The DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is beloved by smartphone photo- and videographers around the world and DJI is about to add to its lineup with the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 portable gimbal. The DJI Osmo Mobile 3 comes with a few notable upgrades including a new folding design and is 80g lighter.
If you take a closer look at the recent FCC filings you will see that unfortunately none of them is actually for a drone. Unless that drone is the size of a Double-Stuff Oreo cookie. The “Air Unit,” which we hoped might be a drone, is nothing more than a transmitter and receiver for a racing drone. So it looks like DJI is not releasing a drone in 45 days, or are they?
BOOM! DJI goes out with a bang this week! Three FCC filings were just made public, and they show that DJI will release an FPV drone, goggles, and a remote controller. Finally, it seems that the world’s largest drone maker is entering the FPV drone racing scene.
It took a bit of a workaround to hide my ass before I was able to watch the BBC Two documentary Britain’s Next Air Disaster? Drones. The hourlong documentary is presented by former Royal Marine commando, sniper, and now self-proclaimed high-risk adviser Aldo Kane. The term documentary is a bit of a misnomer in this case, as the short film tries to instill a fear of drones among its viewers. Rather than looking at all the ways in which drones can benefit our society, it focuses almost exclusively on how drones can disrupt air traffic at airports, severely damage airplanes in a collision, how terrorists might use drones to attack innocent civilians, and how little we can do to protect ourselves from these unmanned aircraft. Not much time is spent on how drones have saved people’s lives during search-and-rescue missions, aided firefighters (Notre Dame), restored communication networks, helped assess damage after natural disasters and wildfires, and delivered life-saving medication and in the future possibly organs to people in need. Instead, the documentary, produced by Horizon, paints a very negative and one-sided story about drones and how they might impact our society.
DJI is getting drawn into the U.S – China trade war as more U.S. government officials are increasingly concerned that DJI drones might be sending sensitive surveillance data back to mainland China. Earlier today, in an effort to stem the tide, DJI released two statements. The drone maker is introducing the DJI Government Edition and has sent a letter to the Senate Subcommittee to set the record straight “on incorrect claims presented during a hearing last week.” Furthermore, DJI is repurposing one of their warehouses in California to start building government drones right here in the United States. This is part 3 of 3.
Earlier today, DJI introduced the DJI Government Edition on some of its drones to offer a level of data security that meets the “stringent requirements of the government sector for data management, risk mitigation, and enterprise-level data sharing control.” However, that is not all, in a letter to the Senate Subcommittee, DJI wants to set the record straight on incorrect claims presented during a hearing last week. This is part 2 of 3. Stay tuned.
With all the rumors about the Phantom 5 being canceled, the Phantom 4 out of production and DJI’s scheduled product release of what is rumored NOT to be a drone, people are wondering if we can still expect a new drone from DJI. Well, we have some good news for you. The Chinese drone maker is about to release the DJI Spark 2 drone. The drone is expected to feature some important upgrades compared to the original Spark, that was launched way back in 2017. And, leaked information from DJI insiders tells us that the Spark 2 will be released as soon as July. Keep reading on to learn more about the rumored specs of the Spark 2.
Update 6/18/19: We have received word that the Spark 2 launch that was scheduled for July 23rd has been postponed indefinitely. An industry insider told us that DJI sent out a memo last week stating: “due to a shift in priorities the July 23 event is now on hold until further notice”.Unfortunately, no information was provided explaining the postponement nor was a new date announced.
