GoPro announces new gadgets at its launch event in Olympic Valley, California, including its long-awaited $799 Karma Drone, a foldable, compact flying machine that comes with a removable stabilizer.
GoPro Karma Drone
GoPro has announced earlier this month on its Twitter page that it would launch soon its highly anticipated drone called Karma. According to Engadget, on Monday, Sept. 19, the company was hosting an event in Squaw Valley, California, where the Karma drone will be introduced for the first time.
Forbes reports that the 14-year-old GoPro is introducing new gadgets, hoping to resuscitate its once image of pioneering company. After a lackluster two years on Wall Street and in the wake of sluggish sales, GoPro's future depends in great measure on the upcoming holiday season.
GoPro's much-anticipated drone is company's first major product outside its core business focusing on video-capturing devices. The company is investing much in this atypical product. The failure or success of this new gadget will heavily influence the GoPro's future.
The long rumored Karma has been delayed for six months, but finally has come on the market. The drone is a foldable, four-propeller rig that can airborne any of GoPro's signature camera lines.
Karma is not only the company's first drone but also an attempt to convince that it can go beyond cameras. This product can show how well GoPro can adapt to the emerging market of drones that can better help customers capture their lives on still images and videos.
GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman said on stage at the event in Squaw Valley, California, that they are not a camera company but rather an "experience-sharing company." But the truth is that, since Woodman took his company public in June 2014, his vision is hard to sell to the public and investors. The future will tell if the company's new drone will become a market success.
