Bruce Crumley

Adding to its collection of precedents in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft development, Joby said it has become the first manufacturer of future air taxis to deliver its craft to a US customer – in this case the Air Force.

The time-tested parental observation advises that one learns more about a situation by heeding what people do rather than what they say. That may also be said of the recent decision by the Baltimore Police Department in establishing its new drone fleet using DJI drones – and in doing so broadly reflecting the frequent response of independent administrations to the largely politicized moves by Congress, US government agencies, and several state legislatures to blacklist the UAV giant’s craft from official use across the nation.

World-leading camera drone maker DJI has unveiled its new sub-250-gram Mini 4 Pro ($759), a product whose official rollout is generating excitement among company fans despite the abundance of revealing images and specs leaked on it over the past few months.

Payloads aboard drones used to drop contraband into prisons around the world usually comprise drugs, tobacco, and cellphones, though one curiously creative – and now definitely busted – trio in Australia decided to diversify its illicit recreational cargo by adding a USB drive filled with porn to the mix.

A French tech startup is to looking to speed the processing of medical analyses – and resulting treatment – by delivering patient samples between medical facilities using drones for a group of hospitals in the country’s Normandy region.

Even as international drone delivery company Wing continued to expand its activities around the globe over the summer, it appears to have paused aerial services in the Canberra capital of its booming Australian market amid an update of its operating model.

We spoke too soon. Just when it seemed like scooping DJI with its own teaser for the September 25 Mini 4 Pro release couldn’t be topped, yet another leak about the not-merely-rumored drone now provides additional, crystal-clear photos of the craft in bucolic settings.

(Updated: Live now)

Japan-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane maker SkyDrive has gotten a bit more tailwind in the commercialization push of its three-seat “flying car” with an order of 50 craft from leasing firm Solyu of South Korea.

Security and defense UAV tech specialist Red Cat Holdings has expanded its work with US government agencies through an additional contract to supply Teal 2 drones to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operators.

Aerospace experts from US conglomerate Honeywell are teaming up with a division of the Department of Energy to devlop a compact form of hydrogen fuel storage designed specifically for longer-haul drone use.

Public safety and emergency response organizations using drones in their work will find it easier – and much less expensive – to monitor the airspace around them during their work thanks to a new partnership between UAV remote identification tech specialist AirSentinel, and the nonprofit DroneResponders association.

To get an idea of just how deep online sleuths have gotten into drone giant DJI’s product development kitchen, after weeks of sharing detailed photos and specs of the company’s rumored Mini 4 Pro, leakers have now beat it to the punch yet again by uploading the teaser for the unveiling event ahead of schedule.

It’s no secret that UK police have been energetic and innovative adopters of drone technology in public service, law enforcement, and first responder activity, but a recent survey suggests those forces need to do a better job in assuring security of their UAVs and the data they collect.

Global drone fleet management specialist AirData has announced its partnership with Sony to provide data analytics and craft oversight services for the electronic giant’s Airpeak S1 UAVs.

Leading global instant logistics company Zipline has passed another major milestone in its operational evolution – and in the future scaling of the entire drone delivery sector – by obtaining authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights.

Over its some 700-year-history, the UK’s annual Goose Fair in Nottingham has adapted to and embraced technological innovation as part of its festivities, but this year is drawing a line – in the sky – to exclude drones.

UK drone delivery and advanced air mobility infrastructure startup Skyports has launched trials of on-demand UAV equipment provisioning flights to North Sea oil rigs in partnership with its Norwegian energy client, Equinor.  

As an additional reminder that you can’t make everyone happy – especially in this divided, frequently infuriated world – a UK medical drone delivery project has come under considerable fire for its efforts to seek prolonged flight restrictions across an expanse of airspace that locals say would effectively shut down local air traffic.

Despite the accumulating details over recent months indicating a looming Mini 4 Pro release, relentless DJI leaker Igor Bogdanov has managed to dig up additional unseen images of the rumor-in-name-only craft, before returning his attention to a docked enterprise drone he first revealed last month – this time via retweeted photos from fellow sleuth @NGDrones.

Drone delivery startup Flytrex has announced an upgrade of the method it uses to upload food orders destined for customer households, as part of an effort to reduce processing and transport time and permit the company to continue expanding its aerial business activity.

The looming arrival of battery-powered air taxis may conjure futuristic, Jetson-esque images of urban aerial travel, but California aviation startup Jump Aero is eschewing the allure – and anticipated profits – of that mass market transportation potential to develop an electric takeoff and landing plane (eVTOL) designed exclusively for getting medical responders to patients in time to provide critical care.