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Can AeroVironment Compete in the Commercial Drone Market?

By Colin Snow | December 2, 2016

AeroVironment’s new drone and cloud-based analytics platform squarely targets the commercial sector, but are they targeting the wrong vertical, too late in the game? THE FACTS: Earlier this month, the military and tactical unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) proudly unveiled its new QuantixTM drone and a cloud-based analytics platform called the AeroVironment Decision Support … Read more

Is Esri’s Drone2Map a Game Changer?

By Colin Snow | July 25, 2016

Features should appeal to Esri users, but will they appeal to non-Esri users? THE FACTS: In June 2016, Esri released an application called Drone2Map for ArcGIS.  Drone2Map (D2M) takes raw image data from drones and creates digital surface models, orthomosaics, 3D-point clouds and 3D PDFs that can be shared.  Data processed by Drone2Map can also … Read more

Six Trends Driving the Commercial Drone Market in 2016 and Beyond

By Colin Snow | January 29, 2016

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” – attributed to Yogi Berra I was recently asked in an interview to discuss four or five trends that I see as major drivers in the commercial drone industry today and what manufacturers and service providers might focus on in the future. That sounds simple enough … Read more

Five Observations about the Camera Drone Market from NAB 2015

By Colin Snow | April 21, 2015

By Steve Maller for Drone Analyst My brief but productive visit last month to the 2015 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Las Vegas showed me just how fast the camera drone market is heating up. More than 97,000 people in media and entertainment attended this year, and the show featured for the first time … Read more

Does DJI’s New Drone Hit the Target Market?

By Colin Snow | November 16, 2014

I think it’s futuristic – the drone that is.  The camera, on the other hand, is another story. The drone For a guy like me who not only follows the commercial market for drones but is also an avid photography and multirotor enthusiast, the new DJI Inspire 1 is, well, inspiring. It’s chock full of … Read more

Drone Delivery: How much would you pay?

By Colin Snow | August 24, 2014

I love the look of the Tesla Model S, but I’d never get one. Somehow, the opportunity to pay $100K to drive only 300 miles before spending 4 to 9 hours recharging does not appeal to me. I also love the idea of Amazon’s drone delivery initiative Prime Air.  But, like the Tesla, the opportunity to … Read more

Drone Tech Winners and Losers at the Precision Aerial Ag Conference 2014

By Colin Snow | July 16, 2014

Last week my colleague Mitch Solomon and I were privileged to be in the company of more than one thousand farmers in rural Decatur, IL, for the two-day Precision Aerial Agriculture Show 2014 (PAAS 2014).  Mitch covers five key takeaways from the show in his post about the event – including the most salient one: … Read more