'Pokémon Go' drone concept would let you catch creatures pretty much anywhere
Because as of last week everything must somehow be related to Pokémon Go, a company in the Netherlands called TRNDlabs posted a video of something called the Pokédrone.
The tiny, palm-sized drone would -- according to the video -- allow the user to better access hard-to-reach Pokémon.
"Once connected via Wi Fi to your phone, the Pokémon Go app uses the Pokédrone's GPS and camera instead of the phone's GPS and Camera," reads the description on the company's website.
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But before you get too excited, holster your Pokéthusiasm -- we've confirmed that it isn't real.
"This is currently a concept," TRNDlabs founder Gerard Nieuwenhuis told Mashable. "However, we are working round the clock on making this an actual product!"
This comes as no surprise, because even before the augmented reality app's success, the "Poké" name was extremely valuable and could only be used legally with a licensing agreement.
"We don't have a licensing agreement, but are actively trying to obtain one," says Nieuwenhuis. "We already achieved [the ability for the] drone to connect to a phone via Wi Fi and serve as an 'external' camera and GPS for it. Now we have to hack this data into the Pokémon Go app, but we have to admit that this will be difficult without cooperation from the Pokémon Company."
In the end, even if the team never snags a deal with the Pokémon people, this concept video cleverly cashes in on the recent hype around the game while showing off TRNDlabs' very real, non-Poké-related $69 mini drones. Well played TRNDlabs, well played. But concept aside, Nieuwenhuis claims that they are working to try to get a real Pokédrone in the air by the end of the year.
But whatever happens at TRNDlabls, now that the idea is out there, the pressure is on the Pokémon Company to work on the idea itself and see if this is an idea that might really fly.
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Topics Pokemon
