Founder, Publisher and Editorial Director of the 9to5/Electrek/DroneDJ sites.
Seth Weintraub is an award-winning journalist and blogger who won back to back Neal Awards during his three plus years covering Apple and Google at IDG’s Computerworld from 2007–2010. Weintraub next covered all things Google for Fortune Magazine from 2010-2011 amassing a thick rolodex of Google contacts and love for Silicon Valley tech culture.
It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google and adding the style and commerce component 9to5Toys gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which in 2014 turned into electrek.
In 2018, DroneDJ was born to cover the burgeoning world of drones and UAV’s led by China’s DJI.
From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.
Seth received a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he received a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.
Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water scuba diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.
More at About.me. BI 2014 profile.
Tips: seth@9to5mac.com, or llsethj on Wickr/Skype or link at top of page.
We’ve been flying the new DJI Mini 4 Pro for about a week. DJI’s latest rapid fire release of the Mini impresses, gaining many features of its bigger siblings while staying under that 249 gram FAA guideline for hobby drones and keeping that $759 entry level price.
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Update: Deal closed
Sources tell Electrek that Rivian has been in talks to acquire the world’s most popular EV route planning service, Sweden-based A Better RoutePlanner, or ABRP for short. Financial details weren’t disclosed, but ABRP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iternio, which lists a small employee count of under 10 people and 8 people on LinkedIn.
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Apple’s AR/VR headset is set to be revealed in less than a month at WWDC, yet we still know very little of how this technology will work and what Apple’s use cases will be. Interestingly, this week I got a look at what I’d consider the first applicable workplace augmented reality tech for the masses from Sightful, a company founded by former developers of Apple’s acquired PrimeSense.
I don’t think the timing was a coincidence.
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This morning’s Bradley Rose Peloton bike ride came with a surprise at the end. About 60 seconds before the end of the ride, right as the cooldown was starting, a widget popped up on my screen.
While currently rudimentary, Peloton’s long-awaited in-screen advertising and commerce play has begun, just in time for the holidays.
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DJI is at it again, bringing technology from its bigger, more expensive products down to its diminutive sub-250-gram DJI Mini 3 Pro drone, which means you don’t need a license to fly it in the US and other jurisdictions. That makes it a great high-end first drone for people who are just getting into the sport or for people who want an ultraportable drone that can do tricks that until now, only the much bigger drones could do.
For in-depth coverage of the DJI Mini 3 Pro, hit up our coverage on DroneDJ: DJI Mini 3 Pro review, DJI Mini 3 Pro: Top 10 things to know, and coverage of the new DJI Remote Controller.
Buy the DJI Mini 3 Pro from DJI here
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Ford has been known to cherry pick the best features of other electric vehicles and make them their own. If a tidbit we’ve found in the Ford App comes to fruition, the F-150 Lightning will soon be able to park itself via remote control using phone apps.
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When Apple Airtags came out, I bet a lot of you were thinking, “this will be a great way to track my pet if it gets lost.” While adding a $29 AirTag is better than nothing, and AirTag collars already exist, they only work if an Apple device is nearby. That’s why Apple doesn’t recommend using AirTags for pets (or kids!) The same goes for Tile trackers, which rely on the app on people’s phones nearby.
I’ve had a Fi on our escape-artist Husky for a year now, and it’s already found her twice in the woods where AirTags won’t work.
Note: Fi is $100 off at $50 for Black Friday
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Along with all of the fanfare during yesterday’s MacBook Pro launch, one thing I wasn’t expecting was a 140W USB-C power adapter. But this could be the biggest step change in the electronics industry this year.
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Late last year, actor Ewan McGregor and his longtime friend Charlie Boorman began a 13,000 mile (21,000 km) trip from the southern end of Argentina to Los Angeles. They traveled on a pair of Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles with a pair of Rivian electric pickup trucks as support vehicles for a new show on AppleTV+…
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Since Rimac secured backing from Porsche, it has been making big moves and making many new hires — arguably none bigger than the new one announced this week, Chris Porritt.
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In the market for the best new consumer drone and have some Apple Store credit to spend? The newly launched DJI Mavic Air 2 and Fly More Combo bundle are both available to order from Apple.com starting today at a slight premium over DJI’s prices.
All the rumors were true: The DJI Mavic Air 2 is now official, and we’ve had a few days head start evaluating the new $799 wunderkind. (Buy at DJI or Adorama/$988 Fly More)
Talk about big numbers in a small (570g) package: 48 Megapixel camera which shares the Sony IMX586 sensor with recent flagship smartphones. Add the ability to record 4K video at 60 frames per second, which is double the framerate of the big brother Mavic 2 Pro.
