Ishveena Singh

European drone group Parrot has made some major announcements while reporting its first-half earnings. As the company strives to reduce its cash consumption amid tepid drone sales, Parrot says it will stop production and component sourcing in China, and reduce its workforce by around 20%.

Leading public safety drone consulting group Skyfire Consulting is joining forces with Ondas Holdings to bring advanced autonomous drone solutions and services to public safety and Drone First Responder (DFR) markets in the United States.

Amazon’s own drones may not be delivering much – or often ­­– but smart mailboxes that can accept drone deliveries are now a part of the Amazon Sidewalk community network.

DJI has released an exciting new firmware update for its original FPV drone. The first-person view aircraft is now compatible with the latest-generation Goggles Integra as well as Goggles 2, which were first released alongside the DJI Avata drone.

The unparalleled flexibility that comes with drones being able to carry a multitude of sensors, high-resolution cameras, and survey-grade mapping payloads has seen them being used for monitoring sensitive ecological areas and endangered species in several parts of the world. But a rather interesting case is now emerging from Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) where the conservation organization has teamed up with Wildlife Drones to deploy a drone specially equipped with an advanced radio-telemetry system to track and monitor vulnerable wildlife species.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) says it has delivered nine drones to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to collect evidence of possible war crimes. As an independent agency of the US federal government, USAID has been pursuing accountability for war crimes and human rights abuse in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

The United States Air Force (USAF) has renewed its partnership with the Drone Racing League (DRL) for the seventh year. Not only has the USAF now become the longest-reigning DRL partner, but for the first time, the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces will have an endorsement with a DRL pilot who will fly as the official USAF Team Pilot.

Vertiport operations and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) solutions provider Kookiejar says it is joining forces with design company STILFOLD to make drone landing platforms using “industrial origami” manufacturing technology.

One of the key features that make the DJI Air 3 drone a serious upgrade over its predecessor is the all-new DJI RC 2 remote controller that comes with a built-in screen.

All eyes are going to be on DJI tomorrow as the company hosts the highly anticipated “Double Up” event, but another new product from the tech giant has now made it to the FCC database. Test reports of an Osmo Action 4 camera have popped up in regulatory filings, indicating DJI could be prepping for another launch event soon.

New firmware is now available to download for DJI Enterprise flagship drone platforms. Both the Matrice 300 (M300) RTK and Matrice 350 (M350) RTK commercial drones have received firmware upgrades today.

Originally designed as a rogue drone interceptor, the Robotican Goshawk observation aircraft is gearing up for a fresh inning with police, ambulance, and fire services in Israel. A modified version of the drone will soon be seen as a first responder, assessing situations with its camera before the arrival of ground teams.

FPV drone specialist BETAFPV says a fresh stock for Pavo Pico, the company’s smallest 2S whoop quadcopter, could arrive as soon as the end of this month. The ultra-light Cinewhoop has been lapped up by users because it weighs under 100 grams and yet can carry the DJI O3 Air Unit.

A new, ubiquitous drone Remote ID network is being rolled out in Singapore. The island nation plans to deploy 50 drone tracking sensors across its entire land area by the end of 2024.

DJI has released new firmware updates for its latest smartphone gimbals, Osmo Mobile 6 and Osmo Mobile SE. The update is important because it brings all-new ActiveTrack 6.0 subject-tracking technology to phone stabilizers.

Last year, DJI became the first drone manufacturer in the world to submit and earn US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for Remote ID protocol compliance. At the time, as many as seven of its popular drone models secured the FAA nod for adequate compliance with the Remote ID rule. Today, that list is much longer. But now, in another first, DJI has also become the only drone maker to have a previously-approved compliance status rescinded by the FAA.

Editor’s Update [October 2023]: You can now buy the Hover X1 pocket drone on Amazon.

Drone maker ZeroZero Robotics has extended the Indiegogo campaign funding the production of its innovative self-flying camera device that weighs less than an iPhone. The company has raised more than $1,187,000 to date and shipped over 2,200 Hover X1 drones across the globe.

Maintenance and technical support are being suspended for one of the most iconic DJI drones. Come July 15, 2023, DJI will stop providing service support for Phantom 4, the product that revolutionized the consumer drone market.

DJI today announced it is discontinuing Care Refresh+. This after-sales service plan from the company offered users an additional replacement for damaged devices while extending the official warranty coverage period of drones and handheld products.

The highly-anticipated DJI Air 3 has leaked fully ahead of its official announcement. The new DJI drone hit the US FCC database recently, indicating that its potential launch date is not too far.

Drones have now been directly involved in saving the lives of more than 1,000 people around the globe, says DJI. The world leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology says it has compiled hundreds of separate incidents worldwide where drones have played a crucial role in search and rescue missions.