DRONES

In the Comfort Drone

Commercial drones haven’t gone mainstream due to technical challenges, scalability, and regulatory barriers. But they’re in high demand during the pandemic and can social distance in three dimensions. Coincidence? I think nay. 

Delivery from the sky 

On Monday, UPS and CVS announced they’ll use drones to deliver prescription medication to residents of The Villages, a Florida retirement community. The FAA-approved service will start with baby steps in May using Matternet M2 drones. UPS will fly medicine from a CVS pharmacy to a pick-up location near The Villages less than a half-mile away. A ground vehicle will then deliver the medicine to doorsteps.

Baby steps precede bigger leaps. With 135,000 residents, the Florida mega-neighborhood is one of the largest retirement communities in the U.S. The service could expand to include two additional CVS pharmacies in the area and direct drone-to-doorstep delivery. 

Elsewhere, Alphabet’s drone unit Wing is busier than ever in Virginia. Last week, Flytrex launched a drone delivery service for food, medicine, and other goods in Grand Forks, ND. And a Matternet/UPS revenue-generating delivery service for medication in Raleigh, NC, has already completed 3,700+ flights to date, according to UPS. 

Inspecting eagle eyes

The FAA has loosened restrictions for at least one drone operator so far during the pandemic. Last week, the agency issued a coronavirus-related waiver to a Houston energy company, allowing the company’s staff to fly drones beyond line of sight to examine oil and gas facilities. 

As legal flight restrictions have eased, the law itself has turned drones loose. Police in the U.S., Spain, France, and China have deployed drones to enforce lockdowns and monitor public spaces. 

The common thread: Demand for uncrewed aerial vehicles is way up. My bet is it stays up post-pandemic, but widespread adoption will depend on 1) whether companies can navigate red tape and 2) if communities find it convenient to receive their medicine, burritos, or face masks from the sky.

VIDEO

Zoom Zumps Biggest Cloud Providers

Zoom: *starts session*
*Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google, IBM, and Oracle join call*
Zoom: Hey
Everyone: *talking over each other*
*Zoom and Oracle enter breakout room* 

Yesterday, Zoom said it will tap Oracle’s cloud to add capacity and meet surging demand. Possible reasoning for this somewhat surprising deal? Oracle has experience with the enterprise workloads that comprise Zoom’s core business. And...why go with vendors that have competing video products? 

Elephant in the Zoom

Breakneck growth comes with challenges. Over the past month, we’ve seen how Zoom’s explosion came at the expense of security and data protection. The company froze feature development to focus on these issues and hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser. 

Big picture: All eyes are on the world’s hottest video conferencing company—literally. Zoom hit 300 million monthly active users on April 22, adding 100 million MAUs in a matter of weeks, the company says.

SPONSORED BY MONGODB

Data Geniuses Still Hosting Genius Conference

Every year, MongoDB holds their user conference, where they roll out the latest product announcements, offer one-on-one technical support, and hold keynotes that send shockwaves through the world of data.

This year, they’re still holding it. It’s just going to be fully virtual.

Introducing MongoDB.live, the free, completely digital, two-day event from MongoDB—the team that makes working with data remarkably easy.

MongoDB.live brings all the stuff to the table that MongoDB’s typical annual conference does—just without any physical tables. Highlights include:

• Keynote: Hear about the future of data development, including MongoDB’s latest products and feature rollouts.

• “Ask the Experts” 1:1 Technical Consulting Sessions: Whether you sign up in advance or nab a “walk-up appointment,” a MongoDB technical expert will get your questions answered in a free 20 minute session.

Don’t miss MongoDB.live. .

Q&A

From Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact

Lux Capital has backed many of the familiar startup faces in Emerging Tech Brew. I recently caught up with cofounder and VC Josh Wolfe to discuss these investments and more.

In our wide-ranging discussion, Josh and I chat about: 

• Storytelling. Lux launched a new season of Futura, a web series peeling back the curtain on secretive portfolio companies.
• Uncertainty. Josh breaks down his “100-0-100” concept of investing in cutting-edge startups with unproven technology and few competitors. 
• COVID-19. How resilient are deep tech and science startups during the pandemic?
• Career development. I asked for advice on behalf of our readers looking to break into the space. 

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BITS & BYTES

Stat: Two- and three-wheeled EVs displaced more emissions than electric cars in 2018, per IEA data cited by the WSJ. Don’t sleep on e-bikes and e-trikes. 

Quote: “Because the pandemic pauses the present, it forces us to live in the future”—The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson on our permanent retail makeover. For more great retail nuggets, subscribe to Retail Brew.

Watch: 60 Minutes segment on how Ford and GM switched from making autos to ventilators.

SPONSORED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

When you wake up to new challenges, don’t hit the snooze button. Oracle NetSuite’s latest white paper was designed to help you and your business navigate change in three key steps: Get visibility. Gain control. Adapt. Download the white paper today.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Ford delayed the launch of its self-driving service to 2022, citing the coronavirus. 
• DJI unveiled the $799 Mavic 2, a consumer drone with an impressive camera, six miles of range, and 34 minutes of flight time. 
• Starbucks and Sequoia will co-invest in Chinese tech startups. 
• Coursera made its government catalogue free for unemployed workers. 
• Battelle and OSU researchers created a brain-machine interface that restored motor function and sense of touch to a paralyzed patient.
• Checkout.com, a U.K. payments firm, joined the Libra Association.

BLACK MIRROR IRL

Sometimes Black Mirror storylines seem like they're unfolding in real life. This week's roundup:

• The Pentagon released UFO videos and it barely caused a stir on the internet. 
• Emirati police are using smart helmets that can reportedly scan temperatures of individuals in a crowd. I include this here because the tech isn’t foolproof.
• A federal judge OK’d Baltimore’s pilot aerial surveillance program, which uses what critics call “spy planes” and technology developed to spot insurgents in Iraq. Baltimore PD says the program will help fight crime.

THE TECHLARATION

Morning Brew is hosting an online poker tournament this weekend, Chipping in for COVID. All proceeds go to meals for frontline workers and you’ll have a shot at taking down CEOs, celebrities, and most importantly, Brew employees. 

$100 buy-in, but donations of any amount are accepted and encouraged. Donate to play. 

TECH THINGAMABOBS

For VR headset owners: Supernatural is a virtual full-body workout app. 

For those who need to study or relax: Lo-fi hip-hop radio beats.

For archivists: Due to COVID-19 is a project documenting the temporary signs on storefronts and workplaces during lockdown.