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
Good morning! I hope everybody had a great Holiday celebration. Here are some of the headlines you may have missed. We also included an amazing 4K video of La Digue, the third largest island of the Seychelles.
Over the Holidays, people started to report on social media and in forums that they had received certfied letters in the mail from DJI. The letter, titled “NOTICE OF DATA BREACH“, warns DJI’s customers that their personal information, such as full name, address, date of birth, photo, and identification number (e.g., passport number or driver’s license number) as well as scanned photo identification such as ID cards and passports, stored on a server in the U.S., may have been accessible to unauthorized users.
A new Swiss interactive map shows no-fly zones for drones in 2D and 3D. The Federal Aviation Office in Switzerland (BAZL) has created a new interactive map that shows drone pilot were they are and are not allowed to fly.
DJI just released a new firmware update for the DJI Phantom 4 drone. Version:V 01.05.0300
At the DJI press event in Shenzhen, China last week, the Chinese drone manufacturer announced the following drones aimed at the agricultural market, the MG-1S Advanced, the MG-1P and the MG-1P RTK. It seems that these drones will be available soon for the Chinese market. No word, however on when and if these drones may come to the US.
Merry Christmas! We hope all of you are having a great day today!
Five days ago, we first reported on the newly announced DJI Phantom 4 RTK (Real-Time Kinematic). This new DJI model with very precise and accurate mapping technology, showed up during an official event of the Chinese drone manufacturer where two other new drones for the agricultural market were introduced. Details of the Phantom 4 RTK where very limited initially. We had reached out to DJI to find out more but at the time they could only confirm that this was indeed a new DJI drone model. We do not have any information yet on price and availability.
Since then new photos and more information about the Phantom 4 RTK have emerged.
Drones will be used by Dutch towage company, Kotug to improve safety and efficiency during their towing operations. The Rotterdam-based company that operates in ports and terminals around the world, will be using drones to fly the messenger line from the tugboat to the assisted vessel. This new approach is a Dutch invention for which a patent has been filed.
Good morning! It has been a busy few days here at DroneDJ as we have had a great response to our Phantom 4 RTK articles. For the drone video of today, we selected this older video with drone footage of NYC. Pretty amazing shots. check it out!
According to the latest PEW Research Center survey, 8% of Americans say they own a drone and 59% have seen a drone in operation. Just like in the UK, drones are catching on as consumer goods in the US. However, regardless of the unmanned aerial vehicles’ increasing popularity, many Americans have reservations about where and under what circumstances drone operations should be allowed.
NASA selects two drone concepts for further study, for a drone mission to launch in 2020 as the fourth part of its New Frontiers program. The first concept is a sample return spacecraft to a comet. The second one is a drone to fly across a moon of Saturn. Both concepts, that build upon previous European Space Agency mission, were chosen for further study by NASA this week.
Two days ago we reported about the new DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone being spotted at an event in China. Today we can confirm that this drone is not some photoshopped Phantom, as some people on social media seem to believe, but that it is indeed a new DJI drone. The drone was shown at an official DJI event in China where two new agricultural drones, the MG-1S Advanced and the MG-1P, were announced.
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Good morning! Yesterday was a busy day traveling so we have only one headline for you from yesterday’s new but I can promise you we will have a lot more news today, including more information on the DJI Phantom 4 RTK.
DJI just released a new firmware update for the DJI Spark drone. Version: V01.00.0900
After introducing the DJI Knowledge Quiz in the US in November, DJI’s latest effort to reduce drone incidents is going live in the UK today. All DJI drone pilots in the UK will have to successfully answer a set of questions before being able to launch their drones. DJI’s move comes prior to government plans to introduce a safety awareness test for drone users in 2018.
Drones sales this Holiday season are expected to almost double the number of drones in the UK airspace. At the same time, a recent study of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) showed that an estimated 27% of all new drone owners are unaware of the aviation rules and regulations surrounding their new unmanned aerial vehicles.
DJI’s effort to educate (new) drone owners is a sensible step that other drone manufacturers may want to follow.
Good morning! Here are the headlines you may have missed. Grab a coffee and read on.
DJI seems to be on a roll this week. Next, to the new DJI Phantom 4 RTK, the Chinese drone manufacturer also launched two new agricultural drones, MG-1S Advanced and the MG-1P. Both drones use advanced technologies that promise to significantly enhance agricultural production efficiency, such as spraying pesticide on crops.
Today in a post on the Facebook Inspire 1 & 2 owners group this image surfaced. Apparently, it shows a new drone, called the DJI Phantom 4 RTK from Chinese drone manufacturer, DJI. RTK stands for Real-Time Kinematic and is a very precise and accurate satellite navigation device, which offers its value in highly accurate mapping situations. Normal drones offer precision measurements with up to 5-meter (16.4 feet) accuracy. With RTK the measurements are accurate up to 5 cm (2 inches).
DJI has started to introduce new features for their ‘electronic license plate’ system for drones, called Aeroscope, in their latest firmware updates. The new features allow drone pilots to voluntarily identify their flight operations to law enforcement agencies.
In a news release, the FAA announced that at the request of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies, new locations have been added to the list of locations where you can no longer fly your drone.
I have to admit that this had never crossed my mind but I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. One Australian drone pilot is officially licensed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to help you celebrate the life of a loved one by scattering their ashes by drone. Yeah, you read that right. Scattering their ashes by drone. Maybe not as crazy an idea when you think about it?
Good morning. Here are yesterday’s headlines as well as an amazing video of Hawaii. enjoy!
In one of his most recent videos, Casey Neistat reviews the 4K Snap drone. This is the same drone that the FAA allows CNN to fly over crowds with. Neistat had pre-ordered the drone two years ago when he was still flying a DJI Phantom 3 drone. The new Snap drone seemed much smaller and lighter at the time. Now, two years later, drone technology has moved on and we have drones like the DJI Spark, a drone that is much, much smaller than a Phantom and even smaller than a Snap drone.
Today we came across an interesting post on Facebook. Daniel de Ruiter from the Netherlands had posted a photo of his Inspire 2 flying with an Insta360 Pro mounted underneath it. This is a pretty pricey setup to fly. The drone retails for at least $2999, and the 360-degree camera that provides 8K video goes for $3499. To mount the Insta360 Pro camera to the drone, De Ruiter had bought a 3D printed mount from a company in Spain. According to the post on Facebook, the drone and camera were used for an Adidas commercial. He said:
“Did something new this weekend with the Insta360Pro and Inspire 2. Shooting in 360 in 8K. Inspire 2 handled great 👊”