Oct 31, 2014 Keeping Up with the Droneses
Jerry Hsiao and I are (apparently) on a mission to keep everyone posted about the quickly developing dystopian reality of a world chock full of affordable commercial drones. It’s been several months since we blogged about the latest in drone tech. Between the evolving product landscape and the ongoing military reliance on them, drones have been in the news an awful lot lately. Point in case, Kevin told me about an interesting new drone watch product Flynixie, “the first wearable camera that can fly.”
And why not, right? Drone videos are a genre unto themselves now. The recent accessibility and increase in affordable platforms has lead to tons of different applications, such as this impressive footage of big wave surf at Jaws in Hawaii.
About a year back, Australian company Zookal announced it was exploring a drone delivery service for their textbook business. US companies like Amazon are doing the same but their hands (remote controls?) are tied until FAA legislation on drones changes. Never one to be outdone in the PR department, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson recently announced his decision to invest in 3D Robotics – one of the more established players in the commercial drone landscape.
I’m definitely hoping to scratch the camera drone itch, personally. Maybe if I’m a good boy, Santa will drop one of these entry level Parrot AR jammies down the chimney on the porch. Not bad for $299 with an HD camera built-in, no?