot Vacuum for $279.99 at Walmart (list price $499.99)
  • iRobot Roomba 960 WiFi Robot Vacuum for $399.99 at Dell (list price $499.99)
  • Google Nest Hub Max 10″ Smart Display with Filler Items for $174.97 at Verizon Wireless (30% off 3 items, Add 2 other items to cart – list price $229)
  • JBL Link View 8″ Smart Display for $99.99 at Best Buy (list price $299.99)
  • Facebook Portal Mini 8″ Smart Video Calling Display for $79.99 at Best Buy (list price $129.99)
  • Facebook Portal 10.1″ Smart Video Calling Display for $129.99 at Best Buy (list price $179.99)
  • iRobot Roomba i7 7150 WiFi Robot Vacuum + Deco Gear Accessory Bundle for $499 at BuyDig (list price $768)
  • iRobot Roomba 614 3-Stage Robot Vacuum for $199 at Walmart (list price $249)
  • eufy RoboVac 11S Slim BoostIQ 1300Pa Robot Vacuum for $149.99 at Woot (list price $250)
  • Shark ION RV750 WiFi Robot Vacuum for $199 at Walmart (list price $349)
  • iLife A4s Robot Vacuum with 1000Pa Suction for $129.99 at Walmart (list price $179.99)
  • Ring Video Doorbell 2 for $99.99 at B&H Photo Video (list price $199.99)
  • August Smart Lock Pro 3rd Gen with Connect WiFi Bridge for $179.99 at Woot (list price $199)

More Smart Home Deals here.

Laptops

  • Dell XPS 13 (7390) Intel Core i7-1065G7 Quad-core 13.4″ 1920×1200 2-in-1 Touch Laptop (Refurb) for $1199 at PCMag Shop (list price $1649)
  • Acer Chromebook 715 Intel Core i3-8130U 15.6″ 1080p Touch Laptop for $369 at Walmart (list price $549.99)
  • Alienware m15 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 15.6″ 1080p Gaming Laptop with RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1349.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1913.98)
  • Alienware m15 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 15.6″ 1080p 144Hz Gaming Laptop with RTX 2070, 16GB RAM, 2x 512GB SSD for $1709.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $2493.98)
  • Alienware m15 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 15.6″ OLED 4K UHD Gaming Laptop with RTX 2070 Max-Q, 2x 512GB SSD for $2049.99 at Dell (list price $2593.98)
  • Alienware m17 R1 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 17.3″ 1080p Gaming Laptop with RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1574.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1808.98)
  • Alienware m17 R1 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 17.3″ 1080p Gaming Laptop with RTX 2070 Max-Q, 16GB RAM, 2x 512GB SSD for $1634.39 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $2224.99)
  • Dell G7 17 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 17.3″ 1080p 144Hz Gaming Laptop with RTX 2070, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD for $1570.49 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1979.99)
  • Dell New Inspiron 15 5000 Intel Core i7-1065G7 Quad-core 15.6″ 1080p Laptop with 512GB SSD for $679.99 at Dell (use code: 50OFF699 – list price $799.99)
  • Dell Vostro 14 3490 Intel Core i5-10210U Quad-core 14″ 1080p Laptop for $629 at Dell (list price $1084.29)
  • Dell Vostro 13 5000 Intel 10th-Gen Core i7-10510U Quad-core 13.3″ 1080p Laptop for $799 at Dell (list price $1427.14)
  • Dell Vostro 15 5590 Intel 10th-Gen Core i7-10510U Quad-core 15.6″ 1080p Laptop for $849 at Dell (list price $1427.14)
  • Dell Vostro 15 7000 Intel Core i7-9750H 6-core 15.6″ 1080p Laptop with GTX 1650, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1099 at Dell (list price $1998.57)
  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 Intel Core i5-10210U 14″ 1080p Ultra-Light Laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1533.95 at Lenovo (use code: THINK45 – list price $2789)
  • Lenovo ThinkPad T490 Intel Core i5-10210U Quad-core 14″ 1080p IPS Laptop for $1104.95 at Lenovo (use code: THINK45 – list price $2009)
  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 3 Intel Core i5-8250U Quad-core 14″ 1080p IPS Touchscreen Laptop for $949.05 at Lenovo (use code: EXTRAFIVE – list price $2659)
  • HP 15t Intel 10th-gen Core i7-10510U Quad-core 15.6″ Laptop for $559.99 (+$50 for 1080p Display) at HP (list price $799.99)
  • HP Pavilion 15z Touch AMD Ryzen 7 3700U Quad-core 15.6″ Laptop for $589.99 (+$60 for 1080p Display) at HP (list price $769.99)
  • HP Pavilion x360 15t Intel 10th-gen Core i7-10510U Quad-core 15.6″ 1080p Touch Laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $949.99 at HP (list price $1249.99)
  • HP OMEN 15 Intel Core i7-9750H + RTX 2070 Max-Q 15.6″ 1080p 144Hz Gaming Laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1646.99 at HP (Select i7 9750H + RTX 2070, 15.6-inch 144 Hz display and use code: 10GAMERSPRING – list price $2029.99)
  • ASUS TUF AMD Ryzen 7 3750H Quad-Core 15.6″ 1080p IPS Gaming Laptop with GTX 1660Ti for $799 at Walmart (list price $1099)
  • Acer Chromebook 315 Intel Celeron N4000 15.6″ 1366×768 Laptop with Protective Sleeve for $199 at Walmart (list price $219)