There’s a lot more to this, so read on as we bring you exclusive footage and takes below:
Today is iPhone SE 2020 launch day and as per usual our sister site 9to5Mac nailed all the details weeks ago (runs in the fam). But with the new $399 iPhone SE officially out, we take a look at its value proposition compared to the upcoming Pixel 4a that we exclusively detailed last week.
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To start off the weekend right, we have a great giveaway for you today. DroneDJ teamed up with DJI for this promotion and we will give away one DJI Mavic Mini, our new favorite travel drone, and one Mavic Mini Care Refresh package. All you need to do to have a chance to win this amazing little folding drone is sign up using the form below. The winners will be announced on March 15th.
Don’t forget to participate in the DJI Mavic Mini Giveaway, if you haven’t done so already. Winners will be announced at 6 pm EST today.
The winner of the DJI Mavic Mini is Noah LaRoy from Michigan. And the Mavic. Mini Care Refresh package goes to John Meyendorff in Michigan as well. Congratulations to both! Be sure to check your email with instructions to claim your prize.
Logitech sent us its new $169.99 StreamCam in September to review before its Logitech Capture for Mac software was even ready. Something happened and the project got pushed out a few months until today, but I started using it for the Electrek Podcast in September. Logitech got back to us this week and told us the project was back on and the Mac software was ready.
So this is kind of a weird “first look” at a product I’ve been using for almost a half year…
I’ve been a happy Bose QC35 Noise cancelling headphone user since the day they came out. These were the first “consumer priced” ANC headset combos and have since been matched by excellent products from Sony and Apple’s Beats brand. But Active Noise Cancellation has always come at a price. In the case of the QC35s and Sony’s, prices start at $350 retail unless you find deals.
Broski Lety sent me a pair of their new active noise cancelling headphones which are on Indiegogo now for $99 and will soon be on Amazon for 50% more. You wouldn’t be reading this if I wasn’t super-impressed…
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Over the past month, I’ve used the Sony’s poorly-named but pretty incredible WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds for gym workouts (recommended) and bike rides (at your own risk). These $228 earbuds fall between Apple’s $159 AirPods and $259 PowerBeats Pro but offer something both don’t: active noise cancellation.
In fact, I reviewed the PowerBeats Pro last month and thought I was done with my search for the perfect wireless earbuds. Turns out I was wrong…
It’s hard for anyone to argue against Google Assistant being the best voice assistant at answering queries. Assistant has proven time after time that it’s superior. Recently though, one test found that the gap between Assistant, Siri, and Alexa is starting to close quite a bit.
Something that has been sitting at the back of my mind forever is that pile of DV tapes I have in the attic which were taken before smartphone cameras existed. For one reason or another, I didn’t import them after I made them and now the FOMO is starting to creep in as the hardware to pull these videos off the tapes rapidly becomes obsolete.
LifeFlix to the rescue?
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There have been rumors of Tesla and Apple partnering up for years, but now they are intensifying in light of Elon Musk pushing to take Tesla private.
Ross Gerber activist Tesla investor is even now calling for Apple to take a stake in Tesla as part of the ongoing discussions for a take-private deal.
But does it make sense?
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There are now a few HomeKit-enabled window mounted air conditioners on the market, but what about the millions of installed and working dumb air conditioners already in homes and apartments? Does it make sense to trash a perfectly good air conditioner just to get a smart one?
Perhaps! But an Israeli-based company called Sensibo has a quicker/easier/better solution. For most air conditioners with a remote, the Sensibo Sky is will add an app/web controlled and timer equipped thermostat to your air conditioner in minutes, and today it is $99 as part of Amazon’s Prime Day.
If you are like me, Spring means biking season and I want to tell you about two great bike helmets that connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth to not only make your ride more safe but also more fun too. For over a year, I’ve had the Coros LINX helmet which uses bone conducting conduits to safely send audio signal to your eardrums without blocking natural sound.
A few weeks ago I peeped the new $179.99 Lumos Helmet at the Grand Central Apple Store touting bright lights and a turn signal activated from your phone.
For Tesla fans, the Electric vehicle/energy company just put out a iPhone/iPad powerbank “designed and inspired after Tesla’s supercharger monument at the Tesla Design Studio”.
In case you missed it last night, Tesla put on quite a show – check our sister site Electrek for all the details on the Tesla Semi and 250+mph, 0-60 in 1.9 sec, 1000km range Roadster.
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I’m here at IFA in Berlin, Germany which opens to the public today. Behind the scenes I’ve been discussing the upcoming iPhone launch on September 12th with many case vendors. At least two have heard, and have moved on, knowledge of the upcoming iPhone nomenclature and some details which they’ve separately learned from sources in Shenzhen who claim to have seen the new iPhone packaging.
