2016 appears to have shifted back in time to the year 2000, all thanks to Pokémon Go. The nostalgic element of the app is aiding to its success as users are re-living the joy they felt when Pokémon was the obsession of every child and teenager of the noughties. It’s the topic on the tip of everyone’s tongue, that does cause a few moans and groans, but it’s almost impossible to escape the hype. Since its initial release date on July 6th, Pokémon Go has been smashing records in the app store charts and is currently closing in on Snapchat as the most downloaded app.

It’s dangerous, we know. Between injuries (and some deaths!), burglaries and shootings, we’ve accepted that these side effects of the app are down to the user, common sense and awareness. But will it last?

Personally, I feel as though I’m one of very few people who hasn’t caught the Pokémon bug. I downloaded it the day that it was officially released in the UK. The first Pokémon I caught was a Squirtle (humble brag). But in terms of gameplay I feel that the app lacks intense, engaging and stimulating play. Of course, I will admit that I have not given the app that much time of day. I sit at my desk as I write this, mumbling frustrations over the lack of Pokémon coming my way and Pokéstops being too far away. I understand the point of the game is to get up and walk around in order to find them.

I will also take into account that I believe most of the fun probably begins at stage 5, where you can attend battles and such, and whilst I still sit around in stage 3, I’m hopeful that the battles will have the more active gameplay that I’m seeking. A part of me is disappointed in my lack of excitement for the app. I was the kid with the fancy book full of Pokemon cards. I was the kid who, at seven years old, saved all my money in order to buy a real life Pokédex! Of all people, I should be jumping ecstatically onto the Pokétrain. But perhaps the nostalgic bone in my body isn’t hoarding the Pokémon memories.

So, will it last? As an app that has had such hype, such high volumes of downloads and usage in its first week, will it withstand or will it crash and burn? This time next year will we reminisce of the few summer weeks that we all divulged in our amended world of our favourite childhood cartoon or perhaps it will still be the number one trending gaming app that has evolved to be even bigger and better. Perhaps. One very exciting aspect of the game is the fact that it’s one of the first accessible and successful games for smart phones that uses augmented reality (AR). The future of gaming lies in AR and VR and even though it may just be a fad, you can’t but appreciate the technology involved in creating the app.

I could just be writing this blog as a release for my pent up jealousy of the people who have had success with the app and I twinge with boredom as I still walk aimlessly around on stage 3. Check back in with me in a few weeks. Maybe by then i’ll have the bug to catch them all!

Pokémon No was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As a child I was fascinated by electronics. My dad works in telecom engineering and at a young age I was confidently able to dissect a power plug and put it back together. He owned a cherry picker that, in hindsight, should not have been a playground for any child, but it was my favourite place to find scrap bits of tech and wires and figure out what they do (alongside the novelty of moving up and down in a stationary “bucket”). There was huge hope for me to grow up to be some sort of technology whizz. Alas, it was never to be and I’ve become a sheep in the technology marketplace.

I often ponder on whether my career path would have been different had I been educated in technology in school from a young age. At home, my learning in technology was limited. In primary school there was no such option to learn anything besides the core, academic subjects. Moving to secondary school there were options for woodwork, metalwork and technology graphics but by the age of 13, I had already firmly decided to go with the more artsy subjects of music and home economics, that had already been nurtured from influence at home and out-of-school hobbies. I was so fascinated by technology as a child that it’s a pity that it never came to practical fruition later in life. If there was something similar to Maker Club in my area I would like to think that I would have been first in line to sign up.

Introducing Simon Riley. Proud advocate for getting children interested in technology.

“There’s an intrinsic delay in the teaching of tech in schools and an inability to react in time to trends”. Simon Riley

Simon is the Founder and CEO of the Maker Club, a business set up to encourage the teaching of technology to kids, and he is one man very passionate about understanding the technology we use daily. The Maker Club is a business aimed at teaching kids the latest cutting edge technology, from 3D printing and electronics to robotics. It holds workshops where kids can learn complex technology diluted into a more understandable form, surrounded by peers and the pleased and bewildered eye of their parents. It’s definitely the kind of out-of-school hobby place that cities have been missing.

