Month: December 2020

In 2019, Bloom & Wild, a mailbox flower delivery company, announced to its customers that they could opt out of marketing on Mother’s Day. This followed some customers asking that emails be paused in advance, which for some can be a sensitive holiday.

The response was mostly positive. Since then the Thoughtful marketing move has evolved and 130 companies have signed up. Marketers share their ideas on how to be more empathetic.

Empathy is becoming increasingly important for individuals, communities and organizations. Two years ago, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Empathy is one of the most important sources of innovation.

At TNW2020, Jacob Andreou, Vice President of Product at Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, hosted a panel entitled “Leading With Empathy.” During the interview, Andreou said empathy is key to building an organization and communicating with customers: “Empathy is the key to the future of marketing and business as a whole. I believe in leading with empathy and building companies with an empathy imperative. “

Empathy and innovation are linked

Empathy, which is closely tied to innovation, comes as no surprise. It’s the act of putting yourself in someone else’s metaphorical shoes and understanding what they’re feeling and why. When looking at something from a different perspective, an innovator needs to understand how the thing can be made better or what new product should be created.

However, in the world of technology, things can go wrong. A lack of empathy with innovation can lead to the consequences for some end users of a new product being overlooked. The conclusion of a report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that many facial recognition algorithms were used by 99 developers misidentified faces 10 to 100 times more likely to be of African and Asian ancestry than faces of European ancestry.

If these shortcomings are revealed, it is important that they are corrected as soon as possible. Snapchat did that. Andreou and his team realized that the new “Best Friends” feature was publicly showing the friendship level that users were designating with each other and removed the feature.

While it added time on the platform, it also increased stress and anxiety, which is neither good for the company nor for the user.

Empathize and adapt

Sensitive innovations are also about optimizing existing functions in order to integrate products with a broader range of experience.

One example is Clue, an ovulation and period tracking app that tracks other activities like sleep, stress, and sexual activity. In the past, the symbols for protected sex and unprotected sex were a lying male silhouette wearing a tie and the same figure, but without a tie. Then the symbols changed to a pair of boots and a pair of flip flops.

Clue CEO and Founder Ida Tin told TNW: “We understand that the former may have excluded the experience of some of our users. We always try to be hyperculturally aware. “Clue’s awareness that people who have periods and use the app may have sex lives unrelated to men led to an innovative improvement that made the product more inclusive.

Pinterest is another company that is customized to meet the needs of its users. ‘Pinners’ who document quotes and pictures in areas from DIY to interior design and get inspired. Annie Ta, head of Inclusive Product, said the team spoke to experts about how to gain experiences that can inspire people no matter how they are feeling.

Ta told TNW, “This has resulted in our team building a more compassionate search experience,” a collection of emotional wellbeing activities that allow users to improve their mood. Prompts about these activities appear when users search for topics that imply a bad mood, such as: B. “Fear of work”. The initiative thus corresponds to the value of the platform of “putting the winners first”.

Follow the “imperative for empathy”

With that in mind, Snap also states that the needs of Snapchatters are of paramount importance. For the social media giant, the possibility of bringing empathy into innovation is to follow the “empathy imperative”.

During his TNW2020 talk, Andreou explained that the empathy imperative is a template for building, with the needs, preferences and safety of real people in the foreground. He said part of the imperative of empathy is building trust: “That trust goes hand in hand with predictability, and a predictable product that behaves as expected in the hands of your users is a well-designed product.”

Andreou said this is why there is no way to re-share content within Snapchat: “If any piece of content upsets you, you can’t get it out to all of your followers, which increases its impact. That is exactly what brand security means. “

The empathy imperative also follows four guiding principles:

1. The first is always Honor your core product value. “At Snap, our core product value is about being the fastest way to communicate. We focused on helping people feel the depth of friendship and developed the “Best Friends” feature. But it got users to guess themselves and the feature has detracted from core product value. Ultimately, we removed the feature. “
2. The second is to emulate the way the Walt Disney Company does things. “Disney actually teaches companies in classes, and the most important thing they focus on is teaching the four keys. Safety, courtesy, keeping storytelling alive, and efficiency and convenience. But they are not all created equal and safety should never be sacrificed. At Disney, families need to feel safe and secure. The same is true when you’re building technology. “
3. The third is closed be the “right kind” of global taking into account the differences between populations. “If you take technology and products that were developed for the US into other markets, you will fail. A sensitive product always feels like it’s a few blocks away, anywhere in the world. “Snap found out about this in 2015 when it entered the Indian market without understanding the realities of the national internet infrastructure and deterred new users by falsely showing them connectivity error messages.
4. The last principle is to innovate openly and promote competition. Andreou said, “If you build for the long term, you probably have a strong and decent product and business. You can afford others to be on your tail. Focus on good innovations and expect these great ideas to spread beyond the walls of your company. “

Empathy is here to stay

The greater awareness and cultural impact of empathy has resonated with many, and it looks like it’s not going to go away anytime soon. Increasingly, companies and industry leaders are taking on missions in accordance with Snap’s guiding principles.

Belinda Parmar, Founder and CEO of The Empathy Business, underlined Snap’s third principle when she told TNW that the main driver of empathy is belonging. With so many of us who feel disconnected: “We have to feel and create a sense of belonging to one another.”

Clue, Pinterest and Snapchat show the importance of making your customers feel included, heard, seen and welcomed in order to create a sense of belonging to a space they want to get involved in.

