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Hover 2 foldable drone can look for obstacles as it flies itself
The Hover Camera Passport foldable drone made quite the impression when it first launched a little over two years ago, and then it received a major update in April last year, which added a smartphone-free mode that automatically tracks and records its owner. Save for the rumored Snap acquisition deal (which Zero Zero Robotics still denies today), we had barely heard from the drone maker since then, but today it's back with a surprise announcement: The launch of its second selfie drone, Hover 2.
Snap's next purchase might be a popular selfie drone maker
Snap's hardware business could soon extend well beyond cute-looking camera glasses. Sources speaking to The Information understand that the Snapchat creator is in discussions to buy Zero Zero Robotics, best known for its selfie-oriented Hover Camera Passport drone. It's not clear how advanced the talks are, or how much money the deal would involve. However, this might not be an impulsive decision. Snap has reportedly been talking about buying drone makers over the past year, allegedly bought a tiny outfit in Los Angeles, and was rumored to have built its own drone. This would just be the next logical step.
Hover Camera can now follow and record its owner sans phone
The term "selfie drones" may suggest an added level of convenience, but in reality, these machines still share one common pain point with conventional offerings: they need to be connected to a mobile device for initiation, mode selection and landing. The folks over at Zero Zero Robotics, however, are tackling this issue with a software update for their Hover Camera Passport. As we previewed back at CES, this foldable, fully-enclosed drone is finally getting an "Owner Mode," in which it can follow and record its owner without ever having to turn on the smartphone.
This selfie-drone recognizes, finds and auto-records its owner
Look how happy I am in that photo below. Or am I scared? It's hard to tell. Selfie technology just took a new turn, and I'm evidently not quite sure what to make of it. The source of the photo is Zero Zero's Hover Camera. It's a foldable, lightweight, 4K camera drone that we've seen before. The new trick that helped take this picture is that I just threw the drone up in the air. It then turned around until it recognized me (passing two colleagues along the way), and I waved at it. Boom: awkward selfie.
The Passport foldable drone makes for a fun travel companion
My first drone flight experience was with the DJI Phantom 2 Vision, and as much as I appreciated its advanced capabilities at the time, I longed for something more compact -- a device so small that I wouldn't need to carry a separate bag or case for it, preferably without sacrificing performance. Eventually, a Chinese startup called Zero Zero Robotics released the $599 Hover Camera Passport, which comes in the unique form of a foldable cage while packing cool features like body tracking, face tracking and orbiting. I got to spend some time with the Passport over the past few weeks, and eventually it got to the point where I rarely leave home without it, lest I find time to take it for a quick spin.
The foldable, fully-enclosed Passport drone is yours for $549
Foldability is all the hype in the drone world these days, as is the case with the GoPro Karma and the DJI Mavic. But before these two were announced, we already heard about Zero Zero Robotics' Hover Camera 4K drone that is truly foldable and also fully enclosed -- in the sense that you can grab hold it any way you want without getting cut by the propellers, plus you're less likely to cause havoc in a room. That's a rarity in today's drone market. Today, we bring you the good news that this nifty little machine -- under the new name "Passport" -- is finally launching for $549.
Hover Camera is a safe and foldable drone that follows you
"Follow me" is an up-and-coming feature on consumer drones, and then you've also got those that are foldable for the sake of portability. Very few devices carry both advantages, but Beijing startup Zero Zero Robotics has already gone further with its Hover Camera. As the name suggests, this drone is mainly for aerial photography and videography, but what makes it even cooler is the fact that its propellers are fully enclosed by a strong carbon fiber frame, thus making it the safest drone we've ever played with. As you can see in our hands-on video after the break, you can literally grab it whenever you like without sacrificing any of your fingers to the drone gods.