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On Wednesday, May 22nd, DJI held an event in Washington DC to outline DJI’s actions and suggestions to improve the safety in the air for all participants, both manned and unmanned. DJI’s Vice President of Policy & Legal Affairs, Brendan Schulman announced that DJI will install ADS-B receivers in all DJI drones over 250 grams starting on 1/1/2020. As a reference, the DJI Spark weighs 300 grams. This will be the single largest ADS-B deployment in the world as the number of drones in the air is much larger than the number of airplanes and helicopters combined. The introduction of ADS-B for DJI drones and other safety improvements were explained in a presentation titled ‘Elevating Safety: Protecting the Skies in the Drone Era.‘
DJI just raised the price of their already expensive DJI Smart Controller. We previously wrote about how the Smart Controller plays a crucial role in the future of DJI drones such as the DJI Mavic 2 series. Now, it seems that DJI wants to make sure it is a profitable one as well. The ongoing trade war between the United States and China and resulting tariff increases have led to a raised price for the controller in the United States. You used to pay $649. Now you pay $749 for the remote controller with a built-in display. Ouch!
DJI urges drone pilots, operators, and drone fleet managers in the United States to comment on the proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules.
Before the proposed FAA rules come into effect there is a timeframe in which you can submit your comments. As of now, fewer than 100 comments have been received about flight at night and over people. The FAA actually pays attention to your input and takes it into consideration when making the final rules.
You can submit your comments on:
So, please take a minute or two and check out these links below and submit your comments for the FAA to consider. The deadline is Monday, April 15th. You can read DJI’s official statement below.
Update 1: when we wrote this article, only 84 comments had been submitted to the FAA. Now a few days later the counter sits at 306 comments. That is great news! DJI’s message has spread to a number of other websites as well and that obviously helped to reach a larger number of drone pilots. It is good to see such an immediate response coming out of our community. Keep in mind we still have four more days to go, so please keep submitting your comments to the FAA. the original article was posted on April 9th.
Update 2: Keep in mind the deadline is at the end of the 15th, meaning you can still submit your comments today! As of today, the comments counter stands at 647, which is quite an achievement, considering that we were only at 84 last week. Thanks to all of the media outlets pushing for comments over the last so many days, and to all the drone pilots and operators who submitted their feedback and comments to the FAA!
In the past, hobbyist drone pilots who wanted to fly for fun had it really easy. With a simple notification, they were off and flying in controlled airspace willy nilly. If a drone pilot was within 5 miles of an airport, the aircraft would take off and operate normally. It wasn’t until the pilot was within 1.6 miles of the center of an airport, that the drone would not’ physically take off if you were flying a DJI drone. Now, hobbyist drone pilots will soon be required to use LAANC to fly their drones in controlled airspace.
China’s largest drone maker, DJI faces a $150 million dollar loss after a large number of employees committed fraud in a series of corruption cases. The company is currently investigating inflated product prices in their supply chain. So far, 16 people have been reported to the authorities.
We have reached out to DJI for their official response to this story. The Chinese drone maker told us that they will be sending out an official statement as soon as possible. Update – DJI issued an official response. See below for details.
Contrary to earlier reports, it seems that DJI is planning to launch the DJI ‘Pro’ Remote Controller at CES 2019. However, instead of calling it Pro, DJI has changed the name to DJI Smart Controller. Early this morning the promotional video of the DJI Smart Controller was released on YouTube. The video provides us with all the most important information about the new device.
The long-awaited DJI ‘Pro’ Remote Controller is likely delayed and might not be at CES 2019. The mystery remote controller for the DJI Mavic 2 that showed up in various official DJI photos and videos was rumored to make its debut at CES 2019. However, the latest information we just received, indicates that the remote controller will likely be delayed.
We have been informed by one of our trusted sources, that the thermal camera for the Mavic 2 Enterprise, that was to be announced today, will be announced at CES 2019 instead. There is no explanation provided for the delay, but it seems that DJI has thought at the last moment that it might be better to launch the thermal camera for the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise, at the Consumer (!) Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month, together with the new ‘Pro’ Remote Controller with built-in display for the Mavic 2. There’s also more information on the type of delayed thermal camera btw… Jump right in.