Finally, Andreou added that listening was a one-way street. “The winds change. They move every industry towards more transparency, responsibility and empathy. It is powered by a young, loudly activated generation who wholeheartedly question the old ways of doing business. ”

This article is brought to you by Snap.

Genevieve Poblano / Digital Trends

In the past five years, SpaceX has embarked on a mind-boggling project: the Starlink satellite constellation. The big plan is to put more than 12,000 satellites (or more) into low-earth orbit and place them in an undulating, grid-like array that will allow SpaceX to deliver high-speed broadband internet to every corner of the planet.

To date, SpaceX has launched nearly 900 Starlink satellites into orbit and has even launched beta access to its fledgling satellite internet service. Internet access may not be the only trick this mega-constellation has up its sleeve, however. Researchers believe it could also be used for a secondary mission: creating a next-generation navigation system that could replace GPS.

Beyond broadband

Peter Iannucci and Todd Humphreys of the Radionavigation Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin looked into how this could be done and recently published an article on their research. Iannucci explains to Digital Trends that setting up a navigation system from scratch in low-earth orbit would be too costly, but using the Starlink satellites would be affordable.

SpaceX

“We’re talking about a system where the positioning mission doesn’t have to bear the financial burden of supporting tens of thousands of satellites because they have one main mission, which is the Internet service,” says Ianucci. “Everyone must have an internet service.”

Because these satellites are in near-earth orbit (about 350 miles from the surface of the earth) and therefore closer to the planet than traditional GPS satellites (which orbit about 12,000 miles away), they could theoretically provide a stronger signal for navigation as GPS can generate. This would help prevent the signal from being intentionally or unintentionally disturbed, which is relatively easy to do with conventional GPS. According to Ianucci, GPS signals are accidentally jammed all the time.

“GPS jamming is easily accessible even to amateurs – even casual actors can intentionally or unintentionally jam GPS,” says Ianucci. “These [low-Earth orbit] Signals could be roughly 400,000 times more immune to interference. That’s big.”

According to Ianucci, these small satellites in near-earth orbit only need a software update to achieve improved navigation. These satellites already have a rough idea of ​​where they are, which is necessary to prevent a collision, but Ianucci says the software update will do it so they’ll know where they are much more accurately.

SpaceX

“We would be pushing for software upgrades and possibly hardware upgrades that refine these positioning estimates beyond what is required for safe orbit operation,” says Ianucci.

One way to do this is to have the satellites popped by the GPS satellites higher in the atmosphere to help them find their location. Once the software is set up, receivers on the ground can pick up signals that these satellites are constantly sending and use them for navigation.

Build a better GPS

Mark Psiaki, a professor in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech, told Digital Trends that this navigation system would not only help us avoid interference, it would also be more accurate.

“One of the advantages of Earth orbit is just that [the satellites there] move so fast. They just scream across the sky very quickly, ”says Psiaki.

He says that if you receive signals from dozens of fast-moving satellites at the same time, you can get a more accurate picture of where you are than if you receive signals from a small number of slow-moving satellites. This will be important as we bring autonomous cars and delivery drones into the world.

“There’s a push for something called PPP or precise point positioning. Right now, simple vanilla GPS and the others have an accuracy of the order of a meter or a few meters if everything goes right, ”says Psiaki. “That’s not enough to keep a car in one lane on a freeway. You could go on the next lane or on your shoulder. If you could have precise point positioning, now we’re talking 10 centimeters. “

According to Psiaki, PPP can be made compatible with our current GPS system, but it is very complicated and takes a long time. If we were to use low-earth orbit satellites for this it would be much faster and very reliable. He says we could cut the time between turning on the receiver and running PPP from about 20 minutes to maybe a minute.

Not only would we get a stronger signal from these satellites, but we would also be able to get autonomous cars on the road faster and make sure our delivery drones don’t collide with each other or against other objects. All these researchers need is someone like Elon Musk to agree to make some software changes.

“If we can show them that the investment they are already making is paying off in these unexpected secondary ways, it will be a win for them and a huge win for us in the navigation community,” says Iannucci.

Editor’s recommendations

When you visit a website, it triggers a series of modules that are programmed to make the most of your data. In many cases, this means your personal information will be put up for sale and sold to advertisers, marketing firms, and data brokers. In the last year alone, U.S. companies spent nearly $ 12 billion collecting such third-party audience data.

California’s comprehensive new data protection act, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect earlier this year, aims to counter this practice by giving Californians the right to opt out of selling their data. Companies subject to this jurisdiction must have an option on their websites that allows visitors to easily complete this non-sale request, and companies that do not face fines and official requests.

But of course nobody wants to deal with a different button or popup every time they visit a website. This is where the Global Privacy Control (GPC) initiative comes into play.

A not for sale sign for your private information

Global Privacy Control, developed by a group of privacy-focused companies and researchers, is a technical standard that acts as a global environment so you can opt out of selling your data anywhere on the internet with a flip of common switch. This tool integrates with your browser and sends a signal to CCPA compliant websites letting you know that you do not want to put your personal information up for sale.

The GPC, which is currently in beta, is not yet enforced under the CCPA law. Most recently, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra detailed a provision in this law that would ultimately allow for a global opt-out change such as global privacy control. Later, in a tweet and statement on digital trends, Becerra paid tribute to global privacy scrutiny and expressed its support.

This proposed standard is a first step towards meaningful global data protection control that makes it simple and easy for consumers to exercise their data protection rights online.
#DataPrivacy is the future and I am excited to see a wave of innovation in this area.

– Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) October 7, 2020

“We believe that online privacy should be easy and accessible to everyone,” Peter Dolanjski, product director at DuckDuckGo, one of the early supporters of global privacy controls, told Digital Trends. “Global Privacy Control adds an extra layer of privacy that is easy to turn on and intended to be backed by legal enforcement, from the CCPA to expanding to other jurisdictions over time.”

Success that failed Do Not Track

“Legal” is indeed the key word here. For years, data protection officers have waged a war against internet and data companies to secure basic security rights and roll back invasive online practices that commercialize people’s private information. However, with no law to back them up, most of these efforts have fallen through the cracks or have produced little results.

The decades-old Do Not Track specification epitomizes this. Since it was never required by law, in reality it actually didn’t do anything, and companies just ignored it and pursued users at will. Eventually, many tech companies like Apple just gave up the “Don’t Track” option and even removed it from their services.

Even if Do Not Track passed, it never had the technological infrastructure it needed to be truly effective. Let’s face it: how often do we read the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) warnings and acknowledgments that websites send to us? In fact, a study by DataGrail found that since the CCPA went live on January 1, 2020, only 82 “don’t sell” requests have been sent per million consumer records.

Theoretically, global data protection control does not suffer from any of these problems. It already has a legal backbone in California and is welcomed by a notable group of organizations like Mozilla, Brave, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Automattic (WordPress and Tumblr), the New York Times, and others.

Since the GPC signal runs automatically in the background, users do not have to search and toggle an option themselves. In the beta version, global data protection control was introduced on a handful of platforms. You can test them out today on DuckDuckGo, Brave, Google Chrome (thanks to the EFF add-on called Privacy Badger), and more.

Kelvin Coleman, the executive director of the National Cyber ​​Security Alliance (NCSA), believes GPC’s legal buffers will help legitimize its goals, as opposed to “Do Not Track” which was “put in place in a vacuum” .

“With CCPA and GDPR in place as precedents, organizations are forced to find their way through a minefield of compliance issues and heavy fines if they fail to handle user data. This creates a greater incentive to adopt GPC in the long term, ”said Coleman.

Not yet the silver bullet: the long, arduous way ahead of us

However, security researchers warn that it will take years for global data protection controls to be implemented on a large scale, and even then it may not be the silver bullet for outrageous online data abuse. More importantly, the GPC’s legal scope, provided it is bound by the CCPA, is limited to California. Additionally, this does not apply to data shared with nonprofits, government agencies, and companies with sales less than $ 25 million.

Sebastian Zimmeck, one of the founding members of the GPC and a professor of computer science at Wesleyan University, remains optimistic, arguing that California is currently a major use case, but the technology behind it is legally independent and can rely on different legal boundaries depend on it how other jurisdictions will develop their privacy laws in the future.

Dolanjski from DuckDuckGo adds that the consortium is also talking to “various parties in the European Union” to integrate global data protection controls into the GDPR.

The European Data Protection Supervisor, the official data protection officer of the GDPR, did not comment on whether it was investigating GPC partnerships, but said in a statement that it “welcomes privacy-oriented initiatives that can have a positive impact on a more sustainable digital economy and that encourage competition in the field of technology in a time of increasing digitization. “

Another shortcoming that could affect the GPC’s success is that it will have little impact on your online privacy if it is not activated on all of your devices every time you browse sessions. As you can see, the global data protection control signal is sent every time you visit a website. It is not universally activated in your profile.

“Our information is at risk more than ever and the GPC could be the stepping stone we need to enable a future where privacy is a legal right rather than a personal choice.”

For example, you could ask a specific site on your computer not to sell your data using GPC. However, if you go to this website again on your phone, where GPC may not be available yet, the company could abuse your private information.

Peter Snyder, a senior privacy researcher at Brave, sees the GPC as the foundation and hopes that responsible websites, businesses and advertisers use it “as part of a diverse approach to ensure that they ethically and responsibly respect the privacy of users and users”. including automatic application to all sessions if the visitor has an account with them.

Then there is the question of conflict. What if the website already has your consent to sell your private information in their privacy policy?

How the GPC adapts to the cobweb of permissions and popup websites remains to be seen as soon as more participants come on board. But Zimmeck suggests that this will depend on the law. For example, the CCPA requires companies to comply with the opt-out signal regardless of the situation and notify or contact the customer if necessary to resolve certain disputes.

Despite its shortcomings, global data protection controls seem promising and may be the best way to date to contain online data abuse. Our information is at risk more than ever, and the GPC could be the stepping stone we need to enable a future where privacy is a legal right rather than a personal choice.

“Until there is a wider collective of participating publishers, companies and websites – coupled with adequate legal enforcement – the GPC will continue to be a limited-reach ideal,” said Coleman of NCSA. “But this ideal is very promising in the face of greater acceptance.”

Editor’s recommendations

Towards the end of 2020, Pornhub is starting to face music because of concerns about their failure to keep offensive content off their platform.

The website announced today that it will only allow uploads from verified users and partners, that downloads will be prohibited (excluding paid content from verified uploaders) and that moderation practices will be expanded. Further measures will follow in the new year.

The steps follow a devastating piece in the New York Times by columnist Nicholas Kristof from last week highlighting the tragedy and long-lasting trauma that haunts the people found in sexual abuse content in non-consensual content and material hosted on the platform exploited by children (CSAM).

