Apple to use drones to improve Maps service

Apple is putting a lot of effort to improve its Apple Maps data and design. According to a new report from Bloomberg, the company plans to use drones to track changes and improve mapping data over time. It would apparently be faster to use a fleet of drones rather than vans with sensors.

Apple already admitted that mapping data is a harder problem than the company first anticipated. You need to update maps all the time and fix mistakes as quickly as possible. Roads change and new buildings keep popping up. That’s why the company now works with thousands of employees in India and elsewhere to work on mapping data.

But that’s just one part of the equation. Having a big moderation staff is useless if you don’t have fresh data coming from all over the world. Companies like Google and Apple rely on user reports and vehicles driving around multiple countries.

Bloomberg found a 2015 document from the Federal Aviation Administration. The administration granted Apple a license to “operate an unmanned aircraft system to conduct data collection, photography, and videography.” It also says that the company plans to buy drones from DJI and Aibotix for this operation.

Now, it’s unclear if Apple already started using these drones in the U.S. and in other countries. As it’s not a user-facing feature, nothing stops Apple from using drones without telling its users.

In other news, Apple also acquired Indoor.io for indoor mapping. Bloomberg got an official confirmation from Apple. Apple has already made another acquisition of an indoor mapping company and is playing catch up on this front.

In Google Maps, you can already find maps of popular malls, museums and public buildings. Apple wants to provide indoor maps as well as an indoor positioning system that would take advantage of your iPhone’s sensors to locate you within a building. It would go beyond a simple GPS dot.

All of this is great, but I still miss an equivalent of Street View in Apple Maps. This feature is quite useful when you want to see what a building looks like. I’ve been using Apple Maps every day for a couple of years now, and it’s the only thing that makes me open Google Maps every now and then.

In New Zealand, Your Domino's Delivery Guy Is a Drone

Ever imagine a future where you could order up a cheesy pizza and it would be delivered to your doorstep by drone? The future is here for some lucky people in New Zealand. Pizza chain Domino's teamed up with up with drone delivery service Flirtey to send its pies via the sky.

The companies this week launched what they're calling the "world's first pizza-by-drone" commercial trials. While they're just testing this concept in New Zealand at the moment, the companies plan to expand the operation to other areas of the globe "in the near future."

In this week's tests, Flirtey had able been to successfully deliver hot, fresh pizzas in an urban environment, validating that the system works and that it's "prepared for mass market deliveries around the globe," said the company's CEO, Matthew Sweeny.

"We are moving closer and closer to widespread store-to-door drone delivery," he added.

A lot of customers are on board with this idea. 70% of Domino's customers recently polled said they would be willing to have their pizza delivered via drone.

"We invested in this partnership, and technology, because we believe drone delivery will be an essential component of our pizza deliveries, so even more customers can receive the freshest, hottest pizza we can offer," added Domino's Group CEO and Managing Director Don Meij. "Drones offer the promise of safer, faster deliveries to an expanded delivery area, meaning more customers can expect to receive a freshly made order within our ultimate target of 10 minutes. This is the future."

Flirtey's autonomous, electric drones are made from carbon fibre, aluminium, and 3D-printed components. They lower cargo via tether, and are programmed to return to a safe location if the battery is running low, and automatically return home if they lose communication or encounter a low GPS signal.

In 2013, Domino's teased drone delivery in the UK via a video featuring the 'DomiCopter', though it had largely been viewed as a marketing stunt at the time rather than an actual service.

Drone technology has changed a lot in three years. In the US, Chipotle recently teamed up with Google's parent company, Alphabet, to deliver burritos by drone at Virginia Tech, one of the FAA's six approved drone test sites.

Wrist-Based Drone Can Take Off, Snap Selfies

What happens when you combine the latest in technological advancements with the most popular tech-based fad? You get a wearable drone.

One of the 10 finalists in Intel's Make It Wearable (MIW) Challenge, the Nixie is a flyable wrist-worn camera, perfect for the selfie-taking adventurer.

From the minds of Christoph Kohstall, Jelena Jovanovic, and Michael Niedermayr, the device was envisioned as a flying pair of glasses, but has since developed into a wristband that unfolds into a remote-controlled quadcopter.

"With traditional cameras, shooters have to interrupt the moment to take pictures, and the controls require manual manipulations," the Intel Creators Project blog said. "Nixie puts you front and center in your photos and videos—without requiring your hands, or your attention."

Still just a prototype, the Nixie will include preset modes to fit all on-the-go situations, from the classic selfie to a panorama image, or even a continuous movie.

"You should be able, with a gesture, to tell the quadcopter to unfold, and then it's going to take off from your wrist. It knows where you are, it turns around, it takes a picture of you, it comes back, you can catch it from the air, and put it back on your wrist," founder Kohstall explained in a video (below).

Within its capacity as an Intel MIW Challenge entry, the Nixie, of course, utilizes Intel's Edison—a functioning, Quark-powered computer with wireless capabilities packed into a chip as slim and small as an SD card.

"Nixie takes the picture that you wish you had always had, but couldn't, because you didn't want to stop the action," project manager Jovanoic said.

And it doesn't look like this.

The selfie-taking wearable drone is in the running alongside nine other futuristic inventions that cover sports, healthcare, robotics, and existing wearable technology. The winning team will be announced at the Make It Wearable Finale Event on Nov. 3.

Learn more about the Intel Make It Wearable Challenge in the video below.