| Last week we talked about voice being touted as the next wave in computing. Today, we move to the hands. |
| In one of the most jaw-dropping tech demos of the year, drone manufacturer DJI this week showed off a new quadcopter that can be flown with hand gestures. Move your palm left to fly that way, extend your hand to land it. |
| As someone who spends a lot of time flying drones and juggling with video-game like controllers to operate them, this is the holy grail. No more worries about connections and keeping my head down to operate—just wave my hands in the air and let the drone soar. |
| Now, 2017 has been a year with many huge tech wow moments, including flying cars ready for sale in 2020 to Facebook's project to let you skip typing by communicating directly to a computer from your brain. . |
| But the $499 hand-flying DJI drone will actually be in stores within a few weeks. Watch a video of flying the drone, with hand gestures. |
| What other devices could we soon operate by waving, rather than touching — say smartphones, laptops and tablets? |
| I'm imagining turning on our TVs with a wave, maybe raising a finger in the air to open Facebook on a mobile phone and nodding to advance the screen. Perhaps a wink could close an app. After all, if a sensor can read our hand, why not our facial movements, too? |
| There are some who believe we only have 5-10 years left with smartphones. Which leads many to believe a future of sensors will indeed let us use our eyes, facial gestures and hand movements to get us everything we want. |
| In the meantime, can you imagine how strange it's going to be in restaurants watching the next generation of gesturing tech addicts? Welcome to the future. |
| Other top stories in tech this week: |
| —Microsoft announced updates to its popular Surface line of computers, which have more power, longer battery life and a substantially higher price. You can buy a Surface Pro 4 now for around $699, with 4 GB of Ram and 128 GB of hard drive space. The new edition, out next month, starts at $799 with the same specs, but Microsoft wants you to pay an extra $100 for the pen that used to be free. Our Ed Baig says Microsoft defends the decision by saying most Surface consumers don't use the pen anyway. L |
| —Speaking of money, scrappy wireless carrier T-Mobile came up with yet another way to urge you to switch. It says it will pay off your Verizon device contract if you leave the No. 1 wireless company. Bring in an iPhone or Pixel under contract to Verizon for at least two months, and T-Mobile will pony up some big bucks. So if you've had your phone for three months, say, and owe $600 in device payments, T-Mobile will pay you to switch. Not bad! And in talking iPhones, how about a way, way faster model? This week Apple filed an application to conduct faster 5G wireless tests in California. No word on when we'll see the results of the tests, or a potential 5G iPhone, but anything 5G is tantalizing: The technology promises wireless data speeds of 1 gigabit per second. In other words, fast. . |
| —Meanwhile, who's for driving around in style? Ride-hailing company Lyft is following in Uber's footsteps with a new fleet of fancy cars. Lyft Lux and Lyft Lux SUV launched this week in 5 markets, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, with 20 other cities adding the fancier cars in June. The rides won't be cheap—about five times the normal Lyft fare, reports Marco della Cava. |
| —Finally, veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg, the dean of the easy to read, consumer focused tech review, penned his final column this week for the Verge and Recode. The journalist, who's set to retire at the end of next week, after the exclusive Code conference in Southern California, is best known for his long time perch at the Wall Street Journal, which he left a few years back to start Recode. |
| Mossberg, who started writing about computers in 1991, called his time chronicling the digital age "exciting, enriching, transformative," and notes that we're now shifting to a world of gestures and augmented reality. "The roller coaster will be accelerating faster than ever, only this time it'll be about actual experiences, with much less emphasis on the way those experiences get made." |
| Good news TalkingTech listeners. Mossberg hasn't retired yet. We're set to sit down with him in a few days at the Code conference for an extended TalkingTech podcast interview. Look for it next week. |
| Finally, a holiday weekend is a great time to catch up on this week's #Talking Tech podcasts. |
| —What to do about those lost keys? There's an app--and a bluetooth dongle for that. Meet Tile. |
| —We love talking about all the ways to ditch the day job and make money in your PJs at home. Have you checked out Patreon? |
| —Who wouldn't want to be a podcaster, right? But if that's your thing, first, you'll need a good microphone. A showdown of 3 top mics, from IK Multimedia, Shure and Blue Microphones in a #TalkingTech showdown. |
| —We loved that tech demo from DJI this week about the new drone you can operate via hand gestures. My report: |
| —Talk show host Wendy Williams has a new app--and she called #TalkingTech to tell all about it. |
| —TV legend Norman Lear has a new gig at age 94--hosting a podcast. Listen to our extended interview. |
| Finally, a special request for Talking Tech fans. |
| In order to keep the podcast free for listeners, we'd like to know more about you. Please complete a small survey at wondery.com/survey and click on TalkingTech. It only takes 5 minutes and you can do it from your smartphone. |
| And of course,If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to our new #TalkingTech newsletter, usat.ly/2qaIVVQ |
| You can listen to the #TalkingTech podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Tunein and wherever else you like to hear great online audio. And you can follow me on Twitter, @jeffersongraham. |
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