As GoPro starts shipping out its latest product, the Karma drone, the company also released the Passenger app that will make it possible for users to take rides on the unmanned aerial vehicle.
Of course, that does not mean that people will actually be riding on the drone. Through the app, users other than the pilot will be able to look through the GoPro camera attached to the Karma. In addition to seeing what the Karma drone sees, users will also be able to control the camera to get a good look of the drone's surroundings while in flight.
The GoPro Passenger app is now available on both the Google Play Store and on Apple's App Store, where it is described as allowing users to control the tilt, modes and settings of the Karma's camera, including resolution, field of view and frames per second.
To use the Passenger app with the Karma, the pilot of the drone should first activate the Passenger app feature on its controller. The user interested on taking a ride on the Karma will then have to connect to the Wi-Fi network of the controller using the name and password that the pilot will provide.
Users on the Passenger app will need to keep close to the controller of the Karma drone to make sure that the connection stays reliable. The required range for such a stable connection will vary depending on the smartphone of the Passenger app user.
GoPro unveiled the Karma last month after months of delays, revealing a quadcopter consumer drone that is 12 inches in length, 16.2 inches in width and 1,006 grams in weight. The drone features arms and landing gear that are foldable so that it will easily fit into the Karma case that it comes along with. The Karma is capable of reaching a maximum flight altitude of 14,500 feet with a maximum distance of 3,280 feet.
The Karma drone also comes with a three-axis stabilizer that is compatible with the Hero 4, Hero 5 Session and Hero 5 Black cameras for shake-free aerial footage. The drone also comes with a clam shell controller that has its own five-inch touchscreen, a pair of joysticks and a button for landing and takeoff.
At a price of $799, which goes up to $999 when bundled with the Hero 5 Session and to $1,099 when bundled with the Hero 5 Black, it is tagged as a worthy competitor to the DJI Phantom 4 and the likewise foldable DJI Mavic Pro.
