Month: October 2024

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Guide

How to Keep Your AED Properly Maintained

Unlike most products, AEDs may be unused for long periods of time before they are needed during an emergency. And, when an AED needs to be used, it is usually during a life-or-death situation that happens suddenly and without warning!

If an AED isn’t properly maintained, the consequences can be tragic. Without receiving ongoing maintenance, AEDs may not be working correctly or their disposable parts (like electrode pads and batteries) may expire. As a result, someone could die when they could have otherwise been saved by the AED.

How Do You Maintain an AED?

One of the biggest challenges with maintaining an AED is that there isn’t a standard maintenance protocol for all devices. Maintenance requirements and processes vary from one AED model to another. Not to mention, the maintenance requirements can often be time-consuming, expensive, and burdensome.

While specific requirements vary by manufacturer, here are some basic procedures for an inspection that can keep your AED ready to respond in a heartbeat.

Daily:Some units have a status indicator light you can check daily as you walk by the AED. Green indicates readiness; red indicates a problem.

Monthly or Annually:

  • Visually inspect your AED.Look for dirt, damage, or contamination.
  • Inspect electrodes.All electrodes (sticky pads) should be unexpired and in their original, sealed packages. It’s good to have at least two sets for adults and one set for children.
  • Test primary battery.Some models feature a “test” button. On models without one, push the “on” button. If the unit prompts you to attach the electrodes, the battery’s working properly.
  • Test backup battery.Make sure a backup battery is stored with the AED. This is crucial, because defibrillation can deplete the primary battery. Test the secondary battery by removing the primary battery and following the same process as you did with the first one.
  • Keep it charged.Keeping an AED plugged into the wall when it’s not being used helps keep the primary battery from losing its charge over time. It’s especially important for devices that sit idle for long periods.
  • Check data card.Some models record information about the cardiac arrest on a removable computer data card. Make sure a functioning card is installed.
  • Stock secondary supplies.Some items that are helpful to stock in your AED kit include alcohol prep pads, razors, gloves, scissors, and a small towel or cloth. Electrodes require a good connection to function, so you may need to clean the person’s skin or trim thick chest hair.
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News

Snapdragon 8 Elite chip will allow up to 8 years of Android updates, but what does it mean for users?

Qualcomm just announced the upgrade of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which should run the best Android phones that launch next year. It appears that the new chip will also support major software updates for quite some time.

During the recent Snapdragon Summit, Chris Patrick, Qualcomm’s SVP and GM Mobile Handset, announced to assembled journalists that the new system-on-chip would support up to eight years of Android operating system updates (via Android Authority). According to the report, that support includes the current OS version, which means you can expect seven years of Android upgrades (assuming phone makers release that many).

This means that Android phone manufacturers can support their devices for as long as they care to do so. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean every handset maker will support older devices for eight or seven years. They must customize their Android skins and features to work with the built-in Qualcomm Android board support package. Several Android device makers, including Sony and Motorola, are known to only offer one Android update and maybe three or four years of security updates.

Existing Qualcomm chips like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can support up to four operating system upgrades and four years of security patches. This has been a goal of Qualcomm to enable manufacturing partners to keep updating older phones for longer.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is being built with the 3nm process, significantly improving the current 4nm processor used in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Transistors are packed closer together, improving performance and power efficiency. It should be quite a powerful chip.

Additionally, Qualcomm is swapping out the Kryo CPU from previous SoCs for a mobile-optimized Oryon CPU, the same as the Snapdragon X Elite silicon used in Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs released this summer.

 Luckily, new phones with the Snapdragon 8 Elite are coming soon.These include the Asus ROG Phone 9, which should launch in November. Honor showed off the Magic 7 during the Snapdragon Summit, and that phone will debut on October 30, though it may take a few months before it hits US shores.

Will all Snapdragon 8 Elite phones get 8 years of updates?

Qualcomm has confirmed that the Snapdragon X Elite will get eight years of support, but Android updates are offered by phone manufacturers. While brands like Samsung and Google have already upped their game and are offering seven years of OS updates for the Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 9 series, manufacturers like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, and others are yet to update their software update policy.

Companies like Motorola, who are often known to delay software updates, also recently announced that the Edge 50 Neo, its newest mid-range device, will get five years of updates. However, given the company’s track record, it will be interesting to see if it follows through on its promise.

