If you were worried that the Federal Aviation Administration would require a pilot’s license before you could fly a drone for professional reasons, you can relax… well, sort of. The FAA has published its proposed commercial drone rules, and they’re…
Technical
A brief survey of NASA’s space imaging technology
Visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, will soon have a chance to see those items Neil Armstrong kept from the Apollo 11 moon landing. This week’s news about Armstrong’s memorabilia got us thinking: What are so…
Study says Android 4.0 and iOS 8 are most likely to crash your apps
Ever had the feeling that certain phone operating systems are more likely to crash your apps than others? It’s not just you. Crittercism has posted its latest breakdown of crash reports from about 20,000 apps, and it’s clear that certain operating sy…
Virgin Galactic reveals where it’ll build its satellite-launching rockets
Richard Branson’s not just into space tourism — there’s also LauncherOne, which delivers satellites into orbit after being dropped from a “mothership” aircraft. Virgin Galactic says that the rocket will be built a mere 30 minutes from Los Angeles at…
Japan’s big photography show focuses on top-end cameras and distant prototypes
There were selfie sticks. There were even a handful of drones, but Japan’s annual CP+ camera show remains, unmistakably, a truly big camera show. It’s one for the masses too: press and business visitors mingle alongside the Japanese public, most of w…
Xbox One site helps you find new friends, envy their success
With multiplayer, multi-platform gaming coming soon across Xbox One and Windows 10, having more friends is always better, right? Microsoft’s Major Nelson (Larry Hryb) points out out that the Xbox One website now gives you more chances to find pals an…
The Phorm case adds rising buttons to your iPad Mini’s keyboard
Tactus is finally bringing its practically magical rising touchscreen keyboard to a shipping product — but right now it’s only meant for iPad Mini owners. The company’s Phorm cover looks like a typical iPad Mini case, but slide a switch on its rear …
IRL: The M20 speaker isn’t enough to make you choose Korus over Sonos
Back in 2013, I got to try out the Korus system of speakers, the V600 and the V400, and was impressed by their ease of use and audio quality. The one thing that was lacking was portability; even though the V600 can use six D-cell batteries and comes …
Police are using software to predict where crime will happen
Police are unlikely to ever have a Minority Report-like ability to get inside would-be criminals’ heads, but they may already have the next-best thing. Developers like PredPol are offering “predictive policing” software that tells cops where and when…
Neil Armstrong kept the original Moon landing camera in his closet
If you were the first to set foot on a celestial body, wouldn’t you keep a few mementos from the trip? The late, great Neil Armstrong certainly did — including one of the most important gadgets in recent history. The Smithsonian National Air & Space…
Engadget giveaway: win an iPhone 6 and 5TB of cloud storage courtesy of MediaFire!
Finding enough space to house your worldly possessions in a place like New York City can be a bit pricey, but unlike a hulking vinyl collection, stashing digital files is more affordable than ever. MediaFire currently offers a free cloud storage opti…
Teen charged with murder after posting gruesome Snapchat selfie
In what’s probably the most extreme look at selfie culture yet, a Pittsburgh teen has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting a classmate and then taking a selfie with the corpse. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 16-year-old Maxw…
Valve just opened its virtual item economy to all Steam games
Like virtual hats? Valve certainly does. The company behind gaming classics like Half-Life and Portal is also the creator of Steam, the world’s largest digital game store. Beyond just buying games on that store, though, there are hats. Virtual hats, …
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: RFID-blocking jeans, EV buses and mystery USB drives
The internet abounds with unlikely stories of how to make thousands of dollars by doing little or nothing, but here’s one money-making scheme that’s actually true: A Massachusetts-based nonprofit is paying people up to $13,000 per year for turning ov…
Matchstick delays its Firefox OS media stick to offer Netflix streaming
I hope you weren’t in too much of a hurry to snag Matchstick’s Firefox OS-based streaming media dongle. The fledgling company has delayed its namesake device to August in order to not only upgrade the hardware (to a quad-core processor and better WiF…