Xiaomi Unveils Budget-Friendly Mi Drone, $460 For 4K Or $380 For 1080p (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi has officially journeyed into the drones product category. The Xiaomi Mi Drone is a quadcopter with a three-axis gimbal, 4K camera, and a remote control that uses your Mi smartphone as a viewfinder. The 4K version retails for about $460 while the 1080p model retails for about $380. When compared to drones from DJI or Yuneec, the Mi Drone seriously undercuts them as they typically retail for more than $1,000. Some other features of the Mi Drone center around modularity and serviceability -- the camera module and rotors are detachable. The 5,100 mAh battery that Xiaomi claims can last 27 minutes of continuous flight time on a single charge is also replaceable. It uses GPS and GLONASS for positioning. It even features a visual positioning system on the rear that allows itself to remain stable when flying at low altitudes in environments where a satellite signal cannot be reached. Some of the autonomous flight modes include: takeoff, landing, return to home, waypoint navigation and orbit, with the ability to create a geofence to limit its movement. The 1080p Mi Drone "will be crowdfunded on the Mi Hope app starting May 26, 2016," while the 4K Mi Drone "will be available for testing via an open beta program at the end of July." With such an affordable price tag relative to the competition, the Xiaomi Mi Drone may help increase revenues for the company whose sales barely grew last year.

Comments

Re:ban drones

[Thanshin]

3) Spying on people from above or looking in their windows

I wonder if Xiaomi's drones also mysteriously disappear soon after flying over other people's property.

I also wonder for how much will they sell on Ebay without a controller pad.

Re:ban drones

[Anonymous Coward]

Or we could not ban drones and fine or take the drones off people caught using them inappropriately?

uh, what?

[Tom]

So, let me get this straight, a major electronics company brings out a new product - and crowdfunds it? Seriously?

Re:uh, what?

[Tx]

In the same way that some successful musicians have tried crowd-funding albums and projects, it's more of a marketing gimmick than a way of funding it per se. You get a whole bunch of people interested in the thing, and mostly committed to buying it, you create buzz as people follow the status of the crowd-funding campaign, and if you're particularly successful with the campaign and blow past your funding target in no time, that creates yet more hype. And in this case it sounds like you need to install their app to take part in the crowdfunding, which may be part of their goal in itself.

Re:uh, what?

[queBurro]

that's the only notable thing about this slashvertisment?

Re:uh, what?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Xiaomi is all about the hype. They see themselves as the Chinese Apple. Up to and including their chairman wearing a black turtleneck. Xiaomi's MIUI phone OS looks just like Apple's (and they ripped off GNU code and refused to release their changes). They copy Apple every way they can - in China this isn't seen as pathetic me-tooism, it's seen as clever because you're copying someone who is successful. Xiaomi is notorious for releasing only a small amount of product at launch and providing no other way to buy than at certain times from their official website.

But now, they've done Apple one better! Crowdfunding! This keeps them in the news for an even longer period of time, as various goals are met. Plus, most people in China don't know what crowdfunding is. The government doesn't like platforms that allow people to collectively organize in any way, even innocuous ways. Xiaomi loves, loves, loves getting publicity and now they're doing things that even Apple isn't doing. This is the beginning of them shedding their "student/inferior/listen to you" status and taking on the "teacher/superior/you listen to ME" attitude that will likely characterize their relationship with Apple from now on.

Re:uh, what?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I think that it's a mixture of "preorder" and "hype mechanism"; along with a convenient way to test demand. Plus, if you can get suckers to loan you money for an indeterminate time without guarantee of payback or any expectation of return on investment, why not?

I find the process rather seedy; but It's hard to argue with the pragmatic-evil reasons for doing it.

Re:uh, what?

[gnupun]

Perhaps crowdfunding sites should ban corps that exceed a certain market cap, say $100 million, from participating. Crowdfunding should be limited to small companies trying to bootstrap.

Re:uh, what?

[ScentCone]

Perhaps crowdfunding sites should ban corps that exceed a certain market cap, say $100 million, from participating. Crowdfunding should be limited to small companies trying to bootstrap.

Yes, this. Whenever you are annoyed with something or you think it is unseemly somehow, it should definitely be banned. Definitely use the power of law to smack down people using marketing techniques that you think should only be used by companies that are one person smaller, or one dollar poorer in revenue, than the company you don't like. Ban! Ban ban ban. Where is our powerful Bannocrat leader when we need her? Save us from things we don't like the sound of, dear leader!

Or, you know, you could just ignore this sort of thing, and if you have to waste your breath on it, do so by pointing out to others why a given crowd funding play doesn't suit your philosophy and try to talk people out of giving them money. I know, that's work. Definitely better to make them criminals if they try it, right? Yeah.

