LAS VEGAS: AR.Drone was a fun, albeit expensive toy ($299) when it arrived two years ago, but the new flyer promises an updated design and fresh features that put it much closer to the realm of your own personal spy drone. When Parrot introduced the AR.Drone phone-controlled flying toy two years ago at CES 2010, it made quite a buzz. The pizza-box-sized flyer let enterprising pilots fly via their iPhones, seeing the world through the toy?s low-rez camera on their iPhone screen. Parrot won?t say how many devices they sold, but did note that they did well enough to warrant version 2.
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AR.Drone 2.0, unveiled here at CES 2012, still costs $299, but is now stuffed with far more pro-level features and even offers a somewhat sleeker and, according to Parrot, more resilient design.
Parrot, a Paris, France-based company with over 250 developers, has transformed AR.Drone from a fun toy to a flying robot that could attract everyone from amateur pilots to film directors. The camera now shoots 720p video (fixed lens and no flash). It shoots and, more importantly, captures stills and videos, which are automatically delivers to your phone or tablet via a Wi-Fi connection.
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Flying control and AR.Drone?s ability to fly right have been improved with new sensors (gyroscope, magnetometer, and pressure sensor) for altitude, orientation and speed. These tools are immediately evident when you hit the ?Take Off? button on your screen and the AR.Drone lifts off and then floats stably in space ? until your start to control it.
A new absolute control mode uses a 3D magnetometer in to synch the AR.Drone to the precise position of your phone or iPad and help keep it in position and flying right (standard flying mode turns off the magnetometer). It even knows where it is and how fast it?s flying?all information that can accompany your captured video. You can also view other uploaded AR.Drone videos via the new FreeFlight 2.0 app. That app includes FreeFlight, access to your photos and videos, software updates (when available) and games. Developers can access AR.Drone source code and develop new games and apps on both the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms.
Would-be movie directors will appreciate the new programmable "Travelling" feature, which lets you set pre-select the direction and duration of flight and let the drone fly its pre-determined path over and over again until you?ve the shot you want.
I took the AR.Drone for a test-flight and found the on iPad controls (it also works with Android 2.2 or higher devices) very intuitive. The flying screen shows you the view through the AR.Drone?s camera. I tapped the take-off button and the drone started its four propellers (which are still pretty loud), and then lifted gently off the ground. I was then able to tilt the iPad to fly the bot around the room. If I let go of a button on the left side of the screen, AR.Drone stopped moving and hung in space. I could also control AR.Drone with a thumb pad on the left. There were still moments where I lost control and hit a wall?at one point AR.Drone zoomed up and slammed into the ceiling. It was a bit frustrating, and likely my fault, but I was also amazed at the speed.
Live video quality in a darkened room isn?t great, but with enough light the video through what appears to be a wide-angle lens is quite sharp. AR.Drone is expected to ship sometime in the first half of this year.
You can watch my first test flight in the video.
[brightcove video="1370932374001 " /]
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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