[LINK] Amazon Prime Air

[Roger Clarke]

At 18:51 +0000 2/12/13, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>Amazon Prime Air
>  <http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_mx3eqp&node=8037720011>
>The goal of this new delivery system is to get packages into customers'
>hands in 30 minutes, or less, using unmanned aerial vehicles.

How pathetic.

Amazon's an old company that's desperate to stimulate its sagging 
media coverage.  To do so, it's playing catch-up.  Even an Australian 
company beat them to it (if only by a few months).  See the article 
below.

Since we're off-topic anyway, feedback on this would be much appreciated:

                  Understanding the Drone Epidemic
            http://www.rogerclarke.com/SOS/Drones-E.html


Textbook delivery: Zookal delivers students' books using flying drones
Nassim Khadem
BRW
15 October 2013 06:33, Updated 26 November 2013 12:10
http://www.brw.com.au/p/tech-gadgets/textbook_delivery_zookal_delivers_uCptYCXykZeTqX8PMoWmRM

Australian university students will be able to get textbooks 
delivered via flying drones, under a new partnership between textbook 
rental start-up Zookal and local Drone manufacturer Filtro.

US company Filtro is an investor in Zookal, an Australian start-up 
founded by four young Australians. Zookal this month raised $600,000 
from leading Silicon Valley investors to fund its expansion into 
Asia's $12 billion textbook sector and to make new technology 
investments.

Zookal will deliver its first textbook by a drone on October 23 at 
the University of Sydney, on the anniversary of the first human 
flight over 25 metres. But the drone delivery service, which will be 
called Flirtey, will not be available to Zookal customers until March.

Zookal delivers 300 textbooks a day to students across Australia. 
Drones will replace post delivery only if the customer requests it. 
Textbook delivery can occur within two to three minutes by drones, 
rather than two to three days by post.

Flirtey originated when Zookal co-founder and chief executive Ahmed 
Haider met Aussie entrepreneur Matthew Sweeny at university. What 
started out as a garage hobby soon became a business concept.
Sweeny has been working on a drone project with University of Sydney 
PhD engineering students. He is also behind another start-up software 
company called Zimbra, which is working closely with Zookal on its 
website algorithms.

"They built this drone that allowed delivery of packages," Haider 
says. "We saw that as a huge opportunity."

Drone technology has been gaining popularity, but until now has 
required remote control and human intervention. Flirtey will for the 
first time run entirely off a user's mobile phone, allowing customers 
to track their parcel.

"Our biggest expense is shipping costs," Haider says.

"This is a more innovative approach to delivery - students can 
collect a parcel using the GPS on their mobile phone."

Zookal says its drones will not carry cameras and will not use 
commercial airspace. It is legal to fly commercial drones under 122 
metres in Australia. The limit ensures drones do not interfere with 
flight paths.

"I've already tested it and it's incredibly cool," Haider says. "It's 
a euphoric moment when you first receive your parcel via a drone."

Haider says Flirtey's vision is to help build an industry. He says 
while Zookal will continue to use Australia Post to deliver textbooks 
to students, "as this technology progresses, it will affect every 
e-commerce business in the world."

Flirtey is working with the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering on 
ways drone technology can be applied more widely across Australian 
industries. The company also wants to have input into a new protocol 
for the operation of drones in Australia.

The increasing use of unmanned drones in Australia could create 
problems for policy makers, as it has in the United States, where use 
of the technology has grown faster than regulatory bodies can respond.

There are privacy fears as well as questions over whether businesses 
using a drone to deliver products to consumers should have access to 
commercial airspace.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is currently reviewing 
regulations relating to drones.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University