The Maker Club began two years ago where Simon mentions he’s been very lucky in his education and had found himself in a place in his career where he felt he was doing okay and wanted to give something back and teach. The business has reached a point where they’re confidently aiming to open 50–70 more workshops within the next couple of years. It all started when Simon was working on assembling a 3D remote control car which took him the bones of 9 months to complete and make mobile using a phone as a controller. His short term dream is get 10 to 12 year olds, with some help, to create this same piece in one sitting, that took him 9 months to do.

The Maker Cub spends a lot of time making the hardware for the children, taking something relatively complex and making it much more understandable. Children, and often adults, are scared of the complexity of electronics, programming and robotics. Simon says that the aim of the Maker Club is to make it fun, getting the learning of technology to a place where there is a quick win.

He wants kids to be able to say:

“Hey, you know what, this isn’t nearly as scary as I thought it was. It’s not just for “nerds” or people I think are smarter than me. This is something I can do and I want to learn more”.

And that’s the job done really. To rid the old fashioned stigmatic aura around technology being pigeon-holed for a certain academic type is to make it accessible for all.

The Maker Club are currently working with Barclays Eagle Labs in Brighton, aiming to get out there, shout their name about and get their kits in the hands of as many children as possible. Simon strongly points out that in traditional ed-tech the methodology behind catching onto new trends is horrendously slow. The education system is such an enormous institution. By the time a new trend is noticed, planned for curriculum and trained to teachers, you’re already 4 or 5 years behind the curve of technology and something else has happened. What the Maker Club are trying to do is to teach people to be ahead of the curve.

The incredible work being done by Simon and his team is proving the importance of feeding this information to the next generation. Find out more about the Maker Club here:

Silicon Break interview with Simon Riley: https://youtu.be/dvDhc0LeCRU

Maker Club Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/makerclubuk/?fref=ts

Maker Club Website: https://makerclub.org/

Maker Club Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakerClub

Maker Club Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makerclub/

Maker Club YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDyaFGAf4H8EEU05Ntt1Ymw

Making Robotics Child’s Play: The Maker Club was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

From utter dismay and disappointment to cries for an independent Brighton, here is a round-up of some of our favourite tweets following the vote for Brexit among the people of Brighton and Hove.

The Defeated…

There was a resounding echo of disappointment from the Brightonians who wished to remain in the EU…

The Comedians…

It’s always reassuring in light of impending uncertainty that people can still fall back on some humour to see through it.

The Supporters…

Tweets in support of Brexit were scarce and between but alas and without surprise, content.

Brighton Reacts to Brexit in 8 Tweets was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I’ve avoided writing about Brexit for the longest time. I feel that the extent of my awareness on the upcoming judgment day is purely influenced by biased media posts and my own panic over what may happen to an Irish expat like me, in light of a unanimous vote to “Leave”.

It’s not a big deal. That’s what I’ve been reading lately. Whilst the rest of the public flail about with notions of doom and some of fleeting excitement at the thought of leaving the politico-economic union, recent voices have been calmly reminding us that it just might not be the almighty upheaval that we are all expecting it to be.

Most conversations I’ve had with peers on the subject surround the terms “if” and “when”. In recent weeks, however, the tone of these comments have changed from “it’s never going to happen” to a tone of disbelief as the polls come rolling in in favour of a vote to leave. Of course, being in Brighton surrounded by a mass of left-wing supporters, it’s arduous to even imagine the possibility of people supporting a vote to leave. I could concentrate this article on the bickering of politics and the animosity of a large portion of the public towards immigration policies, however, I’d like to avoid such unpleasantries and leave those discussions to those more informed.

