First Look: Parrot's Crazy Sumo-Jumping and Mini Drones

Remember when, a couple years ago, a group of CES exhibitors did an impromptu dance sequence around flying quadrocopters? It was pretty much as weird and bizarre and awesome as CES gets (on the show floor, at least).

This year Parrot SA, the maker of those popular AR drones, has more tricks up its robotic sleeve. The French company is showing off two new drones — one a lightweight flyer, the other a jumping toy — that are meant to make drones a little bit more accessible.

The flying drone is Parrot’s “mini” drone. Controlled via Bluetooth with an iOS or Android device, the mini has a range of about 75 feet and lacks the camera that the higher-end AR drone has.

Last night at CES Unveiled, a preview event for members of the press, the mini drone was seen flying over people’s heads and buzzing around the ballroom at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino.

Parrot’s other new drone is called the Jumping Sumo. This spherical-bot-with-wheels can be programmed to jump up to a few feet on command, and streams a live-action video shot over Wi-Fi.

There isn’t a firm ship date for these yet, and Parrot hasn’t announced pricing, either. But the company’s CEO, Henri Seydoux, said they’ll be available “soon” and that he expects them to be more affordable than some of Parrot’s other products (like maybe the $300 AR?).

“Prices are coming down because the technology is basically the same technology that’s in your phone,” Seydoux said.

Also at CES Unveiled was DJI, the maker of the Phantom drone. The company was showing off the Phantom 2, its new $1200 drone — certainly more expensive than the Parrot products, but a more substantial piece of hardware, equipped with a 14-megapixel, full HD camera.

My initial reaction when I first saw the new Parrot drones: They’re pretty cool, but if you’re looking for a super-capable, high-powered drone, the mini and the Sumo aren’t it. In fact, I asked Seydoux what their primary use case is, and his response summed it up:

“For fun.”

Check out the video below to see the new Parrot drones in action:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via