Snap to sell a US$230 picture-taking drone that follows you around

The drone is another product to emerge from Snap’s hardware labs and is meant to further its pursuit of the still embryonic market for augmented reality – the much-hyped technology that superimposes digital graphics on images of the real world. — AFP

Snap Inc has a replacement for the cheap phone stands and awkward outstretched arms of modern self-filming: a yellow, square-shaped flying camera drone that costs US$230 (RM1,003), weighs about a quarter of a pound and hovers around you to film you automatically.

The original inspiration for the pocket-sized drone, called Pixy, was: “What would it feel like if Tinker Bell were your personal photographer?” chief executive officer Evan Spiegel said in an interview. “On one hand, you have these bulky, almost dangerous drones that you have to manually control with a remote control. And on the other hand, you have a phone that can’t fly.”