this may be the perfect quadcopter; DJI Mavic Air

http://appleinsider.com/articles/18/01/23/dji-launches-799-mavic-air-drone-with-4k-camera-as-a-smaller-lighter-counterpart-to-the-mavic-pro

GoPro gets out of the drone business

http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/08/technology/gopro-karma-drone-dropped-staff-cut/index.html

"The company said its Karma drone, which cost about $800 without a camera and about $1,100 with a camera, was the second best seller in its price range. But it said a hostile regulatory environment in Europe and the United States, as well as an extremely competitive market, makes staying in the business untenable. GoPro said it will exit the business once it sells off its remaining Karma inventory.

'When we considered the amount of investment in the category relative to the profit margins that are possible in that category, we determined it wasn't going to continue to be a sound business investment for us,' Woodman said in an appearance on CNBC Monday."

By the time GoPro came out with their quadcopter, DJI was putting a lot of smart technology into theirs, which GoPro didn't have. Crash avoidance and stuff like that caused me to wait instead of buying a GoPro, and I bought a DJI Spark instead.  I think that was the fatal flaw of the Gopro was it was just dumb compared to the DJI competitors.

drone saves swimmers

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-42731112

"Two teenage boys were rescued by a brand new lifesaving drone in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the device.

The swimmers, aged 15-17, had got into difficulties off the coast of Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW).
A member of the public spotted them struggling in heavy surf about 700m (2,300ft) offshore.
Lifesavers instantly sent the drone to drop an inflatable rescue pod, and the pair made their way safely to shore."

Drones can get someplace close fast and efficiently. This is an excellent use for quadcopters.

drone swarm attacks Russian base

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2018/01/12/drone-attack-carrying-explosives-syria-alarm-todd-dnt-tsr.cnn

13 drones attacked at once, from about 30 miles away.

drone light show in Las Vegas

Russians knock out 13 drones attacking air base

https://www.rt.com/news/415276-syria-russian-military-repelled-attacks/

"The militants launched their assault during the night on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Kheimim Airbase in the Syrian Latakia province was attacked by 10 unmanned combat aerial vehicles, while three more attempted a strike against the Russian maritime logistics base located in the city of Tartus.
All of the drones were detected by anti-aircraft defense systems “at a considerable distance from the Russian military objects,” the ministry said. Seven of them were then successfully shot down by the Russian Panzir-S air-defense system.
The Russian radio electronic warfare specialists also managed to override the operating systems of six more drones, and eventually gained control over the UAVs. Three of them were destroyed when they hit the ground, while another three were landed intact outside the base controlled by Russian forces."

Military sites now need anti-drone defenses.