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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday August 23 2017, @12:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the and-you-thought-you-owned-it dept.

DJI Spark drones will not fly after September 1 until users have applied a mandatory software update:

DJI Spark drones will not fly after 1 September unless owners apply a mandatory software update, the device's maker has warned. DJI said the update to the small drone's core software fixes some flight control issues suffered by the gadget.

The drone maker said it had warned owners about the deadline so they could avoid having their craft grounded. But the mandatory update has caused some owners to question the control DJI retains over their devices.

In a statement, DJI said the update would improve how the Spark manages power. It also helps it work with smart spectacles that give owners an immersive view of what the drone films. It added: "If the firmware of either the aircraft or the battery is not updated by September 1, Spark will not be able to take off."

Also at The Verge and Quartz.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Mykl on Thursday August 24 2017, @01:44AM (1 child)

    by Mykl (1112) on Thursday August 24 2017, @01:44AM (#558273)

    I have to agree with parent here. The motivations behind DJI and Sonos respectively are completely different. One is ensuring safety and compliance with regulatory requirements (due to the fact that there are so many jerks who deliberately fly their drones in dangerous places like airports), while the other is just a bag of dicks wanting to own you.

    A poor analogy, but you could say that this is like a mandatory car recall (these exist in other countries, not sure about USA), without the need to actually recall the device.

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  • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Thursday August 24 2017, @01:17PM

    by FakeBeldin (3360) on Thursday August 24 2017, @01:17PM (#558429) Journal

    If I trusted the companies to be completely forthwith about their motivations, then you'd be correct.
    Without diving into the update itself, I have to trust their word that this is the equivalent of a recall. Which would be much easier to swallow if this wasn't an update from a company who had previously forced updates enabling geofencing onto products no longer in their ownership.
    So now, I'm not so sure. All I know is that they require you to update the product you already "own" or else it'll be an expensive light-weight paperweight.

    (I'm not saying geofencing is bad. I am saying that taking my money and then crippling core functionality of the stuff I bought is very shady - even if it is for legal reasons or state-mandated. At the very least, offer me a choice between full refund or the update.)