Amazon looks all set to start shipping items by drone. The company recently demonstrated yet another prototype of its delivery system where it delivered a small number of parcels in Lockeford and College Station via its Amazon Prime Air drone service. Earlier, it had completed its first successful drone delivery in Cambridge.
The e-commerce giant had officially received a green signal from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) two years ago to start its drone delivery trials and was granted the "air carrier" status by authorities too.
Amazon Prime Air drone service will work much like regular Amazon deliveries where upon placing an order for Prime Air-eligible items, customers will be able to receive tracking information and an estimated delivery time for their orders.
The drone will fly to the designated shipping address, descend to the customer’s backyard, and deliver the package, thereby also providing the convenience of a contactless delivery with limited human intervention. The service will gradually expand to more customers in the future.
Operations from both the College Station Prime Air Drone Delivery Center (PADDC) and Lockeford PADDC would occur during daylight hours up to five days per week. Lockeford is a rural town in California with a population of 3,500 people while College Station is a mid-sized city in Texas state of the US.
Some time ago, the e-commerce giant also unveiled Inspire, a service designed to make it easier for customers to browse new products with content, including photos and videos.
Source: Ars Technica