[Read: Why AI is the future of home security]

Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek, which is managed out of Montreal and operates more than 100 other porn sites, is also in hot water with Visa and MasterCard. The two financial services giants announced this week that they would be investigating their financial ties with the company. They said they would take action if they found evidence of illegal activity, such as stopping support for payments.

This would likely affect Pornhub’s ability to receive subscription fees as well as payments for premium content.

Pornhub receives over 3.5 billion visits every month, and 1.36 million hours of video are uploaded to the site every year. Not only is it a massive operation, but it also has a great responsibility to moderate the content that people are sharing and seeing there.

In its announcement, Pornhub talked about the processes that have already been put in place to moderate content. But, as Kristof’s story shows, mistakes in these processes slide a lot through the cracks, from footage to rape and revenge porn clips to suggested searches for content involving minors.

The tragic stories of the young people in Kristof’s play who were ostracized, homeless, and suicidal show that this type of material circulated online can all too easily destroy lives – and it does so years later. It’s time for Pornhub and other similar sites to do far better.

Read On: Where Is XR Today And What Does It Mean For Your Business?

Im Laufe der Jahre haben wir Dutzende von 3D-Druckern getestet, sodass wir eine gute Vorstellung davon haben, was gut ist und was nicht. Aber trotz jahrelanger Behauptungen über großartige billige 3D-Drucker gibt es nicht allzu viele, die unseren hohen Standards für Qualitätsdrucke entsprechen.

Der beste da draußen ist immer noch ein Formlabs-Drucker. Das Form 2 war ein hervorragender Drucker, aber das neu veröffentlichte Form 3 ist noch besser. Es hat eine etwas größere Baufläche und die Drucke, die aus dieser Maschine kommen, sind noch glatter und präziser als die des Vorgängers, was an und für sich beeindruckend ist. Aber es sind immer noch 3.500 US-Dollar, außerhalb der Reichweite der meisten von uns. Es gibt jedoch eine Menge günstigerer Optionen. Wenn Sie also auf dem Markt nach etwas Budgetfreundlicherem suchen, lesen Sie weiter.

Lesen Sie weiter unten in diesem Beitrag einige großartige Angebote für 3D-Drucker, die wir kontinuierlich mit den besten aktuellen Angeboten aktualisieren.

Formlabs Form 3

Bill Roberson / Digitale Trends

Das Form 3 von Formlabs ist keineswegs billig; Weder war sein Vorgänger, das Formular 2. Aber Sie bekommen, wofür Sie bezahlen, oder? Keiner der übrigen Drucker auf dieser Liste hat eine annähernd qualitativ hochwertige Qualität. Und überraschenderweise ist es super einfach zu bedienen.

Es ist erwähnenswert, dass das Formular 3 kein durchschnittlicher FDM-Drucker ist. Es ist eine ganz andere Rasse. Anstatt Plastikfilamente zu erhitzen und durch eine Düse zu spritzen, um Objekte Schicht für Schicht aufzubauen, verwendet das Form 3 ein Laserprojektionssystem, um Objekte aus einem Pool aus UV-härtbarem Harz zu „wachsen“. Wenn der Laser über die Harzschale blitzt, verfestigt sich eine dünne Schicht auf der Bauplatte, die für jede neue Schicht langsam nach oben gezogen wird.

Nun ist klar, dass Form 3 nicht der einzige 3D-Drucker ist, der diese Methode verwendet – aber es ist die einfachste Verwendung des Bündels. Formlabs füllte es mit einer Schiffsladung großartiger Funktionen, die das Drucken auf Harzbasis weniger problematisch machen, wie z. B. eine automatisch füllende Harzschale, und einer ausgeklügelten Druckfunktion, mit der Objekte leichter von der Bauplatte entfernt werden können. Es gibt sogar eine Web-App, mit der Sie den Status Ihres Ausdrucks überprüfen können, wenn Sie sich nicht in der Nähe des Geräts befinden.

Lulzbot Mini 2

Es gibt viele Drucker auf dem Markt, die sich an Anfänger richten, aber nur sehr wenige machen das richtig. Eine Sache, die bei „anfängerfreundlichen“ Druckern immer häufiger vorkommt, ist, die verfügbaren Optionen zugunsten einer verwässerten, stark vereinfachten Benutzeroberfläche zu entfernen. Oft haben Sie nur drei verschiedene Auflösungsoptionen (hoch, mittel oder niedrig) und keinen Zugriff oder keine Kontrolle über „verwirrende“ Einstellungen wie Extrusionsgeschwindigkeit, Fülldichte oder Hot-End-Temperatur. Dieser fehlende Zugriff erleichtert die Bedienung des Geräts, schränkt jedoch auch die Möglichkeiten Ihres 3D-Druckers erheblich ein. Dies ist der träge Weg, einen Drucker „benutzerfreundlich“ zu machen.

Lulzbot geht diesen faulen Ansatz nicht an. Anstatt erweiterte Optionen zu entfernen, können Sie mit der Software von Lulzbot Ihre Komplexität und Kontrolle auswählen. Es gibt eine Basisoberfläche, in der Sie nur einfache Einstellungen (Temperatur, Geschwindigkeit, Ebenenhöhe usw.) vornehmen müssen, aber auch eine Registerkarte “Erweitert”, mit der Sie die Druckparameter genauer steuern können. Diese Funktionen eignen sich hervorragend für Anfänger, da sie einfach und unkompliziert sind, wenn Sie noch etwas lernen, aber Sie nicht daran hindern, tiefer zu gehen, Ihr Wissen zu erweitern und mehr aus Ihrem 3D-Drucker herauszuholen.

