Is that a Mesh in your Pocket?

goTenna Mesh is the first 100% off-grid, mobile, long-range consumer-ready mesh network. The device pairs with your smartphone to enable communication even when you don’t have service. Absolutely no towers, routers and satellites required! Create people-powered connectivity absolutely anytime, anywhere.

Send text messages and share GPS locations on offline maps with others. Chat privately in 1-to-1 or group conversations, or broadcast to any other goTenna Mesh device up to several miles or kilometers away all without using towers, routers or satellites.

Each tiny-but-mighty device is powered by game-changing networking protocols which intelligently — and privately! — relay messages through other users. You can potentially double or triple any device's effective range and create a network that gets stronger the more people join it!

Whether you're traveling overseas, spending time outdoors, attending a crowded event, or preparing for an emergency, goTenna Mesh is useful in any situation where cell service or wifi is unavailable, unreliable or unaffordable by empowering you to create essential connectivity during any adventure.

 Pair wirelessly to your phone

goTenna Mesh pairs seamlessly to smartphones via Bluetooth-LE (Low Energy, 4.2), with minimal smartphone battery usage. (In fact, you can even turn your phone into Airplane Mode to preserve its battery, as goTenna Mesh will still work. Just remember to toggle Bluetooth on!)

Super-smart protocols enhance functionality & make it easy for you to use

goTenna Mesh's protocols do all the hard work behind the scenes so you can use the messaging app the way you’d use any other. Except, of course, goTenna Mesh will work when others won't!

Using the goTenna app, send private 1-to-1 and group chats as well as broadcast to anyone within range. Count on delivery confirmation receipts, and easily download free, detailed offline maps of the entire world before you go off-grid. You’ll never have to worry about interference or channel-switching, the way you do with analog walkie-talkies. Radio + smartphone = intelligence!

The freedom to communicate over great distances, no service required

goTenna Mesh sends messages via a 1-watt UHF radio transmitter without relying on towers, routers or satellites. The range will usually be up to 3 miles (4.8 km) in open terrain, and up to a mile (1.6 km) in congested terrain. You can get much more in certain environments but we like to under-promise and over-deliver. (Plus... you can mesh!)

(goTenna Mesh uses publicly available spectrum, intelligently selecting frequencies that are available in your region.)

Revolutionary mesh networking technology (the future is now!)

goTenna Mesh's first-of-its-kind mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) protocol enables you to intelligently relay your messages through other users to get to your recipient(s) when they are out of point-to-point range of you. This makes it more likely your messages will get through in difficult situations, and creates a network that gets stronger the more people join it. And not to worry: this all happens automatically and privately.

Here's a demo that helps explain how meshing works, using prototypes & phones in Airplane Mode. Because transmissions between goTenna Mesh devices are literally invisible, we've added voice-over to explain what's happening:

(Fun fact: Our mesh protocol is called Aspen Grove, named after aspen tree colonies which share a common root structure that can expand over huge areas, and is resilient enough to survive harsh forest fires. Like a mesh network, aspen trees find strength in numbers and grow from the bottom-up.)

Outdoors

Keep in touch with those you spend time outdoors with, from hiking to skiing to fishing, and just about anything in between.

Travel

No more expensive roaming fees or international SIM cards — simply use goTenna to stay connected with your travel-mates on trips abroad.

Crowded Events

Enjoy the crowd without getting lost in it — avoid overwhelmed cell towers at packed festivals and crowded events and stay in touch with your group.

Emergency Situations

Exchange critical communications with friends and family as well as others nearby during emergencies, even when the power is out and cell towers are down.

Amazing Light Gimbals Under $1,000 for 5-axis and up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lbs)

The Nebula will be available in 3 versions, Lite (one handle) Pro (dual handle) and 5-axis stabilizer version (dual handle with spring section for vertical axis). You’ll be happy to hear that all will retail at under $1k: $799, $899, and $999 respectively.

https://www.cinema5d.com/nebula-4200-5-axis-stabilizer-preorder/

Author of this post: Tim Fok

Tim Fok is a freelance DOP & Filmmaker based in London, UK. Carrying over a decade of experience, he specialises in brand, commercial, creative corporate, and documentaries.

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Date with Karma ...

On 9/8/2016 6:43 PM, gary wrote:

Hi Neil, Ken, Topher,

The GoPro UAV announcement coming soon, if this teaser video is any way believable it implies that the device is very small and completely silent ? - https://youtu.be/6831JUHz_Wc

Regards Gary

Gary -

I saw the teaser too, fun to speculate on what exactly they will be introducing. The sound does seem to be the "big thing", but stability is also pretty remarkable. Considering what "might be" perhaps they have mounted an IMU on board and are recording the motion of the camera in order to process out the shake, instead of trying to remove it entirely from the camera "platform" (drone) or whatever it might be. Also the platform must be pretty unobtrusive as it does not seem to bother people or cause their hair to blow around etc. Regarding the sound, perhaps they have discovered a way to "cancel" the sound from propellers? If so, it's a damn good implementation because the sound is (apparently) perfectly clean. They have obviously stuck with a very wide angle lens...

Ken

Ken, Gary, and Toph -

Also saw this...  Neil

By Sean O'Kane on September 9, 2016 03:00 am

Sony has announced a new version of its very capable GoPro competitor, the 4K Action Cam. The new model, called the X3000R, costs $400 and has a slew of new features like optical image stabilization, face detection, and the revamped menu system that we first saw on the smaller Action Cam announced at this year’s CES. Sony also announced the $300 AS300R, which has essentially all the same features except it tops out at 1080p. Both cameras will be available later this month.

Sony’s Action Cams have had digital stabilization for years now, so it’s great to see that the company finally found a way to build optical, or mechanical, image stabilization into this model. Digital stabilization is software-based — it smooths out footage by cropping in on the image and using the excess space to adjust for vibrations, so the results are not always good.

Mechanical stabilization involves physically moving some of the lens elements and the image sensor, which can produce better results without losing as much of the image to cropping. With almost every action camera capable of shooting 4K, image stabilization feels like it will be the next defining feature for action cameras. In fact, Garmin announced a new Virb action camera last week that uses electronic image stabilization, but while I was really impressed with it, I’d take optical image stabilization any day.

That’s not the only new thing about this model, though. Sony built a new lens for these Action Cams, which is supposed to produce an image that isn’t quite so distorted as it was in past versions. They'll also be using a new version of Sony's Exmor R CMOS image sensor, which is now back-lit. And Sony’s including the new menu system that it launched on the smaller Action Cam earlier this year, which is good, because the menu on the old 4K Action Cam (and all the models before it) was awful. The new screen serves up more information at a glance and it no longer takes you a dozen taps to change modes or settings.