About the Author
Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at DroneDJ, where he covers all drone-related news and writes product reviews. He also contributes to the other sites in the 9to5Mac group such as; 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, and Electrek.
Haye can be reached at haye@dronedj.com or @hayekesteloo
Haye Kesteloo's Favorite Gear
March 31
What do you do when you run out of toilet paper during the coronavirus lockdown? Well, you contact your buddy and have it delivered to you by drone. Or at least that’s what this guy did in San Francisco. Check it out.
In 2017, Seth Weintraub and I set out to create DroneDJ.com, a news and rumor site that would cover the fast-growing drone industry. Now, about two and a half years and more than 2,500 articles later, DroneDJ has grown into the largest drone site in the US by a wide margin.
The iconic quadcopter from DJI, that needs no re-re-introduction, has remained a favorite of many drone pilots even though the competition is heating up. Here are our top ten reasons why the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 (DJI, Amazon) is the one and only drone that can do it all and should be at the top of your list as well.
Ex-Boeing executive David Carbon will spearhead the Amazon Prime Air delivery by drone service. In 2013, Jeff Bezos famously announced that deliveries by drone would be a common sight in a matter of four to five years, and that hasn’t exactly panned out yet. But the online retailer is still focused on making parcel deliveries by drone a reality.
DJI and Rosenbauer announce global partnership to advance the digitalization of Emergency Service Response. Aerial perspective and mobile operation management system combine to inform deployment, give increased situational awareness, and save critical time.
March 30
This is a story of how two Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 drones (DJI, Amazon) ended up in two 140-foot-high white oak trees. And how they were safely retrieved during our drone rescue operation last weekend. Without pointing fingers, we’ll take a look at what went wrong, what went right, and what lessons can be learned for future drone operations. Best to grab a cup of coffee for this somewhat lengthy story.
DJI released a new firmware update for the DJI P4 Multispectral. The update includes new firmware for both the unmanned aircraft (v00.00.0134) as well as the remote controller (v00.00.0134).
Right before the weekend, DJI released a new version of its new DJI Fly app that is currently only used for the DJI Mavic Mini (from DJI or Amazon). The new version 1.0.8 focuses on improving the stability of the app, fixes some bugs and optimizes warning prompts for when the DJI Mavic Mini is flown in strong winds. No new features haves been introduced with this recent update. expand full story
March 27
If you have some time left over this Friday afternoon, I highly recommend reading the following article about DJI that was published in Bloomberg a few days ago. The article is titled: “DJI Won the Drone Wars, and Now It’s Paying the Price.” In it, two Bloomberg reporters provide some exclusive and detailed behind-the-scenes information about the world’s largest drone maker.
In an email this morning, DJI announced that the drone maker will extend the warranty service period for products with their original warranty ending from March 14, 2020 through April 30, 2020, to April 30, 2020, as the company recognizes that some of its customers may not be able to safely send their DJI products and drones in for warranty service during the COVID-19 outbreak.
March 26
In an email earlier today, DJI announced: “Save now on DJI FPV, enjoy 16% off select products.” Clicking the link in the email brings you to a page where you’ll find a good number of DJI FPV products and discounted accessories.
As you might have seen on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter yesterday, the Chinese drone maker DJI announced that the company is “Introducing the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0,” and that the “DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is back.” This is a bit weird and confusing since the iconic quadcopter has been back in stock for some time now. As you can imagine, the announcement from DJI caused some confusion among drone enthusiasts. Is this a new version of the Phantom 4 drone? No, it’s not. This is the same old, same old. SO why did DJI make this announcement? Let’s take a closer look at what might be going on here.
Today, Transport Canada granted the first certificate for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) for special flight drone operations to MVT Geo-solutions, in partnership with Iris Automation, using only onboard detect-and-avoid (DAA).
March 25
InterDrone statement regarding COVID-19
At this time of global concern, the health and safety of our communities and constituents are of the utmost importance to us, and we are committed to the overall well-being of our industry. We wanted to take a moment to check in with everyone.
Sky Power welcomes new US Sales Manager
In order to expand and strengthen their position on the US market Sky Power welcomes Trent Aguon as a Sales Manager. Serving the UAS Industry for over 14 years and working with Scan Eagle UAS, Trent has great technical experience in this field.
Parrot, the leading European drone group, announced today the addition of enhanced flight data tracking to Parrot’s ANAFI drone through a partnership with DroneLogbook — which will allow pilots to keep track of their equipment’s performance, schedule necessary maintenance, as well as record and report all pertinent information to comply with FAA regulation.
March 24
UPS Flight forward and Wingcopter to develop versatile new drone FLEET
UPS drone delivery subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) today said it would collaborate with German drone-maker Wingcopter to develop the next generation of package delivery drones for a variety of use cases in the United States and internationally.
Some of our readers have sent us these drone videos that show the deserted streets in Chicago and Zurich as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world. By now almost all countries seem to have implemented some form of social distancing and governments are strongly advising people to stay home in an effort to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to flatten the curve.
March 23
Here’s a new way to use drones during the coronavirus lockdown. Instead of yelling at people why not ask a girl for a date using your drone? Yes, drone dating during the coronavirus lockdown with a DJI Mavic drone.
In the fight against the coronavirus, we have seen countries such as China, Spain, and France turn to drones to help communicate to people and urge them to stay inside. We had not yet seen similar drone use in the US until now. The Chula Vista Police Department in California has started to use drones to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.