Der Lulzbot Mini 2 bietet gegenüber seinem Nachfolger einige neue Hauptfunktionen. Äußerlich sieht es genauso aus, aber innen liegen große Veränderungen. Die Druckgeschwindigkeit ist viel schneller und dieser Drucker unterstützt jetzt dank eines brandneuen Druckkopfs eine Vielzahl von Materialien. Mit dem Original haben wir bereits einige Drucke von ziemlich guter Qualität erhalten, daher sollte der neue Drucker theoretisch noch besser sein. Und Sie können diesen Drucker aufrüsten, anstatt daraus zu wachsen, was Sie bei vielen günstigeren Wettbewerbern tun werden.

Monoprice Mini Delta

Bill Roberson / Digitale Trends

Bill Roberson / Digitale Trends

Soweit wir das beurteilen können, Monoprice Mini Delta ist einer der billigsten 3D-Drucker, die Sie kaufen können. Das ist kein Kit – aber das ist nicht der einzige Grund, warum wir ihn ausgewählt haben. Dieses Gerät ist nicht nur fertig montiert und sofort einsatzbereit, sondern verfügt auch über ein beheiztes Bett. Wir glauben, dass dies ein entscheidendes Merkmal für FDM-Drucker ist. Dies verhindert Verwerfungen und reduziert das Risiko von Druckfehlern drastisch – und ist normalerweise nur bei Druckern zu finden, die mehr als 1.000 US-Dollar kosten. Dieser kostet 180 Dollar, was umwerfend ist.

Der Mini Delta verfügt außerdem über ein Hot End mit variabler Temperatur, mit dem Sie Einstellungen anpassen und mit einer Vielzahl von Materialien drucken können. Dies umfasst Grundfilamente wie ABS und PLA sowie fortschrittlichere Materialien wie leitfähiges PLA, Holz- und Metallverbundwerkstoffe oder lösliches PVA. Darüber hinaus ist das beheizte Bett selbstnivellierend, sodass Sie das Gerät niemals manuell kalibrieren müssen, bevor Sie einen Druckvorgang starten.

Monoprice gibt Ihnen hier sicherlich viel Geld, aber das Mini Delta ist nicht perfekt. Anfänger sollten mit einer steilen Lernkurve rechnen und bereit sein, ab und zu Fehler zu beheben. Nur weil es billig ist, heißt das nicht, dass es gut für Anfänger ist.

Lesen Sie unseren vollständigen Monoprice Mini Delta Test

Anycubic Photon

Dan Baker / Digitale Trends

Bis vor kurzem waren Stereolithographiedrucker auf Verbraucherebene im Wesentlichen die Einhörner der 3D-Druckwelt. Jahrelang gab es nur wenige davon, die an Verbraucher verkauft wurden, und sie waren für die meisten 3D-Druck-Enthusiasten in der Regel viel zu teuer, um sie sich leisten zu können. Das Anycubic Photon ändert das und ist jetzt fast so billig wie einige Low-End-Drucker.

Dieser Drucker, der bei den meisten Einzelhändlern weniger als 250 US-Dollar kostet, ist in der Lage, wahnsinnig detailreiche Objekte herzustellen. Dies ist vor allem dem SLA / DLP-Druckverfahren zu verdanken, mit dem das Gerät mit extrem dünnen Schichten drucken kann. Wir sprechen von weniger als einem Zehntel der Breite eines menschlichen Haares. Machen Sie keinen Fehler – die Drucke des Photon sind noch detaillierter als die des hochwertigsten FDM-Druckers, den wir je getestet haben.

Seien Sie jedoch gewarnt. Dieses Detail hat seinen Preis. Leider hat das Photon auch einen unglaublich kleinen Umschlag, so dass Sie nichts überdrucken können 115 × 65 × 155 Millimeter (4,5 × 2,5 × 6,1 Zoll). Es ist auch eine Qual, mit dem klebrigen, stinkenden und leicht giftigen Harz des Druckers zu arbeiten. Sie müssen Handschuhe tragen, um ein Berühren zu vermeiden, und die fertigen Teile in Isopropylalkohol einweichen, um ungehärtete Gänsehaut zu entfernen. Es ist bei weitem nicht so bequem oder wartungsarm wie ein durchschnittlicher FDM-Drucker.

Das Photon ist zwar ein preisgünstiges Tier in Bezug auf die Druckleistung, aber nicht jedermanns Sache.

Lesen Sie unseren vollständigen Anycubic Photon-Test

Monoprice Maker Select Plus

Bis Monoprice in die 3D-Druck-Arena vordrang, war es schwierig, einen Drucker unter 1.000 US-Dollar zu finden, der eine große Baufläche, ein beheiztes Bett, einen stabilen Rahmen und einen Extruder mit vielen verschiedenen Materialien hatte. Ehrlich gesagt fast unmöglich. Jetzt gibt es viele Optionen in dieser Preisklasse, und die MP Maker Select Plus ist wohl das Beste vom ganzen Haufen – es sei denn, Sie sind bereit, ein Kit zu kaufen und den Drucker selbst zu bauen.

Die meisten Drucker in der Preisklasse unter 500 US-Dollar haben Bauflächen, die in Länge / Breite / Höhe nicht größer als 6 Zoll sind. Der MSP verfügt jedoch über eine große Bauform von 7,9 × 7.9 × 7,1 Zoll, was nichts zu verspotten ist. Dies bedeutet nicht nur, dass Sie größere Teile drucken können, sondern Sie können auch mehr kleine Teile auf die Bauplatte montieren, was die Produktionszeiten verkürzt.

