Several companies have offered drones that can, more or less, follow a target and avoid obstacles. But now a new company, Skydio, has introduced the $2,499 R1 drone that shows significant promise. The R1 doesn’t use GPS or wearable trackers for 3D vision tracking, yet is able to avoid obstacles from all angles at speed (about 25 miles per hour). The high-quality device, which Skydio describes as a “self-flying camera,” is also easy to use. The R1, via camera lenses that point up and down on a two-axis gimbal, also records 4K video. Continue reading Skydio R1 Drone Touts Advanced Visual Tracking, 4K Camera

Yuneec International announced three new drones at CES — an update to its popular Typhoon H, which initially debuted two years ago, and two new entries: the $700 Firebird FPV (the company’s first fixed-wing drone) and the $180 HD Racer (Yuneec’s first racing drone). The $1,800 Typhoon H Plus is designed for professional photographers and videographers; Yuneec claims the drone’s six-rotor hex airframe produces 40 percent less noise than earlier hex models and can maintain stability in winds up to 30 mph. It also uses Intel RealSense tech to avoid collisions. And with a high-aperture lens and one-inch sensor, the camera can capture 20-megapixel stills and 4K video at 60fps. Continue reading Yuneec Announces Updated Typhoon H and Two New Models

While companies such as Yuneec, DJI, Ryze Tech, AirSelfie Group and others tout their latest drones and related products at CES this week, action-cam manufacturer GoPro announced that it plans to exit the drone market completely once it unloads its remaining $799 Karma drones. Citing “hostile regulatory environments” and an “untenable” aerial market, the company also plans to cut more than one-fifth of its workforce. GoPro faces mounting competition from new smartphones that feature improved video capabilities and advanced lenses. The company reduced the price of its Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session cameras in December, and this week announced it would lower its Hero6 model from $499 to $399. Continue reading GoPro to Exit Drone Market in 2018, Cut More Than 250 Jobs

Drones are a booming industry sector. Gartner Research says global drones sales in 2016 bumped up 60 percent to 2.2 million, with revenue growing 36 percent to $4.5 billion. The Consumer Technology Association reports that hobbyists in the U.S. purchased 2.4 million drones in 2016, compared to 1.1 million in 2015. But it isn’t easy to nail down sales numbers for drones, given that the definition for what constitutes a drone varies. Gartner calls an aircraft that can connect to the Internet a drone, a “conservative” definition.  Continue reading Sales of DJI Drones Are Going Sky-High as Market Takes Off

At the Intel Developer Forum, the company showed several new technology projects, including Project Alloy, an unusual “mixed reality” headset; a quadcopter “ready-to-fly” drone aimed at software developers; and a new Joule maker board designed as a platform for computer vision products. The company, which plans to collaborate with Microsoft on the mixed reality headset, says it does not need to be connected to a high-powered personal computer, as do other headsets, most notably Oculus Rift. Continue reading Intel Unveils Mixed Reality Headset, Drone, Joule Maker Board

The FAA’s mandatory drone registration does not seem to be impacting UAV sales, which have grown 224 percent from April 2015 to April 2016 for a total of nearly $200 million, according to The NPD Group. Robotics Trends reports the FAA’s database indicates there are now “461,433 registered hobbyist drone owners in 39,471 zip codes.” NPD notes that DJI is the clear U.S. market leader at 49 percent, followed by Parrot (19 percent), Protocol (6.3 percent), Yuneec (5.6 percent) and 3D Robotics (4 percent). Drones with 4K cameras represented more than one-third of sales for the 12 month period, and GPS-outfitted drones accounted for 64 percent of sales. Continue reading Drone Sales Grow 224 Percent Year-Over-Year to $200 Million

Under the theme “Experiences Reimagined,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich kicked off CES 2016 with a keynote presentation packed with product announcements, collaborations and live demonstrations. Today’s products are designed and defined by experiences, said Krzanich, experiences enabled by technology. With a flair of showmanship, the keynote opened with fireworks, presented not with explosives but a record-setting fleet of illuminated drones, and closed with music played with motion sensors, all of which served to illustrate what Krzanich called “the sensification of computing.” Continue reading CES: Intel Reimagines Experiences with Sensified Computing

Qualcomm has introduced Snapdragon Flight, a platform for consumer drones that has been under development for the last six months. Named after Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 processor, the platform supports a 4K video camera, two cameras for depth and a fourth for indoor stabilization. Snapdragon Flight supports Sony IMX camera sensors for video and Omnivision OV7251 sensors for computer vision. Companies that adopt the platform should be able to develop drones for sale within the first half of 2016. Continue reading Qualcomm Debuts Small, Light Drone with 4K Camera Support