Al Bsharah Business Minded, Technically Inclined

AR.Drone Unbox, Flight, Crash!

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AR.Drone FlyingI don’t think I’ve ever done a video review of anything before, but this new piece of technology is a lot of fun and I couldn’t resist after putting some video together.

It’s the AR.Drone Quadricopter, controlled by an iPhone!

The review includes an unboxing, my first flight (indoors, mistake) including a crash in the sink! Then an outdoor flight and some of my comments on the quadricopter. Fun!

UPDATE 02.04.2011:  So, the battery wouldn’t charge about 3-4 months in and I contacted support.  Parrot (company that created the AR.Drone) responded within 1 business day that they’d be shipping me a new charger within 2 weeks.  Awesome response time, right?  Five weeks later, the charger showed up…and it didn’t fix the problem.  So, now I’m in process of waiting for them to correctly diagnose the issue (i.e. the battery is shot) and then wait for who-knows-how-long to send a replacement.  It’s still a fun product (when it works) but I’m not overly impressed with their service at this point.

About the author

Al Bsharah

Al is the Managing Partner at Interlock Capital, a community-driven startup fund that allows seasoned or aspiring angel investors to get into amazing companies within their own budget. Al’s been involved in multiple San Diego startups since 1999 after leaving the Detroit auto industry as an electrical engineer. He's started two of his own companies where he's raised capital from both VCs and angels, and sold one of them to both Seismic and Return Path. He's graduated both Techstars and Founder Institute accelerator programs where he now mentors. In his free time he manages to play a little beach volleyball, invest in startups, trade stocks, and camp with his wife, son, dog, and friends.

By Al Bsharah
Al Bsharah Business Minded, Technically Inclined