Amazon Has Developed a Drone Delivery Service
Amazon is developing a new service called Prime Air which would use unmanned drones to deliver Amazon packages. While the drone drops are at least four or five years away, CEO Jeff Bezos appeared on 60 Minutes to mess with producers and show off the prototypes.
Bezos apparently ran Charlie Rose and his staff around a bit, making them guess what the new product was before showing them. One 60 Minutes producer said Bezos offered her half his net-worth to gamble in Vegas if she could figure it out — unfortunately, she guessed an Amazon news outlet.
The octocopters will be guided by GPS, are designed to lock around orange plastic Amazon boxes, and can deliver a package as quickly as 30 minutes after an order is placed.
Bezos told Rose that Amazon has been quietly developing the drones at a secret lab in Seattle, but said that matching the aircrafts with FAA regulations will be the hardest part of launching the service.
At least Bezos has the lukewarm support of Charlie Rose.
"If I had to bet on pulling it off versus not pulling it off, I'd bet on pulling it off," Rose told a producer.
[image via 60 Minutes]