Let’s just stick with technology. The topic on the tip of the hypothetical tech sector’s tongue is the concern over where funding for investment will likely stem from following a vote to leave. The technology sector relies heavily on EU funding in order to grow, particularly in Brighton, where less than 9 months ago was regarded the new “Silicon Valley” of the UK. Heavily backed by EU Funding from sources such as the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Investment Fund and Horizon 2020, onlookers have had high hopes for the small coastal city with more tech start-ups than you can throw a Brighton-beach pebble at.

Whether these funds have actually been put to profitable use is another story, but in order to get an educated and experienced outlook on Brexit and funding issues, I turned to two of the most influential tech speakers in Brighton. Jon Pratty, chairman of the Brighton Digital Festival and Mike Herd, Executive Director at the Sussex Innovation Centre in Brighton and Croydon, both had similar views when posed with the question: how would a possible Brexit affect technology funding in the UK?

Jon assertively told us that “shutting ourselves off from that (EU) research opportunity and from that infrastructure funding would be a crazy thing to do”. With his focus firmly fixed on digital and creative industries, Pratty goes on to talk about how Brighton, like most other creative hubs outside of London, struggles to be noticed in a sea of funds hungry industries. In London, the arts industry is fed by giant audiences, largely helped by it’s tourism. Outside London, the arts struggle for funding and exist in a far more constrained environment, as local government arts funding constantly diminishes.

The Brighton Fuse Report of 2013 suggests that the creative industries in the city are being held back the lack of talent. It is through the Brighton Digital Festival that Jon aspires to feed these industries and engineer a pipeline of talent into the city. As much as it sounds like the most feasible solution to the lack of recruitment, the Brighton Digital Festival still requires multiple sources of funding in order to reach those goals. Jon also mentions that the Brighton Digital Festival has reached a point where they have good relations with the arts council in terms of financial backing but there will always be a requirement of funding from a different direction and European funding is crucial in that context.

“There is no central government funding for infrastructure and technology communities and culture. The European Funding is the only game in town.”

Jon Pratty

Mike Herd calmingly reassured us that irregardless of the outcome of Brexit, funding sources will still be available for the next few years. Mike has been one of the pioneers behind the Sussex Innovation Centre who has encouraged and nurtured many entrepreneurs from the ground up. He’s done all this whilst advocating for funding for the tech industry in Brighton and campaigning for job opportunities to be made available to the wealth of graduates from Brighton’s two universities. He said that “people always over-estimate what the impact (of a possible Brexit) would be in the short term and under-estimate what the impact might be in the long term. Those (EU) funding streams will be available to those companies for the next few years irrespective of what may happen within the referendum.” Mike put extensive emphasis on his advice for all businesses to seize funding opportunities whilst they can.

“So, as companies and as entrepreneurs within the Brighton area, what you should be looking to do is to seize the opportunities while they’re there, and almost within the lines of your own business, is to put the referendum to one side, and go for what works for your business. Because whatever those changes may be, it will take quite some time for that impact to be really seen.”

Mike Herd

Educated, collected and sophisticated responses.

So what about the rest of us? The often controversial Richard Dawkins recently made the best comment I have heard to date on this entire debacle. “How should I know? I don’t have a degree in economics. Or history. How dare you entrust such an important decision to ignoramuses like me?” I largely appreciate this comment for the use of word ‘ignoramuses’, a repressed word that has never been so aptly used than in the words of Richard Dawkins. How can a nation of people- of all kinds, cultures, personalities, education, dreams, passions and everything in between, be the ones who decide such a politically heavy judgement?

The silver lining in the light of all of us ignoramuses being the ones who vote on this matter is the fact that the referendum is actually, believe it or not, not the be all and end all. Anthony Hilton wrote last week in the Evening Standard that “the referendum next week is not binding and the result does not constitute a final irrevocable decision either way.” In 1975 when a similar referendum took place the Government made it clear that no matter the result, it may not actually be the final decision maker. With that in mind, perhaps we should regard this referendum more like a public guideline of advice for the Government.

