On Thursday, during its annual summit meeting, Snap Partner Summit 2022, Snap announced that it was launching a flying camera called Pixy. It is a pocket sized device. It doesn’t have a controller but has a button that can send it along one of four flightpaths that have been preset. The camera can float, follow an orbit or follow a user a few feet above and capture photos and videos, following which it lands on the palm of the user.
Snap is well known for its popular app Snapchat. The company disclosed that videos and pictured taken by Pixy would be automatically transferred to Snapchat Memories. Users could then edit these pictures or videos and share them on social media. The camera can store up to 1,000 pictures or 100 videos.
Pixy is available from Thursday onwards in both the U.S. and France. It costs $229.99. The basic pack consists of a Pixy camera and a bumper and carrying strap. It also includes a charging cable and a rechargeable battery.
Snapchat’s new hardware product: a drone called Pixy.
– Edem Kumordjie (@edemdat) April 28, 2022
Pairs with the Snapchat app
Can lift off and land on the palm of its owner
Records 2.7k resolution videos and shoot 12MP photos
Up to 60 seconds per clip recording
$230 /$250 with extra batteries. pic.twitter.com/GsO7uE4L9l
Customers can pick up an additional battery for $19.99. A dual battery charger is available for $49.99, for heavy use. The mini drone can fly five to eight times, using the default flight modes that have been set, on one battery recharge. It weighs a little over 100 grams. It has a yellow body and orange propellers, similar to the company’s flagship app, Snapchat.
According to the Santa Monica based company, Snapchat has 600 active users each month. The app is used by over 300 million active users, each day. So, the company is increasing its hardware, looking for a future stream of revenue, beside its traditional advertising business.
It has produced gadgets such as a $380 Spectacles 3 camera glasses and a next-generation augmented reality Spectacles glasses. These can superimpose computer-generated images on top of the field of vision of a user. However, its last earnings report considers its earnings from hardware “not material.”
At the Summit, Snap also said that it had partnered with Live Nation Entertainment and would create AR (augmented reality) lenses that can be used at global concerts and festivals.
