Sony tail-sitter drone only business need apply.

Speaking at the launch of a new business venture with autopilot maker ZMP (no me neither)  Sony smartphone head Hiroki Totoki has revealed that they are getting into our world.

“We’re looking to explore new opportunities beyond our core consumer portfolio in enterprise markets,”

 “The key to driving growth in these areas will be adapting Sony’s innovation in various technologies,” including cameras and sensors, he said.

It seems odd to my son’s that Sony could ever have been a cool brand, they like the games console and that’s all they know.

Looking at the mock up picture of the tailsitter I can’t see them breaking into the unmanned market quick.

I’m going to say it even if the rest of the of the press is wetting itself with excitement.

That design will fail.

It will neither hover nicely or fly horizontally quickly or do either for long. Mark my words, if they really want to get into the drone business they should go with a standard aircraft. Throw away the need to hover, its a fad ;-)

But wait Sony are smarter than most, they already realize its the data that counts and that’s what they are going to sell. They are not going to sell platforms to the man in the street but systems to grab data for business.

I bet the eventual platform will be set and forget with the leverage happening in the cloud.

Here’s the press release

Sony Mobile and ZMP to Establish Joint Venture for Developing and Providing Enterprise Solutions that Utilize Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Tokyo, Japan – Sony Mobile Communications Inc. (“Sony Mobile”: President and CEO Hiroki Totoki) and ZMP Inc. (“ZMP”: CEO Hisashi Taniguchi) have agreed to collaborate on the development and launch of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing. Sony Mobile and ZMP will jointly found “Aerosense Inc.,” a new company slated to be incorporated in early August of this year.

Sony’s camera, sensing, telecommunications network, and robotics technologies will be leveraged alongside ZMP’s automated driving and robotics technologies together with their business experience in industrial fields. Aerosense Inc. will combine these assets and develop comprehensive solutions that meet needs including measuring, surveying, observing, and inspecting. It will aim to roll out these services for enterprise customers beginning in 2016.

Sony Mobile is proactively engaging in new business creation initiatives, with a particular focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. This joint venture represents a part of this push into IoT, as Sony strives to provide its customers with additional value by developing and managing total package cloud solutions.

ZMP’s stated mission is “Robot of Everything: To create a safe, fun and comfortable lifestyle with robotics technology.” In line with this, ZMP has developed its automated driving technology and put it into use in various fields. To date these solutions have been limited to the ground; with this joint venture, ZMP will take to the skies and apply its expertise in an entirely different realm, as it aims to create new services that were not possible on land.

Basic information about the joint venture (planned):

Corporate name:                    Aerosense Inc.

Head office:                            5-41-10 Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

Date to be established:         Early August, 2015

Stated capital:                        100 million yen

Capital reserve:                     100 million yen

Investment ratio:                  Sony Mobile Communications Inc.       50.005%

ZMP Inc.                                                      49.995%

Officers:                                  Representative Director

Hisashi Taniguchi (ZMP CEO)

Director                                  Kohtaro Sabe

Director                                  Shinji Odashima

(One more Director to be appointed)

Auditor                                    Kaname Takashima

Business outline:

Development, manufacture, and sale of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing.