Global drone leader DJI has announced the international rollout of its much-anticipated FlyCart 30 delivery UAV – marking the company’s full-fledged entry into an activity gaining momentum across the US, and expected to scale rapidly around the world.

Mitsubishi Electric US says the full suite of its AnyMile drone-based logistics and operations management platform is now available for use by drone operators, corporate shippers, and transportation and logistics companies. The platform was first announced at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Walmart has announced the dramatic expansion of its drone operations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, tapping existing UAV service partners Zipline and Wing to spread that aerial coverage to 1.8 million additional households – a likely landmark development in the scaling of aerial deliveries across the US. 

Competition appears to be heating up between electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) plane manufacturers Joby and BETA Technologies, with the two startups announcing deals to install their air taxi recharging systems in airports on opposite sides of the US.

DJI RC is a drone remote controller that comes with a 5.5-inch FHD display screen built-in. It links directly with your drone once you power it on, and no smartphone is required in the process. So, which drone models does DJI RC support right now?

Leading global drone manufacturer DJI is hitting the ground running in 2024 with a major update of its GEO geofencing application for users in the European Union and UK – part of its ongoing responses to changes the new year is bringing.

Japan has just announced it will be providing $37 million in aid for strengthening Ukraine’s counter-drone detection assets – tech financing Kyiv may now be considering redirecting to one of its biggest backers, Germany, to help it halt suspected spying of their joint activities.

Leading global drone manufacturer Autel Robotics is facing intense international scrutiny after images in ads for its forthcoming Titan delivery UAV included what appear to be a munitions payload – presumably for military uses the China-based company recently condemned. Autel informed DroneDJ Monday the photos are fake, and that it’s working to identify their source.

An amateur drone pilot who nearly crashed his DJI Mavic Mini drone into DJ Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, in 2022 has been ordered to pay over $1,100 in fines by a UK court.

To understand how uncrewed vehicles avoid each other and other obstacles, researchers at NASA recently flew multiple drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). The test is being seen as an important step towards advancing self-flying capabilities for air taxis.

This week Yifei and Seth discuss their predictions for the drone industry in 2024. From new consumer products and regulations to if there is a DJI-killer sitting dormant out there.

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Will the portion of the National Defense Authorization Act containing a ban on drones made by China-based companies like DJI be the boon for US makers the law’s political backers claim? “A definite maybe” is what a reading of a new document detailing the measure published by longtime UAV expert and innovator Mark Bathrick offers readers.

[Updated January 15, 2024] Chinese tech giant DJI says its education line is still available in the overseas market, and that the company will continue to provide technical and after-sales support to the customers. In its home ground, the company has already ceased the sales of all its educational offerings, including the Tello drone and programmable RoboMaster robots.

The highly geeked out unit of the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a $10 million contract to develop its long contemplated Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay system (POWER), which will likely use drones as airborne platforms to conduct electric refueling for other vehicles – or for re-juicing their own batteries.

Autel Robotics has finally filed paperwork with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to bring its all-new Alpha drone to North America. The company has been teasing this product for a while now as a competitor to the DJI Matrice 30 series. Autel Alpha was also showcased at the Energy Drones and Robotics Coalition (EDRC) conference in Texas as part of a soft launch in June 2023.

Tethered drone systems specialist Volarious has unveiled fresh software enabling DJI and Autel drones to conduct unlimited aerial monitoring. The Singapore-based company is further running a two-month free trial offer to celebrate the launch of its new “Sentry Mode” solution.

Exhibit 7,820,403,994,962-A of how social media dramatically lowers human intelligence. In reaction to Seattle’s magnificent New Year’s Eve fireworks and drone show, countless people were left obsessed with the notion that one of the UAV formations in it was actually a detail of intimate female anatomy. Almost impossibly, the idiocy got even worse from there.

Reality capture and drone data management specialist DroneDeploy is giving users a sneak peek into its upcoming January 2024 product update.

Better late than never: That turned out to be the case for thousands of drone show fans in Busan, South Korea who made the trip back to the city’s Gwangalli Beach to see a delayed New Year’s eve performance that was cancelled 30 minutes after 2024 had already arrived.

It would appear that medical drone delivery company Spright has become a victim of owner Air Methods’ recent financial crisis, which evidently resulted in the Denver-based aviation services firm closing its fledging UAV unit under terms of its Chapter 11 rebound agreement.

It looks like DJI could be prepping to shutter its STEAM Education division with the company announcing the suspension of sales of several products such as the Tello drone and RoboMaster EP from December 31, 2023.

DJI has released a new firmware update for Mavic 3 Pro, the world’s first consumer drone with a triple-camera system.

Cargo drone transport specialist Silent Arrow is looking to extend the dramatic innovations behind its 2019 heavy-lift GD-2000 transport glider through its new project developing a UAV capable of carrying similarly massive payloads up to 345 miles for the US Air Force.