And in terms of business, there’s still plenty of time for growth and funding. Government policies and a major upheaval such as leaving the EU would take a glacial amount of time to actually materialise.

There’s time. There’s opportunity.

There’s still light at the end of the (channel) tunnel…

Brighton Braces for Brexit was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yes, I might be writing this blog solely with the intent of inserting silly amounts of pictures of cute babies.

As you were…

If you’ve read any of my blog posts before you’ll have an accurate image of where I stand in the technology realm. You’ll probably guess that I’m a millennial who has rode on the wave of technology, not knowing the details and jargon, but, who indulges in staying fashionable in my technology accessories. And all whilst trying my best to convince you that I know what I’m talking about.

And there’s a part of me that’s bitter about the upcoming generation and the fluency they’re going to have in all things technology. The cohorts to my generation, Generation Z, are beginning to learn coding at an early age and at a standard that most of my generation didn’t learn until university. I’ll admit, I have had to google “what exactly is coding” in order to understand why it’s such a prevalent asset for the next generation to learn.

So here’s what I got. Coding is a set of languages. Let’s take for instance, Arabic. There are countless variations of the language but they all have the same root and overlap at some points, just like coding. A computer can’t do anything unless told so and coding is the language with which to communicate to it. We already know, technology is the future. Not just in terms of fast development but it’s the sector that’s going to employ Gen Z. According to International Business Times, over the next 10 years there will be an estimated 1.4 million jobs in the technology sector with only around 400,000 graduated qualified to fill them. Perhaps I should enrol myself back to university…

The assuring thing is that the UK government is already on it. They have admitted have creating a “code literate” generation is a hefty challenge, but in 2014, England became the first country to mandate teaching code to primary and secondary school children. Yesterday the BBC Micro Bit was released commercially. But to 1 million school goers in the UK aged between 11 and 13, this is nothing new. Last year, the BBC issued the tiny programming board to schools across the country to begin the coding movement. One school in Rishworth sent a Micro Bit into the stratosphere attached to a helium balloon to track temperatures. It’s not the first piece of child friendly technology, however, arriving four years after the release of the Raspberry Pi, first released in 2012. The Micro Bit is also going to cost double the price of the Raspberry Pi, retailing at £12.99.

Here on our doorstep, the Maker Club is an organisation that holds workshops and projects with the aim to get young people involved in building cool things with technology. Located on London Road, nestled in the back of Presuming Ed’s coffee shop, the fitting-titled Eagle Labs is a hub of excitement of interactive learning for youths. In fact, yesterday was the launch of their first event, to a sold out capacity. With a calendar of events in the upcoming months, it would be a shame to miss out if you have a little one tottering about with some inventive ideas. My team at Silicon Break will be interviewing the crew behind these workshops soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Check out the Maker Club Brighton here: https://brighton.makerclub.org/

I spent all of my education learning two other languages: Irish and French and only one of them I would say I’m fluent in still (take your guess which one). I’m feeling a little bit jilted that I’ve missed out on this movement of teaching the nation how to code, but all I can do is catch up. And although we tend to scoff at the idea of babies learning from iPads and the likes, it might be reassuring to know that this year the usual passive technology gifts may be replaced by a future changing Micro Bit.

And one last picture…

Le Vie En Code was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Just so you know, I’m a millennial.

And I think I’m quite fortunate to have grown up in a period of outstanding technology development. My family bought our first Windows 97 computer when I was around 7 years old and ever since I’ve adapted easily to new technologies, learning new interfaces like second nature. I’ve since vowed to never fall behind on the trend. I have always preached that I never want to end up like my parents, fumbling around with their new iPhone forced upon them by their child, unable to work things out for themselves.

