What is Snap's Pixy the Flying Drone Camera?

Will smart drones become more common?

Snap is a really innovative company, it’s gadgets always prove a bit amusing.

Snap unveiled Pixy, a $230 pocket-size flying camera drone that can follow you around.

The drone goes on sale Thursday on Pixy.com in the US and France, with the price starting at $230. Snap said drones pre-ordered will start to arrive by the end of May.

Photos and videos captured on the drone will get downloaded into Snapchat Memories, where users are able to store content for later use.

In a world of increasingly sophisticated drones and robots, I think consumers are ready for different sorts of uses for smart drones.

The camera, called Pixy, is a “pocket sized” device that operates on its own, meaning there’s no controller.

As U.S. GenZ has grown up within Snap’s ecosystem it’s really interesting to see how innovative this company is, their foray into hardware is really promising.

We’re introducing Pixy, your friendly flying camera. It’s a pocket-sized, free-flying sidekick that’s a fit for adventures big and small. - Snap

Snap calls itself a camera company

Will robots, drones and A.I. be our companion on our journey post-pandemic? It appears that is the general direction we are heading.

The camera, called Pixy, is a “pocket sized” device with no controller. Instead, users tap a button to send Pixy into one of four preset flightpaths. The device floats, orbits, or follows a few feet above the user to capture photos and videos, then lands in the user’s palm.

Sending drones into flight patterns with hand gestures would also be neat. The promise of VR and AR products at the intersection of social also looms large with discussion around the “Metaverse”.

Hey Pixy

Snap is billing Pixy as a companion to its flagship app, Snapchat. The company said videos and pictures from flights automatically transfer into the user’s Snapchat Memories. Users can edit the pictures and share to any other platform, it said. The Pixy stores up to 100 videos or 1,000 photos.

A bit pricey but cute on the whole. Battery life seems a bit sketchy.

Additional batteries are available for $19.99 and a dual battery charger is available for $49.99, the company said. The camera can make five to eight flights using its default flight modes on each battery recharge.

The selfie generation has sort of grown up, but for vacations, travel, experiences and events this would be pretty neat. I can see some niche love for such a product. Will if fuel our selfie obsession?

Snap unveiled Pixy at its fourth annual Partner Summit, an event the company is streaming online on Thursday.

Snap’s models look positively delighted. Almost Black Mirror delighted.

Take your hands off my Pixy!

For a company its size, Snap does some incredible R&D around hardware. Snap has ventured into gadgets in the past with products like its $380 Spectacles 3 camera glasses and its next-generation augmented reality Spectacles glasses, which can superimpose computer-generated images over the user’s field of vision.

ByteDance should acquire Snap.

Revenue from hardware is not material for Snap, that is these are mostly fun failures.

The company has indicated it is committed to hardware in the long term, which could open up a new revenue stream aside from its advertising business.

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