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News

Xiaomi 15, Honor Magic 7 confirmed to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite

Qualcomm debuted its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset at Snapdragon Summit 2024, and various phone makers have since come forward to confirm that their upcoming flagships will be powered by the all-new (and all-powerful) mobile platform.

Both Xiaomi and Honor joined Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon on stage in Hawaii to announce that the Xiaomi 15 and Honor Magic 7 series, respectively, will launch this month (likely in China) with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

Asus, too, confirmed that the upcoming Asus ROG Phone 9 will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and Samsung mobile chief TM Roh also appeared at Snapdragon Summit to reaffirm his company’s ongoing partnership with Qualcomm. Roh didn’t mention the Samsung Galaxy S25 series by name, but you can bet your house that the best Samsung phones we see in 2025 will come packing the Snapdragon 8 Elite (disclaimer: that’s not serious financial advice).

In other words, it’s highly likely that many of next year’s best Android phones will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, with Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series being the first of that number to ship in the US, UK, and Australia . Those aforementioned models from Xiaomi, Honor, and OnePlus will presumably debut in China first, before launching internationally at a later date in 2025.

As for how the Snapdragon 8 Elite stacks up against its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it’s the first Snapdragon mobile chipset to feature Qualcomm’s second-generation Oryon CPU, and has been designed to “handle the complexities of multi-modal AI” much more efficiently.

Any phones equipped with Qualcomm’s latest chipset will deliver faster app launches, more seamless multitasking, and more powerful generative AI capabilities than their Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped predecessors, and mobile gamers, too, will benefit from sharper images, smoother gameplay, and longer gameplay sessions thanks to the 8 Elite’s improved Adreno GPU.

Categories
Guide

Precautions for Drone Flying in Winter

As weather conditions change with the approach of winter, drone enthusiasts are presented with unique challenges when taking to the skies. As winter blankets the landscape with its icy embrace, The cold temperatures, snow, and icy conditions can pose significant risks to the drone and the operator.

Although it’s not advisable to fly in extreme winter weather conditions, we understand many drone pilots won’t run inside at the first sight of snow. When you need to collect critical information, like topographical surveys, waiting for a more placid day might not be an option.

To help you overcome the elements and keep your drone flying in winter, we’ve put together some best practices and tried-and-true advice.

Keeping an eye on your battery life

The greatest inconvenience to flying a drone in winter is the cold temperatures’ effect on your drone’s lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries.

Cold temperatures reduce chemical activity in Lipo batteries used in drones. This causes your drone to lose power faster — 50% faster in some cases. In extreme cold conditions, your drone might even shut down mid-flight.

Here’s what to know if you plan on flying in cold weather:

  • Turn your drone on and let it warm up for a couple of minutes before launching.
  • Begin with fully-charged batteries and check your battery life more than usual mid-flight. If you track the rate your drone is using power, you can plan when it’s time to bring the drone back to home base, averting a crash.
  • Bring extra, fully charged, LiPo batteries if you plan to fly for a while. Taking extra time to swap out a drone battery is preferable to your drone losing power and crashing.
  • Consider where you store your drone and LiPo batteries when you’re not flying. If the space is significantly cooler during cold weather, move them somewhere warmer.
  • Keep your extra batteries inside your vehicle while you’re flying. It’s not just your drone that you have to worry about. The batteries in your controller will also use power faster in cold weather. Don’t leave your controller exposed to extreme cold more than necessary.
  • If you’re working in especially frigid weather conditions, consider investing in a battery warmer.

Monitor Weather Conditions

Stay informed about the weather conditions before heading out to fly. Strong winds, snow, and low temperatures can all impact the stability and performance of your drone.

Flying in windy, blustery weather conditions

Unless you’re a seasoned drone pilot and comfortable flying manually, you should not fly your drone when the surface wind speed is above 15 mph. Flying in anything stronger than that jeopardizes a safe flight, and you risk a crash.

In addition to the cold temperatures, strong winds will negatively affect battery life, sacrificing flight performance. Your drone will have to work harder to fly against the wind to overcome the turbulence. So, even if your drone is able to handle the high winds, you still risk a crash if you let your LiPo battery levels drop too low.

