Snap stops developing Pixy selfie drone four months after release

Snap, known for Snapchat, is discontinuing further development of its Pixy selfie drone, according to The Wall Street Journal. The drone would still be for sale, but there is no development of updates or a possible successor. The drone was unveiled last April.

The newspaper writes that Snap is “re-prioritising the company’s resources,” as Snap CEO Evan Spiegel describes it in a conversation with staff. In July, the company weakest quarter of its existence rounded. Snap stocks lost 40 percent of their value when that news came out.

The Pixy drone is an autonomous vehicle designed to take selfies of the user. It can keep him or her in view, follow, circle or film from a distance to capture the environment as well. The user therefore has no remote control, but places the drone on his palm. The drone recognizes the user’s face with the front camera, after which it can take off. With the help of a camera on the bottom, it keeps itself stable.

The Snap Pixy has a battery with which it should be able to make five to eight flights before it is empty. The 16GB of flash memory holds 100 videos or 1000 photos and the drone sends its images via bluetooth to the owner’s Snapchat app. The drone has a starting price of $229 in the US.

The Wall Street Journal states that the drone is still for sale is with Snap and that he will remain so, although at the time of writing it appears that the drone is out of stock; there is no buy button, just a ‘keep me informed’ button.

Another well-known hardware product from Snap is the Spectacles. These are glasses with built-in cameras. In any case, they seem to be in better shape in the market; its third generation was introduced in 2019 and is available at the time of writing.