Diese Bauplatte wird ebenfalls erwärmt, wodurch verhindert wird, dass das extrudierte Filament abkühlt, sich zusammenzieht und die Form Ihres Druckobjekts verzieht. Diese Funktion ist von entscheidender Bedeutung (insbesondere, wenn Sie mit ABS drucken), verringert die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Druckfehlers drastisch und macht das Drucken mit einem Floß überflüssig, das zusätzliche Filamente verbraucht.

Lesen Sie unseren vollständigen Monoprice Maker Select Plus-Test

Heutige Angebote für 3D-Drucker

Während einige dieser Drucker möglicherweise nicht in unsere Liste aufgenommen wurden, haben wir nachfolgend eine Liste der guten Angebote für 3D-Drucker zusammengestellt, die derzeit laufen.

Wie wir testen

Um die verschiedenen 3D-Drucker zu testen, die wir zur Überprüfung erhalten, drucken wir einen sorgfältig ausgewählten Satz von Objekten. Diese Suite enthält 3DBenchy, ctrlV v3, einen Warp-Test und einige andere. Zusammen haben diese Objekte fast alles, mit dem Drucker im Allgemeinen zu kämpfen haben: Oberflächen mit geringer Neigung, Überhänge, nicht unterstützte Bereiche, feine Details und vieles mehr. Wenn ein Drucker in etwas nicht gut ist, werden diese Formen es hervorheben.

Sie können sich nie sicher sein, deshalb testen wir den Drucker noch mindestens ein halbes Dutzend Mal. Wir drucken zufällige Dokumente und Bilder, die verschiedene Mitarbeiter zu diesem Zeitpunkt benötigen, was den betreffenden Druckern einen gründlicheren Test bietet. Wenn wir dieselbe Aufgabe wiederholt zum Testen des Druckers verwendet haben, könnten Probleme mit anderen Aufgaben übersehen werden.

Wenn alles gesagt und getan ist, nehmen wir eine Handvoll unserer Testdrucke und machen ein paar hochauflösende Bilder, damit Sie selbst sehen können, wie sie sich herausstellten. Wir messen auch bestimmte Teile des Drucks mit einem Mikrometer, um festzustellen, wie genau das physikalische Modell im Vergleich zum digitalen Modell ist.

Aber natürlich sind Auflösung und Genauigkeit nicht alles. Nachdem wir mit dem Drucken fertig sind, bewerten wir auch den relativen Reparatur- und Aufrüstbarkeitsgrad der Maschine. Wir prüfen, ob Sie es leicht zerlegen und daran basteln können, wenn etwas schief geht. Wir fragen auch, ob Sie die Komponenten des Druckers aktualisieren können, wenn neuere, bessere verfügbar werden. Zuletzt stellen wir fest, ob es in einigen Jahren veraltet sein wird. Wir gehen unter die Haube und finden alles für Sie heraus.

Hilfreiche Begriffe zu wissen

• FDM: Modellierung der Filamentabscheidung. Auch als FFF- oder Fused Filament-Herstellung bekannt. Dies ist die gebräuchlichste Art des 3D-Drucks. Sie schmilzt ein thermoplastisches Filament, spritzt es durch eine Düse und legt es dann Schicht für Schicht ab, um ein Objekt zu bilden.
• SALAT: Abkürzung für Stereolithographie. Es handelt sich um einen 3D-Druckstil, bei dem mithilfe eines Laserprojektionssystems Objekte aus einem Pool aus UV-härtbarem Harz „gezüchtet“ werden.
• Heißes Ende: Die beheizte Düse, durch die Kunststofffilamente in einem FDM-Drucker extrudiert werden.
• Beheiztes Bett: Dies bezieht sich auf eine beheizte Bauplatte, die verhindert, dass die ersten Schichten aus extrudiertem Kunststoff abkühlen und sich verziehen. Wenn sich Ihr Projekt verzieht, führt dies häufig zu Druckfehlern.
• ABS: Es steht für Acylonitril-Butadien-Styrol. Ein Kunststoff auf Ölbasis, der üblicherweise als 3D-Druckfilament verwendet wird. Es ist ein starkes, robustes Material, das üblicherweise für die Konstruktion von Autoteilen aus Kunststoff, Musikinstrumenten und den beliebten Lego-Bausteinen verwendet wird. ABS hat einen hohen Schmelzpunkt und kann sich beim Abkühlen während des Druckens verziehen. Aus diesem Grund müssen ABS-Objekte auf eine beheizte Oberfläche gedruckt werden, was viele Drucker zu Hause nicht haben.
• PLA: Polymilchsäure wird aus organischem Material hergestellt – speziell Maisstärke und Zuckerrohr. Dies macht das Material einfacher und sicherer zu verwenden und verleiht ihm ein glatteres und glänzenderes Aussehen, das ästhetischer ist. Während PLA auf den ersten Blick als bessere Wahl erscheint, weist es einen weitaus niedrigeren Schmelzpunkt als ABS auf. Dies bedeutet, dass die Verwendung von PLA-gedruckten Teilen für mechanische Vorgänge oder sogar die Lagerung an Hochtemperaturorten dazu führen kann, dass sich das Teil verzieht, reißt oder schmilzt.

