Snap is launching a flying camera, the company said Thursday during its annual partner summit.
The camera, called the Pixy, is a pocket-sized device without a controller. Instead, users tap a button to send the Pixy to one of four predefined flight paths. The device floats, orbits or follows a few feet above the user to take photos and videos, then lands in the user’s palm.
Snap charges Pixy as a companion to its flagship Snapchat app. The company said that videos and photos from flights are automatically transferred to the user’s Snapchat Memories. Users can edit the photos and share them on any other platform, it said. Pixy stores up to 100 videos or 1000 photos.
Available from Thursday in the US and France for $ 229.99. The basic flight package includes a Pixy camera, bumper and carrying strap, charging cable and rechargeable battery. Extra batteries are available for $ 19.99 and a dual battery charger is available for $ 49.99, the company said. The camera can make five to eight flights using its default flight modes each time the battery is recharged.
Snap has embarked on gadgets in the past with products such as its $ 380 Spectacles 3 camera glasses and next-generation Spectacles augmented reality glasses that can superimpose computer-generated images on the user’s field of vision. The company said it is committed to hardware in the long run, which could open up a new revenue stream in addition to the advertising business. However, the company said in its latest earnings report that hardware revenue today is “not significant”.
The company also announced several augmented reality features and updates for developers. Snapchat now reaches 600 million active users per month and more than 330 million active users per day, it said.
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