More Laptop Deals here.

Desktop Computers

  • Alienware New Aurora R9 Intel Core i7-9700K 8-core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2070 SUPER, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD for $1709.99 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $2249.98)
  • Alienware Aurora R8 Intel Core i7-9700 8-core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2080 SUPER, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD for $1404 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1629.99)
  • Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Gaming Desktop with RTX 2060, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD for $1296 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1449.99)
  • Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Gaming Desktop with Radeon RX 5700 XT, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD for $1089 at Dell (use code: LCS10OFF – list price $1269.99)
  • Dell New G5 Intel Core i5-9400 6-core Gaming Desktop with GTX 1660Ti for $719.99 at Dell (use code: 50OFF699 – list price $884.98)
  • Dell XPS 8930 Intel Core i5-9400 6-core Tower Desktop with GTX 1660Ti, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD for $879.99 at Dell (use code: 50OFF699 – list price $1209.98)
  • Dell XPS 8930 SE Intel Core i7-9700K 8-core Tower Desktop with RTX 2070 SUPER, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD + 2TB HDD for $1649.99 at Dell (use code: 50OFF699 – list price $2159.98)
  • Dell Vostro Small 3470 Intel Core i5-9400 6-core Desktop for $579 at Dell (list price $998.57)
  • Dell OptiPlex 3070 Micro Intel Core i5-9500T 6-core Ultra Compact PC for $599 at Dell (list price $969.99)
  • Dell Vostro 5000 Intel Core i5-9400 6-core Desktop for $599 at Dell (list price $998.57)
  • Dell Vostro 3000 Intel Core i5-9400 6-core Desktop for $629 at Dell (list price $998.57)
  • HP OMEN Obelisk 875 AMD Ryzen 5 3500 6-core Gaming Desktop with GTX 1660 for $699.99 at HP (list price $999.99)

More Desktop PC Deals here.

Monitors

More Monitor Deals here.

PC Components, Networking and Storage

More Storage, Networking, and Components Deals.

TVs & Home Entertainment

More TV Deals here.

