D.J.I., the popular drone maker, stands as a symbol of China’s growing technology prowess. Its propeller-powered machines dominate global markets and buzz regularly over beaches, cityscapes at sunset and increasingly, power plants and government installations.

Now D.J.I. is fighting a claim by one United States government office that its commercial drones and software may be sending sensitive information about American infrastructure back to China, in the latest clash over the power of data in the growing technological rivalry between the two countries.

Drone deliveries have been in the pipeline for some time, and while Amazon is pioneering the cause, (although Rival 7-Eleven has completed nearly 100 aerial deliveries to date), its model is still somewhat encumbered by factors at odds with the advantages drone delivery technically offers.

Recipients need to be present at an address, for example. Cambridge Consultants -- the team that brought us intelligent bins and Renaissance doodling -- has developed a drone delivery system that'll get you your stuff anytime in a matter of minutes. Let's imagine you're out having a nice walk in the middle of the countryside when you start feeling peckish. 

Chinese-made drones that may have been used by U.S. service members in Syria are now banned by the U.S. Army, according to a report.

"Cease all use, uninstall all DJI applications, remove all batteries/storage media from devices, and secure equipment for follow on direction," reads the memo from Lt. Gen. Joseph H. Anderson, the Army's deputy chief of staff for plans and operations. The memo was obtained by the publication Defense One, which said it was also confirmed by two Army officials. According to the publication, the Army document cites "increased awareness of cyber vulnerabilities associated with DJI products."

In 2014, Google and Facebook vied to acquire Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude, solar-powered drones. Google won the bidding, so Facebook purchased its own company, which was building a huge glider called Aquila.

The idea was to beam internet access from the sky to get more people logging on from remote places to access information and probably use both companies’ web services. That soaring vision has come down to Earth with a bump. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman from Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s X research lab said it had shut down Titan.

As the rise of hobbyists’ cheap quadcopter drones freaks out the FAA and the Secret Service, it’s easy to forget that the government itself is putting another tier of much-less-cheap UAVs into service for first responders, cops, and the military.

And now a security researcher has shown that at least one model of those government-ready flying machines has serious security vulnerabilities that could allow it to be hacked from more than a mile away, taken over by a rogue operator, or knocked out of the sky with a keystroke. Security researcher will show how flaws in the security of drone’s radio connection allow him to take full control over the quadcopter.

As concerns rise about a security menace posed by rogue drone flights, US government agencies are working with state and local police forces to develop high-tech systems to protect vulnerable sites.

Although the research aimed at tracking and disabling drones is at an early stage, there has been at least one field test. Last New Year's Eve, New York police used a microwave-based system to try to track a commercially available drone at a packed Times Square and send it back to its operator. Drones have flown perilously close to airliners, interfered with firefighting operations, been used to transport illegal drugs into the United States from Mexico.

In two separate presentations at Def Con in Las Vegas last weekend, security experts demonstrated vulnerabilities in two consumer drones from Parrot. The simplest of the attacks could make Parrot drones, including the company's Bebop model, fall from the sky with a keystroke.

In a live demonstration at Def Con's Internet of Things Village, Ryan Satterfield of the security consulting firm Planet Zuda demonstrated a takedown of a Parrot A.R.Drone by exploiting the drone's built-in Wi-Fi and an open telnet port on the drone's implementation of the BusyBox real-time operating system.

Leaked e-mails from Hacking Team show that the company developed a piece of rugged hardware intended to attack computers and mobile devices via Wi-Fi.

The capability, marketed as part of the company's Remote Control System Galileo, was shown off to defense companies at the International Defense Exposition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, and it drew attention from a major defense contractor. But like all such collaborations, it may have gotten caught up in the companies' legal departments. Co-founder Marco Valleri outlined the roadmap for a number of Hacking Team's platforms, including its "Tactical Network Injector".

Two-thirds of consumers expect to receive their first drone-delivered package by 2020, and nearly 80% are willing to pay for it, recent findings reveal.

Moreover, consumers expect to receive a drone-delivered package by 2017, according to the '2015 Future of Retail Study' issued by the digital marketing firm Walker Sands. Consumers are shopping online more frequently for more kinds of products and the surveyed respondents say that drone delivery to their doorstep within an hour of placing an order would make them more likely to shop with a retailer. Consumers are open to getting a variety of products delivered via drone.

In Singapore food is a national obsession and finding enough people to bring the food is increasingly becoming a problem. One company thinks it has come up with a solution - flying robot waiters. They are sturdy, reliable, and promise never to call in sick at the last minute.

Keen on slowing down immigration and increasing efficiency, the government has put curbs on the cheap foreign labour on which the restaurant industry has long depended. The unpiloted robots whizz above the heads of diners on paths charted by a computer programme, and navigate using infra-red sensors placed around the restaurant. But young Singaporeans tend to shun service jobs due to their lower wages.