Skydio 2 Plus, turns drones into programmable cameramen

 

Skydio, the US company building self-flying, obstacle-dodging drones that a three-year-old can pilot without fear, is making two announcements today during CES 2022. One of them is an expensive fix for the Skydio 2’s single biggest shortcoming — the other, a totally free update that adds one of the most exciting features yet. First, the Skydio 2 Plus. At $1,099 and up, the new drone promises the kind of long-range, robust connection that the original Skydio 2 was missing, thanks to a new high-power 5GHz Wi-Fi radio and a pair of pop-up antennas. The company now claims you’ll see 3 kilometers of range from a new optional Skydio 2 Plus Beacon controller — twice as much as with the original Skydio 2 and Beacon — and 6 kilometers of range if you’re using the optional twin-stick Skydio Controller, up from 3.5km originally.

Skydio 2 will soon have a brand-new feature in common, one that won’t cost an additional cent: a new mode called KeyFrame, which unlocks one of the most impressive concepts for drone cinematography. But with Skydio’s self-flying drone, you don’t need to sketch or photograph those still frames, of course. You simply fly there. You fly the drone to a point in 3D space, press a button when the drone’s camera is lined up with what you want to see in the video, then fly to the next, virtually storyboarding your shot with every press. At $1,099, you’re still limited to the very poor ranges of your phone as the controller: the new $219 Beacon and old $179 joystick controller cost extra, though both are included in Skydio’s $1,949 and $2,169 extensive combo kits.



Credits:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/4/22866022/skydio-2-plus-drone-keyframe-free-update-price-specs-release