Hasta La Gadget!

If there is one thing that any cubicle drone would need to spruce up his or her workspace, then a fern or small cactus would be perfect. After all, a little bit of green never hurt anyone, and some green would definitely add color and life to the vicinity. Unfortunately, not everyone has green fingers, which is why when you come across something like the £49.99 Parrot Flower Power, it might be worth checking out.

With the Parrot Flower Power, it is as though there is a highly experienced gardener right on the spot at your disposal. This particular device will be able to discover and tend to the specific needs of your plants, making you more like the helping hand to the device, than the other way around. It is capable of measuring all the important characteristics and details such as moisture, temperature, light and fertilizer levels, before it synchronizes with your smartphone over Bluetooth to let you know what is lacking. For those who find it difficult to even take care of a cactus, then the Parrot Flower Power is the answer to their prayers when it comes to prolonging life in a pot. The Parrot Flower Power runs on a single AAA battery that ought to give it approximately half a year’s worth of battery life.
[ Parrot Flower Power helps keep your leaved friend happy copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

We’re yet to welcome drones into our daily lives, but it seems that the future will be full of them. Drones have actually become quite popular, they’re now available in all shapes and sizes, controlling them is as easy as using an app on your smartphone. They’re right up there with model aircraft, which already have a huge fan following. Time and again it has been debated when the FAA will set about crafting guidelines for use of drones in our towns and cities. The agency has confirmed today that it is working with the Academy for Model Aeronautics to do just that.

Aircraft hobbyists are generally aware of the rules, they’re not supposed to fly higher than 400 feet, within three miles of an airport, etc. However its easy for people who’re not aware of the guidelines to get in trouble, given how popular drones and quadricopters have become, they’re usually capable of flying up to a thousand feet and can easily be controlled using a smartphone app, so really anyone who knows how to use a smartphone can operate them. And while there’s still a long way to go to regulate model aircraft and drones, these guidelines will enable enthusiasts to go about their business without causing harm or injury.

FAA Wants To Create Safety Guidelines For Drones original content from Ubergizmo.

Interested in 3D printing and smartphone-controlled aerial drones? So is Martha Stewart.

She and I had the pleasure of touring CES 2014′s South Hall, where we checked out Parrot, Form Labs, and MakerBot, among a few other companies.

Martha Stewart, who is a judge in our brand new CES Hardware Battlefield, explained that she’s always curious about innovation and loves learning about how new technology can apply to the lives of everyday people. But more importantly, she’s interested in finding a 3D printer to help prototype new products.

Before visiting the 3D printing section, she and I had a blast checking out Parrot’s latest toys, the Mini Drone wheel-equipped aerial drone and the Sumo camera-equipped Rover.

Stewart already owns an AR.Drone 2.0, using them to aerially film her various properties as well as monitor her grandchildren when they are swimming in the ocean. The smaller, newer products are more toys than utility products, but they’re fun nonetheless.

But what really caught Martha’s eye was 3D printers, as she’s currently on the market to buy a 3D printer for prototyping her own products.

We visited Formlabs and Makerbot, which recently released three new 3D printers, and it seems that Stewart is most interested in the mamma jamma Z18 industrial printer from MakerBot.

But that’s not the only thing she had to talk about. Apparently she and Bre Pettis are forging deals left and right, working to make a Martha Stewart collection of 3D printable products, as well as a magazine spread of 3D printed Easter gear.

To close out the interview, Martha and I checked out the most entry level 3D printing product I’ve ever come across, the 3Doodler. It’s a glue gun-like pen that let’s you draw out super hot plastic onto paper that forms a 3D doodle. It’s only $99, but Martha wasn’t all that impressed with its accuracy.

Parrot has done it again, this time with their Jumping Sumo remote device. Unlike the civil drone, the Sumo rolls and tumbles, grabs as it leaps. It’s controlled via an … Continue reading

French Bluetooth company turned drone-maker Parrot has some new hardware for CES 2014, including two brand new smartphone-controlled bots. One is the rolling, jumping Sumo and the other is the MiniDrone, a super small version of its popular AR Drone that flies, rolls and hugs the ceiling and the walls.

The MiniDrone is remarkably small, coming in at about a tenth of the size of the full version, which makes it incredibly portable. You could actually slip one in your pocket without much issue if you really wanted to. To get that size advantage, it ditches the camera, but it adds to removable, large wheels that allow it to roll around the ground – or go acrobatic and run along the wall or the ceiling, too.

The Sumo is a two-wheeled ground-only unit that does have a camera, just like the big AR Drone, and has a foot built in that allows it to stop pretty much instantly, and to leap up in the air up to 80cm. It’s a bit more rugged in keeping with its rough-and-tumble lifestyle, too, and reminds me a bit of the Sphero 2B that company just unveiled.

There’s no firm ship date for either the MiniDrone or the Sumo, but they’re coming “soon” according to CEO Henri Seydoux, for a price that’s yet to be finalized. I asked Seydoux how these two designs came to be, and whether they were the result of user requests and feedback, and he said that in fact Parrot dreamt them up because “we like to have fun.”