GoPro’s ill-fated Karma drone has finally made a comeback, albeit a very soft one. After complaints about the drone losing its power mid-flight and failing on its users last year, the company quietly set out to right its wrongs. Then in January, they discreetly dropped hints about a re-release. And it’s finally here.
The drone will be available only in select retailers, however the number and which specific ones they are has not been made available yet. The product will also only be available for now to US customers, while international customers will have to wait until Spring arrives to get theirs. The news was delivered on Thursday about the relaunch, so it will take some time for more information to set in about the availability.
Slash Gear has it confirmed that the reason for the failure of the Karma initially, was because of the battery clasp mechanism. After clocking in hours of research and testing on securing the clasp so that the issue does not recur, GoPro have confirmed that the new drones will be shipped with the new battery clasp. Although shipping may be bottle-necked as of now, it will ease out in the coming month as the product moves internationally.
Everything else about the Karma remains unchanged. It comes with a folding arm design that makes it easier to fit and carry around in bags, has a manual control touch screen, handset that looks more like a gaming pad, and also has a number of in-built and preset flight patterns. Handling the Karma is like a dream. The stabilizer mounted in front of the drone can be removed and used with a handgrip as well.
The company, meanwhile, will be hosting a live webcast conference for its investors and analysts on February 2 at 2PM to showcase their financial results for the last quarter of 2016. This could prove to be a bit of a stress, considering the drone did receive less than favourable reception in the wake of its battery failure, and that there could possibly be some legal whiplash over the launch of the first defected product. However, the new drone is still listed on the company website and will be sold for the same price as its first iteration was – at $799.
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