Drone 2.0: the second version of the popular quadrocopters Sign up for our weekly newsletter!DJI Phantom 4 Drone Fly for 28 minutes, an increase in effective flight time of 25% from the Phantom 3 Professional Obstacle Avoidance that allows it to react to and avoid obstacles in its path Shoot sharp, clean video in up to 4K at 30fps and Full HD 1080p at 120fpsThe Bridger Cup and The Audience Awards are seeking short drone films awarding $1000 in prizes including a drone for 1st place jury prize! Bridger Cup Drone Film Festival would love to see your film in the first ever online Drone Film Competition!Bridger Cup and Audience Awards seek drone short filmsWho doesn't get a kick out of a video streaming Wifi controlled flying toy? A friend of mine recently picked one of these Parrot AR. Drones up and I had the chance to fly it around. It's really tons of fun! Kids can easily learn to fly these things. The Parrot AR Drone is a remote controlled Quadricopter that streams real time video to it's controller so you can see where you're flying.

The Wifi controller can be an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad (the iPad is really cool with it's large screen). It's easy to sync up once you've downloaded the Free remote application from the Apps Store. First turn on the AR Drone, and then turn on the Wifi on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Connect to the AR Drone (it will appear as a WiFi hotspot). Once you've connected, go and launch the application and it will connect. Very simple and fast. The AR Drone Quadricopter is super stable and will automatically level itself out and stays in one place if the unit loses connection to the remote, or if you remove your hands from the controller. If you lose connection, just walk closer and then you'll be back in control. If the unit is too high and loses connection, it will return itself to a manageable height so you can walk over and get back in control. I believe it can scan the floor somehow to see what's below so it doesn't just fly off into space. Flying outdoors with Training Foam Cage

Since the unit can level out and maintain a stable position, you can easily rotate turns in 360 degrees. The video stream is super fast, and as real time as can be. The video streams in amazing quality and very clear even in low light. The item comes with two different bodies. One is a foam cage that protects the units from rookie pilots. I'm sorry to admit, I crashed my friends unit into walls and it took a dive from 20 ft. several times. ar drone power edition vs eliteThe drop was no problem with the foam cage, it's designed to protect the unit for training. the parrot ar drone priceIf you should need some replacement parts, practically every piece of the Drone is for sale and looks to be easily replaceable too. parrot ar drone light kit

This thing really takes a beating for sure. Once you're pretty good, you can swap out the foam cage for a more streamlined aerodynamic body. I think a few flights is all it takes to get the hang of it. Simple Body without Training Foam Cage There are other applications in the Apple Apps Store in which you can control the unit and record the video stream that will be saved to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. You can choose to use the accelerometer to maneuver the Drone by leaning left or right, forward and back. parrot ar drone mercado libreSince it's a quadricopter it can move in any direction without having to turn around, but you'd want to turn the unit mainly for the video camera to point in the direction you're flying. parrot ar drone lightsCheck out the video above which gives you an idea on how to fly it with a remote. parrot ar drone lights

These AR Drones can be found here: Parrot AR Drone Wifi Remote Controlled QuadricopterAction camera maker GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) will start selling consumer drones late next year, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. Drones would help GoPro tap into the growing aerial photography market and diversify away from the action camera market, which is being saturated with hungry rivals like Sony (NYSE:SNE), Kodak, HTC, and Polaroid.ar drone power edition range Will GoPro's drones help its stock take off, or will they cause its bottom line to sink into the red again? The business of consumer dronesInterest in consumer drones surged in 2010 when French company Parrot launched its $300 AR Drone quadcopters. Last quarter, Parrot reported that sales of drones rose 38% year over year to $24.2 million. In 2013, China's DJI Innovations launched its $1,000 Phantom quadcopters and generated sales of $130 million within the first year.

Both companies' drones are equipped with cameras. Other drones that lack onboard cameras, like the Blade 350 QX ($470), are equipped with GoPro-compatible mounts. That leads to a key question -- will aerial photographers buy GoPro's drone when most drones can already be used for the same purpose? The answer might be portability. Parrot's AR Drone 2 weighs between 380g to 420g (depending on the hull), and measures 451 mm by 517 mm. That's more than twice as long and wide as an iPad Air 2, although it's notably lighter. AirDroids addresses that issue with a $549-$599 foldable tricopter known as the Pocket Drone, which can fold into a form smaller than a 7" tablet and mounted with a GoPro. An even smaller upcoming device, the Nixie wearable camera, will be able to fly off the wrist and film a user from a distance. In my opinion, demand for these portable drones will outweigh demand for larger drones as the aerial photography market grows. Market growth and challenges aheadResearch firm Teal Group estimates that global annual spending on drones will nearly double from $6.4 billion to $11.5 billion over the next 10 years.

Teal's study shows that military drones currently account for 89% of the market, while civil drones account for the remaining 11%. Yet that split is expected to be 86% military versus 14% civil over the next decade. Many of these civil drones will be used for commercial purposes, but if GoPro convinces its action camera customers to buy drones, the skies could soon be buzzing with more aerial photography drones as well. Of course, that growth will be throttled if the FAA passes additional restrictions against civilian and commercial drones. In the U.S., consumer drones are already restricted from flying over 400 feet in the air and anywhere near an airport. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act currently has a deadline of Sept. 2015 to decide how to regulate drones more effectively. If the FAA follows through with a proposed requirement for drone pilots to obtain private pilot licenses, GoPro's dreams of mainstream action drones could be prematurely dashed. More importantly, every country has different laws regarding consumer drones, meaning GoPro drones probably won't catch on as quickly across the world as its HERO cameras.

What drones mean for GoPro investorsGoPro stock has more than tripled since its IPO in June. But the bears believe the stock, which trades at nearly 230 times trailing earnings, has gotten ahead of itself. The rise of cheaper "GoPro knockoffs" may have forced the company to launch the $129 entry-level HERO, and its promise of turning the GoPro Network into a new source of revenue looks distant. Despite those challenges, GoPro's revenue soared 45.7% year over year last quarter to $280 million. GAAP-adjusted net income rose to $14.6 million, compared to a net loss of $1.1 million a year earlier. But the fact remains that GoPro, which dominated 45% of the U.S. camcorder market in 2013, generates the lion's share of its revenue from its HERO cameras. If GoPro wants to reassure the market of its long-term staying power, it needs to diversify its top line with products like consumer drones. But looking forward, investors need to beware of two things. First, R&D expenses, which soared 116% year over year and accounted for 27% of GoPro's cost of revenue last quarter, will climb as it develops those drones.