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American drone manufacturer Skydio is calling it quits on the consumer drone market, according to a new announcement from the company. Skydio says that they’ve made the “very difficult decision” to bow out to focus on enterprise clients.
Skydio has often been held up as a true competitor to DJI, which dominates the worldwide drone market. It seems an odd move with DJI products being banned throughout the USA in many government agencies and other organisations.
California-based Skydio launched their R1 drone last year, and it was a very impressive piece of kit. 13 onboard cameras allowed it to be fully autonomous and virtually impossible to crash. The problem was, it was pretty huge and at $2,500 it wasn’t very affordable vs the likes of the Phantom and Mavic drones from DJI.
Now, though, the Skydio 2 has been announced, a smaller drone with an improved 4K camera for shooting video, full autonomy, complete surround obstacle avoidance, more interactive control options, and only a $999 price tag.
Drone manufacturer Skydio recently published footage of a person gliding on rollerblades at Yellowstone’s West Thumb Geyser Basin boardwalk. Using a drone is illegal in national parks, so the footage put the California-based company under investigation. What’s more, inline skating on national park boardwalks is forbidden too, so this aerial footage sparked tons of negative comments online.
Skydio R1 may be a selfie drone, but it’s not the kind of garbage you find at Walmart’s clearance aisle. For one, it costs $1,700 more than DJI’s Mavic Air. And right now, it’s the only drone that features autonomous flight capabilities both DJI and GoPro could only dream of. Today, Skydio released its first software update that now allows the R1 to follow vehicles.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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