Forbes is reporting that Lily, the flying camera, has raked in $34 million in pre-orders for its flying camera which the company now says will be released in the summer of 2016. They revised the launch date. Initially it was expected in February of 2016. You can buy it from their web site. While they are collecting money, they are not yet collecting addresses. They’ll ask for those later. The concern is that purchasers might move between the time they pay and the time the camera is ready to be shipped to them.
The Lily is a throw and shoot flying camera that follows you. It can travel at up to 25 MPH at a distance of between 10 and 30 feet. It has a sleek design and is relatively inexpensive. You can pre-order for $799. The price when product is officially released will be $999.
The Lily also won a Best of Innovations award for Unmanned Systems and Accessories over FLIR, Parrot Bebop, Parrot Disco, Parrot Hydrofoil, Padrone Byrd, Airmap, and Smart Shelf System from Wistron. Some of these products you can actually buy and use now.
The Lily was cited as being the “first throw and shoot” drone which may or may not prove to be true. The Parrot Disco another yet to be released product also has the capability of being launched by simply tossing in the air. The awards left some scratching their heads. Is an innovation truly an innovation if it is not commercially available? If so, is the Lily really more innovative than the Parrot Disco?
Another drone that is racing Lily to a release date is the Airdog. You can’t toss up the Airdog but its capabilities and key selling prop put it squarely in competition with the Lily. It is labeled at the “world’s first autofollow drone for adventure sports.”At $1599 it is more expensive but it is also a bit more sophisticated in its “follow me” capabilities. It comes with 5 “scenarios” for presetting a flight path relative to you (e.g. Surf, Skateboard etc). It also does not come with a camera though you can plug a GoPro into it. The company is estimating a release date of April 2016.
Frank Schroth is editor in chief of DroneLife, the authoritative source for news and analysis on the drone industry: it’s people, products, trends, and events.
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TWITTER:@fschroth
I love it and can’t sell ????
The Adventure Comes to an End
Dear Lily community,
Antoine and Henry here from the Lily team. When Lily set out on the journey to create a flying camera over 3 years ago, we were determined to develop and deliver a product that would exceed your expectations.
In the past year, the Lily family has had many ups and downs. We have been delighted by the steady advancements in the quality of our product and have received great feedback from our Beta program. At the same time, we have been racing against a clock of ever-diminishing funds. Over the past few months, we have tried to secure financing in order to unlock our manufacturing line and ship our first units – but have been unable to do this. As a result, we are deeply saddened to say that we are planning to wind down the company and offer refunds to customers (details below).
We want to thank you for sticking with us and believing in us during this time. Our community was the drive that kept us going even as circumstances became more and more difficult. Your encouraging words through our forums and in your emails gave us hope and the energy we needed to keep fighting.
Before we sign off, we want to thank all the people who have worked at Lily, who have partnered with us, and who have invested in us. Thank you for giving your all, nights, weekends and holidays, in the effort to deliver a great product.
After so much hard work, we are sad to see this adventure come to an end. We are very sorry and disappointed that we will not be able to deliver your flying camera, and are incredibly grateful for your support as a pre-order customer. Thank you for believing in our vision and giving us the opportunity to get this far. We hope our contribution will help pave the way for the exciting future of our industry.
Sincerely,
Antoine and Henry
Lily Founders
Refund Details:
Lily will be offering a refund to customers over the next 60 days. We will be initiating refunds to the payment card used for the original transaction (no action is required on your part; please allow 14 days for the refund to appear on your statement).
If the card you used is expired, please fill out this form so we can work with you on providing a refund by other means (e.g., PayPal or check).
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