GoPro Karma Drone Event: Start Time, Live Stream

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GoPro is about to unveil its drone with a camera, the Karma. Here’s everything you need to know about the GoPro Karma, including price, features, and event start time.

GoPro Karma launch event

Earlier in the year, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman promised customers and investors some exciting new products, and today, he is going to deliver on that promise. But not only is he likely to unveil the GoPro Karma drone (which is expected to be essentially a flying camera), but also the GoPro Hero 5.

If you want to watch the event live, you can do so by going to this Facebook page. One other way of watching the event is to go to the gopro.com website. It will start at 9 a.m. Pacific/ 12 p.m. Eastern/ 5 p.m. U.K. time.

GoPro Karma features

Like many other manufacturers, GoPro has managed to keep information leaks about the Karma to a minimum. As such, nothing much is known about the drone. However, there have been a lot of speculations about the device.

In June, YouTube channel PatentYogi discovered a patent that had been published. Filed by a GoPro mechanical engineer, it showed a fold-up drone with arms and propellers, all self-contained in a box. So this could be the best bet about the design of the GoPro Karma before today’s event.

However, the patent seen by PatentYogi also shows a drone with a rounded design and fold-out arms. Seeing as no one outside of GoPro has seen anything other than a teaser video, no one can be sure of the design. However, it is likely that the Karma will be a similar size to the DJI Phantom drone.

Many believe the inclusion of a fixed camera to be unlikely, as is the chance of it having a gimbal.

GoPro Karma expected to be a “follow-me” drone

While “follow-me” drones are nothing new, the GoPro official video below shows a skier throwing a drone into the air. The drone then circles and follows him, and while this is nothing new, the throwing of a drone into the air while on the move certainly is.

Camera qualities

As I mentioned earlier, it is believed that the GoPro Karma will not come with its own camera. Instead, the quality of the video will depend on the camera users attach. As it stands, no current GoPro camera can shoot 4K at more than 30 frames per second. Instead, most video is shot in slow motion 1080p, but could the Hero 5 be about to change that?

GoPro Karma: pricing

Right now GoPro has managed to do a great job of keeping pricing information as close to its chest as possible. So the information we have about it comes from footage shot from the drone’s camera. From that video and the patent mentioned above, we can infer that it’s going to be small, but the price is more difficult to determine.

Because rumors suggest the GoPro Karma won’t have a camera included, many think it will be inexpensive. Users would then have to attach a Hero 5, 4, or 3 to it. GoPro should price the Karma carefully, as it is entering this market late and needs to compete.

Final thoughts

The GoPro Karma drone and the Hero 5 are products which come in a challenging year for the company. The market for action camera sales seems to have peaked, with sales numbers far lower than in previous years. With consumers seemingly in no rush to swap their older GoPros for new ones, the company needs a win.

While the GoPro Karma is seen as a product GoPro can again start to grow with, from watching other companies such as Parrot, Yuneec, and DJI, it seems as though those who purchase this type of product are firmly entrenched in the “prosumer” market.

Will the GoPro Karma offer consumers something compelling enough to make them buy the company’s products, or will they instead opt for cheaper products, that just barely meet their needs? Obviously the answer will soon be known, as later today we should learn almost everything about the GoPro drone.

If you watch the live event, share your thoughts about this new product in the comments section below.

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