R2-D2 soars to the skies, Instagram takes off the kid gloves, and the US Navy goes full autonomous. Bitstream is all the news and rumors you missed in the past 24 hours.


Have you had enough Star Wars in the last 24 hours? The correct answer is no! Go watch the new trailer a dozen more times and then feast your eyes on this amazing R2-D2 787-9 Dreamliner. This awesome airplane comes from a partnership with Star Wars and Japanese airline ANA (Attention all other airlines: please get on this level). Is this basically a publicity stunt? Definitely. Does that make me pray and pray and pray that I’ll catch this thing taxiing to a runway at the end of some international flight? Yep!

Flying near an altitude of 30,000 feet, there’s no way R2-D2 is just some near-sighted scrap pile. [ANA]


Apps and Devices

People can suck. No one knows this more than social media sites, and Instagram is the latest one to tighten its user guidelines to fight harassment. [Wall Street Journal]

Oftentype sounds pretty genius—a keyboard that lets you paste long, awkward words and phrases with a single tap. [TNW]

Ever heard of Soundiiz? It’s the playlist importing service Jay-Z wants you to use to ditch Spotify and finally join the Tidal side of the force. [Trusted Reviews]


The US Navy is phasing out human fighter pilots and going drone. The future of robot-fueled war is upon us. [The Register]

Marshall guitar amps are finally embracing the digital age and bringing its iconic sound to the desktop with a $200 plugin. [Ars Technica]


Microsoft and Cyanogen form an official partnership in order bring Windows apps to the widely loved Android ROM. [MarketWired]

Google may be working on a whole new dialer app that lets you search business and contacts and will tap into messaging more closely in the future. [The Information]


Vizileaks says an all metal Z4 with an embedded fingerprint sensor could be Sony’s next flagship come September. [Vizileaks]

In other news, Ryan Gosling might star in the upcoming Blade Runner sequel. I have...mixed emotions. [Variety]


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