Electronics

  • Meural Canvas Leonora 27″ Full HD Digital Photo Frame for $345 at Adorama (list price $595)
  • Pre-order DJI Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo Foldable 4K Quadcopter Drone with Remote Controller for $988 at Adorama
  • DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Fly More Combo Foldable 4K Quadcopter Drone for $999.99 at Best Buy (list price $1299.99)
  • DJI Mavic Mini Fly More Combo Foldable Drone with 2.7K Camera and Remote + Bonus Accessories for $524 at Adorama (list price $796.29)
  • DJI Mavic Mini Basic Kit Foldable Drone with 2.7K Camera and Remote + Bonus Accessories for $399.99 at Adorama (list price $499.99)
  • DJI Mavic Air Fly More Combo Foldable 4K HDR Quadcopter Drone for $699.99 at Best Buy (list price $1149.99)
  • Parrot ANAFI 4K Quadcopter Drone with Spare Battery and Accessory Bundle for $775.99 at Adorama (list price $839.46)
  • Hubsan Zino Extreme Bundle Portable 4K Quadcopter Drone with 2 Batteries for $374 at Adorama (list price $419)
  • Google Pixel 4 64GB Unlocked Smartphone for $499 (4 XL for $599) at B&H Photo Video (list price $799)
  • Google Pixel 3a XL 64GB Unlocked Smartphone for $349 at B&H Photo Video (list price $479)
  • Swisstek UV-Clean Medical Grade UV-Light Device Sanitizer with Wireless Charging for $49.99 at Woot (list price $199.99)
  • GoPro HERO7 Black 4K 60fps Waterproof Action Camera with Grip and Case Bundle for $235 at B&H Photo Video (list price $349)
  • Lorex 16-Channel 2K 2TB Security DVR System with 8 4MP HDBullet Cameras for $399.99 at Adorama (list price $899.95)
  • Panasonic DMC-G7 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Camera with 14-42mm and 45-150mm Lens + Accessory Kit for $497.99 at Adorama (list price $997.99)
  • Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II 16MP Mirrorless Camera + 14-42mm Lens for $299 at Adorama (list price $599)
  • Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 “R” Zoom Lens for $99 at Adorama (list price $199)
  • AMX ACV-5100 Acendo Vibe Conferencing Soundbar with Integrated Webcam for $299 at B&H Photo Video (list price $799)
  • Atomos Ninja V 5″ Touchscreen Recording Monitor for $499 at Adorama (list price $699)
  • DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Gimbal Stabilizer Combo Mothers Day Edition Bundle for $139 at BuyDig (list price $159)
  • CyberPower LE1000DG 1000VA 12-Outlet UPS Battery Back-Up System for $79.99 at Best Buy (list price $109.99)

More Electronics & Tech Deals here.

Headphones, Speakers and Audio

  • Alienware AW988 7.1 Virtual Surround Wireless Gaming Headset with Boom Mic for $159.99 at Dell (list price $229.99)
  • Harman Kardon Soho Wireless On Ear Headphones for $59.99 at Harman Kardon (list price $249.95)
  • Westone W40 Gen 2 Four-Driver True-Fit Earphones with MMCX Audio and Bluetooth Cables for $219 at Adorama (list price $499.99)
  • Westone B50 Five-Driver True-Fit Earphones with Hi-Def MMCX and Bluetooth Cables for $299 at Adorama (list price $699.99)
  • JBL Tune 120TWS True Wireless Earbuds for $69.95 at Harman Audio (list price $99.95)
  • Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM Bluetooth Wireless Speaker for $79.99 at Dell (list price $249.99)
  • Bose SoundLink Micro Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker for $79 at Walmart (list price $99)
  • Sonos SUB Wireless Subwoofer with Force Cancelling Drivers for $549 at Adorama (list price $699)
  • Sonos PLAYBAR 9-Speaker Array Wireless TV Soundbar for $549 at Adorama (list price $699)

More Headphones, Speakers and Audio Deals here.

Tools & Home Improvement, Kitchen Gadgets, and more

More Home Deals here.

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at TechBargains.com.

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USB4 Will Usher in Support for 8K, 16K Displays

In March 2019, Intel Corporation announced that it has contributed the Thunderbolt protocol specification to the USB Promoter Group. The USB Promoter Group also announced the pending release of the USB4 specification, based on the Thunderbolt protocol. The convergence of the underlying Thunderbolt and USB protocols will increase compatibility among USB Type-C connector-based products, simplifying how people connect their devices. (Credit: Tim Herman/Intel Corporation)

We already knew that USB4 would be a versatile standard partly derived from Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, but it looks like the upcoming standard will have more features than we knew. VESA has announced that USB4 will fully support DisplayPort 2.0 through the “DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0” spec, allowing it to power either 3x 10K monitors or 1x 16K monitor at 60Hz.

If you’re wondering at the difference, it has to do with the underlying resolution. 10K is 10240×4320 (approximately 21:9), or 44.2MP. 16K is 15360×8640 (16:9) or 132.7MP. 16 is only 1.6x larger than 10, but 16K packs 3x the pixels of 10K.

DisplayPort 2.0, which technically debuted in June 2019, provides a 3x bandwidth improvement over DisplayPort 1.4 and includes support for higher refresh rates, 8K and 16K panels, and HDR support at higher resolutions, delivered at 77.37Gbps. The 16K panel support is only achievable with compression, but this shouldn’t present an issue for the handful of people who benefit from such a high-resolution screen (assuming somebody builds one in the first place).

