Innovation: News Corp's 'The Daily' Has Its Own News-Gathering Aerial Drone, Which Is Drawing FAA Inquiries

MicroDrones' md4-1000 MicroDrones

The U.S. military has drones, lots of them if the daily reports coming in from Afghanistan and Pakistan are any indication. And a handful of law enforcement groups--though less than would like--have a drone or two at their disposal. But on the domestic, non-security front, drones live a in a regulatory gray area. Hobbyists can use them, but commercial entities are not supposed to employ drones for any kind of monetary gain, says the FAA.

Nonetheless News Corp’s The Daily has a news gathering drone aircraft that it’s been flying around, and the FAA is investigating that use to ensure that it complies with all of the nebulous FAA regulations that kind of exist regarding private drone usage.

The Daily has used its drone to capture aerial footage of storm-struck Alabama earlier this year as well as the flooding in South Dakota, Forbes tells us. Their hardware: a MicroDrone md4-1000, a micro aerial vehicle that can be fitted with various imagery or sensor payloads (Google has one like it, purportedly to augment its aerial map data).

The question for the FAA, then, is whether or not new gathering (or aerial cartography, for that matter) is considered a commercial exercise. Seems like it would be, but given that the FAA is reportedly considering loosening its drone aircraft restrictions later this year anyhow, The Daily may just get the green light anyhow, opening up a potentially really cool new high-tech means of reporting the daily news.

That would be great news for The Daily, which happens to belong to the same media family as the News of the World which recently collapsed under shady phone hacking allegations. Of course, all of this information is unrelated, because it’s not like you can use a drone to hack a cell phone. Right?

Innovation: Microwave Sensors Auto-Detect Bikes At Intersections, To Trigger Traffic Signals and Protect Cyclists

California Bike Commuters Bike commuters in San Jose, Calif., in May 2010. RichardMasoner via Flickr

In most cities, bike commuters lucky enough to have their own lanes still cannot trigger traffic signals, forcing them either to wait for a car to pull up, or cross the street to push the crosswalk button. A microwave motion sensor can help by determining when bikes are present.

The Bay Area town of Pleasanton, Calif., is the only municipality in the nation to use this system, which cyclists say is already improving efficiency and safety. The Intersector motion and presence sensor can tell the difference between bikes and cars, and alter traffic signal patterns accordingly.

Many cities have embedded road sensors that can detect bikes as well as cars, but they don’t work if the bike isn’t positioned properly or if the bike is not made of metal. Bike commuters might be tempted to ride through the intersection rather than wait, which is neither legal nor safe.

Video-monitoring systems can also help detect bikes — Pleasanton uses these at all intersections — but they are stymied by wind and fog, according to the Contra Costa Times. Continuous video monitoring can also spark privacy concerns.

The microwave sensors can monitor up to eight detection zones, which the city would specify, and send up to four commands to the traffic signal control box — such as “right turn,” “straight through” and so on. It updates 20 times per second and can track both moving and stationary vehicles, according to the manufacturer, MS Sedco. The systems cost between $4,000 and $5,000 apiece, the Contra Costa Times says.

Pleasanton has the systems at seven intersections so far, with plans to add at least one more. It should come in handy when cars are eventually outnumbered by bikes in that part of the country.

Innovation: Apple now has more cash than the U.S. government

The world's most highly valued tech company now has more cash on hand than the U.S. Treasury.

Maybe the cash-strapped U.S. government should start selling iPads.

According to the latest statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance Wednesday of $73.8 billion. That's still a lot of money, but it's less than what Steve Jobs has lying around.

Tech juggernaut Apple had a whopping $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of June, according to its last earnings report. Unlike the U.S. government, which is scrambling to avoid defaulting on its debt, Apple takes in more money than it spends.

This symbolic feat -- the world's most highly valued tech company surpassing the fiscal strength of the world's most powerful nation -- is just the latest pinnacle for Apple, which has been on an unprecedented roll.

 
U.S. debt: How did we get here?

Its Macs, iPhones and iPads remain hot sellers, its stock has surged past $400 a share and Apple just became the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume.

There's been a lot of speculation about what Apple might buy with its piles of cash -- Facebook and Sony being two of the more high-profile examples -- but the company doesn't seem to be in any hurry to make a move.

"We don't let the cash burn a hole in the pocket or make stupid acquisitions," CEO Jobs said last fall. "We'd like to continue to keep our powder dry because we think there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future."

Offering Uncle Sam a short-term loan is probably not one of them.

Innovation: Couple married by computerized minister

A Houston couple ties the knot with a computer program acting as minister.

Innovation: Apple manufacturer to replace some of workforce with robots

Foxconn currently has 10,000 robots; in the next year, this number should jump to 300,000.

Foxconn, a company that manufacturers parts used in Apple's iPhone and iPad, said it aims to replace workers with 1 million robots in the next three years, Xinhuanet reports.

The robots will be assigned simple tasks currently done by human workers, such as welding and assembling parts. Foxconn currently has 10,000 robots; in the next year, this number should jump to 300,000 and up to one million in the next three years.

With the move, the company aims to cut labor expenses and improve efficiency, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said at a workers' dance party on Friday.

Foxconn has a massive operation in China with about 1 million workers. The company caught the headlines after a string of suicides which prompted HP, Apple, Sony and other companies to launch an investigation into Foxconn's business practices.

More recently, an explosion in Foxconn's Chengdu plant in China left two people dead and 16 injured.

See the original article at Mashable.com