 Most people have never heard of DJI innovations, but if you showed them the Hong Kong startup's best-selling product, everyone would recognize it immediately. DJI has created our favorite drone, the Phantom, a unit so ubiquitous it has become the face of the technology across popular culture. For better or worse, it's the Kleenex of drones. What made the DJI Phantom so popular was its combination of power, price, and simplicity. They have also offered a much more expensive unit for Hollywood professionals, but it wasn't safe or affordable for the average consumer. Today, the company is trying to bridge the gap between those two with its newest unit, the Inspire 1. Our product design team said that they looked at some sci-fi movies and started designing it. One of our product engineers said that it looks like a dragon skull. I don't know what that's about. We see this as bridging both the community that wants really easy-to-use systems without thinking too much about the mechanics of flight with the crowd that wants really professional video easily captured from the sky. The first thing you notice about the Inspire is the way it transforms on takeoff. This borrows spreading-wing technology DJI developed for its S-class units. The legs lift overhead after takeoff, allowing the Inspire to shoot 360 degrees of video. So you got a 4K camera, and it also streams full HD video, 1.7 kilometers distance in near real time down to your iPad. It also has an HDMI video out on the controller, so you can automatically see this on a large screen or connect it to your Atomos recorder. Right now it's a modular payload that's formatted specifically for this camera, but we'll have a lot more exciting things to say about that later down the road. It's got redesigned motors and electronic speed controllers to the point where if you throttle forward and then let go, it's almost like you've thrown on brakes on a car. It's quite impressive. Another big addition to the Inspire is a camera on the bottom that can recognize what's below it and lock on to its current location. When you're flying outside and you're not sure if you have a GPS connection, fly close to the ground and you'll be steady. The Inspire can offer a dual operator mode with one pilot and one cameraman. It's still possible to do both with one person, but adding another set of hands allows for more flexible and fine-tuned shooting. For single operators, the Inspire offers the ability to lock the camera and maintain an area of focus, even as the unit moves about. A godsend for any wedding photographers hoping to capture the perfect aerial shot of that first kiss. The DJI Phantom costs around $1,500, while a fully loaded S1000 ended up closer to $10,000. The Inspire 1 tries to split the difference with a price point of roughly $3,000. DJI is also announcing its first software development kit, or SDK, allowing outside developers to integrate their programs with the unit's camera and video software. The Inspire 1 marks another big step forward in the amount of power and photographic capability available to the average consumer at a price point that won't break the bank. That, in turn, is a reminder of how little safety and privacy regulation currently exists in the US. With $3,000, anyone, no matter how old or inexperienced, can purchase this unit and start flying it the same day. When people start thinking about this technology, they recognize not only the form factor of the Phantom, which is pretty iconic at this point, but also how easy and accessible it is to use so that even Cartman can fly it. There definitely is that question of how do you integrate this technology into the airspace safely and that everybody's following the rules. From our perspective, we're looking forward to a lot clearer rules in the US. In several other markets like Japan, Australia, Germany, there is already that framework in place and we're seeing a lot of success. One of the things that we've cooperated with the Australian and New Zealand governments with is creating a document that says these are the best safe flying practices. With every Phantom sold in those countries, you get that pamphlet that says you can do this, you can't do this. We think that sets a really clear tone for what's acceptable in terms of best safe flying practices and if you don't follow those practices, here are the consequences. The other thing to consider is that with any new imaging technology, there's always this question of privacy and appropriate use. On the one hand, you have governments implementing privacy rules that help protect people's privacy. On the other, there's a bit of social etiquette, like you don't take Google Glass into the bathroom or you don't climb a tree with a telephoto lens. Those are kinds of things that I think people will start to understand a little bit more as the technology becomes more commonplace.
 Most people have never heard of DJI innovations, but if you showed them the Hong Kong startup's
 best-selling product, everyone would recognize it immediately.