If you must fly in windy conditions, follow this advice to ensure a safe flight:

  • Fly perpendicular to the wind. If you can’t, fly upwind first and then downwind, back toward you.
  • Be more attentive to your drone than normal, especially when flying with the wind. If you notice that it’s having a hard time staying level, bring it home immediately.
  • Be careful during your takeoffs and landings. Though winds are more powerful the higher the altitude, your drone can veer off course more easily when it’s just getting off the ground or decelerating during landing.

Coping with flight performance issues caused condensation

In many areas, cold weather also means increased condensation. Too much moisture in the air can cause a number of issues with your drone’s ability to operate properly. With enough exposure, moisture can ruin the drone’s propeller motors, camera, and internal systems. If you’re using a GPS-enabled drone, condensation can also disrupt those signals, distorting your geotags.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Although it may seem obvious that you should skip flying in the rainy or snowy weather conditions, flying a drone in fog is not a good idea, either. Fog can trigger the drone’s obstacle avoidance sensors, making it think something is in front of it and thereby stopping the flight mid-mission.
  • Choose a drone with high-visibility lights on the body of the craft, so you can spot it in the sky in extreme weather conditions.
  • Not only do you need to account for the moisture in the air, you should avoid contact with snow on the ground, too, as moisture can damage your drone’s motors. Use a pad or another elevated surface for launching and landing your drone.

Cold weather

As we have mentioned, when the temperature decreases, the performance of your drone’s batteries deteriorates. This situation will most likely occur when weather conditions approach or drop below 0 °C or 32 °F. Aside from battery life, here are other specifications you should review for your drone to determine if yours is suitable for flying in cold weather:

  • Maximum wind speed your drone can fly
  • Range of optimal operating temperatures
  • Maximum flight altitude
  • To combat moisture and freezing precipitation, ensure your drone has an IP rating of at least IP43 to fly during winter.

Choose the Right Gear

As the drone operator, you have to remain in the cold temperatures for the entire flight time. Dress accordingly. Bundle up, and choose gloves that won’t prevent you from operating your mobile device or the drone controller. Numb, frostbitten fingers aren’t just uncomfortable — they make operating a touchscreen almost impossible.

Plan your mission before flying your drone

Preparing for your flight before you travel to the site makes good sense. It can help minimize the time you’re out in the cold. Only plan to survey the areas of your worksite where you need new, up-to-date data. And when possible, choose the best camera to minimize your drone payload weight, which will help to maximize your LiPo batteries’ life in cold weather.

Ultimately, if you think the cold or inclement weather will be too much to handle — move your flight to another day. Keep up with the seven-day forecast so you can reschedule your flight as soon as you know you’ll be facing poor weather conditions.

Categories
News

US Customs Is Holding Up DJI Drone Imports

Getting your hand son the brand-new DJI Air 3S might be trickier than anticipated as the company is having issues importing its latest drone to the US. For the time being, it might only be possible to purchase the drone from DJI.com directly, not through any third-party stores.

This isn’t anything to do with the ban bill which passed in the US House of Representatives earlier this year. Instead, DJI claims it’s because the Department of Homeland Security incorrectly believes the drones were produced in forced labor camps and is blocking the drones using the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

In a letter it sent to distributors – which has been shared on social media – DJI refutes these accusations stating “DJI strongly affirms that no forced labor is involved at any stage of our manufacturing process.

“Our company does not and has never operated manufacturing facilities in the Xinjiang province of China, nor do we obtain any materials from that region. All of our manufacturing is based in Shenzhen, where our company is headquartered, or Malaysia.”

Following up with a post on its official blog DJI says it has all of the evidence it needs to clean up this “misunderstanding” and prove it doesn’t make its drones in the Xinjiang region of China.

Until the issue is resolved however it’ll be harder for US businesses to get their hands on DJI’s enterprise and agricultural drones, as well as regular folks from snagging the DJI Air 3S – at least from retailers other than DJI itself.

The first ban of many?

Even if this existing issue is resolved, DJI’s future in the US will remain uncertain.

The wider US import ban is still looming, and while it has yet to pass through the Senate it feels like it may be a matter of when, and not if, unless there’s a major attitude shift in the US government.

Though the ban looks set to only affect imports as it is currently written, so if a DJI drone catches your eye, you should still consider grabbing it – as already-approved models won’t be permanently grounded even if a ban does pass.

