Haye Kesteloo

Good morning, here’s the news you may have missed with news about the Yuneec Mantis Q a drone we should be reviewing for you shortly. Furthermore, we have a substantial update of the Litchi app for you. And lastly, have you ever wondered what it would be like to get caught by one of the monster waves that (some) people surf in Nazaré, Portugal? Well, then you have to see this video in which Marcelo Luna explain what happened when he got caught by one. Scary stuff for sure!

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About a week ago, we wrote about the latest drone from Yuneec the Mantis Q. Initially only available in Europe, but now we got an email from Yuneec letting us know that the voice-controlled and foldable drone will be available for pre-order in the US as well. Pre-orders start today. It is priced at $499.99 which puts it well below the DJI Mavic Air and the Parrot Anafi but higher than the DJI Spark. However, if you want the remote control, three batteries, a shoulder bag, and more, the price will come to $649.99, which puts it in direct competition with the drones I mentioned before as well as the DJI Mavic Pro. Let us know in the poll below, which drone you would pick!

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Many of our readers are Litchi users and fans for good reason. Some prefer the Litchi app over the DJI Go 4 app because of its simplicity. Others because the app offers the waypoints functionality for the DJI Mavic Air (now also for the Spark). Yesterday the app received a substantial update both for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platform. The update applies to the DJI Mavic, Phantom, Inspire and Spark.

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Good morning, here are the headlines you may have missed. We have news about a new way to take down rogue drones, DJI’s official announcement of the postponed ‘See the Bigger Picture’ event, Yachting World recommending the five best drones for yachtsmen and women including the GoPro Karma of all drones! RoboTiCan’s Goshawk drone to take down rogue drones. And Ocean Alliance’s video of how a SnotBot helps to analyze a whale’s overall health. Grab a coffee and check it out!

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Today, we received an email from DJI with the ‘official invite’ to their ‘See the Bigger Picture’ event that is now scheduled for August 23rd at 10 am EST in New York. Readers of DroneDJ already knew this as the event was announced about a week ago, but for good measure here is it again with officially updated graphics.

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The August edition of Yachting World features an article called “Eye in the Sky” that promises to bring you five of the best drones in 2018. The drones included are the: DJI Mavic Pro, Parrot Bebop 2 Power FPV, DJI Spark, Parrot Mambo, and the GoPro Karma. Interestingly enough the DJI Mavic Air is missing from their selection even though that is still the most recent addition to DJI’s product line-up. Parrot’s latest drone the Anafi was also left out. They did include the Karma, however, even though GoPro itself has discontinued their troublesome drone earlier this year. Let’s take a quick look at the article.

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We reported briefly on Ocean Alliance before, but this video that the non-profit organization provided us with is simply too good not to be shared. The drone footage of the whales is amazing and also the innovative way these researchers have been able to use drones, is a great example of how these unmanned aircraft can be used for good in the world. DJI has acknowledged this as well and is an official partner for the not-for-profit. The organization uses an Inspire drone, called the SnotBot to capture the droplets with DNA as the whales exhale by flying the drone through the spray. Fascinating stuff!

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Good morning, hope you had a great weekend? Here are the headlines from DroneDJ that you may have missed with news about a gas-powered drone and the Airbus Zephyr drone that flew for 26 days straight. We also have a 4K drone video that was shot with the GoPro Karma and Hero6 camera celebrating the Californian Summer. Enjoy!

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Good morning, here are yesterday’s headlines with news about the use of drones in the attacks in Venezuela, a pilot fined for crashing a drone in a baby’s face, the new Yuneec Mantis Q, our review of the DJI Mavic Air and more! We also have a very nice drone video from one of our readers so be sure to check that out as well! Enjoy!

