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Posts Tagged ‘filing’

New FCC database filing confirms forthcoming DJI Mavic Mini

10 Oct
This image, and the photo below, leaked on PhotoRumors two months ago.

Early this morning, two new products from the world’s leading drone manufacturer, DJI, were listed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). After being rumored for the past two months, the Mavic Mini is now officially on the FCC’s site. While the second filing is not labeled with a product name, it’s likely going to be a remote controller for the compact, foldable drone. The filings are FCC ID SS3-MT1SS51905 and FCC ID SS3-MR1SS51905.

It has been well over a year since DJI released a consumer-grade drone. The last two major products from the Chinese manufacturer are the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom, announced at the end of August 2018. The timing for releasing the Mavic Mini isn’t random. Not only is the Holiday season upon us, competing American manufacturer Skydio recently starting accepting reservations for its compact Skydio 2 drone. Shortly after GoPro announced its Karma drone, in September 2016, DJI responded by introducing the original Mavic Pro at a swanky event.

DroneDJ was the first to report on the Mavic Mini after photos were leaked online two months ago. One notable feature that will make it worth the purchase for some consumers is the rumored weight.

In the United States, a drone must be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) if it weighs more than 250 grams (0.55 pounds) and less than 25kg (55 pounds). If speculation is spot on, the Mavic Mini will weigh 245 grams at takeoff negating the need for registration. Rules and regulations are more lenient in other countries where a drone weighs less as well.

Here are a few of the rumored specs for the Mavic Mini:

  • The DJI Mavic Mini will offer a remote since controlling a drone with a smartphone is a less than ideal experience.
  • It will have a flight time of up to 18 minutes.
  • Unlike the Spark, which is similar in size, it will have obstacle avoidance sensors.
  • The drone will have a range of 3.1 miles (5 km) and a top speed of 31mph (50 km/hr).
  • The drone will have a 12MP, 1/2.3” CMOS camera that can shoot up to 4K/30p, 2.7K/60p, and 1080p/120p video.
  • The expected retail price should be around $ 399 and the release date is expected soon to coincide with the Holiday season.

DJI owns a majority stake in camera company Hasselblad. There isn’t any word on whether they’ll incorporate their technology into the Mini’s camera as they did with the Mavic 2 Pro. The latter is currently the only drone in the company’s product line that features a camera with Hasselblad’s signature Natural Color Solution. DJI requested a short-term secrecy cycle of 180 days in a Confidentiality Letter from June 25th. While that gives them until late December to release the Mavic Mini, the Holiday season may expedite the release as soon as this coming month.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Makers of the Panono 108MP 360-degree camera filing for bankruptcy

24 May

German media reports that the founders of the company behind the Panono 360-degree ball camera have filed for insolvency proceedings at a court in Berlin, Germany. Unfortunately this means it’s very unlikely that the backers of the original crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo will ever receive their camera. 

The small number of buyers who purchased a Panono through retail channels after the Indiegogo campaign could be affected as well. At this point it is unknown if the the Panono servers, which power the automatic stitching of the Panono’s 360-degree images, will remain functional for the foreseeable future.  

Initially things had gone well for the German start-up. The Indiegogo campaign generated 1.25 million dollars in 2013. However, it soon became obvious that the team had miscalculated the development time for the camera which back then only existed in prototype form.

The final product was due to ship in 2014 but instead there was only a second prototype in February 2015. A few months later first shipments were announced, but not to the project backers. Instead the cameras went to retail customers who paid a considerably higher prices. It appears at this point the company had already run out of money and was hoping to generate additional funds for mass production and eventual shipping to project backers. 

Now it seems this plan has not worked out either and remaining funds have dried up. We had the chance to test both a prototype and final product of the Panono camera and were quite impressed by the technology. 360-degree cameras are now much more widely available than in 2013 but none of the affordable models offer the Panono’s 108MP resolution and image detail. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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