 DJI has created our favorite drone, the Phantom, a unit so ubiquitous it has become the face
 of the technology across popular culture.
 For better or worse, it's the Kleenex of drones.
 What made the DJI Phantom so popular was its combination of power, price, and simplicity.
 They have also offered a much more expensive unit for Hollywood professionals, but it wasn't
 safe or affordable for the average consumer.
 Today, the company is trying to bridge the gap between those two with its newest unit,
 the Inspire 1.
 Our product design team said that they looked at some sci-fi movies and started designing
 it.
 One of our product engineers said that it looks like a dragon skull.
 I don't know what that's about.
 We see this as bridging both the community that wants really easy-to-use systems without
 thinking too much about the mechanics of flight with the crowd that wants really professional
 video easily captured from the sky.
 The first thing you notice about the Inspire is the way it transforms on takeoff.
 This borrows spreading-wing technology DJI developed for its S-class units.
 The legs lift overhead after takeoff, allowing the Inspire to shoot 360 degrees of video.
 So you got a 4K camera, and it also streams full HD video, 1.7 kilometers distance in
 near real time down to your iPad.
 It also has an HDMI video out on the controller, so you can automatically see this on a large
 screen or connect it to your Atomos recorder.
 Right now it's a modular payload that's formatted specifically for this camera, but we'll have
 a lot more exciting things to say about that later down the road.
 It's got redesigned motors and electronic speed controllers to the point where if you
 throttle forward and then let go, it's almost like you've thrown on brakes on a car.
 It's quite impressive.
 Another big addition to the Inspire is a camera on the bottom that can recognize what's below
 it and lock on to its current location.
 When you're flying outside and you're not sure if you have a GPS connection, fly close
 to the ground and you'll be steady.
 The Inspire can offer a dual operator mode with one pilot and one cameraman.
 It's still possible to do both with one person, but adding another set of hands allows for
 more flexible and fine-tuned shooting.
 For single operators, the Inspire offers the ability to lock the camera and maintain an
 area of focus, even as the unit moves about.
 A godsend for any wedding photographers hoping to capture the perfect aerial shot of that
 first kiss.
 The DJI Phantom costs around $1,500, while a fully loaded S1000 ended up closer to $10,000.
 The Inspire 1 tries to split the difference with a price point of roughly $3,000.
 DJI is also announcing its first software development kit, or SDK, allowing outside
 developers to integrate their programs with the unit's camera and video software.
 The Inspire 1 marks another big step forward in the amount of power and photographic capability
 available to the average consumer at a price point that won't break the bank.
 That, in turn, is a reminder of how little safety and privacy regulation currently exists
 in the US.
 With $3,000, anyone, no matter how old or inexperienced, can purchase this unit and
 start flying it the same day.
 When people start thinking about this technology, they recognize not only the form factor of
 the Phantom, which is pretty iconic at this point, but also how easy and accessible it
 is to use so that even Cartman can fly it.
 There definitely is that question of how do you integrate this technology into the airspace
 safely and that everybody's following the rules.
 From our perspective, we're looking forward to a lot clearer rules in the US.
 In several other markets like Japan, Australia, Germany, there is already that framework in
 place and we're seeing a lot of success.
 One of the things that we've cooperated with the Australian and New Zealand governments
 with is creating a document that says these are the best safe flying practices.
 With every Phantom sold in those countries, you get that pamphlet that says you can do
 this, you can't do this.
 We think that sets a really clear tone for what's acceptable in terms of best safe flying
 practices and if you don't follow those practices, here are the consequences.
 The other thing to consider is that with any new imaging technology, there's always this
 question of privacy and appropriate use.
 On the one hand, you have governments implementing privacy rules that help protect people's privacy.
 On the other, there's a bit of social etiquette, like you don't take Google Glass into the
 bathroom or you don't climb a tree with a telephoto lens.
 Those are kinds of things that I think people will start to understand a little bit more
 as the technology becomes more commonplace.