It would seem that the drone selfie craze is here to stay, so we might as well embrace it. And the selfie kings at GoPro haven’t even got round to releasing their highly-anticipated drone yet. Today Chinese manufacturer ZeroTech has launched Dobby, a palm-sized drone designed to fit in your pocket and snap your photo with minimum fuss. According to the company’s promotional video, Dobby can by flown by voice control and with gestures, allowing users to capture special moments easier than ever before.
Dobby weighs under 200 grams and folds up to fit into your pocket. It’s about the size of the new iPhone, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Despite its tiny size, its creators have managed to pack in a load of impressive features and technology. It can take off from the palm of your hand, track people through facial recognition, and respond to voice commands through connected watches. It can also be controlled via the attached smart phone app.
There are definite similarities here to the Hover Camera launched in April. Like its competitor from Zero Zero Robotics, the Dobby drone can hover in place and record video in 1080p from a 13-megapixel camera. It can also take 4K-resolution still photos with burst mode. Photos and videos can then be easily shared to social networks via the smartphone app.
Another fun little feature: Dobby can carry small objects. So brace yourselves for another tide of romantic drone proposal videos. With 9 minutes of flight time and stable outdoor flying, what better way to tell someone you want to spend the rest of your life with them, right?
It looks like a fun little drone packed with great features. Convinced? You can buy one now from Alibaba’s Taobao for about $300.
Malek Murison is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for tech trends and innovation. He handles product reviews, major releases and keeps an eye on the enthusiast market for DroneLife.
Email Malek
Twitter:@malekmurison
Subscribe to DroneLife here.