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The Next Web

Ring’s new Always Home Cam is a surveillance drone for your home

We’ve all heard about surveillance drones, but those are usually matters of international espionage, not security for your home. Amazon‘s Ring wants to change that: the company today announced the Always Home Cam, a drone that helps you keep an eye on your home while you’re gone. It sounds like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, but it’s arriving next year for $250. The drone is able to operate autonomously, though users can direct it to different rooms and paths. Like vacuum robots, it maps your home so you can tell it where to go without it bumping into too many things(the propellers are enclosed for protection, too). The device is meant to allow you to survey your entire home without needing multiple cameras — something that could be particularly useful for people with large homes; suburban America comes to mind. It films in 1080p, and can be can also be set to activate when Ring detects a disturbance or to travel along pre-set routes. I can see it being useful for monitoring your pets more closely (assuming it doesn’t freak them out) or checking to see if you left the stove on. It is limited to indoor operation, however, so it won’t be able to keep an eye on, say, a large plot of land. In case you’re worried about the camera stalking you while you’re home too, Amazon notes the camera’s view is blocked while the unit is docked for charging. It’s also designed “to hum at a…Continue readingRing’s new Always Home Cam is a surveillance drone for your home

Categories
TechCrunch

Indonesian cloud kitchen startup Yummy gets $12 million Series B led by SoftBank Ventures Asia – TechCrunch

Yummy Corporation, which claims to be the largest cloud kitchen management company in Indonesia, has raised $12 million in Series B funding, led by SoftBank Ventures Asia. Co-founder and chief executive officer Mario Suntanu told TechCrunch that the capital will be used to expand into more major cities and on developing its tech platform, including data analytics. Other participants in the round included returning investors Intudo Ventures and Sovereign’s Capital, and new backers Vectr Ventures, AppWorks, Quest Ventures, Coca Cola Amatil X and Palm Drive Capital. The Series B brings Yummy Corporation’s total raised so far to $19.5 million. Launched in June 2019, Yummy Corporation’s network of cloud kitchens, called Yummykitchen, now includes more than 70 HACCP-certified facilities in Jakarta, Bandung and Medan. It partners with more than 50 food and beverage (F&B) companies, including major brands like Ismaya Group and Sour Sally Group. During COVID-19 movement restrictions, Suntanu said Yummykitchen’s business showed “healthy growth” as people, confined mostly to their homes, ordered food for delivery. Funding will be used to get more partners, especially brands that want to digitize their operations and expand deliveries to cope with the continuing impact of COVID-19. The number of cloud kitchens in Southeast Asia has grown quickly over the past year, driven by demand for food deliveries that began increasing even before the pandemic. But for F&B brands that rely on deliveries for a good part of their revenue, running their own kitchens and staff can be cost-prohibitive. Sharing cloud kitchens with other…Continue readingIndonesian cloud kitchen startup Yummy gets $12 million Series B led by SoftBank Ventures Asia – TechCrunch

Categories
Tech Radar

Poco M2 goes on sale today: price, specs, and availability

Update (September 25): The Poco M2 will go on sale in India at 12 noon today via Flipkart. Poco’s latest budget phone, the Poco M2 will go on sale for the first time today. The device was unveiled last week in India as the cheapest phone with 6GB of RAM.  The device will go on sale via Flipkart at 12 noon today. The Poco M2 comes in two configurations. The 6GB + 64GB variant is priced at Rs 10,999 while the 6GB + 128GB variant is priced at Rs 12,499. Colour options include Pitch Black, Slate Blue and Brick Red.` (Image credit: Poco) Poco M2 specs On the front, the Poco M2 sports a 6.53-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2,340 x 1,080. There’s also Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top. The fingerprint scanner is located under the cameras on the back. The entire phone is also P2i coated for splash-resistance.  The Poco M2 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset with. This is an octa-core processor built on the 12nm process. The Mali G52 clocked at 950MHz takes care of the graphics duties. MediaTek’s HyperEngine Gaming technology also makes the cut. It is also the cheapest phone in India to offer 6GB of RAM across the board. There’s up to 128GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded by 256GB via micro SD.   On the back is a quad-camera setup consisting of a 13MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 5MP macro shooter…Continue readingPoco M2 goes on sale today: price, specs, and availability

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Mashable

96% off online course (UK deal)

