While Facebook tries to move everyone to a metaverse and Twitter’s new owner goes on a crusade to save free speech, Sanpchat just wants us to have fun taking and posting pictures and video.
The social network has surprisingly announced a nifty little mini-drone called the ‘Pixy’ which will enable users to take hands-free photos videos from the sky. You can capture 12-megapixel stills and 2.7k/30fps videos. Unfortunately it’s only going on sale in the United States and France right now.
The boxy little $249 handheld UAV takes to the skies with the tap of a button and will steadily hover to snap photos of you and your crew. When it’s done shooting, Pixy will fly home and land in the palm of your hand.
There are also modes for shooting from above (reveal), following the leader (follow), and flying around the subject to capture the entire scene (orbit). The mode is set with a dial on the device before takeoff. Navigation is handled by the bottom camera.
There’s also a couple of LED lights on the front of the device. Green indicates Pixy is ready to fly and white indicates the camera is recording. Editing can be done on the app, straight away, enabling you to add lenses and share to Shapchat any other platform. You can also adjust the flight time, capture settings and subject tracking settings within the Snapchat app.
Pixy comes with a rechargeable battery, charged by USB-C, while you can also buy replacement batteries to switch out at your leisure. You’ll get 5-8 flights per charge, depending on the mode, and you can get an 80% recharge in 20 minutes (full in 40 minutes). There’s 16GB of flash storage which will get you 100 videos or 1,000 photos. Pairing is handled by Bluetooth, while there’s also Wi-Fi for image transfer.
Including the battery, the device weighs just 101g. The company says the device isn’t waterproof so you shouldn’t take a path over water, or use it in rain or snow. You’ll also need plenty of room around you, should fly only in good light, and not use it in winds higher than 7mph. You’ll also need to follow local drone rules.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