The only downside to USB4 is going to be the usual confusion on which types of cabling are compatible with its capabilities. First of all, USB4 won’t support older Type A cables, though USB3 can handle Type A or Type C.

VESA-DP-Alt-Mode-Photo-1

Image by VESA

Second, we can expect more cable confusion as companies build to their own standards. Like USB3, USB4 will allow manufacturers to pick and choose which features they want to support. USB4 devices and docking stations are required to support video pass-through, but USB4 hubs are not. When USB-C launched, we saw widespread cable incompatibilities and, in a few cases, improperly made cables or chargers even fried the devices they were attached to. Manufacturers ship cables that are compatible with their own devices, but you can’t count on swapping between USB-C cables with the same ubiquity as previous families, and this looks set to continue in the next generation.

The good news is, it’ll be easier to use multiple USB4 devices daisy-chained together. Hook up a monitor to a laptop via USB4, and you can plug your keyboard and mouse into the built-in USB4 ports on the display, which will use tunneling to transfer data back to your system. Want to power your laptop off an external monitor? No problem. This sort of additional component-level flexibility is welcome, though we’re uncertain of how the gains will balance against inevitable cable confusion. Hopefully we at least won’t see hardware damage as a result of connecting Company A’s hardware to the wall via Company B’s cable.

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LogMeOnce Keeps All Your Passwords Straight For A Year For Only $10

If projections made by analysts with Cybersecurity Ventures hold, someone somewhere this year will create the 300 billionth computer password. With 7.8 billion people on the planet, that works out to over 38 unique passwords out there for every person on Earth.

It’s likely you don’t have to keep track of 38 passwords yourself, but your personal number is still probably higher than you’d like. And the odds that you can keep your personal and professional logins straight, especially with mandatory updating, is tough if not impossible today.

No one can remember all that and stay secure without the help of a service like LogMeOnce Password Manager. Right now, one year of their Professional Plus Plan is only $9.99, a $20 savings off the regular price.

With most password managers, you need to craft one master password to get into your account and manage the rest of your passwords. But LogMeOnce has gone the extra step of eliminating the necessity to remember even one password.

Users go to the LogMeOnce app and have their picture taken. That image goes right to the user’s secure mobile device, and once it’s approved as a legitimate login, your account opens. With LogMeOnce, you can then create a strong, unique password for every site or account you use. That password syncs across all your designated devices and auto-fills your login so you get single-touch access to all your accounts.

In addition to its ease of use, LogMeOnce is also brimming with added features, so many that Slash Gear pointed out that what “its rivals offer at a price, (LogMeOnce) gives away for free.”

Those features include  Account Freeze, which lets you temporarily freeze account access, or lock it to your home IP address; Scheduled Login, which lets you specify when you intend to log in again; a password inheritance system; and Password Shock, which can capture an attempted hacker’s photo, IP address, and other metadata, sound loud, honking alarms, blast music or shake the screen to send bad actors running.

A LogMeOnce Password Manager Professional Plus Plan is on sale now for only $9.99 or you can extend their services to a 3-year ($19.99; originally $90) or 5-year ($29.99; originally $150) plan.

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at TechBargains.com.

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NASA’s Coronavirus Ventilator Gets FDA Approval

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) usually builds spacecraft, but the team unveiled a medical ventilator recently that it had designed in just 37 days. The device, designed specifically for COVID-19 patients, could be the difference between life and death as hospitals around the world run low on this critical equipment. NASA now says that the FDA has granted an Emergency Use Authorization, allowing the device to be used in hospitals. 

The new strain of coronavirus has spread across the globe, resulting in more than 3 million confirmed infections and over 200,000 deaths. The virus attacks the lungs, with the most common symptoms being cough and fever. However, some patients develop difficulty breathing that can progress to severe respiratory distress. Because these patients can’t breathe on their own, they need ventilators to pump air into their lungs, but hospitals are short on the necessary equipment. 

The device, known as VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), is not as durable or versatile as traditional medical ventilators. However, it’s cheaper and easily repairable. The team expects VITAL machines to work for several months without a major failure, whereas other devices might work for years. However, hospitals should be able to modify and repair VITAL on-site rather than sending them off to specialized technicians.

JPL had VITAL tested in late April at the Icahn School of Medicine with a human patient simulator. After that, JPL submitted a request to the FDA for the Emergency Use Authorization. Now that VITAL has approval, someone has to build it. JPL made prototypes for testing, but it’s not set up to manufacture thousands of the devices. For that, it will turn to the private sector. 

The Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech manages JPL projects for NASA, and it has opted to offer VITAL with a free license to manufacturers. The staff is currently searching for partners that have the capacity to build VITAL respirators rapidly for use in hospitals. There’s a website with information about the device and instructions on how to apply for a license. The agency has asked for applications by May 4th so it can award licenses on May 7th. It’s possible VITAL machines could be in hospitals within several weeks. Meanwhile, we haven’t heard a peep about Tesla’s car-based ventilator since early April.

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Hands On With the New DJI Mavic Air 2

While those of us who are loyal Mavic Pro users will have to wait a bit before “the 3” comes out, in the meantime DJI has introduced a tantalizingly feature-rich successor to the Mavic Air. The Mavic Air 2 ($799) upgrades just about every aspect of the original and even has a few features that go beyond what the Mavic Pro 2 can do. We were fortunate enough to get an early review unit and have access to a safe area to fly while sheltering-in-place, so we got it up in the air to check it out.

DJI’s Mavic Air 2 by the Numbers

Reading the camera specs on the Air 2, it’d be easy to think you’d mistakenly wandered into a smartphone launch. Basically, the photo and video capabilities are now, at least on paper, on a par with flagship smartphones. The camera features a 1/2-inch-format 48MP Quad-Bayer that is normally in a “binned” 12MP mode. It’s the first Mavic that can record 4K video at 60fps (up to 120Mbps), and also offers 4x and 8x slow-motion recording at 1080p, as well as an HDR video mode. There is the usual array of QuickShot modes and support for both RAW stills and a D-Cinelike video color profile. There is also an 8K Hyperlapse mode that supports either Free or Waypoint flying, which should be a lot of fun. The Air 2 has 8GB of internal storage available, and a microSD card slot. Both it and the remote have mercifully moved to USB-C for charging.

On the computational imaging front, the Air 2 adds many of the tricks we’re now used to seeing in phones. It can perform automated multi-frame HDR by combining seven frames, and it has a low-light, multi-frame, mode called Hyperlight. It also has some scene recognition AI built-in for custom processing based on the type of subject. An HDR Panorama mode fills in an important hole for those of us who’ve had to literally stitch together workflow for that task ourselves. All this fits into a sleek, 570-gram folding package that is smaller than the Mavic Pro, although probably not enough to switch unless you need its other features.

Speaking of features, like the Air, the Air 2 lacks a USB-A port for easy cabling to a tablet or phone, so you’re stuck relying on DJI’s own solution. Personally, I’ve found their attempt to provide low-profile short cables that tuck into the remote more trouble than they’re worth, and so far I feel the same way about the one used in the Air 2’s remote. Yes, the cable can be hidden inside the remote, but it is barely long enough to use with a large phone, and fairly tricky to get plugged and unplugged. The Air 2’s remote does put the phone at the top of the remote, for better visibility and balance, which is nice. But, because the clamps are on the sides of the phone, you need to be really careful that you don’t position your phone so that the remote presses one of its buttons.

Flying the Mavic Air 2

The Air 2 has a redesigned electronics and battery system that bumps its quoted flight time to a maximum of 34 minutes. In my limited testing, it certainly does seem to stay up longer before you need to start worrying. One thing I learned from the press materials is that apparently drones (at least DJI’s) use more power while hovering than moving. I wouldn’t have guessed that (and I suspect a lot depends on how fast you’re flying). The Air 2 has obstacle sensors forward, rear, and down, but unfortunately not up or sideways. One feature I found annoying is that it complains often and loudly when you are near anything. In my case, taking off from my front yard I have either trees or the house within about 20 feet in any direction, so the remote squawks loudly until I get up and over the treetops.

You fly the Air 2 using DJI’s newer flight app, DJI Fly. It does a much better job of hand-holding you through various settings and modes (although the incessant video popups can also prove tiresome). It also doesn’t offer all the same options (at least in its current form) as the more traditional DJI Go app. In my case, I also do a lot of flying with the third-party app Litchi, especially pre-planned routes. Litchi supports the original Air, so I assume they’ll also be supporting the Air 2. One impressive-sounding new feature of the Air 2 is APAS 3.0 obstacle avoidance. As long as you’re not shooting something trickier than 4K @ 30 fps, APAS will try to route you around obstacles. This wasn’t the sort of feature I wanted to test with the review unit, but it sounds promising.