Products featured here are selected by our partners at StackCommerce.If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. The Ultimate Graphic Design Bundle is on sale for £22.77. Image: pexels By StackCommerceMashable Shopping2020-09-25 04:15:00 UTC TL;DR: The Ultimate Graphic Design Bundle is on sale for £22.77 as of Sept. 25, saving you 96% on list price. There are plenty of other household names out there who have re-evaluated what they wanted to do in life. So the question remains: If you could also career jump, what would you do?  For those who have recently been eyeing up a gig in graphic design, the good news is that you can learn most of the skills you need while sitting on our couch. Enter the Ultimate Graphic Design Bundle. This bootcamp features five best-selling courses on graphic design. Coursework focuses on graphic design foundations, such as using crucial software like Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator as well as design theory, to more complicated projects such as designing a secure and visually appealing site on WordPress. The bundle features more than 18 hours of training, broken down into some 100 individual lessons. Completing this course should help you feel confident on graphic design terminology, best practices, client and project management, and even logo design — and that’s just the tip of the learning iceberg.  While typically valued at £725, this comprehensive bundle is on sale for just £22.77. Source linkContinue reading96% off online course (UK deal)

Categories
The Verge

We have a few questions about Amazon’s flying indoor security camera drone

Should we invite Amazon’s internet-connected cameras and voice assistants into our homes? That’s been a contentious topic for years — but today, Amazon effectively said “screw it” and announced an entire automated flying indoor robot security system. Yes, that’s right: Amazon’s Ring division now has a camera that can theoretically go anywhere in your home, not just the direction you initially point it. Or, in Amazon’s words: An Innovative New Approach to Always Being Home. Needless to say, the staff of The Verge has a few questions about that. In no particular order and without naming names: Can it go up and down stairs? Why does it look like an air humidifier? What’s battery life like? Does the drone play slap bass? How does it map your house, anyhow? Where do those pictures go? Could someone at Ring HQ fly this camera drone around my house? Could one of Ring’s employees abroad fly this camera drone around my house? Could hackers fly this camera drone around my house? Could the cops fly this camera drone around my house? What if they had a court order? Is Amazon really going to say no? Is it a good cat toy? Can I program it to follow me around and say “HEY! LISTEN!”? How far can it fly? How far can I throw it? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? How well does it dodge Nerf darts? No particular reason for asking. Can it be decorated for parties? Does Amazon’s…Continue readingWe have a few questions about Amazon’s flying indoor security camera drone

Categories
VentureBeat

Amazon is embracing surveillance-as-a-service | VentureBeat

Today, Amazon rolled out more than a dozen new devices and services, including more dynamic ways to speak with Alexa and a cloud gaming service named Luna. The highly-produced showcase has been held every September for a few years now, and as the biggest Alexa event of the year, it tends to make Amazon’s ambitions clear. Last year a major theme was that Amazon wants you to use its recommendation engines, and this year the message couldn’t be clearer: Amazon is in the business of selling surveillance-as-a-service. Each of these features and products, from live video of your car’s interior to home surveillance is designed to lead down a rabbit hole to a paid service. For example, Alexa Guard, which turns Echo speakers into listening devices when people are away from home, was free at launch a few years ago. A free version still exists, but today Amazon launched Alexa Guard Plus, a paid $5 a month service. These products and services reveal an orchestrated strategy to slow walk people into normalizing surveillance of virtually every aspect of people’s lives at a cost, this in spite the fact that normalization of surveillance can lead to Amazon flipping a profit at all points, from partnering with cities and police departments, negative Neighbors app activity, and people afraid of getting pulled over by the police. Once a moratorium ends in 2021, Amazon can sell facial recognition to police too. If you followed the spat of bad news about Ring in the past year…Continue readingAmazon is embracing surveillance-as-a-service | VentureBeat

Categories
Wired

The Ring Always Home Cam Flies Around Inside Your House

Tech product launches in the year of 2020 involve a kind of perspective whiplash that makes it more difficult than usual to decide whether or not you really need the thing. There’s the consideration of whether the gadget fits into your life right now, at a time when our needs have changed considerably. There’s also the fact that most of the products launching this year were dreamt up in 2019 or earlier. Back then, tech companies had a different vision of the future in mind, or at least different ideas of what the “lifestyle” images in their 2020 product marketing kits would look like. We all did. Do you need a fully autonomous surveillance drone for inside your home? At this point I am going to say no. And yet, around fourteen months ago, someone—or someones—at Amazon wrote up a future press release for a multi-camera drone that flies from room to room in your home, surveilling your abode from overhead. The drone was announced today at Amazon’s annual hardware event, typically a rapid-fire release of new Echo products, Alexa updates, and the occasional gadget oddity, like a talking microwave. Other than this year’s Amazon event being virtual, it was similar to years past. There’s a new orb-shaped Echo speaker, and an Echo Show with a swiveling screen. But it was the Ring drone that stole the show, because it demonstrated just how far Amazon is willing to go to get into every space in your home. Come Fly With…Continue readingThe Ring Always Home Cam Flies Around Inside Your House

