Category: quadcopter

Xiaomi launches Mi Drone – budget quadcopter with 4K video

Kevin Bruce Francisco

Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi dipped its toes in the drone segment with the launch of the affordable Mi Drone.

xiaomi-mi-drone-1

Xiaomi Mi Drone specs:
4K or Full HD video recording
3-axis gimbal
GPS, GLONASS
5100mAh battery
27mins of claimed flight time

Additional features of the Mi Drone include modular parts like the rotors, camera module, and battery which can be easily removed and attached for better portability and serviceability. It also has several flight modes like return to home, waypoint navigation, orbit, and takeoff/landing in addition to setting a specific area to keep its movement.

xiaomi-mi-drone-2

The Full HD model is at CNY2,499 (approx. Php18K) while the Mi Drone that shoots 4K resolution videos is more expensive at CNY2,999 (approx. Php21K). Even then Xiaomi’s drone is still much more affordable compared to the frontrunners like DJI’s Phantom 4 which is about Php70K.

Just like other drones, the Mi Drone relies on a smartphone paired to its included remote control to serve as the viewfinder.

The Full HD drone is said to be crowdfunded on the Mi Home app starting today while the 4K version will be available for testing on an open beta program by the end of June.

{Via}

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Parrot releases water-surfing Hydrofoil Drone

Kevin Bruce Francisco Leave a comment

As a new addition to Parrot‘s lineup of minidrones, the company introduces its Hydrofoil Drone which can be used on water and also by air.

parrot-hydrofoil-drone

The boat features its own pontoons to easily glide through water. What powers it is a separate quadcopter called Airborne minidrone that you attach to the hybrid boat. Once activated, it flips up and works perpendicularly so it thrusts backward instead of downward and pushes the Hydrofoil Drone forward.

Moreover, you can also remove the Airborne minidrone and use it on its own as your usual quadcopter.

Just like its other minidrones, this is connected to a phone or tablet using Bluetooth, and is navigated via the company’s FreeFlight 3 app. Once maneuvering the Hydrofoil you can switch to its first-person view through the smartphone using the Airborne’s camera.

The Parrot Hydrofoil Drone can be had for EUR 169. To see it in action, check out its video demo.

The post Parrot releases water-surfing Hydrofoil Drone appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Parrot releases water-surfing Hydrofoil Drone

Kevin Bruce Francisco Leave a comment

As a new addition to Parrot‘s lineup of minidrones, the company introduces its Hydrofoil Drone which can be used on water and also by air.

parrot-hydrofoil-drone

The boat features its own pontoons to easily glide through water. What powers it is a separate quadcopter called Airborne minidrone that you attach to the hybrid boat. Once activated, it flips up and works perpendicularly so it thrusts backward instead of downward and pushes the Hydrofoil Drone forward.

Moreover, you can also remove the Airborne minidrone and use it on its own as your usual quadcopter.

Just like its other minidrones, this is connected to a phone or tablet using Bluetooth, and is navigated via the company’s FreeFlight 3 app. Once maneuvering the Hydrofoil you can switch to its first-person view through the smartphone using the Airborne’s camera.

The Parrot Hydrofoil Drone can be had for EUR 169. To see it in action, check out its video demo.

The post Parrot releases water-surfing Hydrofoil Drone appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

GoPro to offer a quadcopter, spherical mount, and a 16-cam rig

Kevin Bruce Francisco Leave a comment

GoPro announces that it will be coming out with not one, not two, but three additional products — a quadcopter, a spherical mount, and a 16-cam shooting rig.

dji-quadcopter

A DJI quadcopter carrying a GoPro

The first one they officially announced was the GoPro quadcopter. It is set to launch in the first half of 2016 and the company thinks it is in some ways, “the ultimate GoPro accessory”. GoPro CEO Nick Woodman also mentioned that it would still be consumer-focused so that should keep its price in the same range as DJI and Parrot.

gopro-spherical

Next is the spherical mount. It basically houses 6 GoPro cameras that records all at the same time. The footage will then be stitched together to produce virtual reality kind of videos viewable via VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, and Microsoft HoloLens. Viewing the content online is also possible through YouTube 360.

Pricing is also undisclosed but the company mentioned it will be available later this year.

Check out this cool and interactive sample using a spherical mount.

youtube-gopro

Lastly, GoPro also introduced its 16-camera rig made specifically for Jump (Google’s new virtual reality ecosystem).

gopro-rig

The rig shoots 360 degrees with better stitching points than the 6-cam spherical mount and tied with Google’s Jump, produces an immersive way of watching videos. In a nutshell, it aims to let filmmakers and even ordinary people create VR content easily once it’s made available for everyone.

Here’s a video clip using GoPro’s 16-cam rig entitled: Drifting in 360

youtube-gopro-2

{Sources 1, 2, 3}

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