Latest Drones Headlines
All the headlines from our Drones Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Higher-Speed Florida Train has Highest U.S. Death Rate
Dec 4 2019 // After Richard Branson announced his Virgin Group would partner with Brightline, Florida’s new higher-speed passenger rail service, a train whisked the British billionaire, VIPs and journalists from Miami to West Palm...
Imagining How Technology Might Transform Risks and Insurance by 2030
Nov 7 2019 // As 2019 wraps up, many in the insurance industry are likely well into planning for the next year. But what about planning for the next decade? While it can be difficult to predict what’s ahead in 10 years, industry...
UPS Drone Service to Deliver CVS Health Prescriptions to Homes
Oct 22 2019 // United Parcel Service Inc.’s new Flight Forward drone unit will soon start home prescription delivery from CVS Health Corp. The service, which will debut in one or two U.S. cities in the coming weeks, shows how the...
Verifly, Now Thimble, Raises $22M to Fuel On-Demand Insurance Growth
Oct 16 2019 // Thimble, formerly known as Verifly, raised $22 million in new financing designed to fuel further expansion and diversification well beyond its original focus on on-demand drone insurance. Existing investors Slow Ventures,...
How Drones Are Digitally Transforming Insurance Claims Inspections and Workflows
Oct 7 2019 // Somewhere in central Michigan, a pickup truck drives into a sleepy suburban neighborhood. An autonomous drone takes flight off the truck’s flatbed and, nearly silently, heads a half-mile east, slowing above a...
UPS Approved to Operate First U.S. Drone Airline for Non-Residential Deliveries
Oct 2 2019 // United Parcel Service Inc. on Tuesday said it won the U.S. government’s first full approval to operate a drone airline, which gave it a lead in the nascent U.S. drone delivery business over rivals Amazon.com Inc. and...
EagleView Wins $125M Patent Infringement Award, Sales Halt Against Verisk
Sep 30 2019 // A New Jersey jury last week ordered insurance data services firm Verisk to pay $125 million to aerial imaging firm EagleView for lost profits linked to Verisk infringing on various EagleView patents. The jury verdict in...
Travelers Gives Agents Aerial Property Damage Viewer to Expedite Disaster Claims
Sep 24 2019 // Property/casualty insurer Travelers is now providing its insurance agents and brokers with before-and-after photos of areas affected by disasters. The Travelers Catastrophe Map Viewer provides access to searchable,...
Airlift from Drugstore to Doorstep: Walgreens, Google’s Wing Testing Drone Deliveries
Sep 23 2019 // Walgreens and a Google affiliate are testing drone deliveries that can put drugstore products on customer doorsteps minutes after being ordered. Snacks like Goldfish Crackers or gummy bears as well as aspirin for sick kids...
Experts Not Worried About Saudi-Like Drone Attack Knocking Out U.S. Oil Production
Sep 17 2019 // The style of attack used against oil plants in Saudi Arabia that knocked out half of the country’s production on Saturday is unlikely to be a risk in the United States, energy and security experts say. “The...
New Hurricane Response Tools from Munich Re Aim to Improve Claims Experience
Aug 7 2019 // Munich Re has launched a new suite of hurricane response tools designed to help insurance companies assess widespread property damage after a hurricane and improve their customers’ claims experience. Developed by...
First Drone Flight ‘Beyond Line of Sight’ Completed, Says FAA
Aug 5 2019 // The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it had approved the first drone flight beyond the operator’s sight line, a major advance for retailers like Amazon.com Inc. seeking to speed up deliveries by...
From Confined Spaces to Big Buildings, Drones Take On Riskiest Jobs
Jul 29 2019 // Here’s a job any worker would be happy to pass off to a drone: Imagine crawling down a ladder into the vast darkness of a 20-story-high storage tank filled with toxic chemical fumes to spend hours searching for...
FAA Hit for New Delay in Remote Drone Tracking Program
Jul 18 2019 // The Federal Aviation Administration has again delayed plans to propose new rules requiring the remote identification of drones, according to records and a member of Congress on Wednesday. Congress directed the FAA in 2016...
Alphabet Has High Hopes for Its Drone Traffic Control App OpenSky
Jul 16 2019 // The company that brought you free digital maps and email wants to do the same thing for your drone. Wing LLC, an offshoot of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, on Tuesday unveiled a new app it calls OpenSky that it hopes will...
SkyWatch.AI Launches On-Demand Drone Insurance in UK, Underwritten by Chaucer
Jul 15 2019 // SkyWatch.AI, the on-demand, telematics-based insurance platform, has launched in the United Kingdom following last year’s launch in the United States. SkyWatch.AI’s UK policies will be underwritten by specialty...
30% of Disaster Claims Settled After Desk Audit Using Munich Re Remote Tool, Images
Jul 1 2019 // Munich Re had teamed up with a unit of the National Insurance Crime Bureau to offer insurance carriers an analytics tool that can quickly assess property damage after natural catastrophes and speed up claims...
Look, in the Sky. It’s a Balloon. It’s an Aerial Surveillance System.
Jun 7 2019 // An Arizona company developing a new type of high-altitude, long-range surveillance platform just completed a 16-day mission during which massive balloons floated over four western U.S. states, all part of an effort to...
Amazon Reveals Unique Delivery Drone; FAA Grants Limited Testing Approval
Jun 6 2019 // Amazon.com Inc. has unveiled a revolutionary new drone — part helicopter and part science-fiction aircraft — that the company expects to use for test deliveries of toothpaste and other household goods starting...
Florida’s Citizens Joins NICB Disaster Response Services Consortium
Jun 4 2019 // Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida’s insurer of last resort, has joined the Geospatial Intelligence Center (GIC), an insurance industry consortium spearheaded by the National Insurance Crime Bureau...
