USA Today - 31.10.2019

4B z THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 z USA TODAY MONEY

I don’t have a pilot’s license. I’m not
crazy about heights. I’m not even great
at flight simulators on a computer.
None of these obstacles,however,
stopped me from landing a small pri-
vate jet recently at Stewart Interna-
tional Airport in New Windsor, New
York. It was easy, really.
OK, full confession: Actually, the
plane landed itself. I merely pressed a
single red button on the roof of the
main cabin, transforming it into an au-
tonomous aircraft.
I was aboard a $2.75-million Cirrus
Aircraft Vision Jet, newly outfitted
with an aptly named safety system
called Safe Return, which is in the final
stages of getting approval from the
Federal Aviation Administration.
Beforemy, um, act of heroism,we
had been flying at an altitude of about
10,000 feet after taking off from West-
chester County Airport in White
Plains, New York.
All kidding aside, the Safe Return
system is designed to address a dead
serious problem: What happens if the
pilot becomes incapacitated and is un-
able to act? In just such an emergency,
the system can let any passenger safe-
ly land the plane.
There was a pilot during my demo
flight, but still the prospect of having
me land a self-flying plane was enough
to spook some USA TODAY video staff-
ers who turned down my invitation to
capture the moment from the cockpit.
Safe Return has to able to solve two
main problems, the most obvious of
which is to return everyone to the
ground safely.

But it must also perform this rescue
mission without disrupting the flight
patterns or risking the safety of all the
other planes in nearby airspace.
“When you automatically turn that
plane into an autonomous vehicle, the
plane starts acting as if the pilot were
still doing things,” says Ben Kowalski,
senior vice president for sales and
marketing at Cirrus Aircraft.
The plane has databases of the ter-
rain and possible obstacles. It gets
real-time weather and wind informa-
tion.
And it knows the weight, how much
fuel remains, and all the nearby air-
ports where an emergency landing is
possible.
After determining the proper path,
the system uses text-to-speech soft-
ware to broadcast its whereabouts to
air traffic control.
There’s no particular challenge to
push the button – it’s easily reached by
an adult in the cabin. (The plane seats
five adults and two children.)
The system tries its best to calm ev-
eryone down by mimicking what, well,
a pilot might say: “Safe Return activat-
ed, landing in 13 minutes.”
A moment later, “Safe Return acti-
vated, landing in 12 minutes.”
If there is situation where a passen-
ger inadvertently (or intentionally)
pushes the button, the pilot can over-
ride the self-landing system.
The Cirrus planes recently got an
updated flight deck system from Gar-
min.
Cirrus expects to begin delivery of
Vision Jets equipped with Safe Return
in early 2020.
It's rather doubtful I’ll have a pilot’s
license by then, never frankly on my
bucket list.. But in a pinch – or at the
push of a button – you can count on me
to land the plane just fine.

Personal Tech

Edward C. Baig

USA TODAY

I landed a

plane, and

everyone

survived

This button turns the Cirrus Vision
into an autonomous vehicle.JEFF FREY

Spotify wants to hook your kids on

music at an early age. And the Swedish

company is doing so by launching a

tailored Spotify Kids app on Wednes-

day, initially in beta and only in Ire-

land. Though make no mistake, Spot-

ify has designs on spreading the ser-

vice to other global markets, including

the U.S.

No timetable was given.

The new iOS and Android app, tar-

geted to kids as young as 3 and older to

approaching the teenage years, will be

populated with just about 6,

pieces of content curated by “expert”

human editors, mostly music but also

age-appropriate stories.

The number of tracks is expected to

growbut for now represents a teeny-

tiny subset of material when you con-

sider Spotify has more than 50 million

tracks in its catalog. Yet the kid-ap-

proved content does include such art-

ists as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ed

Sheeran and Bruno Mars, as well as

partners such as Disney, Nickelodeon,

Discovery Kids and Hasbro. Only san-

itized versions of a performer’s songs

will be in the mix.

Spotify says it consulted with child

advocacy groups over two years of re-

search.

