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Google Testing an Airborne Camera Drone

mbone writes "The Blogoscoped site carries news that Google has purchased a German 'Microdrone' for evaluation (here is the original German version). These devices can take off, fly a mission, and land automatically using GPS. They can carry night-vision cameras or even 'see-through-walls' Far IR cameras. Of course, the maker of these drones assures us that they cannot be a 'Big Brother in the sky' because that is 'verboten.' Is it just me, or is Google entering dangerous airspace here? It seems like the ruckus from a backyard-after-dark addition to Street View could completely overshadow the legal tussles Google has already encountered with its street-level photography." Reader Jaymi clues us to another airborne effort a couple of Google employees are mounting with some help from NASA Ames: the NexusOne PhoneSat project — to determine if low-cost mobile phone components can withstand space travel.

4 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Pull! by spywhere · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I see it above my street, I'll put up a cloud of birdshot...

  2. Re:heh by Pharmboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pull the trigger and it's garbage.

    Sounds like an idea for a website, send in your photos of your downed Google drones, with you standing there holding it up like a 10 point buck. Googlefail.com or some such.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  3. Opt-Out file? by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can't you just place a robots.txt file on your property to tell the GoogleDrone not to index it?

  4. Re:Can... by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Exactly! They've got this "do-no-evil" clause that protects us from them!