My dad never really used the computers we owned (Windows 97, Windows and XP). I was practically his secretary from a young age carrying out his emails, printing out job orders, typing up invoices. We eventually weaned him onto a laptop and he was able to (painstakingly) slowly learn how to navigate to his favourite auto buy and sell website and that was it, that’s all he needed to know. Two years later, he was able to open the app on his iPad with ease and whenever you handed him the laptop he began to wonder why it wouldn’t work by simply touching the screen.

I never want to be like that. I want to know everything as it comes. Or do I? This week my mind is uncertain…

It’s a robot awakening. Following on my from post last week on AI and how beneficial it is and also quite absolutely terrifying, one company has started to replace its workers with robots. The biggest contract electronics manufacturer in China who make everything from Apple iPhones to Samsung Galaxy phones to Sony Playstation have replaced 60,000 workers in one factory with robots. That’s an entire average football stadium worth of people. People. Now. Robots. Nope. I can’t cope with this…

I’ve always wanted to evolve with technology to be on trend, to not be left behind. But I never imagined it integrating with our lives so much that it would threaten my chances of employment. I remember hearing about the Haley Joel Osment movie AI (2001) when I was little and it kind of went over my head. It never seemed attainable.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% rooting for all the beneficial things that AI and robot technology can bring. When it comes to AI being used for everything from space to ocean navigation and everything in between, it would be pretty ridiculous to scoff at its marvels.

And fair, the 60,000 jobs now given to robots were probably very laborious and it’s great that we can give such a mundane task to a robot instead of making a human endure it. But what if your career is in danger? Apparently the top job sectors in danger of being replaced by robots include: pharmacy, army, taxi, butcher, baker, analysts, telemarketers and cleaners. Where’s the limit? When do we decide that the robots can do x y and z and that’s it? The personable and social aspect of many every day ventures will be lost. Part of the enjoyment of getting a taxi sometimes is the joy of having a chat with the taxi driver along the way. My main question is, however, what’s left for the people already doing these jobs? Unemployment? Eradication from the human race? I kid…

The 2013 movie Her where Joaquin Phoenix’s character falls in love with his new operating system seemed at the time, to me, far fetched. I loved the movie (mainly for its beautiful cinematography) and its only three years later and I’m thinking that that movie could very, very definitely be the means to battle loneliness for many, and soon.

The Channel 4 show Humans that aired last year was another wake up call for me. One of the main themes of it that I found particularly…worrying… was that a robot could become everything you want it to be. Relationships were torn apart by jealousy and lust because one half of the couple has fallen in love with an operating system that has moulded itself to be everything that they desire.

It may no longer be a battle of “it’s me or the dog”…

It’s Me or the Robot was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I feel as though I’m living in the future all of a sudden. It’s like I spent my childhood watching The Terminator, Star Wars and Night Rider, wondering if I’d ever live to see the day where such pinnacles in technology would be present in my life. However, Artificial Technology is not something that might happen in the future. It’s here and we’ve been using it for longer than we realise.

We use Narrow AI systems every day. Narrow, or some say weak AI systems are non-sentient (they can’t think objectively) and are focused on one narrow task only. This form of AI is all around us being used in cars, weather forecasting and in air traffic. Siri, the Apple iPhone’s first intelligent assistant, is a form of weak AI but can be described as one of the first hybrid forms of AI as it can complete more than one simple task and it has access to cloud data.

The term Artificial Intelligence was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, an American computer scientist who soon became known as the father of Artificial Intelligence. It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs and these days the target not just to create a robot, but to create a strong AI that can think like a human.

That’s enough with the jargon.

What’s interesting to see in modern developments with AI today is the ways in which it is being trained to think like us. Last week it was revealed that Google has been feeding over 2,865 erotic romantic novels to its AI machine, Go, in an attempt to coerce it to learn conversational language. It turns out, almost disappointingly, no, this AI won’t be churning out smutty passages of lust and attraction, but it is hoped that this project leads to the AI being able to converse in a more natural and conversational way. There’s a part of me that covertly wants this mission to backfire in a similar way that Microsoft’s AI Tay did, posting Nazi related, genocide-supporting, racist and just downright obscene tweets. Who knows, perhaps the next best-selling 50 Shades of Grey style book will be curated by an AI.