Categories
Tech Radar

Amazon’s cheap new Fire TV Stick Lite adds Alexa to your not-so-smart TV

Amazon has just announced a whole range of new devices, including an all-new Echo smart speaker range and a brand-new Echo Show 10 smart display. While other markets are getting more Amazon devices, like new Ring security cameras, the only other non-Echo device Australia is currently getting is a new Fire TV Stick. Called the Fire TV Stick Lite, this new casting device is a plug-and-play solution to stream from your favourite services like Netflix and Prime Video. Just plug it into your not-so-smart TV’s HDMI port and you’ll get access to not just the aforementioned streaming services, but also Stan, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus and YouTube, and catch-up TV apps like ABC iview, 9Now, 10play, SBS On Demand and 7Plus. What the Fire TV Stick Lite brings is a new Alexa-powered remote that will allow you to start streaming with a simple voice command. Just press the button with the microphone icon on it and say something like “Alexa, open Netflix” or “Alexa, find Australian movies” – easy as that. You’ll also be able to use the remote to control your smart home setup through Alexa voice commands if you wish. Amazon also claims the Fire TV Stick Lite has 50% more power than the current Fire TV Stick, and promises to open apps faster and stream quicker. The new Stick Lite is available for pre-order right now for AU$59 directly from Amazon Australia. However, add a third-generation Echo Dot (which retails for AU$79 a pop) to your…Continue readingAmazon’s cheap new Fire TV Stick Lite adds Alexa to your not-so-smart TV

Categories
Engadget

iOS 14 update fixes a bug that reset your browser and mail defaults

One of the notable changes in iOS 14 is that it finally allowed users to set new default apps for their web browser and email. Chrome, Firefox, Gmail and others are already taking advantage of the setting, but after the update rolled out last week, many iPhone and iPad owners noticed their devices would go back to the original settings after a restart. This afternoon Apple pushed out iOS 14.0.1 and iPadOS 14.0.1, which addresses that issue. If you haven’t received it already then you should be able to nab the download by manually checking for an update, which 9to5Mac shows is around 171MB to download. Other tweaks in the update address camera previews, problems connecting to WiFi, and a problem that could block images from the widget for Apple News. tvOS and watchOS have also received small bug fixes, so go ahead and update everything Apple just to be sure you’re covered. Source linkContinue readingiOS 14 update fixes a bug that reset your browser and mail defaults

Categories
The Next Web

Among Us is too popular for a sequel, apparently

The creators of the unexpectedly popular multiplayer game Among Us today announced that, just a month after announcing it, they’re scrapping a planned sequel. Instead they’re going to pour resources into making their late bloomer into a better game. Exciting news!https://t.co/W2TyA4O1hC — InnerSloth (@InnerslothDevs) September 23, 2020 If for some reason you haven’t heard about it already, Among Us is a party game in which imposters attempt to murder crewmates on a spaceship, with the crewmates attempting to identify the imposters. If you’ve ever played the game Werewolf, you’ve got the gist of it. But that description doesn’t cover the social intelligence and deceptive skills it takes to play this game well — which is what makes it so interesting to play and watch. I’m not kidding about the “late bloomer” part. Among Us was originally released in 2018, to modest acclaim — but it wasn’t exactly setting the world alight. The developers gamely plugged away at improvements, and it  According to a Kotaku report, gamers in South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico discovered the game and quickly spread it throughout their network of friends and streamers. It’s been getting more play on Twitch for a few months now, and is currently the most popular game on the site — beating out the likes of Fall Guys, Fortnite, and Warzone. The developers initially seemed interested in leveraging this newfound interest to make a sequel, but are now walking back on that. According to the developer’s blog, it’s because they wanted to improve the original rather than pour resources into a new game: “The main reason we are shooting for a sequel is because the…Continue readingAmong Us is too popular for a sequel, apparently