Sorry, no Amazon Prime drones for Cyber Monday – yet
Nov 29, 2015, 8:27 PM | Updated: Nov 30, 2015, 6:49 am
(Amazon)
There won’t be an Amazon drone at your service for today’s Cyber Monday sales, but the Seattle-based retailer primed its customers for the future in express-shipping in time for the major holiday rush.
Amazon revealed a new prototype for its Amazon Prime Air drone on Sunday, with the company saying the unmanned aerial vehicle can fly up to 15 miles and reach altitudes of 400 feet. The system will deliver packages up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less using small drones that will take advantage of a “sense and avoid” technology.
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The prototype weighs less than 55 pounds and looks like a hybrid plane and helicopter. It is only the second design Amazon has shown to the public since an eight-propeller device displayed since the company first announced the program in December of 2013, according to Forbes.
The company website says there are more than a dozen prototypes that have been developed in Amazon labs.
As for when these drones might be ready, Amazon said putting Prime Air into service will take some time, “but will deploy when we have the regulatory support needed to realize our vision” and that they “will not launch Prime Air until we are able to demonstrate safe operations.”