AT&T and Intel Team Up To Test Drone Technology (venturebeat.com) 23
New submitter MitchRandall writes: Wireless provider AT&T Inc said on Monday it will partner with chipmaker Intel Corp to test the functionality of drones on its high-speed LTE wireless network. AT &T will work with Intel to examine the efficiency of drones on its LTE network at higher altitudes and potential interference with airwaves related to areas such as video streaming and flight information, AT&T said in a statement. Intel has been aggressively investing in drone technology in recent years. With the U.S. wireless market over-saturated, AT&T is betting on growth from the 'Internet of Things', or web-connected machines and gadgets from cars, home appliances to drones, a new battleground for the company and rivals ranging from Verizon Communications Inc to Amazon.com Inc.
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(waves hand) These are not the allies you are looking for.
over-saturated? (Score:2)
What do they mean by over-saturated? Too many customers?, Not enough customers? or Too many cell towers?
They couldn't be saying they can't get anyone else to sign up on their overcrowded towers could they?
Afaik At&t's only real competition is verizon.
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Maybe they mean we're reached a point where most people who want cell phones already have one, and some people even have old ones that still work but they upgraded from to a newer model. So there's a market of used phones and people getting them for free because family handing down older devices.
Technologies to invest in: (Score:3)
I'm also predicting this is going to be just another stupid fad, there'll be too many problems with the skies being full of these gods-be-damned things, and like all fads, it'll pass. It'll eventually even become 'uncool' to even have one that's a toy. The sooner it's over, the better, I say. Hasn't even really got started yet and it's already a freakin' nuisance.
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I sure hope these will be balloon based (like little airships), making no noise. Otherwise they will hopefully be banned very quickly. An Amazon delivery drone is one thing, but a continuously flying noisy drone providing cell service is quite another.
Drones have gotten really, really good recently... (Score:2, Interesting)
For Christmas I bought my 10 year old son a drone, and I have to say it is a crazy amount of fun!
For $48, it has a HD camera and is 6-axis gyro stabilized, very easy to fly around the house or outside in the back yard or down at the lake.
http://amzn.to/21aQ7S7 [amzn.to]
The flight time is really short, less than 10 min, but you can buy a pack of 4 more batteries for less than $20 and fly around for about 30 min using 5 of them, which is frankly long enough to have fun with.
It comes with spare blades, blade protectors
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Here's his IP: 23.196.119.211
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Nothing from Amazon which is a notorious front for bait n switch tactics, "variable" shipping cost, fake reviews, and a whole host of poor employee treatment scenarios..
Amazon is shit...
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Nothing from Amazon which is a notorious front for bait n switch tactics
How exactly do they "bait and switch"? You order stuff, it shows up. I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon, from paper towels to computer parts, from peanut butter to lawn flags.
"variable" shipping cost
Shipping is always free, with only a few exceptions, I never order unless Amazon themselves is shipping something, either sold by Amazon or shipped by them via an FBA seller.
Prime is a wonderful service.
fake reviews
This is a real concern. Of course it isn't just Amazon, everyone has this issue, but yes, not all reviews are real.
and a whole host of poor employee treatment scenarios
Yea, this is real
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Not all items sent to Amazon are "comingled inventory", which is the term you're looking for.
If items are stickered with FNSKUs, then they'll be held apart in separate inventory from other sellers and Amazon.
As for Prime itself, sometimes items cost more, but often it is really close. Depends on what you're buying. But you don't need very many crappy shipping experiences with non-Prime orders before any savings isn't worth the trouble. Amazon's customer service is second to none, any issue and refund/rep
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Isn't this is the exact same model drone they were smuggling into Gaza? Are you a terrorist?
Funny... :)
It weighs less than a pound, it is for flying around your yard and playing with your kids.
Huh... (Score:1)
It’s worth noting here that the partnership is less about helping consumers navigate their toys around public thoroughfares than it is about exploring legitimate business scenarios. While the likes of Amazon are currently looking into “delivery by drone” initiatives, there are also many other use-cases across numerous industries that could see UAVs taken to the next level./quote
So commercial drones will use cell networks for data and video?
Yet consumers with "unlimited" data plans get throttled, cell phone calls drop routinely, and the trend (for the consumer) seems to be less service for more money.
And now Amazon's drones (and others) are going to be clogging the network....
And The Suits Droned On And On And On. (Score:2)
source article (Score:1)