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Snap launches its first drone

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Re: Snap launches its first drone

#321

Post by samatman »

tomtheelder wrote: post #311
walrus01 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not just wobbly but what small drone enthusiasts call "jello", significantly lower video quality than like a $399 dji mini 2 it is cheap and non gimbal stabilized, so can't expect much more

I mean yeah, it's about half the price of a DJI Mini 2 ($449 v $230). You'd expect it to perform worse. It seems totally reasonable for people who just want to take some shots for their snapchat story but aren't really interested in having a real drone.

The Mini SE is readily available for $299 and I don't think even the Snap demographic is going to find that a camera with no gimbal is acceptable for the application.

I'm not predicting whether it will sell or not, I'm bad at that, but it's just not a lot of drone for the price.

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#322

Post by samatman »

meatmanek wrote: post #304
srcreigh wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why isn't it trivial to cut out that noise? is it 4 motors? especially with data about current RPMs of the motors, with a FFT and some adjustments, it should be pretty trivial to deafen the sound. From my listening many motors are effectively pretty simple instruments with normal harmonics etc which are easy to model. I could be wrong though.

There's going to be a significant white noise component due to the turbulent airflow, which won't be as easy to cut out.

There's so much white noise outdoors that removing the dominant harmonics that make drones, well, drone,† would make a huge difference in the palatability of being around them.

†The noise quadcopters make has nothing to do with why they're called drones, but is the perfect description nonetheless for the noise they emit

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#323

Post by 542458 »

achow wrote: post #153

WSJ has good review including how it works: https://www.wsj.com/articles/snap-pixy-review-dont-call-it-a... https://archive.is/zW515 Excerpt: Turn the Pixy’s dial to one of its four flying modes.. Hover: Here, the Pixy reverses a couple of feet and floats in front of you like a hummingbird. In the Snapchat app, you can customize, up to 60 seconds, how long you’d like it to capture video Reveal: Like a traditional dro…

The downwards camera for stabilization and landing is a cool idea. Did they come up with that, or has that been done before?

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#324

Post by megablast »

malauxyeux wrote: post #40
andrewgioia wrote: post #12

I think this is such a fun/playful idea, kudos to Snap! Their first hardware product pretty much bombed but this is oddly one of the first consumer tech toys in a while that I've felt I wanted. I can definitely see this being a fun thing to bring out in the backyard or to cookouts/parties, especially as a dad with young kids too. A couple things I'd be a bit worried about: * Battery life would need to last long enoug…

> Would there be an audible hum in the video it records from the 4x propellers? And for those who are at the beach just trying to enjoy a little time away from the city. The folks at the beach near me are already fed up with ubiquitous Bluetooth speakers.

Somehow the car park and road alongside the beach arent a problem Though??

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#325

Post by dwighttk »

azinman2 wrote: post #315
azinman2 wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of snaps marketing suggests no controller. That’s the part that I actually care about - I’m willing to have lower video quality and smaller battery if it’s easy to use in a regular social moment.

Update: reading a review there is no controller. All of the controls are simple on the device itself. This is exactly what I want - I’m not trying to capture amazing drone footage for the sake of it, I’m trying to capture a moment in life without exiting it. I ordered one.. at this price point will be fun to try.

Remember it is gonna be real loud. The ads always like to downplay that.

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#326

Post by Brusco_RF »

andrewgioia wrote: post #12

I think this is such a fun/playful idea, kudos to Snap! Their first hardware product pretty much bombed but this is oddly one of the first consumer tech toys in a while that I've felt I wanted. I can definitely see this being a fun thing to bring out in the backyard or to cookouts/parties, especially as a dad with young kids too. A couple things I'd be a bit worried about: * Battery life would need to last long enoug…

The device itself does not have a microphone. I imagine that you would use your phone's microphone if you wanted audio. Most drone-chasing shots use this method, a microphone on the subject is much better at capturing the sounds you actually want to hear.

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#327

Post by skybrian »

542458 wrote: post #323
achow wrote: post #153

WSJ has good review including how it works: https://www.wsj.com/articles/snap-pixy-review-dont-call-it-a... https://archive.is/zW515 Excerpt: Turn the Pixy’s dial to one of its four flying modes.. Hover: Here, the Pixy reverses a couple of feet and floats in front of you like a hummingbird. In the Snapchat app, you can customize, up to 60 seconds, how long you’d like it to capture video Reveal: Like a traditional dro…

The downwards camera for stabilization and landing is a cool idea. Did they come up with that, or has that been done before?

It's a common technique.

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#328

Post by 8bitben »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #269
8bitben wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do anything with this drone that is commercial or non-private in nature, you still need a Part 107 certificate from the FAA to fly it. I expect that would include many influencers who wouldn't otherwise be flying drones at all.

I'm not sure where you got the "non-private" in nature piece. I took this "identification tool" on the FAA website, https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/user_identification_... , and while yes, if you are, say, taking drone photos to hawk some particular product online, that would clearly fall under Part 107. But an influencer that's just taking vacation photos, even if it's of their impossibly fashionable vacatio…

That's certainly a fair interpretation of the regulation - but if one could argue that social media is one's 'job', I would also consider posts on their usual accounts as commercial content. I guess the point is the FAA has the discretion to consider your use how they want, and there isn't much good case law / precedent for this because the FAA largely hasn't been enforcing Part 107 requirements yet.

Re: Snap launches its first drone

#330

Post by eptcyka »

dvt wrote: post #320
roughly wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is going to be one of those things where we learn that nobody actually cares about any of that outside these forums. MP3s were garbage, early camera phones were garbage, Snap picture quality generally is garbage, bluetooth headphones suck, all of these things were and are decried by the tech community, and it turns out that people just don't care, because even at garbage quality it's still cool to have a…

Except that mp3s sucked until the iPod, and camera phones sucked until the iPhone. The idea that product quality, ease of use, UX/UI, or polish doesn't matter is just wrong. This thing is absolutely going to bomb (reminds me of GoPro's Karma) and I'd bet money on it, but SNAP stock is already in dire straits, so their incompetence is probably priced in.

Camera phones sucked until iPhone 4 at least.
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