DJI's new drone has eyes in the back of its head

Drones have always been flying robots, but all those smarts haven't stopped them from flying backwards into trees, walls and people.

The new DJI Phantom 4 Pro won't do that. This is DJI's first drone with 360-degree awareness thanks to six collision-avoidance systems arrayed around its body. With them, the quadcopter builds a 3D map of obstacles behind, in front and below.

The company unveiled the new Phantom drone aimed at prosumers as well as a new pro-level drone, the Inspire 2, on Tuesday at an event in Los Angeles.

An update to the Phantom 4 (which I reviewed earlier this year), the Pro 4 version features a better camera with 20-megapixel resolution, aperture control and longer flight times (30 minutes). There's also a super-charged "Flight Autonomy" system and several "Smart Flight" modes. Read more...