We have seen it before in official DJI photos and videos (here, here and here). We know it is coming. And, now we know when. A source has shared with DroneDJ that DJI is planning to release the mystery remote controller soon. The same source also informed us that it is indeed for the Mavic 2 line of drones. The new DJI Mavic 2 Remote Controller with built-in display is set to be launched on Tuesday, January 8th during CES 2019.
Good morning! Yesterday, we brought you the details from the Quick Start Guide. This morning we have the actual DJI Osmo Pocket in hand. The DJI Osmo Pocket revealed exclusively on DroneDJ! How is that possible, you might ask? Isn’t DJI’s “Because Life is Big” event later today? Yes, that is correct. However, the DJI Osmo Pocket you see here was actually bought at a big box retailer in the US. The person who bought it happens to be a DroneDJ reader and shipped it to us. Thanks again! This is how we are able to bring you the first photos and video footage of the DJI Osmo Pocket. Jump right in and have a look!
More and more details are coming out on the DJI Osmo Pocket ahead of DJI’s “Because Life is Big” event. DroneDJ just received the first images of the actual booklet that comes with the DJI Osmo Pocket handheld gimbal camera. Let’s take a look at the details from the DJI Osmo Pocket Quick Start Guide.
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Another day, another photo of the DJI Osmo Pocket… Late yesterday, we received an email with this photo of the DJI Osmo Pocket. It shows the handheld camera/gimbal combination from a different angle. The photo also provides a better sense of how small the DJI Osmo Pocket really is. It seems that DJI is serious with their reference to ‘pocket’ as this device certainly looks very pocketable and would easily fit in most pockets and bags. It looks like the ideal budget vlogger setup to be honest.
Here we go! Newly leaked DJI Osmo Pocket video and photos surface ahead of DJI’s “Because Life is Big” event in New York this upcoming Wednesday. The photos and video show the actual packaging of the new handheld camera and gimbal. We have now seen an initial photo early this summer, the FCC filing, the leaked photo from last week and now these leaked photos and video. It seems that we will not be seeing a new Phantom 5 this week.
For Black Friday this year, DJI and DroneDJ partnered to bring you a special and exclusive deal. The DJI Black Friday promotion is an additional 5% off on the DJI Mavic Air Combo. Basically knocking another $45 off the already discounted price. We had six of these coupons available for our readers. Five of them had already been used on the first day of the promotion. Now, there is only one DJI Black Friday coupon left. So, if you’re in the market for a DJI Mavic Air or are looking for a great gift for a loved-one this may well the drone to get!
As usual, DJI launches a special promotion campaign around Black Friday and this year is no exception. DJI advertises with up to 30% discounts on products such as the Spark Fly More Combo, Spark Controller Combo, Tello Boost Combo, Goggles RE, Osmo Mobile 2, Mavic Air and the Mavic Air Combo.
What is different for this year’s Black Friday, is that DJI has provided DroneDJ with six exclusive 5% off coupons for the Mavic Air Combo, knocking another $45 off the price of our favorite travel drone AFTER the DJI $100 discount! Keep reading for all the details.
The DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is out of stock! Yesterday, we received the invite for DJI’s ‘Because Life is Big‘ event in NYC on November 28th. Today we learn that the (soon to be replaced?) DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is out of stock. The DJI website does not provide any information on when it may be in stock again. Likely because it never will. It seems that the world’s largest drone maker is getting to introduce the long-awaited DJI Phantom 5 drone.
The Commercial UAV Policy Panel (The new drone policy era ahead – How FAA Reauthorization will impact your business) was one of the most informing panels, I attended during DJI’s Airworks 2018. It provided an update and perspective of what commercial drone operators can expect now that the FAA Reauthorization Act has been signed into law. The panel consisted of some heavyweights from the drone industry, including three lawyers and a few pilots. All of them, experts on the subject matter.
I tried to capture the entire session on camera but unfortunately missed a little bit at the beginning and towards the end due to battery switching, full memory cards, etc. Either way, if you are a commercial drone operator and want to find out what the latest is, I highly recommend watching the video below.
