GoPro's new Karma drone folds up and is super portable
GoPro has finally unveiled the long-awaited Karma drone. It was first teased at the 2015 Code Conference. Earlier this year it was delayed, but it was recently showed for the first time at GoPro's launch event along with the Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session. The Karma will be available on October 23rd and it will cost $799 alone, $1,099 with a Hero 5 Black, or $999 with a Hero 5 Session included.
Ease of use is the Karma's biggest selling point. It features a foldable design that makes it easy for storage and carrying. GoPro also includes a small backpack with the drone. The control for the Karma has a simple controller. The top half of the controller is a touchscreen display and the bottom half has two joysticks and two buttons. A cable cam mode can be also set up using the controller as well.
The Karma drone is compatible with their new Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Session, and Hero 4. At the front of the drone, it sports a 3-axis gimbal that stabilizes the camera for smooth video. The gimbal can be removed from the drone to be used handheld. The Chinese company, Yuneec also includes this on their Typhoon drone.
The camera sits at the front if the drone, and not underneath it.GoPro says this will help get rid of the display of rotors, which can show up on video if you're using a DJI or Yuneec drone forward at full tilt. It has one button for taking off, landing and returning to home adjust like most other drones available these days. It also offers four preprogrammed shots, including dronie, cable cam, reveal, and orbit. GoPro also has a "passenger app" that lets another person see the live video from the drone and also control the camera position.
It's not certain what system the Karma drone uses to track its subject, but some drones follow a dedicated GPS device the user has, or they follow the GPS of the smartphone that is paired with the drone. The newest DJI drone tracks users with computer vision technology.
Yuneec also has drone remotes with built-in displays, and DJI is also rumored to release a foldable drone next week. With that, GoPro is going to have to rely on these features on the Karma drone with their new cloud-based subscription service, their ecosystem of mounts and accessories to try to get into the drone market.
Via: | The Verge | - Source: | No source was given |