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The investigative team of the website Bellingcat has concluded through open source research that in the assassination attempt of President Maduro, it appears that “two drones attempted to attack a parade at which President Maduro was speaking”, that “both drones likely carried some form of explosive device” and that “one detonated near the parade, the other crashed and then likely detonated, causing a fire” and lastly that “it is not possible to accurately attribute this apparent attack without further information.” In the report, Bellingcat also indicates that the two drones might have been DJI Matrice 600’s.

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On July 24 Cassandra Roberts took her one-year-old son Atticus to Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf, Iowa where her little one was hit in the face by a drone. A 19-year-old man from Davenport has since been identified as the drone pilot and was fined $160 for flying the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that his the baby’s face.

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The assassination attempt on the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in which allegedly two off-the-shelf commercial drones were used, has pushed the debate about the fast-growing industry and expansion of commercial drone flights while providing security measures against the misuse of the unmanned aerial devices to the foreground. Last weekend’s attack is believed to be the first of its kind targetting a head of state and maybe a sign of things to come. It has led to growing concerns among industry experts and government officials as they have yet to find an effective way to counter the threat of low-cost weaponized drones.

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Good morning, finally we have a new date from DJI to look forward to! On August 23rd at 10 am in the NY area, DJI will host an event to almost certainly introduce the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom models. Hopefully, DJI has had enough time to build up their inventories so that the orders can be placed right away and shipping will take place soon after as many people are eager to get their hands on these new drones. With that, here are yesterday’s headlines and also a very nice video from Greece. Definitely worth checking out!

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DJI just announced a new date for their postponed ‘See the Bigger Picture’ event that was originally scheduled for July 18th. The new date is now August 23rd and the event will take place in the NY Metro Area at 10 am EST. Details of the event were shared in an email with DroneDJ. This time around there will not be a special press/media event taking place before the main event. Of course, the new Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are widely expected to be introduced on that day by the world’s leading drone maker.

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Good morning, here are the headlines you may have missed from yesterday. New footage surfaces of an exploding drone that allegedly is one of the two drones involved in the attack on Nicholás Maduro, although any hard evidence is still lacking. Second, DJI just introduced their cutest drone ever in partnership with Line Friends, the DJI Spark Brown edition. Lastly, we have a very nice video that shows the beauty of the now Indian landscape around the village of Turtuk as well as the town itself. Check it out!

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An update on the alleged drone attack on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as amateur video footage claims to show one of the drones exploding, surfaced online. According to the Interior Minister Néstor Reverol, two DJI Matrice 600 drones were used in the attack. Reportedly, one of the drones was shot down, setting an apartment building on fire. Six people have been arrested in relation to the attack according to Néstor Reverol, the country’s interior minister. The President has said that the culprits were right-wing opponents and Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia.

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DJI starts this week off with the introduction of the BROWN Spark mini-drone. In a partnership with LINE FRIENDS, the Chinese drone maker created a special version of their Spark drone mimicking the loveable bear.

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Good morning, here are last weekend’s headlines with the alleged drone attack on Nicolás Maduro’s life being the most concerning. If you haven’t heard about that yet be sure to check out the article below. Also, we have news about firefighting aircraft being grounded because of unauthorized drone flying and a start-up in North Carolina that uses drones to clean buildings. Jump right in!

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Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has survived, what officials have called an apparent drone assassination attempt during a speech he was making at a military event. Government officials described drones armed with explosives detonating overhead after they were flown towards Maduro as he spoke to soldiers in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday afternoon.

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Good morning, on this Friday morning we have for you a  professional portrait photographer who wanted to light the impossible and to achieve that he mounted a Speedlight flash to his DJI Phantom 3 drone with an amazing result. Furthermore, we have a spectacular drone video of some guys catching a marlin off the coast of Queensland in Australia. Lastly, we have a very cinematic drone video of the Italian Dolomites. so, grab your cup of coffee, kick back and ease into this last workday of the week!

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We have seen other creative solutions before where photographers have used drones to light up a scene. In this case, a professional photographer mounts a flash directly to his DJI Phantom 3 drone to create a uniquely lit sunrise portrait with great success.

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