So take this DJI Air 3S issue as a taste of what’s unfortunately likely to come in the coming months and years from the world’s best drone manufacturer.

Categories
News

New iOS 18.1 Hearing Aid Functionality Are as Good as They Sound

Apple announced a trio of major new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 in September, including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality, a hearing test, and more robust hearing protection. All three will roll out next week with the release of iOS 18.1, and they could mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness. Apple is about to instantly turn the world’s most popular earbuds into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

To use the new hearing health features, you need to connect your ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 to an iPhone running iOS 18.1, or an iPad with iPadOS 18.1. From there, if you tap into the ‌AirPods Pro‌ section, you’ll see an option to take a hearing test, which should be your first stop.
Apple’s hearing test mimics the hearing tests you might have had conducted at a doctor’s office or by an audiologist, and it’s meant to determine whether you have any hearing loss. If you do have hearing loss, the test determines which frequencies you’re struggling with.

With the AirPods in your ears, you can tap “Get Started” to take the hearing test. The test takes approximately five minutes, starting first with the left ear and then moving on to the right ear. You’ll hear a series of tones at different frequencies and sound levels, and the idea is to tap the ‌iPhone‌’s screen whenever you hear a sound. The tones that you hear test for four frequencies, including 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, and 4kHz.

Apple puts your ‌iPhone‌ in Do Not Disturb mode for the test, and also uses your AirPods to make sure it’s quiet enough for the test to be conducted. The test is designed for adults that are 18 years or older, and it shouldn’t be done when you have allergies, a cold, an ear infection, or a sinus issue, which can affect the results. Apple also recommends waiting to take the test at least 24 hours after you’ve been exposed to loud noise like a concert or construction, as this can also impact the hearing test.

After going through the hearing test steps, you’ll get your Hearing Test results, with separate decibel levels detected for each ear. If you get a 5 dBHL reading for each ear, for example, you have little to no hearing loss and will not need adjustments to your AirPods.

Apple says that results up to 25 dBHL indicate little to no hearing loss. 26 to 40 dBHL is a sign of mild hearing loss, while results of 41 to 60 dBHL suggest moderate hearing loss. 61 to 80 dBHL is severe hearing loss, and a result above 80 dBHL is considered profound hearing loss.

If your test shows mild to moderate hearing loss, you’ll have the option to turn on the Hearing Aid feature of the ‌AirPods Pro‌. With this enabled, the ‌AirPods Pro‌ can use the data from your test to boost the frequencies that you have trouble hearing, making it easier to hear voices and other sounds around you.

Note that if your test showed no hearing loss, Apple will not recommend changes to your AirPods tuning, and there will not be an option to turn on the Hearing Aid feature.

To see even more information from your Hearing Test, you can go to the Hearing section of the Health app and tap into the test to see a graph of which frequencies you had the most trouble with.

Along with Hearing Assistance, the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 also offer Hearing Protection as part of Apple’s Hearing Health feature set. This includes a Loud Sound Reduction option that is enabled automatically. Loud Sound Reduction listens for loud noises around you in Transparency and Adaptive Modes, and reduces the level of the noise to prevent hearing loss.

In the Health app under the Environmental Sound Reduction section, you can see the amount of sound reduction you’ve gotten from your ‌AirPods Pro‌ from hour to hour.

If you have the iOS 18.1 developer or public beta and ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2, you can try out the new hearing test and hearing aid feature right now. Otherwise, this functionality is set to become available to the public when iOS 18.1 launches next week.

Being able to use Apple’s $250 earbuds as a hearing aid is a huge deal for those who can benefit from this capability. That’s substantially less expensive than over-the-counter hearing aids from Jabra, Sony, and other brands. But the AirPods won’t be right for everyone. People with more severe hearing loss will still need to seek out other solutions (including those pricier products). And the main tradeoff with the AirPods Pro 2 is battery life: they can last for around six hours with the hearing aid engaged, which doesn’t match what you’ll get from many OTC and prescription hearing aids.

But this is a big milestone — and it seems inevitable that Samsung, Google, and other tech heavyweights will follow Apple’s lead fairly quickly.We spent a long time bemoaning the loss of the headphone jack. With advancements like this, and earbuds helping to improve so many people’s quality of life, we’re finally starting to see a worthwhile payoff.