Here’s a great piece in the Tech section of the NY Times [paywall], titled: “Skies aren’t clogged with drones, but don’t rule them out yet.” The article talks about deliveries by drone and the regulatory hurdles that still need to be overcome before we will see routine deliveries by drones. It talks specifically about Project Wing and the Hummingbird delivery drone from Google’s parent company Alphabet and also about Amazon’s Prime Air. See below for some of the highlights.

Like the U.S., Europe is moving to set the ground rules for commercial drone operations. Before drones can fly to make deliveries in crowded urban areas without crashing into each other, a standardized set of regulations is needed. Project Safir aims to help develop a set of ground rules for safe commercial drone operations in Europe.

The Denver Post had an interesting article yesterday. The newspaper wondered: “Where are the drones? Amazon’s customers are still waiting.” Five years ago, the CEO of the retail giant, Jeff Bezos predicted that drones would be delivering packages to customers’ doorsteps by now. As we all know that hasn’t quite happened yet. Even though delivery by drone is being tested extensively around the world, practical limitations, such as limited battery life, legal restrictions, like not being allowed to fly-beyond-line-of-sight without a waiver, as well as other hurdles, such as the need for Remote ID, large-scale implementation seems to be years away. In a recent NY Times article, I was quoted as saying it will be 2025 before “companies like Amazon will make routine drone deliveries to consumers.” What do you think? Let us know in the poll below.

Amazon is offering the Parrot Bebop 2 Drone FPV Bundle for $250 shipped. Also available at Best Buy. That’s $50+ off the typical rate and is in line with some of the best pricing we have tracked. This compact, lightweight drone offers 2- minute battery life and 1080p video recording. Along with the drone itself, a pair of FPV goggles and Parrot Skycontroller 2 are also included. Rated 4+ stars by 65% of reviewers.