Amazon’s Prime Air project is alive and well, has a new drone

Hopefully you're managing to snag yourself a few final bargains this Cyber Monday, if you're not already burnt out after Black Friday. Given all this consumer madness, it's fitting that Amazon has chosen this week to deliver us an update about its 'Prime Air' project. Remember those flying package delivery drones from a couple of years ago that seemed like something out of science fiction?

The latest update contains a small selection of new pictures and a video, which features Amazon's latest high-profile signing for its programming line-up – Jeremy Clarkson. There's a run down through how the system works, along with a good look at Amazon's new drone design.

The new design:

The old design:

As well as the old quad-coper design, Amazon has a new drone that looks something like a cross between a hovercraft and a traditional aeroplane. The new model is able to move both vertically and then horizontally, allowing for easy landings and take-offs as well as faster, more efficient flight. This design can reach a height of 400 feet, can fly at over 55 miles per hour and can cover 15 miles. See also: Google drone package deliveries to arrive by 20176

The drone also seems to feature some on-board processor technology and specialized software that can be used to avoid obstacles on-route and scan the landing spot for an ideal location to drop off your package. The plan is for Amazon to run a fleet of drones in different shapes and sizes to cater for different environments.

Amazon says that putting Prime Air into service is still going to take some time, but the company plans to deploy once it has the necessary regulatory support. So there still a while to wait until Amazon drone deliveries are a thing, but one day this technology be as familiar as the postman.

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