Amazon Begins Testing Drone Deliveries in California, Texas

Amazon is now trialing drone deliveries in new California and Texas locations. From a report: David Carbon, VP of Prime Air Amazon, announced the 'careful first steps' in a Christmas Eve LinkedIn post. 'First deliveries from our new sites in TX and CA,' he wrote. Carbon posted a photo of an airborne drone carrying an Amazon box at the end of a nearly invisible tether. No further details were revealed.

Nearly a decade in the making, Amazon's air drone delivery service is finally set to reach US customers. Once onboarded, local shoppers can place orders for Prime Air-eligible items as normal, then wait for the unmanned aerial vehicle to drop them off -- literally. The self-flying drones are capable of evading objects like chimneys and other aircraft while flying up to 50mph and carrying packages that weigh as much as 5 pounds. Amazon's drones ferry each shipment to the customer's backyard, where they hover at a safe distance before releasing the package on the ground.

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