The Air 2 also comes with an upgraded system, OcuSync 2.0, for communications between the drone and the remote. It is rated at a theoretical maximum range of 10 km. The next sentence says to keep the drone within sight, for what it’s worth. Anecdotally, in the limited area I’ve been able to fly it safely given current travel restrictions, the connection was rock solid and the video quality was excellent. Unfortunately, like the Air, the remote for the Air 2 doesn’t have an LCD. I often find myself looking at the LCD for my Mavic Pro drones, as it can be easier to read in the sun and more than once my phone app has gone sideways and I’ve had to fly the drone using the remote’s display.

The great news is that the Air 2 is fun to fly, extremely stable, and very responsive. You can see the upgraded stability when using the unit’s built-in cinematic modes. This orbit was performed automatically, and tracks the object more accurately while moving more stably than the same orbit I did when reviewing the original Air:

QuickShot Video Gallery

After some basic flight tests, I wanted to see how well the QuickShot modes performed. Orbit worked really well, and is a nice improvement in image quality and stability over the original Air.

Given the rather strict stay-at-home order locally, I wasn’t able to come up with any super-interesting subjects for testing the Air 2’s other QuickShot modes, but I was able to record examples of three of them that I aimed at the “Field Closed” sign in a park near my house. Personally I liked the Boomerang best, although it didn’t track the saw horse perfectly. I wasn’t that inspired by the others, but then again I use Litchi software for pre-planned shots. Certainly, these QuickShot modes are better than what most drone pilots can do when flying manually.

Rocket was the first one I tried. Seemed fine, but not all that exciting:

Dronie is very similar:

Boomerang was pretty cool, but seemed to lose track of the subject towards the end. It would be hard to duplicate using pre-planned waypoints, so that adds to its value:

DJI’s AirSense Brings ADS-B to a Consumer Drone

The Air 2 is DJI’s first consumer drone with AirSense. That allows it to receive ADS-B signals from other aircraft and alert the drone operator if there is an aircraft nearby that might be of concern — as well as showing the aircraft’s location. Now, this sounds pretty cool, but I’m not sure how much difference it will make in real life for most people. In my case, when traveling to remote locations, we’re often flying near where planes land on the beach or on dirt roads, so it might prove useful. Seldom-used airstrips or Helipads might be another environment where it might be valuable. Note that this is a receive-only capability. The Air 2 doesn’t transmit ADS-B. Also, due to supply chain issues, initially only the North American units will have AirSense. Other geographies will start getting it over time.

Is the Mavic Air 2 the Right Drone for You?

If you want to get the most drone you can for under $1,000, the Air 2 is an impressive option. At $799 for the drone (pre-orders are being accepted now, and US shipments should start by mid-May) and remote, or $988 for the Fly-More combo pack, it gets you in the game for substantially less than the Pro 2. If, like me, you have existing Mavic Pro or Pros, the choice is less clear. While the Air 2 is smaller and has a lot of improvements over the original Pro, it doesn’t have an LCD on the remote and uses the slightly stripped-down DJI Fly app. So if you’re not in a huge hurry, it may pay to wait and see what the Pro 3 will eventually offer.

[Video Credits: David Cardinal]

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HTC’s Cryptocurrency Mining Phone Takes Half a Millennium to Pay for Itself

Last year, HTC launched its blockchain/cryptocurrency-focused smartphone, the HTC Exodus. While the specs on the device are decidedly modest, it made a serious attempt to integrate blockchain-based security and cryptocurrency capabilities. I’m not here to talk about the HTC Exodus as such, but rather about the new software HTC has just launched for it. HTC has partnered with the ASIC design company Midas Labs to create a crypto-mining application capable of running on the HTC Exodus and HTC Exodus 1s. The Exodus 1 is a higher-end device based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 from 2017, while the Exodus 1s is a much more modest (and cheaper) phone that uses the Snapdragon 835.

According to Decrypt.co, the DeMiner app will mine Monero for you on either device. The miner will disable itself when the phone is under heavy use and only operates when the device is plugged in. According to Jri Lee, the CEO of Midas Labs, “Midas Labs empowers Exodus 1s users to mine at least $0.0038 of XMR per day on average, while the electricity cost is less than 50 percent of that.”

