GoPro Karma Drone Gets Cheaper Replacement In GoPro Karma Core; GoPro’s Foothold On A Complicated Technology [VIDEO]
ByThe GoPro Karma drone now gets a cheaper replacement in a new GoPro product, the Karma Core, which was unveiled minus the fanfare with only an inclusion in the website product roster. However, the Karma Drone is still making a comeback as revealed in a GoPro press release with more details of its launch at the end of the year in February.
The GoPro Karma drone entailed an expensive recall with GoPro even throwing a free camera in the package. However, the company is poised to address the drone fiasco with a quiet launching of a drone replacement in the GoPro Karma Core.
The GoPro Karma Core appeared in the company's product listing last week as a "complete replacement" for wrecked Karma drones. The GoPro Karma drone had mechanical issues that loses power mid-flight and thereby comes literally falling from the sky.
Now the GoPro Karma Core can offer a cheaper replacement to the GoPro Karma drone assuming that it still has its camera and accessories intact including the controller and gimbal. The core includes the main body part, landing gear and arms.
In effect, consumers with working stabilizer, controller and battery can resume taking videos in mid-air with the new GoPro Karma core. The newest product retails at $399, which is half the amount of the GoPro Karma drone with GoPro Hero 5 Black bundle, Digital Trends has learned.
The website also lists the GoPro Karma drone under the "coming soon" label, indicative of two main things. First, GoPro has identified the problem and found a solution to keep the drones from losing power in mid-air.
Second, GoPro will deliver on its earlier pronouncements of re-launching the GoPro Karma drone this year, possibly earlier than the end of the year timetable. More details will be unveiled by the company come February.
However, the Motley Fool revealed that the technology involved in keeping drones in the air is far more complex as GoPro discovered the hard way in the GoPro Karma drone fiasco. The algorithm to keep drones steady is complicated and continuously evolving.
DJI has the advantage of controlling the manufacturing process for it does not outsource to third-party manufacturers like the GoPro for its Karma drone. Lily Robotics is now shutting down as well even before shipping its first drone.
Moreover, analysts say that the GoPro Karma drone need not be 100 percent perfect. GoPro needs to lay the foundation that the drone can fly, does not lose power and can take stable video images. All future improvements start from an established foothold.