Every week there appears to be a new story involving AI development. Soon, we’ll meet Viv, the new AI being developed by the same creators of Siri. Viv is being described as next generation of AI who had her world premiere last week, with Dag Kittlaus showing off her features and the way in which she works. To me, a new runner in this technology wave, Viv is fascinating. It’s detailed and doing the thing I wish the likes of Siri and Cortana could do before. Viv can order you a pizza without you having to open an app or dial a number. You tell her, it’s done. It completely cuts out the process of social interaction, which is, to some people, absolutely terrifying. Will such a type of AI just make us brutally lazy; too afraid to speak to customer service, too lazy to look up a favourable hotel for your next holiday, relying on this machine’s “opinion” (or actually, your opinion, seeing as it bases everything it knows from you) to book you the best tailored hotel for you. Perhaps soon the AI will order the pizza, the AI will probably make the pizza and the pizza will be delivered by drone. You may have caught on that I like using pizza as a reference for example…

Last week, Artificial Intelligence was put to the test at the Kentucky Derby. AI company, Unanimous, tested its new software platform, UNU, on predicting the results of the races, resulting in 100% accuracy of the top 4 place winners. It could change the future of betting and it’s also set to change the future of video gaming. On May 23rd, as part of Brighton Festival, Guardian Gaming are hosting an event titled Artificial Intelligence and the future of Gaming. Expert panels of designers and programmers will be there discussing how AI will influence gaming drastically in the next ten years. Even if gaming is not your vice, this would be a very interesting event to attend just to hear a mere glimpse of what the future may hold, right on your doorstep.

Check out the event here:

http://brightonfestival.org/event/8307/artificial_intelligence_and_the_future_of_gaming/

AI: 2016 was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Three years ago, Apple announced that you would no longer have to pay for OS updates, starting with the update for the OS X Mavericks. This week, in an almost reverse progression, it has been announced that if you don’t update your Windows OS to Windows 10 by July 29th following its year-long free upgrade promotion, you’ll face a fee, creating controversy amongst Windows users.

The initial reaction to this announcement means a relief in the expectant end of troublesome pop-up ads urging users to update to Microsoft 10. No longer appearing as an optional update but as a recommended update, it’s all in a desperate plea to encourage users to convert. The update, released in July 2015, has seen plummeting figures in its global user share. Metrics vendor Net Applications, has witnessed a month-over-month decrease in the growth of upgrades. Specifically, from January, the growth rates have been downhill, fluctuating between 8% and 11%. It’s being mentioned that the upgrade will cost £82, with an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro costing £130. However, there is a clause for some. The Microsoft Accessibility Blog recently mentioned that there won’t be an update charge for users of assistive technologies, stating:

“As you may have heard, the free Windows 10 upgrade offer for customers running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is set to end on July 29, but we want to clarify that that deadline will *not* apply to customers who use assistive technologies.”

The pop up’s insisting an urgent upgrade have been causing mayhem online, troubling customers in some amusing and some devastating ways. Reddit is flooded with users complaining about entire university work being lost when the system suddenly started to update without warning and a televised weather forecast in America was jovially interrupted by the infamous Windows 10 pop up.

I’ll admit, I’m not a well versed user of Windows, being a self-professed Apple fiend. Looking into the features that the Windows 10 update brings, however, I’m decidedly impressed. Windows 10 sees the return of the Start menu, something that has been heavily missed by users since Windows 7. What has impressed me the most is Windows Edge, a feature that I’ve never before heard of, allowing you to write and doodle on web pages. There’s face and fingerprint recognition sign in with Windows Hello and Cortana, your personal assistant who cleverly recognises your voice, is sharper and wittier than ever. It’s intuitive and forward-thinking. Although, the addition of a Photos app, organising your photos in one place, seems to be a very weak and delayed addition to Windows OS.

