Editor Blogs

June 2018

The MQ-1 Predator.

NRL Develops Tech to Keep Drones Flying for 12 Hours

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory hit a major milestone in UAV development – researchers perfected solar technology that allows drones to stay aloft for 12 hours. The NRL developed a technology called “Solar-Soaring,” which pairs solar cells with a small battery, achieving the best of both worlds. "

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06/27/2018

Latest iOS Update Drains Batteries Up to 25% Faster

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Those rascals from Cupertino are at it again – users are reporting battery issues with the latest iOS update. Users are claiming the iOS 11.4 software update is causing batteries to drain up to 25% faster. Granted, these are just anonymous complaints on Apple forums – and no one complains more than tec

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06/25/2018

Driver in Uber Self-Driving Car Crash Was Streaming TV Show

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Apparently, self-driving cars can’t save us from ourselves. Not yet, anyway. Police in Tempe, Arizona now claim that the “safety driver” in an Uber self-driving car crash was streaming a TV show, and the incident was “deemed entirely avoidable.” The driver, Rafaela Vasquez, had her head down for 5.3

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06/22/2018

Apple Cuts Chip Order From Dialog Semiconductor by 30%

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Fabless chip designer Dialog Semiconductor has lost a big chunk of revenue after Apple cut its main power management chips (PMICs) order by 30%. The Cupertino giant announced that it’d be sourcing its PMICs (for one of its iPhones) from two suppliers instead of just Dialog. Apple gave no reason for the cuts, tho

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06/21/2018

China Pushes Back Against "Blind" Electric Vehicle Growth

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The world’s worst polluter is pushing back against "blind" electric vehicle growth. You can’t make this up, folks. Not that China worries about bad press – authoritarian control is more important – but this is pretty astounding. On Friday, Meng Wei, spokeswoman with the National Developmen

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06/15/2018

This ''Personal Flying Vehicle'' is Equal Parts Astounding and Frightening

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

It sounds terrifying, but … well, it looks pretty terrifying. The “personal flying vehicle” from multinational business conglomerate Alphabet is a pure-electric micro-craft that zips along at speeds up to 20 mph and performs dizzying maneuvers at flight ceilings of 10 feet – all without a license.

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06/13/2018

Feds: Tesla Autopilot Sped up Prior to Crash

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The fatal Tesla crash just got more bizarre – turns out the semi-autonomous SUV accelerated before the accident, making no effort to brake or change course. That’s according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s initial report. The March 23 crash killed an Apple engineer, Walter Huang, 38, and

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06/11/2018

Uber Brings Electric Bicycles to Europe

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Like the convenience of Uber but don’t feel like sitting in traffic? The international ride-sharing service is bringing electric bicycles to Europe. A couple months ago, Uber acquired the bike-sharing company Jump Bikes in an effort to expand its transportation footprint. Users can locate and rent the red bi

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06/06/2018

Elon Musk: Singapore is Unsupportive of Electric Vehicles

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

A flippant tweet from a billionaire business magnate has caused an international incident. Some context – a random Twitter user asked Elon Musk to “do something to allow us in Singapore to get a Tesla.” Musk responded that “We tried, but Singapore govt is not supportive of electric vehicles,” and “The resu

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06/04/2018