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DJI's New Phantom 4 Available Exclusively From Apple Through March 23

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Drone manufacturer DJI has inked a deal with Apple that will see its latest drone, the Phantom 4, available exclusively through Apple retail locations and DJI flagship stores through March 23, reports Re/code. Pre-orders are available beginning today, and brick and mortar locations are expected to have the drone in stock starting on March 15.

Apple has long sold DJI products in its retail stores, currently offering the DJI Phantom 3. The next-generation Phantom 4, priced at $1,399, includes an Obstacle Sensing System that allows the drone to detect and avoid objects in its path.

phantom4.jpg

It has a magnesium core to improve rigidity without increasing weight and it has better battery life. The Phantom 4 is able to fly for 28 minutes, 25 percent longer than the Phantom 3 Professional, and it has a new TapFly mode that lets users tap on their smartphones or tablets to send the drone flying in a specific direction.


With a revamped Vision Positioning System, the Phantom 4's max effective altitude has been increased by 300 percent, and it performs better indoors. An ActiveTrack feature also allows it to stay locked on a moving target for tracking purposes, and the redesigned lens is said to "dramatically" increase sharpness.

The Phantom 4 will be available for pre-order from Apple or the DJI website starting today. Pre-orders have gone live on the DJI site but are not yet available via the Apple online store. The Phantom 4 will be in Apple retail stores on March 15, expanding to other retailers on March 23.

Article Link: DJI's New Phantom 4 Available Exclusively From Apple Through March 23
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/01/dji-phantom-4-apple-exclusive/
Pity it doesn't have a retractable landing gear. Oh well. It's far out of my budget anyway. Still a nice drone.
 
soupcan said:
Pity it doesn't have a retractable landing gear. Oh well. It's far out of my budget anyway. Still a nice drone.
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I agree, the landing gear is the worst part of this and other DJI drones. Tested had a great review, and Norm did a good job of breaking the new tracking feature.

For $1,400, I think I'll sit back and wait for this thing to go on sale.
 
It would be nice to have a car designed to launch it. For example, when you get stuck in traffic due to an accident, just have it scout ahead and show you on your smart phone the accident ahead of you and allow you to start changing to a free lane. In fact, it would be nice if everyone had a drone in their car for that purpose. It would be hilarious.
 
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BornAgainMac said:
It would be nice to have a car designed to launch it. For example, when you get stuck in traffic due to an accident, just have it scout ahead and show you on your smart phone the accident ahead of you and allow you to start changing to a free lane. In fact, it would be nice if everyone had a drone in their car for that purpose. It would be hilarious.
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Yeah. Then we'd have drones crashing into each other, and raining down on the traffic jam. More accidents would happen and more drones would be launched.
 
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This makes me wonder if Apple is looking to buy them out. Much of the technology in drones and electric self driving cars could likely be cross used. Drones would also add some excitement to Apple's roster since the Apple Watch hasn't taken off like they were hoping in the meantime before they release a car. Drones seems to be where the sexiness in consumer products are right now. Apple might be waiting to see how the FAA continues to rule on them.
 
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Really wish there was a place to rent one of these locally for a day.. figure I'd pay $100-150, and get the urge to buy one out of my system.
 
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ProVideo said:
This makes me wonder if Apple is looking to buy them out. Much of the technology in drones and electric self driving cars could likely be cross used. Drones would also add some excitement to Apple's roster since the Apple Watch hasn't taken off like they were hoping in the meantime before they release a car. Drones seems to be where the sexiness in consumer products are right now. Apple might be waiting to see how the FAA continues to rule on them.
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Drones use FAR FAR FAR simpler systems. Even the most basic building blocks of self-driving cars are far ahead of the technology used in these drones. They wouldn't get much by buying them out and are already years ahead of anything these drones offer in their own development. It's not going to happen.
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Jozone said:
Really wish there was a place to rent one of these locally for a day.. figure I'd pay $100-150, and get the urge to buy one out of my system.
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Paying 10% of a product price to rent it a day? That's like paying $1,700 to rent a Ford Focus for the day.

Plus it only runs for 28 minutes on a charge and then needs a couple hours to charge, so you aren't getting a days use out of it.
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Drones use FAR FAR FAR simpler systems. Even the most basic building blocks of self-driving cars are far ahead of the technology used in these drones. They wouldn't get much by buying them out and are already years ahead of anything these drones offer in their own development. It's not going to happen.
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I said cross use. They could put the technology they come up with in their car research on drones so they could be making use of it long before the car is released.
 
This is one of those toys I would love to have. Yet, I don't need one, don't have a use case. Even if I did, I would be scared to use it -- if it breaks that will be expensive to fix; and I could easily see me messing it up in spite of the safety features they have built in.
 
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ProVideo said:
This makes me wonder if Apple is looking to buy them out. Much of the technology in drones and electric self driving cars could likely be cross used. Drones would also add some excitement to Apple's roster since the Apple Watch hasn't taken off like they were hoping in the meantime before they release a car. Drones seems to be where the sexiness in consumer products are right now. Apple might be waiting to see how the FAA continues to rule on them.
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I'd be more interested in something smaller (and cheaper) that could be used at home. Imagine something you could control from your iPhone and use to check on an alert about an open door or to see if you left the stove on or window open. Like a little flying BB-8 toy with a camera that returns to its charging dock when the battery is low. Just a few minutes flying time would be enough.
 
ProVideo said:
I said cross use. They could put the technology they come up with in their car research on drones so they could be making use of it long before the car is released.
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The market for drones is small. Apple isn't interested there right now.

They're also two totally different techs. You can't simply take tech from one and apply it to another. It'd take a lot of work to rework it for the other application and that's just not worth it to them. They'd be developing two totally separate product lines and that's a big waste of money. Not going to happen.
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bchreng said:
I just googled it and it seems like renting these things is possible, though it may be a while before we can do it locally. Here's one place for example:

http://www.thelensdepot.com/drone-rentals.html
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Pretty crazy what they charge. $145 for a 3 day rental, when you can buy the thing to own for $500 brand new or less. Pays for itself after just a week.
 
As a a Coach I would love to have this available for a football or soccer game. Send it flying to any direction to better see what we and the opponent is doing from above.Just need a bette fly time than 28 mins.
 
Just bought one!! Arrives March 9-16, oh man this is going to be an exciting month, especially if new macbook pros come out too, and other apple products. Also getting the galaxy s7 and Gear VR this month going to be awesome
 
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