It’s not just dread of change and a stray from familiarity that is the reasoning behind millions of Windows users still hanging on to their old operating system. Since it’s release, Windows 10 has received a bad reputation for default privacy settings. Most concerns stem from privacy settings with Cortana that aims to “get to know” you, logging your voice, your locations, what you write, what events you go to and an endless amount more of personal information. Businesses have also remained skeptical about the update. Windows 10 Enterprise was excluded from the option of the free update, giving green eyes to those businesses who would have to cash out to meet the update. Microsoft also revealed an ambitious plan to reach 1 billion Windows 10 users between 2017 and 2018. Gordon Kelly from Forbes writes that he doesn’t expect this to happen without more free upgrades, a likely expectation if they really intend on getting 14% of the world population on board to the update.

Of course, it’s no skin off my back as I sit here smug in the knowledge that I can update my MacBook to whatever successor of El Capitan will emerge without cost. But it doesn’t stop the curiosity in me from wanting to see what Window’s next move will be and you never know, perhaps I will decide that the grass is greener with Windows. Or not…

To Windows 10 or not to Windows 10? was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s been a long time coming but it’s beginning to feel that 2016 is the year that drones are the ultimate tech piece of desire.

A recent video to surface the internet that has Brighton and Hove talking is a video uploaded by paddle boarder Paul Nelson, showing a fly-through image of the inside of the West Pier. Shot on an SUP Drone, the video flies through the haunting infrastructure on its last legs as Nelson paddles close, all set to the rather unnecessary soundtrack of Gary Jule’s Mad World.

With drone technology constantly aiming for higher quality, Nelson’s video, although ambitious, just leaves me longing for quite a few more frames per second. The Sussex area is steadily growing with the movement of the done craze. Sussex Drone Club ran by First Person View, an FPV company specialising in drones, gathers regularly to carry out drone racing competitions and give advice on drone regulations and training.

The market for drones is not as monopolistic as you might expect. The fore runners include DJI, Parrot, 3DR Robotics and DMZ and the one brand that has been anticipated to jump on board the drone train (or plane) is GoPro. Last Thursday it was announced that the awaited release of the GoPro Karma drone, expected to be released this May, is to be held back until the end of the year at the beginning of the holiday season. All of this comes in light of reports that the company’s sales have plummeted in the past year, falling 5.5% on Thursday, according to Forbes. Perhaps this is a cue that drone technology development is moving so rapidly, that even GoPro, leaders in action cameras, can’t even get on board yet.

And they better hurry up. The pairing of drones and VR is already taking off. The Samsung Gear VR is one such VR headset that can control drones by moving your head. This is basically taking VR to an entire new level, allowing you to immerse yourself, flying as the drone!

Drones are a becoming a vital piece of technology for any Vlogger worth their salt. Rags to riches YouTube star and filmmaker Casey Neistat uses a DJI Phantom 4 in his daily vlogs to create cinema quality footage of his life. He takes his drone everywhere, testing the limits and boundaries and positively making every one of his viewers envious of his movie aesthetic lifestyle. Content creators this side of the pond are also already on the trend. Stef Michalak, a weekly family Vlog YouTuber, has been on the cusp of arrest many times due to his risky flying in congested areas, prompting him to acquire UAV pilot permit in order to continue his daily montages.

However, drones are not just for entertainment. Drone delivery has been on the horizon for technology in the past few years. Zipline, a start-up partner company of UPS, is to start using drones to deliver life-saving blood supplies and vaccines to areas in Rwanda. The project is to be used as a testing ground for future drone delivery. Amazon and Alphabet Inc. have both been testing such delivery services in order cut time and delivery costs for the past few years, however US regulations have always stood in the way with concerns over from the agility of communication between the drones and airplanes in America’s crowded airspace. Drone battery longevity, privacy and insurance of course, are also a concern. However, it is reassuring to see the outset of drone delivery being used for such a vital cause.

