Amazon "PrimeAir" To Unveil 30-Minute Delivery By Octocopter

If you thought Sunday deliveries from Amazon and the USPS was a visionary idea, you are setting the bar way too low. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos this week revealed plans to Charlie Rose on CBS's 60 Minutes to one day deliver your purchases in 30 minutes or less — with drones. They're called "octocopters," and they already exist.

The yellow drones have eight rotors. Their likeness has been compared to that of a tarantula. Amazon octocopters would deliver your purchase from a nearby fulfillment center to your doorstep and fly away without skipping a beat.

The future service is called Amazon PrimeAir. All you would have to do is click a button that says "30-minute delivery" at checkout, and the octocopter would deliver the goods. The technology, Bezel says, is about four or five years away from real-world deployment. It needs more safety testing and approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.)

That four- to five-year outlook is optimistic, Bezel says. But if that timeline pans out, we could be seeing Amazon octocopters buzzing about overhead on a regular basis as soon as late 2017. Finally, a laser-guided beard trimmer will be available the moment you suddenly realize you need one.

SOURCE: CBS