This “playground of sound,” as

Spotify describes it, will come at no ex-

tra cost to subscribers under Spotify’s

Premium Family plan, currently $14.

in both the U.S. and Ireland, for up to six

family members living under the same

roof.

Maintaining privacy

Spotify stressed that the app is ad-

free, complies with European and U.S.

privacy regulations and that the compa-

ny would not be sharing or selling data

to third parties for advertising purpos-

es. The company says it does share with

companies that may help the app func-

tion on a daily basis. And it could share

with law enforcement as well if asked.

Spotify adds that it collects encrypt-

ed data related to what’s playing to help

personalize the experience for the lis-

tener; parents can request that such da-

ta be deleted.

During sign-up, parents must give

their consent and, through parental

controls, can determine when the kid

can listen. Entering the child’s birth

date also is optional. If parents choose

to do so, the kid will get an acknowledg-

ment on the day.

For now, though, Mom and Dad can-

not choose the artists within the app

that the kids can listen to or not; that’s

coming later.

Meanwhile, the kids themselves can

choose from among a dozen customized

characters or avatars, the only element

within the experience they can change

on their own.

Each market will have 80 premade

playlists, some tailored to locals.

The only playlist that can be custom-

ized (and accessed offline) is a collec-

tion of songs the kid picks as favorites.

Kids who can read and write will be able

to search for tunes within the app.

One thing parents cannot do initially

is add any of the songs they approve of

in the larger Spotify universe to the kids’

app.

And, no, parents can’t remotely peek

in on the session the kids are listening

to, though they can turn off access to the

app remotely.

Finding the right content by age

Given such a broad age range, Spotify

has established two experiences par-

ents can pick for their kids. A tab for

younger children surfaces nursery

rhymes, lullabies and bedtime stories

and includes simpler shapes, softer col-

ors and easily recognizable symbols.

Older kids are exposed to brighter col-

ors, more dynamic imagery and age-ap-

propriate pop music.

Spotify Kids is aimed at the young listeners in the household.SPOTIFY

Spotify Kids gives young

music lovers their own app

‘Playground of sound’

will span range of ages

Edward C. Baig

USA TODAY

Kids can choose an avatar inside

Spotify Kids.SPOTIFY

be considering smartphone companies

have had a hard time getting first at-

tempts right.

Samsung’s Galaxy fold was riddled

with problems including creasing

screens, delaying its official launch.

Huawei was supposed to unveil its

Mate X foldable phone in September af-

ter a planned release date in June. And

reviewers of the Royole FlexPai com-

plained the world’s first commercial

foldable smartphone had design and

software issues.

Motorola has teased a Razr come-

back in 2019. CNET reportedin Septem-

ber that the company is still on track.

unclear if it will ever hit the market.

Still, the announcement gives cre-

dence to a September report that the

electronics company is building a pre-

mium smartphone that folds down into

a square, shutting closed like a clam-

shell.

The sneak peek comes on the heels of

Samsung’s long-delayed Galaxy Fold,

which we reviewed in September. The

hybrid between a smartphone and a

tablet has a $1,980 price tag and two in-

ternal batteries.

As interest and intrigue continue to

grow over foldable phones, it’s still un-

clear how successful the segment will

Months after reports surfacedthat

Samsung was working on a smart-

phone that folds into a square, the

South Korean tech giant is offering a

glimpse at a concept that takes flip

phones to the next level.

On Tuesday at its 2019 developer

conference in San Jose, Samsung

showed a clip of a new device that

folds vertically like the Motorola Razr

from 2004. Instead of having a key-

board on its lower half like the flash-

back flip phones, the entire front of the

concept device is a touch screen.

Samsung said in a tweet that it is a

new “form factor” and the brand is ex-

ploring other kinds of foldable devices.

The concept has punch-hole cam-

eras like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Plus. No name for the conceptualized

smartphone was announced and it’s

Samsung

hasn’t

folded on

new device

The entire front Samsung’s new concept phone is a touch screen.SAMSUNG

Dalvin Brown

USA TODAY

TECH