Empfehlungen der Redaktion

When drones first became popular, there were essentially two kinds you could buy. The first was the super-cheap — and flimsy — drone that would fly for about five minutes on a full charge. The second was the more hardcore drone costing $1,000 or more, fully stocked with all the features you could ever want, including an HD camera, GPS, and long-range radio controllers.

These days, however, there are more options on the market, and even inexpensive drones have lots of cool features. The best drones under $500 now boast 4K cameras, obstacle-avoidance systems, and user-friendly apps. If you’re a novice or if you’re looking to buy for someone who fits that description, chances are you don’t need to drop thousands on a top-shelf model. We’ve found tons of cheaper options that’ll make for perfect introductions to the field (or just fun toys for weekend use). The DJI Mavic Mini is our best pick since its lightweight and has an app with a lot of features.

If you’re looking for the best of the best when it comes to drones, check out our all-time favorite models. If you’re working with a smaller budget, here’s a list of our favorite low-cost drones and best Black Friday drone deals.

At a glance

The best drone under $500: DJI Mavic Mini

Why should you buy this: It’s portable, lightweight, and controlled with an intuitive, feature-rich app.

Who’s it for: First-time drone buyers who want easy controls and reliable performance.

Why we picked the DJI Mavic Mini:

Leading drone brand DJI strikes again with the portable Mavic Mini drone, a compact flyer that is great for beginners and exceptionally compact. The entire drone weighs less than 1 pound, which is about the weight of the average smartphone. That also takes into account the battery pack, propellors, and microSD card. In fact, the Mavic weighs so little that it may not require registration with your local government — although you’ll want to be sure of this before sending yours into the sky.

The DJI Fly app (for iOS and Android) makes launching your Mavic quick and simple. Easy presets and quick-tap commands will have you taking expert photos and videos like a seasoned pro. If it’s your first time controlling a drone, the app also features a Flight Tutorial mode for walking you through the basics of commanding your winged companion. Control range is up to 2.5 miles, and you’ll get about 25 minutes of airtime from the Mini’s battery.

For the money, we do wish the DJI Mavic Mini was capable of 4K. The onboard camera is only capable of 2.7K HD video and 12-megapixel stills. While this may be sufficient for many first-time drone buyers or infrequent hobbyists, those with a penchant for flight photography should set their sights on our next choice.

Read our full DJI Mavic Mini review

The best drone under $500 for beginners: Holy Stone HS120D

Why should you buy this: You want a performance-driven drone that is loaded with easy-to-use features.

Who’s it for: Those looking for a great first drone at a solid price.

Why we picked the Holy Stone HS120D:

What we love most about the Holy Stone HS120D is its dressed-to-impress design. For starters, we love the intuitive Follow Me mode. Once the camera locks onto a designated person, the drone will follow them midair at an ideal height and distance for taking selfies and capturing jaw-dropping video. If you’ve got a scenic route in mind, the Holy Stone app (iOS and Android) will let you map out a custom route with just a few finger traces across your phone screen. The drone also responds to various gestures for real-time photo-taking — just make sure you and your crew of friends are close enough for the camera to pick up your hand signals.

Speaking of the camera, the HS120D doesn’t cut corners. While you won’t be getting 4K video, what you will receive is beautiful 2K capture and live views. Camera controls are simple to adjust, and snapshots and recorded video look pristine, which says a lot for the lower price.

The Holy Stone HS120D boasts single-key takeoff and landing which means you won’t be worrying about how to properly start and end your flight. The twin batteries are rated for up to 36 minutes of airtime, but not to fear if your indicator starts flashing red: The Auto Return function automatically kicks in if the drone loses GPS signal or if your batteries start draining, so you won’t have to worry about crash-landing in an unreachable place.

The best UHD drone under $500: Potensic 4K Dreamer Quadcopter

Why should you buy this: You’re after a solid 4K drone that doesn’t compromise on other drone fundamentals, like stability and battery.

Who’s it for: Those shopping on a budget who are seeking the higher-quality photo/video capabilities of many flagship drones.

Why we picked the Potensic 4K Dreamer Quadcopter:

4K drones can easily live in the $1,000+ price range, but we’re betting that most photo/video connoisseurs and seasoned flight hobbyists will feel right at home with the almighty Potensic Dreamer drone. At just a fraction of the cost of many big-ticket flying machines, the $300 Dreamer is fully outfitted for lush 4K photos and video. It’s all thanks to Sony’s onboard 4K lens and image processor. At any height or distance, the 90-degree photo-sensitive lens will automatically adjust and balance your image for the best real-time capture. The 5.8G Wi-Fi transmission means your 4K footage gets pinged back to your phone almost instantly — just make sure you’re no more than 1,6oo feet away.

The batteries are rated for up to 31 minutes of flight time on a full charge. Better yet, if the packs are getting weak but you’ve found something you really want to snap a photo of, the Potensic 4K Dreamer Quadcopter‘s PowerAC Dynamic System will kick in, netting you a few seconds of extra power and stability. Several different flight modes are available to experiment with, including Follow Me, circle flight, and waypoint mapping. There’s also an auto-return mode for GPS signal loss and low battery.

The best GoPro-ready drone under $500: Force1 F100GP GoPro-Compatible Drone

Why you should buy this: You want a drone that can do a little bit of everything — and for a long time.

Who’s it for: Those who prefer a classic controller over an app on their phone.

Why we picked the Force1 F100:

The Force1 F100 is really the best of two worlds: Impressive photographic features meet endurance and durability. Let’s start with the camera capabilities.

