DroneDJ

In another indication that medical transport services may well be the largest initial activity for emerging drone delivery operators, UK company Skyports says it has successfully wrapped up a month-long trial of aerial shuttles with the nation’s EMED Group.

India’s services company Garuda Aerospace says it’s extending the reach of its work-around to the nation’s 2022 protectionist ban on drone imports – and the gaping hole created by excluded DJI craft – through a new agreement with a quintet of specialized international producers compliant with those restrictions.

Even during the dog days of August, leakers never sleep – with one decidedly active online sleuth unearthing unprecedented video of what’s now described as a DJI Mini 4 development drone, as well as an elevated-armed mystery UAV.

It may not fly like one of the company’s trademark drones, but DJI says its new video transmission and receiver products will significantly elevate the capabilities – and improve the work – of professional cinematographers and hardcore movie makers using the devices.

Defense and security UAV and robotics group Red Cat Holdings has announced its new contract to supply a US government agency with over 150 of its Teal 2 drones, which will be used for the monitoring and protection of US Air Force bases.

Surf Life Saving NSW, a water safety and emergency rescue organization in Australia, is trialing new drone technology to look for missing bushwalkers or people swept into rough seas.

Birdstop, a California-based company that operates a drone network across the US akin to a constellation of satellites on the ground, has scooped up $2.3 million in new funding. The startup says it will use the funds to buy more drones that can inspect critical infrastructure and grow its AI capabilities.

Leading global consumer and enterprise drone manufacturer DJI has issued a warning to customers about the risk of scams in downloading apps for its product from third-party sources, and urges users to obtain operating interfaces only from its own service.

In the wake of the city’s recent decision to introduce permitting procedures expected to ease its notoriously tight drone restrictions, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has moved to expand its own fleet by procuring cutting-edge BRINC tactical UAVs designed for use in critical situations to reduce threat to human lives.

An Orlando-based company planning to support emergency medical services in Florida with advanced drone delivery operations says it has reached a major new milestone by successfully getting its small UAS parachute recovery systems certified according to ASTM International standards.

A group of Washington state startup executives is pooling the experience and knowledge of overlapping backgrounds to turn their Data Blanket creation into an effective and powerful tool for the firefighters increasingly called out to battle raging blazes blackening multiplying areas of the planet.

Photographs shared with DroneDJ by an irrepressible leaker of DJI development products suggest the global drone leader is currently readying to market a Mini 4 Pro atop the multiple UAVs it has already rolled out in 2023 – an image of which we can offer as a preview with this post.

Aerial transport services company Drone Delivery Canada says it has successfully completed test flights of its Canary UAV in commercial operation conditions, verifying the craft’s enhancements over the firm’s earlier Sparrow vehicle.

The world’s leading drone company is set to launch its first dedicated DJI-Hasselblad Concept Store outside of Asia later this month, with tomorrow’s opening of a two-story retail showcase in the UK.

ModalAI, a Blue UAS framework manufacturer of autonomous drone technology, has launched the Starling, the company’s smallest, smartest, and safest development drone to date. With the VOXL 2 drone autopilot supercharging its core, the Starling packs in powerful computing and artificial intelligence.

California maker of large-scale special purpose Pelican drones, Pyka, has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to operate its highly automated agricultural UAV for crop spraying missions – an achievement that may facilitate the company’s planned deployment of its cargo delivery craft as well. 

Despite the general cooling of previously hot investor enthusiasm for tech – especially companies pursuing next-generation aviation aircraft and services – startups pursuing what now remain largely conceptual drone delivery operations continue attracting a remarkable flow of development capital according to recently published figures.

Leading global instant logistics company Zipline is expanding its US business activity with the addition of OhioHealth to the list of clients selecting the startup’s integrated Platform 2 drone transportation network to speed deliveries to destinations at lower costs.

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%.

The UK’s Royal Mail and Skyports Drone Services have launched what is being hailed as the nation’s first permanent UAV delivery operation conducted “under existing regulatory frameworks,” with the initiation of postal distribution flights between Scotland’s Orkney Islands. 

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.

Offering proof there is at least still one aspect to its nominally secret product development process over which it still maintains full control, DJI has revealed the date of its newest release event – this one, the August 2 unveiling of what’s expected to be the Osmo 4 action camera, whose coming has been foretold over and over again.

New moves unveiled by China threaten to further disrupt the already complicated business activities of global drone leader DJI in the US and elsewhere in the world, with Beijing saying it will impose new export restrictions on UAV technologies produced in the country.