DJI and Hasselblad to offer high-tech, pro-level drone bundle

We’re seeing the first result from DJI’s purchase of a minor stake in Hasselblad. The drone maker and the medium format camera manufacturer are going to release a bundled version of DJI’s top-of-the-line M600 hexacopter and an aerial photography-focused version of Hasselblad’s A5D medium format camera. The M600 comes with an A3 flight controller and Lightbridge 2 transmission system to allow live video broadcasting of up to 1080p. Plus, it can carry over 13 pounds. Meanwhile, the A5D-50c camera packs in a 50-megapixel CMOS sensor. It’s built to take high-resolution aerial shots for things like topographic and surveying work. Its kit comes with an HC 3.5 / 50mm-II lens.

We don’t have a price or release date yet. But when you think about it, the M600 drone and Ronin-MX gimbal together cost US$6,198 or roughly CA$8,000. So if you add in the medium format camera, just be prepared to pay a hefty sum for it. It’ll most likely just appeal to professional aerial photographers, surveyors, or those with a lot of extra money to spare. DJI and Hasselblad do have plans to collaborate more in the future. They probably won’t be able to produce consumer-level drones together but it might influence DJI’s more affordable Phantom line.

Source: The Verge

CES 2016: Ford's Drone-to-Vehicle tech aimed at emergency services and business efficiency

Ford and drone maker DJI are imagining a world in which vehicles and drones become more capable and efficient working together, and are announcing a challenge to develop the software to make that possible.

Working with DJI, the world leader in professional-grade drone systems and software, Ford invites innovators to participate in the DJI Developer Challenge to create drone-to-vehicle communications using Ford SYNC, AppLink or OpenXC. The goal is a surveying system for the United Nations Development Program to inspect emergency zones inaccessible to even the most versatile vehicles.

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DJI trying out GPS-based flight restrictions for its drones

As drones have been growing in popularity, some of them have been ending up in places they shouldn’t be in. And this doesn’t bode well with governments. DJI’s solution for this issue is called the Geospatial Environment Online or GEO for short. It’s a geofencing system that will keep drones from taking off in restricted areas. However, there is a workaround to this. If you have a verified DJI account and a credit card on file, you can have DJI turn off the restrictions for you temporarily—as long as it shows you can be financially accountable for this. But there will still be certain areas that will remain as “unlockable no-fly zones” like Washington D.C.

The GEO is in beta at the moment and you can request access to the app on iOS by emailing flysafe@dji.com or download the Android APK. You have to update the firmware on the drone as well. But if using unstable software is your thing, a final version should be coming out soon.

Source: DJI | Via: Engadget