Drones | The Verge

Potato by air

2026-09-30T17:15:03-04:00

Artist’s rendition | Image:The Verge, Getty Images

The Wing Hummingbird 7000W-B delivery drone weighs less than 15 pounds. It has 16 propellers - four for horizontal movement and 12 for vertical - a top speed of 60 miles per hour, a carrying capacity of up to 2.7 pounds, and a delivery radius of about six miles. It is authorized by the FAA for beyond-line-of-sight piloting. As a feat of engineering, it is impressive.

So far I've mostly used it to send people potatoes.

View this post on Instagram

It all started a few Sunday mornings ago when my neighbor Will added me and a half dozen other local dads to a group chat. I only recognized a few of the numbers.

"Anyon …

Read the full story at The Verge.

HoverAir’s transforming modular drone has already been halted in the US

2026-08-24T16:43:18-04:00

The HoverAir Versa. | Image: HoverAir

I am so sorry, fellow US gadget fans: the FCC's drone ban appears to have struck again. The HoverAir Versa - a baby steadycam with snap-on propeller wings that transform it into a drone - has already stopped taking US orders just three days after its Indiegogo debut, and may be forced to abandon shipping plans in the US.

HoverAir is now telling backers it's only shipping its camera to the US, not the piece that turns it into a drone, "due to a few remaining logistics updates with the Flight Kit." But those "logistics" may actually be a euphemism for "we've been banned by the federal government." The FCC's database no longer has an entry for …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Amazon’s drone deliveries are landing in pools and ponds

2026-08-20T10:59:21-04:00

Amazon's speedy drone delivery service will soon reach 500 cities across the US - but that might just mean there are more pools to drop packages into. On Wednesday, ABC7 News Bay Area shared a video showing an Amazon delivery drone hovering over a customer's pool in Texas, before opening its hatch and plopping the package directly into the water.

This isn't the first time Amazon's drones have delivered soggy packages. A video shared last July shows a Prime Air drone dropping a package right next to a customer's pool in Arizona, but air sent downward by the drone's propellers blew it straight into the water. In an interview with local news o …

Read the full story at The Verge.

I bought DJI’s banned camera — it was cheap and easy

2026-08-20T12:35:01-04:00

As a kid, I always imagined the "black market" would be like the movies: Shady vendors hawking illicit goods along dusty streets. But if you want a banned DJI Osmo Pocket 4 or Pocket 4 Pro camera in the US, you can just reach for your phone.

They're on Temu, AliExpress, eBay, Mercari - even Amazon and Newegg - with fast, free shipping and no risk of tariffs or seizures. That's because these cameras are already inside the United States, despite rules that ban them from entering the country.

This past month, I ordered a DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Pro from Temu. It arrived just four days later, shipped directly from a fulfillment center in Oregon, whe …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Does giving a camera wings dodge the FCC’s drone ban?

2026-08-19T19:52:12-04:00

It’s a camera. It’s a drone. But HoverAir doesn’t want it to be a drone where the FCC is concerned. | Image: HoverAir

HoverAir drones always have intriguing gimmicks. This one folds flat to fit in your pocket. This one can land on water. Another can charge inside its carrying case. But the brand's latest trick might be its riskiest: it's attempting to sneak a drone past the FCC.

In December 2025, the US government banned future foreign drones from reaching our shores, and HoverAir's floating Aqua drone was one of the first casualties. But this time, brand owner Zero Zero Robotics might have found a loophole: its latest $750 Versa drone isn't a drone, it claims, but rather a DJI Pocket-style mini steadycam with optional snap-on propellers that let it fly.

…

Read the full story at The Verge.

Amazon’s drones will soon deliver to nearly 500 US cities and towns

2026-08-19T07:53:27-04:00

Prime Air is launching in Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho, and New York soon. | Image: Joseph Ciembroniewicz/Omaha World-Herald via Getty Images

Amazon says its drone delivery service will reach "nearly 500 cities and towns in the United States" by the end of this year, increasing its coverage by six times compared to the current footprint. Prime Air deliveries will soon be launched in the Chicago, Illinois; Syracuse, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; and Boise, Idaho metro areas, according to Amazon's announcement, with "more communities to come later this year."

These will join 11 locations across the US where Amazon already offers drone deliveries, with each Prime Air site serving an area of approximately 175 square miles. The service aims to quickly deliver packages o …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Uber partners with Zipline on Eats drone deliveries

2026-08-17T10:31:50-04:00

Uber is teaming up with drone company Zipline to start airborne takeout deliveries later this year, with the goal of reaching one million daily drone deliveries by 2029.

Uber also said it was making a strategic investment in Zipline, a California-based company that has been orchestrating drone deliveries in Texas since 2025. The news comes as Uber's delivery rivals begin to step up their own drone deliveries, thanks to easing government regulations that allow companies to fly farther and cheaper.

The Uber Eats deliveries will start in Zipline's existing market of Dallas-Fort Worth, before eventually expanding to dozens of additional citie …

Read the full story at The Verge.

DoorDash is going airborne with new drone delivery division

2026-07-24T13:35:57-04:00

A Wing drone carrying a DoorDash delivery. The food delivery app company says it will build its own drones going forward. | Image: Google

DoorDash is launching a new drone delivery program called DoorDash Air. The largest food delivery app in the US said that it has approval from the Federal Aviation Administration that clears the way for drone delivery in the near future.

DoorDash said it has received a Part 135 air carrier certification from the FAA that enable it to delivery small packages via drone. Other companies to receive this designation include Alphabet's Wing, Zipline, and Amazon.

Previously, DoorDash worked with Alphabet's drone delivery division Wing on a number of pilots in places like Dallas-Fort Worth, Virginia, and Australia. Now the company says it will d …

Read the full story at The Verge.

DJI camera clone company Xtra is halting and refunding all preorders

2026-07-24T14:33:27-04:00

The Xtra Muse 2 Pro. | Image; Xtra

After selling a barely disguised version of the hit DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in the United States last year, Xtra Technology seemed ready to sneak in its version of the new dual-lens Osmo Pocket 4 Pro, too. But today, Xtra has abruptly removed the new Xtra Muse 2 Pro from its website landing page, is pausing preorders indefinitely, and says it'll refund all the $20 deposits that it's already collected.

Just days after showing off the camera at a Los Angeles launch event, the company is no longer necessarily committing to launch at all: "XTRA has not made a final announcement regarding future product availability. We have not announced a new produc …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Whack-a-drone

2026-07-27T09:47:57-04:00

In Pasadena, California, there's a cute red brick courtyard where one storefront isn't like the rest. The glass doors open onto a sparse industrial hallway, which leads to a sunlit foyer with a large spiral staircase. Go up, and you'll see a typical coworking space: open tables, healthy snacks, a collection of meeting rooms with glass walls. Follow one hallway most of the way back, and you'll find Office 18.

There are no signs of life in this tiny private office that's supposed to be the headquarters of Odyssey Robot, an upstart US drone company. We saw three small desks and chairs, but no power strips, no monitors, no keyboards or chargers …

Read the full story at The Verge.