GoPro shows off video from its prototype drone, and it looks awesome

By Trevor Mogg Updated October 29, 2015

It was almost a year ago that rumors first surfaced about GoPro building its own consumer quadcopter, with the company finally confirming the news back in May.

To many it was a no-brainer – the company already makes the camera gear seen on so many remotely-controlled flying machines these days, so a drone of its own made perfect sense.

Although it’s been pretty quiet about the project in recent months, on Wednesday GoPro posted a teaser video showing off some of the footage shot by its copter-camera combo. And it looks awesome.

What really stands out is the silky-smooth stability of the captured footage, which the California-based company is keen to point out was not achieved in post-production.

Sure, the footage was taken in what look to be very calm conditions, but the copter’s apparent steadiness in flight and clearly impressive gimbal suggest GoPro could have a hit on its hands when its machine finally lands on the market. What we really want to know are key specs such as flying time and price, but the company is for now staying tight-lipped.

GoPro describes the current model as an “advanced prototype quadcopter,” while the video’s closing shot indicates the camera used to shoot the footage was a Hero4. However, we can expect that GoPro’s final drone design will allow buyers to choose from its full range of available cameras, with the devices able to be swapped out.

The machine should be on the market in the first half of 2016, and judging by the teaser, the company could soon be well placed to take on the likes of DJI, currently the leader in the consumer drone market.

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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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GoPro boosts Hero 10 performance with new firmware and Enduro battery

GoPro Hero 10 Front Screen.

One of my few complaints when reviewing the GoPro Hero 10 Black was its somewhat fleeting battery life, and though I haven’t personally encountered the issue, many users have reported problems limiting recording times due to overheating. GoPro seems to have heard that message loud and clear, as they have announced a major firmware update for the camera that aims to solve the problems as well as a brand new Enduro battery.

The firmware (which will be available by the end of October) introduces three new video performance modes designed to maximize the Hero 10’s performance in different scenarios. Maximum video performance mode prioritizes high resolution, frame rate, and image quality. Extended battery mode limits resolution and frame rate to maximize recording times and battery life, while tripod/stationary video mode provides high performance when the camera is stationary, and there isn’t any airflow to cool the camera.

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GoPro drops teaser video for Hero10 camera ahead of Thursday’s reveal

watch gopros teaser video for the new hero10 action camera gopro hero 10

GoPro is set to reveal the latest iteration of its popular action camera on Thursday, September 16.

The California-based company has just dropped a slick teaser video (below) for the Hero10 Black. The 57-second production, titled A New Era of GoPro, shows a slew of beautifully cinematic and highly dramatic action shots (you wouldn’t really expect anything less) as GoPro attempts to create a buzz around its latest product release.

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GoPro Hero 10 Black.

Images of the GoPro Hero 10 Black leaked yesterday, giving us our first look at images of the device along with specs. WinFuture, a German publication that previously leaked information about the redesigned Hero 9 Black in August last year was also the source of the latest leak. A report on the website suggests the Hero 10 Black looks similar to its predecessor (Hero 9 Black) in terms of size, design, and external accessibility features. The only design difference so far can be seen in blue accents that spell out "10 Black."
The major hardware changes we're seeing are improvements to processing power with the new GP2 processor and an improved image sensor that beefs up from 20-megapixels to 23-megapixels The Hero 10 Black is also expected to support 5.3K video recording at a smooth 60 frames per second (fps), 4K videos at 120 fps, and 2.7K videos at 240 fps. The last one can help you create high-resolution slow-motion clips. This is a considerable improvement over previous models that only supported 5K recording at 30 fps and 4K recording at 60 fps.

Marketing materials seen by WinFuture hint that Hero 10 Black’s in-camera software stabilization will see an improvement to offer "gimbal-like stabilization", after being upgraded to HyperSmooth 4.0 and TimeWarp 3.0 for time-lapse videos. Users can also enjoy an auto-upload function to transfer files online at a much quicker speed. The Hero 10 Black also supports 1080p live streaming, the same as previous models. Finally, the Hero 10 Black is said to offer 10 meters deep housing, touchscreen controls, and voice accessibility. Users can also access the webcam mode along with SuperPhoto and HDR options. These features combined with the improved recording capability have the potential to be a gamechanger for streamers and on-the-scene photographers.
The company hasn’t made a formal announcement so we don’t know how much the Hero 10 Black would cost. The previous edition, Hero 9 Black was released at $450 and is currently priced at $400 (excluding the subscription), so we can expect a number around this range, perhaps a bit higher. Given the scale of the recent leaks, the launch of the Hero 10 Black is likely to be imminent.