Friday, December 6, 2013

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Bezos says Amazon will use delivery drones (video)

Amazon wants to reduce its delivery times to 30 minutes or less as it plans a new service called Prime Air that could debut in a few years. According to CEO Jeff Bezos on CBS' 60 Minutes, the retail giant will use semi-autonomous drones to transport purchases to customers.

Bezos that Amazon's "octocopters" might be airborne within four to five years, using GPS coordinates to find customers. They can carry about 5 pounds, Bezos says, which covers around 85 percent of Amazon's products.

The drones would depart from the retailer's "fulfillment centers," the huge warehouses it has built near many large population centers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

"I know this looks like science fiction," Bezos tells Rose. "It's not. It will work, and it will happen, and it's gonna be a lot of fun."

The delivery drones would be particularly useful in densely populated urban areas, Bezos says. Powered by electricity, their current range of operation is around 10 miles from the point of origin.

Amazon isn't the only company pursuing drone delivery. Earlier this year, a pilot project (sorry about that) by Domino's Pizza looked at to customers in Britain, posting a video of a successful test run.

More: npr.org

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