First and foremost, GoPro enthusiasts will love the Hero 3 and 4 universal mount. Your GoPro snaps right into the chassis, and then you’re clear for takeoff. If you’re without a GoPro action cam, the F100’s onboard 1080 HD camera is nothing to shake a stick at. The lens is light-adaptive and well-balanced, making for clear and stable photos and videos. Better yet, there are two LED headlamps for adding illumination to your nighttime shots.

On the endurance end, you’re looking at two batteries for up to 30 minutes of flight time, as well as brushless motors for quiet and long-lasting operation. The drone also operates at either high or low speeds. In our opinion, the Force1 F100GP GoPro-Compatible Drone mimics the performance and features of higher-priced drones, doing so quite convincingly.

The best drone under $500 for kids: Snaptain SP350 Mini Drone

Why should you buy this: You’re looking for a fun and reliable junior drone for kids of any age.

Who’s it for: Kids that dig interactive toys and their parents who want said toys to be durable and hazard-free.

Why we picked the Snaptain SP350 Mini Drone:

Letting your son or daughter man an airborne drone is a scary prospect. That’s exactly what the folks at Snaptain had in mind when designing their SP350 Mini Drone. At an otherworldly low cost of $30, the SP350 is built for a long road of bumps and scratches. The body of the drone is rugged and built for action, an armor only enhanced by the durable, plastic guard rings cased around the propellors.

In terms of actual aviation, the Throw’n Go function still blows our minds. In lieu of a launch button on the controller, once the SP350 is lightly tossed into the air, it automatically revs up, stabilizes, and remains airborne. Then, your kid can grab the remote pad and get to work. Tiny pilots will really love the adventurous flight controls, with features like Circle Fly (with multiple speed adjustments), 3D spins and dives, and Headless Mode, which positions the drone in the direction its human pilot is facing. The drone comes with three battery packs that, fully-charged, deliver 7 minutes of flight time. It’s not much, but fewer air minutes means a longer-lasting toy drone.

For the money, you won’t find a camera here. The Snaptain SP350 Mini Drone is more of a dazzling performance toy than a fully comprehensive drone, but considering its attractive price and extremely entertaining features, you really can’t go wrong with Snaptain. The SP350 is just one of several Mini Drones that Snaptain makes, but it’s our personal favorite of the bunch.

The best drone under $500 for battery life: Ruko F11 Pro

Why should you buy this: You want the best battery life you can get, but don’t want to lose out on other great drone features.

Who’s it for: Those who like photographing scenic imagery, leaving their drone airborne for as long as possible.

Why we picked the Ruko F11 Pro:

Many of the drones on our list have batteries that get close to 30 minutes of airtime on a full charge. The Ruko F11 Pro will net you double the airtime. The F11 comes with two 2500mAh rechargeable batteries, which come in handy if you’ve got a ton of scenery you want to photograph, or if you want to do a bit of worry-free exploring.

The F11’s UHD camera takes brilliant 4K stills across a 120-degree field of view. The lens itself is also adjustable up to 90 degrees. On the downside, you won’t get full 4K video, but the camera does manage to pull off 2.9K.

With brushless motors for quieter and better-stabilized images, along with a number of popular flight options like Follow Me, Headless, and custom flight paths, the Ruko F11 Pro combines sharp and responsive camera work, excellent design, and extended battery life, all under one cohesive and user-friendly copter.

How we test drones

Build quality and design

The first thing we do when we get a new drone is beat it up a little bit. We don’t kick it down the stairs or anything, but we’ll give it a few knocks, twists, and shallow drops to assess the build quality and durability. Does it feel flimsy, or does it feel like it could survive a crash landing in the park? We give each review unit a light beating (and usually a couple of unintentional crash landings) before we give you a definitive answer on how durable it is.

Flight performance, range, and autonomy

We don’t want to just take the manufacturer’s word for it, so we will test the drone’s flight performance to see for ourselves. We start by testing the drone’s horizontal speed, using a clearly marked football field for reference. A football field expresses measurement in yards, so our next step would be to convert yards per minute to miles per hour. After that, we do a similar test to assess ascent and descent speeds. All the while, we’re also taking notes on how responsive the controls are, how stable the craft is, how far it can go before it’s out of range, and what the overall piloting experience is like compared to other drones.

Battery life and charge time

After testing the drone and taking a few notes on the battery life, we toss it on the charger, grab a stopwatch, and determine recharge time. Afterward, we bring it back out and perform a hover test. By flying the drone in the least demanding conditions, we get a sense of the maximum flight time. We let the drone take a few more test spins to get a better read on its average battery life under normal conditions.

Camera, accessories, and upgradability

If the drone we test happens to be equipped with a camera capable of recording, we capture as much footage as possible. We’ll shoot in several environments, ranging from light to dark, including lots of color and contrast. Then, the footage is compared to the highlight reels we filmed with other drones, helping us to get a feel for where the camera performs best and where it struggles. We also test any accessories that accompany the camera, like lenses, filters, gimbals, or FPV goggles. Finally, we’ll also let you know if the camera setup is upgradable, so you won’t be stuck with an outdated shooter in two years.

We also do our research

In the event that we are unable to test a product for ourselves, we begin with a full-scale assessment of the specifications. Then, we’ll comb through any available reviews and forum posts online to surveil for outstanding problems and attempt to find at least two videos of the product in motion.  Though we cannot physically review every drone yet, we’re ever-committed to helping you find a great quadcopter.

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