Parrot Disco Drone Trades Propellers For Wings

Of course we're seeing drones at CES 2016, with some being more sensational than others. Take for example Parrot's newest drone, the Disco. Here we see a deviation from Parrot's usual design. Gone are the multiple propellers that flank the drone, replaced by a single one at the back. Instead, you get a more plane-like design with fixed but removable wings that promise to add more hours and more ease of flight but perhaps at the expense of some other traits.

To be fair, the design is nothing new, but of course Parrot brings in its own distinct flair. For example, those removable wings will definitely be a big help when stowing away the drone for transport or storage. Parrot also boasts of the Disco's ease of use when flying. It has, for example, automatic take off, allowing you to launch the drone like you would a paper plane and it will take things from there. The auto pilot software is also much improved, even trained to disregard human controls if it would end up in a disaster.

The use of wings for aerodynamics instead of multiple rotors offers extended flight time, up to 45 minutes, which is almost twice most quadcopter drones. The drone can be controlled with the usual Skycontroller or even an RC controller. The 14 megapixel camera is embedded in the nose, which may or may not limit the angles that it can capture.

No word yet on the Parrot Disco's availability or pricing.

Also at CES, Parrot is once more showcasing its smart plant pot. The pot can hold 2 liters of water, good for about a week's worth of watering. It houses a variety of sensors to keep watch over the status of the plant, the soil, and the surrounding air. All of these can be viewed and controlled from an iOS app called, what else, "Flower Power". It seems that the Parrot Pot is ready to go on sale this year with an SRP of $99.

Check out more of our CES 2016 coverage as they happen!