DroneDJ

With Memorial Day marking the start of summer in many places, New York City Police officials got to work over the holiday weekend introducing drones that will keep watch over the beaches of coastal boroughs for the next four months.

Texas-based Sky Elements has become the first drone light show company in the US to receive FAA approval to launch fireworks from drones.

Drones as First Responder (DFR) tech specialist Aerodome has secured $21.5 million in Series A funding to enhance its solutions and expand its engineering and go-to-market teams. The funding round, led by CRV with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Karman Ventures, Immad Akhund, and Ford Street Ventures, brings Aerodome’s total funding to $28 million since its seed round in October 2023.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has indicated considerable progress has been made accelerating large-scale drone production necessary for its Replicator program, which seeks to overpower the brute strength of adversaries’ military systems with huge numbers of UAV impossible to fend off. Officials said deliveries of the first of those craft have been made.

Innovative Swedish drone delivery company Aerit is no more, having filed for bankruptcy after struggling to secure additional investment needed to continue operating.

US drone maker BRINC has unveiled a new nested drone solution designed specifically for Drone as First Responder (DFR) operations. The company says its Responder drone can be auto-dispatched from its charging station in under 5 seconds, which allows it to arrive at a 911 call location in less than 70 seconds.

DJI drone operators have something new to celebrate with the introduction of geometric flight plans for the Mavic 3 Enterprise series. This latest feature, introduced with a firmware update, makes building 3D missions easier than ever, allowing users to create detailed flight plans in the DJI FlightHub 2 cloud-based drone operations management platform. Once designed, these missions can be seamlessly transferred to the drone’s controller for execution.

Republican leaders on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation into the Drone Advocacy Alliance (DAA). The industry coalition group has been actively involved in the discussion surrounding the potential ban on DJI drones in the US and has vehemently opposed legislation that proposes a new tax system to radically increase DJI drone prices.

Members of the House of Representative tabled legislation this month that included a proposal to create a new branch of the US Army dedicated to the rapidly expanding deployment of drones in conflict situations. This week, the country’s top military brass made it very clear they don’t support the idea.

The most recent in a long series of US government agency and legislative initiatives to squeeze DJI drones from the domestic market targets a critical user category in particular: lifesaving first responder organizations. Given the literally existential stakes that the bill poses, DJI has responded with a detailed arguments against its eventual passage into law.

If you’re like me, you probably woke up this morning to a plethora of social media posts about “leaked” images of DJI’s new Air 3S drone with a Mavic 3 Pro-style payload. However, they might not be what people are saying they are.

If you’re just starting your drone journey or are shopping on a budget, you may be tempted to pick up a DJI Mini 2 SE or its latest iteration Mini 4K. But if you’re in the market for a compact drone with a great camera that would showcase your adventures on social media and beyond, arm yourself with a Mini 3 (DJI RC) combo which is currently available at a ridiculously cheap spring deal price of $549. Plus an extra $20 gets you a microSD card, a landing pad, and a carrying case for your flying camera!

The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) has unveiled a new direct-energy system it says can neutralize individual and swarms of drones using high-powered radio waves.

DJI has released the latest update for its Android Mobile Software Development Kit (MSDK). Version 5.9.0 introduces several new features for the Matrice 300 RTK, Matrice 350 RTK, Matrice 30 series, and Mavic 3 Enterprise series drones, enhancing their functionality and usability. Additionally, the release addresses a number of bug fixes in Mini 3 and Mini 3 Pro drones, ensuring smoother and more reliable operations for drone pilots.

Venus Optics has released two new wide-angle Laowa lenses for DJI drones. Both lenses are super-compact and lightweight but promise sharp image quality and well-controlled distortion performance for extraordinary wide drone shots.

Tundra Drone has released the new Matrix 10 spotlight accessory for the DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise (M3E) drone platforms. Designed especially for nighttime emergency operations, Tundra Drone Matrix 10 delivers a staggering 10,000 lumens of light output.

Australian livestock rancher Luke Chaplain is innovating to make the work of rounding up animals and herding them into or back from grazing lands faster, more efficient, and less costly – and using drones carry the job out from on high.

This week Yifei and Seth discuss what a possible DJI ban would mean for both enterprise and consumer sectors. All of this take place while DJI released is biggest and most featured packed enterprise camera yet.

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DJI has announced new improvements to its all-in-one vlogging camera Osmo Pocket 3. The gadget with a large 1-inch CMOS sensor and a 2-inch rotatable touchscreen has a dedicated gimbal built-in, which makes it a breeze to capture experiences in dynamic, incredibly smooth detail.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has taken full advantage the city’s announcement last summer to permit increased used of drones by official and enterprise operators, and is now planning to expand that UAV activity even more.

Tech giant DJI has released new all-weather, multi-sensor aerial payloads — Zenmuse H30 and H30T — for the Matrice 300 RTK and Matrice 350 RTK drone platforms. Primed for day and night use alike, these products will especially interest public safety responders and energy inspection professionals.

German air electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Lilium has taken another step toward securing funding it needs to push its battery-fueled jet toward commercialization, with the announcement that German officials have resumed work toward freeing up €100 million ($108 million) in loans to the company.

US politicians behind legislation seeking to effectively ban operation of DJI and other leading China-made drones are biding the time to its possible passage by trotting out an additional protectionist bill – this one designed to force the prices consumers pay for those UAVs to spike.

Looking to buy a DJI Mini 3 Pro? The mini-sized, mega-capable, budget-friendly drone is getting harder and harder to get.