Re:uh, what?

[ColdWetDog]

Oh, DJI (Xiamoi's competitor in the drone space) is the same. The CEO has even said he wants to be the Chinese version of Apple and they stuffed Apple stores with their latest offering*. They are plagiarizing the plagiarist.

It's copying all the way down.

* Which is actually impressively ironic since the Apple store has a much better refund / replace policy than the DJI store and if you have the slightest clue, you won't buy directly from DJI.

Re:uh, what?

[ScentCone]

Who's anti-government? I'm talking about your desire to see things banned. It's that instinct - "I don't like this. Ban it! Ban it! Ban it!" - that we're talking about. Too often, people who think like that like to extend that same controlling urge to government activity at every level. They see the exercise of authority over other people's actions to be the first and best choice, rather than simply speaking with their wallet and encouraging others to do the same. This isn't about government, it's about your default solution for things you don't like.

Re:uh, what?

[tlhIngan]

Xiaomi is all about the hype. They see themselves as the Chinese Apple. Up to and including their chairman wearing a black turtleneck. Xiaomi's MIUI phone OS looks just like Apple's (and they ripped off GNU code and refused to release their changes). They copy Apple every way they can - in China this isn't seen as pathetic me-tooism, it's seen as clever because you're copying someone who is successful. Xiaomi is notorious for releasing only a small amount of product at launch and providing no other way to buy than at certain times from their official website.

Apple and Google, actually. MIUI wants to be all cloud-based and selling cloud services to you (and you to everyone else). It's basically why they give the software away And at a time when Apple itself is trying to reduce the use of the cloud to reduce the privacy implications (basically iCloud ends up being a really good way to sync files everywhere and collaborate than a resource to mine)

Apple's privacy stance is so annoying to internal researches that they're basically leaving because they can't get Apple to release to their own employees the data Apple collects from other services - like Apple collects the information and refuses to share it beyond what they stated they would do with it. (Many of the speech to text and AI researchers want access to stuff like Siri queries and can't get access to it. Apple even has a rather draconian process for it...).

Re:uh, what?

[Peristaltic]

So, let me get this straight, a major electronics company brings out a new product - and crowdfunds it? Seriously?

Hey, there's no shortage of suckers that will buy into it. I would bet that Exxon could find idiots to crowdfund a refinery. At the $10-level, you get a t-shirt and a certificate of appreciation.

Re:uh, what?

[Tom]

I'm not so much upset about the misuse of crowdfunding. I wonder what it says about a major corporation if they can't (or don't want to) fund their own product development.

Re:uh, what?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

all the way down

Well, that's the way how something ends up in China, isn't it?

Re:ban drones

[Thanshin]

Sounds like there is at least going to be a parts market! ;)

A quick Ebay search reveals this market is already working as expected.

People seem to be losing their controller pads along with any warranty of proof of purchase. It's a coincidence that seems to plague drones.

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[Thanshin]

America shouldn't be trying to compete in prices with China.

The question I'd ask is "where is the best drone, no matter the cost, being built?".

If the answer is "still, not America", that would be the actual problem.

Re:ban drones

[Feral Nerd]

3) Spying on people from above or looking in their windows

These are all quite dangerous ways to use drones. Short of banning drones entirely, there's no way to stop this from occurring. Therefore, drones need to be banned.

I recommend a Mossberg 500 with, say... an M choke to give you the best compromise on pellet spread but you might want to experiment with that. According to Popular Mechanics you want number 8 bird shot shells with the largest pellet count you can find No. 10 or even 12 bird shot is even better if you can find it. If you live in an urban area blasting at drones with a shotgun might be a problem so your best urban-legal go-to option might be water based. Perhaps a powerful hose, or the most powerful super-soaker you can find but even that would probably not have the range of the shotgun. A more expensive option would be to build you own hunter-killer drone or a drone that snatches the offending one out of the sky and brings it to the ground so you can hold it to ransom. That last solution appeals to my inner nerd, my inner hill-billy likes the shotgun option best while shooting down drones with a super-soaker makes for a fun activity you can engage in with your kids. I also reserve a certain degree of admiration for this Russian reenactor who shot a drone out of the sky with a hand thrown spear.

Re:ban drones

[PvtVoid]

Or just fly a bunch of balloons, tethered with monofilament.

Only Mi smartphones?

[wonkey_monkey]

and a remote control that uses [a] Mi smartphone as a viewfinder.

Only Mi phones?

Re:Only Mi smartphones?

[FudRucker]

i agree, it should be able to use any android device (smartphone or tablet) as a viewfinder screen to capture live video and record it on the fly (no pun intended) tying it to only one particular brand of phone sounds fishy like they are really wanting to sell phones too

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[Anonymous Coward]

... The question I'd ask is "where is the best drone, no matter the cost, being built?"

How'd you define 'Best'?

Average American salary has been stagnated for the past 2 decades or so and you are giving us that 'no matter the cost' lecture?

If you're from the 0.01% the cost shouldn't be a problem, but us, the grunts on the ground level, our shrinking income forces us to always factor in the cost, even for a gallon of milk

Let you know one thing, drones should not become the 'horse carriage' of yore, toy for the exclusive domain of the 0.01% bourgeois!

Re:ban drones

[tugboat0902]

How about fricken drones with friken lasers attached to their foreheads?

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[Thanshin]

Average American salary has been stagnated for the past 2 decades or so and you are giving us that 'no matter the cost' lecture?

Americans are not the only customers of American products. As long as America continues selling better, more expensive, products, there's a way out. Europeans and Asians with that money will also opt for the better product.

If the strategy changed to "let's have a cheaper, less protected workforce and compete with China in prices", the end would be a few decades in the future. I don't expect that to happen.

Therefore, news like these must push America towards the future. Towards products beyond what's being done in China. It makes no sense to compete on even ground if one can stay on higher ground.

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[zac4kmt]

Samsung is doing IOT Samsung and SK Telecom to launch world's first nationwide network for the Internet of Things in South Korea http://www.readnews247.com/det...

Re:ban drones

[Feral Nerd]

I recommend therapy. I would think the drones you see spying on you are just in your imagination.

No, that's impossible. I wear a tinfoil hat.

Re:ban drones

[Feral Nerd]

How about fricken drones with friken lasers attached to their foreheads?

I prefer a chainsaw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:ban drones

[AgentUSA]

http://i.imgur.com/x7bd0yf.jpg

Re:ban drones

[ColdWetDog]

I recommend a landing net for salmon - about the right size, quiet and useful during fishing season.

Remember, these things basically have cell phone cameras with wide angle lenses. You're not really 'spying' on anybody until you are about six feet from them.

Re:Video of the Xiaomi drones

[ColdWetDog]

72 minutes? To unbox?

Who bought the thing? An earthworm?

Re:Any Android phone

[ColdWetDog]

The 360 degree camera is a bit of marketing hype. The only benefit for this arrangement is on an Inspire where you can have two controllers - one for the drone and one for the camera. On a P3 / P4 you just yaw the entire craft - no big deal. I've never seen the landing feet in any video short of a rapid uncontrolled disassembly.

Re:ban drones

[Peristaltic]

Personally i would ban stupid and selfish people.

Don't be so short-sighted. We need stupid and selfish people- They're like honeybees: You make cute little boxes for them to live in, make sure they have enough flowers to play with, and every so often you blow smoke up their collective asses while you take their honey. Repeat as needed.

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[K. S. Kyosuke]

America shouldn't be trying to compete in prices with China. The question I'd ask is "where is the best drone, no matter the cost, being built?".

Found the Lockheed-Martin CEO!

Re:Any Android phone

[wonkey_monkey]

The only benefit for this arrangement is on an Inspire where you can have two controllers - one for the drone and one for the camera.

Even then, couldn't the software compensate completely and give you the illusion of separate control over drone and camera? The DJIs have an "out from center" flight mode where it doesn't matter which way the drone is physically facing.

America makes the best what exactly?

[thesupraman]

Just wondering.

Cars? I have my doubts, that would probably be the Germans or Italians, depending on preference.
Ships? Sorry, its the Koreans - throw in Phones, TVs, etc, etc while you are at it.
Fashion? Well, you could perhaps argue Jeans, but for all the rest, look to Europe mostly.
Tools? Been the Japanese for a long time.
Heavy machinery? Again sorry, its the Japanese and/or Koreans.

You could probably claim Computer CPUs (but not cellphone..) thanks to Intel (although none of them are actually MADE in the US).
Oh, and most certainly 'Laws to protect Corporations incumbent global profit positions through IP', the US certainly leads there..
Ah, sorry I have it, The US certainly leads in celebrity gossip and media frenzy as an industry!

Oh, and I think you will find pretty much ALL of them are built in China, you have confused 'assembled/packaged' and 'built' if you
think America makes much of anything any more, unfortunately.

"journeyed into" ?!!

[spage]

has officially journeyed into the drones product category.
A new line of business is not a bloody trip to the mines of Moria. Anonymous, the word you seek is "entered," Always use the simplest wordng to avoid looking stupid.