It all started on the 15th of May 2015 when Lily decided to produce a drone for $500, but even back then Simon Beer had reservations which I printed on my blog. Fortunately for me I bailed out 6 months ago with a full refund. Just goes to show how the British pound has lost against the dollar since last year. Last year I was getting £330 for my $500 and today it would be £407. Lets be honest with the DJI Mavic and the Karma this drone did not stand a chance.
Dear Lily community,
Antoine and Henry here from the Lily team. When Lily set out on the journey to create a flying camera over 3 years ago, we were determined to develop and deliver a product that would exceed your expectations.
In the past year, the Lily family has had many ups and downs. We have been delighted by the steady advancements in the quality of our product and have received great feedback from our Beta program. At the same time, we have been racing against a clock of ever-diminishing funds. Over the past few months, we have tried to secure financing in order to unlock our manufacturing line and ship our first units – but have been unable to do this. As a result, we are deeply saddened to say that we are planning to wind down the company and offer refunds to customers (details below).
We want to thank you for sticking with us and believing in us during this time. Our community was the drive that kept us going even as circumstances became more and more difficult. Your encouraging words through our forums and in your emails gave us hope and the energy we needed to keep fighting.
Before we sign off, we want to thank all the people who have worked at Lily, who have partnered with us, and who have invested in us. Thank you for giving your all, nights, weekends and holidays, in the effort to deliver a great product.
After so much hard work, we are sad to see this adventure come to an end. We are very sorry and disappointed that we will not be able to deliver your flying camera, and are incredibly grateful for your support as a pre-order customer. Thank you for believing in our vision and giving us the opportunity to get this far. We hope our contribution will help pave the way for the exciting future of our industry.
Sincerely,
Antoine and Henry
Lily Founders
Not surprising that some well-intended initiatives would fail because drones have become big business as hobby devices, pro video accessories, incident management tools (transmission lines, industrial equipment flyover), retail delivery devices
Very recently drones have become military weapons (ISIS is reputed to have used them to attack Israeli soldiers).
I own a consulting company that provides critical incident management services to business/government/military – we deal with a large number of threats/incidents.
Drones have very recently moved to the top of our list in terms of threats to critical infrastructure.
I can’t imagine why Quadcopters (let’s not call them drones) are deemed such a threat. Military ‘drones’ are all fixed wing, and as such are capable of longer flights and higher payloads with smaller batteries. Quadcopters are noisy, hugely inefficient and only really good as aerial photo platforms or for recreation.
See the link below to a recent article, if Quadcopters can kill people and they are easy to procure, that qualifies them as a threat.
http://newatlas.com/perdix-micro-drones-super-hornets/47333/
Sorry about the typo above – Read “Iraqi soldiers”, not Israeli.
Been flying RC planes with a camera for a long time. Super tough line of sight flying. Then early 2000 some young guy flew his plane towards Camp David. Secret service made an arrest and then that was it for the news. Then drones take front page in the Middle East. Now the above news. I like the TED demo. Now flying my phantom and drone racer. It’s fun. I hope there isn’t a negative knee jerk reaction to something that most people won’t use.
To the point, I think mobile phones are far more dangerous. How many devices use a mobile device to make something happen. How many times I have heard someone texting and resulting in accidents. I remember a train conductor in California crashed into a bus while texting.
But mobile devices will not be regulated because everyone uses them. Easier to feel better and safe when reacting to something you don’t use.
Selfie sticks. Now that’s annoying.