A few points, in no particular order:

It is not clear whether this princely sum refers to the mining performance of the Snapdragon 845 or the Snapdragon 435. What comparison data exists, however, is not encouraging. According to the Monero benchmark database, a Raspberry Pi 4 — that’s a quad-core Cortex-A72 CPU at 1.5GHz, though the CPU does tend to throttle under heavy load — can sustain approximately 108Hash/s. According to CryptoCompare, the median profit for mining with a Raspberry Pi 4 at that hash rate is… nothing.

Profit-Calculator

You make $0 with no pool fee and free power. Impressive.

Now, it’s worth noting that Midas Labs is claiming it can deliver $0.0038 XMR per day, not per year, implying they’ve done some serious optimizations on that software code. The Snapdragon 435 is an eight-core chip based on ARM’s old in-order 64-bit CPU, the Cortex-A53, while the Snapdragon 845 is a quad-core Cortex-A75 with four low-power Cortex-A55 cores. The claimed performance figures are almost certainly a reference to the higher-end device; the Cortex-A53 isn’t a bad CPU core, but it’s not designed for heavy computation.

I’m not going to criticize anyone for being interested in blockchain or cryptocurrency technology. But this is (apparently) a software project that HTC paid Midas Labs to work on, meaning somebody at the company thought it would be worth investing whatever meager funds still exist into building a smartphone app for mining cryptocurrency. If you mined 24 hours a day, seven days per week at $0.0038 per day, at the end of the year you’d make… $1.39. The HTC Exodus 1 launched at somewhere between $960 and $1,150 (it initially sold for cryptocurrency only, which means the price fluctuated), but even at the low point of that range, you’re looking at more than 500 years before you recoup your costs. If somehow, the $1.38 refers to the smaller HTC Exodus 1s, you could mine the $245 price point on the phone in just 176 years.

The value proposition on this is decidedly questionable. Mining cryptocurrency isn’t really something I’d want to do on a phone even if it is plugged in because it’ll still generate far more heat than not-mining. Even if the amount of money was appreciable on yearly timescales, having to keep the device permanently plugged in would obviously limit its usefulness as anything else. It’s easier to imagine HTC working with an ASIC company to build micro miners into smartphone shells than to see the usefulness of mining on a mobile chip. It’s a unique feature, all right — but not necessarily a good one.

Feature image by HTC. 

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NASA Awards Lunar Lander Contracts to SpaceX, Blue Origin, Dynetics

NASA hasn’t landed humans on the moon in decades, but the agency is pursuing an ambitious timeline for the Artemis program. Currently, NASA hopes to have crewed lunar missions ready to launch in 2024, and to further that goal, it has awarded contracts to three companies to develop lunar landers: SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics. 

The value of the new human landing systems (HLS) contracts is $967 million, but that’s just for these firms to get started. The exact nature of Artemis is still up in the air. Initially, NASA hoped to have the Lunar Gateway station available for the first landings in 2024, but it’s now planning to send an Orion capsule to lunar orbit where the crew can transfer to one of the proposed landing systems. The Gateway is still on the agenda for use in later missions. 

Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully pitched its Starship vessel, which is already undergoing testing and finally managed not to explode during a recent pressurization test. The Starship will be a single-stage landing solution that will launch from Earth on the company’s Super Heavy platform. The Starship will descend to the lunar surface, remain there for the duration of the mission, and then return astronauts to orbit. 

Blue Origin, backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, will work with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper to field the Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV). This three-stage lander will have ascent, descent, and transfer elements. The ILV will be compatible with Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket, which is still in the early stages of development. Failing that, it will also work with the ULA Vulcan launch system. 

Finally, there’s Dynetics, an Alabama-based firm that proposes the single-stage Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS) with a unique “low-slung” crew module for easier access to the lunar surface. Dynetics isn’t attempting to make its own launch platform for the DHLS — it will use the ULA Vulcan launch system. 

The current HLS contract runs through February 2021, at which time NASA will evaluate design and prototyping progress before selecting one or more companies to proceed with building landers for NASA. SpaceX does seem to have a leg up on the competition as it’s already building Starship prototypes, but this spacecraft is not intended specifically for lunar landings. SpaceX wants to use the Starship for deep space missions, Mars landings, and more. Blue Origin and Dynetics have the advantage of offering more specialized landers.

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