The growth of civilian ownership of drones has prompted the government to seek rules and regulations to be put in place. Civilian owned drones weighing less than 20kg and for non-commercial purposes, do not typically require a permit, so long as they are not flown within 50m of a congested area or flown above 50m horizontally and are aware of the requirements of the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority). Recently, the first reported incident of drone collision with commercial airplanes in the UK was reported. In April, a drone collided with Airbus A320 as it landed at Heathrow airport. Although it had no major implications to the landing of the aircraft, it has prompted the government to look into implementing mandatory registration of all drones, not just the commercial kind, as compulsory in the US.

Drone delivery could be attainable very, very soon. It’s the dawn of the future. And my future will most likely include a drone delivered Dominos…

The Dawn of the Drone was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mystery swarms around the unusual deal made by Bowers & Wilkins chief executive Joe Atkins last week.

I’m a sucker for buying into luxury technology. I dream to own an unfathomable amount of fashionable technology accessories, the best, the more, the better. But for some reason, high quality audio technology never enticed me and I would probably pin that on the fact that my hearing has never been the best. So when the office was buzzing with discussion over the news that Bowers & Wilkins had been sold, my initial reaction was why people in Brighton were so concerned about BMW… (forgive me).

So I read into this Worthing based company and found my ears craving to hear this supposedly otherworldly quality of audio. With prices higher than your most lusted after car and the mention of diamonds involved, my ears perked. And suddenly I’ve become immersed and captivated by the mystery surrounding the recent sale of Bowers & Wilkins.

Joe Atkins, chief executive of Bowers & Wilkins for the past three decades, founded the company and soon the brand name was being ranked the most iconic speaker specialists worldwide, all hailing from unassuming, humble Worthing. The 1,100 employee strong force were hit with the news on Tuesday that the company was being sold to a company called Eva Automation. And an almost audible whisper of “who?” could be heard all around the internet.

Gideon Yu, former executive of Facebook, and current co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, founded the Silicon Valley start up two years ago, which appears to have not yet sold a single product. Their website states that they plan to “re-imagine the audio/video experience by making products that will change how people interact and think about the home”. Joshua Brustein from Bloomberg Technology writes that Atkins and Yu only met little over thirty days ago and soon the sale was agreed for a very disclosed, secretive number.

Bowers & Wilkins enthusiasts are holding their breath waiting to discover how this move can be beneficial to Atkins, who will still remain the chief executive of the now, joint company. Competitor speaker companies are coming up with ways to integrate their speakers with Spotify and voice recognition technology, something that Bowers & Wilkins feel that they would struggle to diverge into. Atkins has acknowledged that Bowers and Wilkins does not have the expertise needed to build software that communicates with complex cloud based platforms. The audiophiles amongst you, are likely already skeptical of digital music companies, and may question whether this pairing will affect the quality of the luxurious B&W products, however, Atkins vows that the company will continue to sell its coveted current line of products. With the eager generation of millennials all making a move to cloud services for music access, it is understandable why this move would be beneficial to Atkins.

Yu claims that Eva Automation is focusing on user experience, design and innovation with developments in creating multi-room audio/video systems at the fore using their $20m of funding, with a goal to begin selling new Bowers & Wilkins products using Eva by early to mid-2017. Yu has also agreed to drop the Eva brand name in favour of Bowers & Wilkins reputable name.

With Eva Automations behind them, perhaps this is the move that Bowers & Wilkins need in order to incorporate this new movement in audio technology with just absolutely, indisputable quality. The mystery of the sale and how it came about will doubtless be the subject of internet discussion, but time can only reveal the bewildering reason behind the move. In the meantime, I’m off to find my nearest sound store to feast my ears on the experience of Bowers and Wilkins speakers I’ve been hearing so much about.

B&W Sold to Yu & Who? was originally published in Silicon Break on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.