GoPro to Release Their Own Drone

The idea of capturing your own stunts and events has been at the forefront of the GoPro team since, well, they started really. GoPro is expanding from its business of making wearable video cameras. In line with the ever growing business of drones and drone related gadgetry, GoPro Inc. is developing  their own line of consumer drones. The company is planning to start selling miniature multi-rotor helicopters that are equipped with high-definition cameras late in 2015. The firm is allegedly aiming for a pricing structure around $500 and $1,000.

Consumers have come in the thousands to buy unmanned aircraft in recent years as technology advances have made them smaller, cheaper and easier to fly. In doing this, they are also  leaving regulators struggling to keep up to speed. The drone market is now mainstream and also very lucrative. The advent of a massive consumer name like GoPro being interested in the race is evidence of this.

The move into drones by GoPro is coming as the market-leading camcorder business is facing some stiff competition from rivals like Sony Corp. GoPro is a 10-year old company that went public in June and since then they have been investing in R&D in order to maintain the lead in the camera business.

The drone market is not something brand new to GoPro as the firm already provides many of the 3 oz. cameras, which consumer drones carry.

Interestingly SZ DJI Technology Co. of China has recently started to sell devices, which come with its own in-house camera and other drone makers may stop supporting GoPro devices if they are competing head-to-head with the camera maker.

A GoPro spokesman said in a recent email, the company’s users are already producing “jaw-dropping GoPro footage recorded from quad-copters…Earlier this year, to study the policy implications and to protect the rights of our users, GoPro joined the Washington-based Small UAV Coalition.” .

GoPro sells their cameras, which are priced $200 – $500 on the GoPro website and through retailers such as Best Buy. It is yet to be seen how the firm will market their new gadgets when they are ready to unleashed on the world.

[Image via YouTube]

SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/gopro-developing-line-of-consumer-drones-1417020883-lMyQjAxMTE0NjI1NjkyOTY4Wj