DJI & Youku Tudou Announce Partnership At Phantom 3 Launch Event

Chinese video service Youku Tudou has announced a partnership with Shenzhen-based drone company DJI, making Youku the exclusive China platform for uploading DJI videos. 

The partnership was announced during a series of live webcast events in New York, London and Munich on Wednesday evening, along with unveiling new DJI products including the long awaited Phantom 3 quadcopter. 

“Youku Tudou is thrilled to partner with DJI to give users a platform to share and showcase their creativity,” Director of Youku Communications Jay Chen told Technode. 

DJI quadcopters are one of the most widely used consumer drones in the world. The Phantom 3 is an improvement on their previous crowdpleaser Phantom 2 Vision +. The Phantom 3 Professional model will go for US$1259 and features a 4k camera, addressing complaints that the Phantom 2 lacked resolution. 

DJI also released an ‘Advanced’ Phantom 3 model alongside the Professional, which features a
1080p camera (the same as the Phantom 2 Vision+), which retails for US$999. 

The new models will feature LightBridge streaming – previously an optional extra – which will enable (near) live streaming to a device on the ground, which means the quadcopters now all have out-of-sight flying applications.

Both Phantom 3 models will feature upgraded flight stabilization systems, reconfigured GPS and more advanced motors. The company has dubbed the new model “the most revolutionary consumer quadcopter in history.”

Youku Tudou is tight-lipped on what their partnership will entail, though they did note that there would be further partnership collaboration in the future. DJI already has a channel on Youku, though this is the first official partnership between the two companies. The drone company already has a similar partnership with YouTube.

Images: Youku (Wednesday’s release event)/DJI (gold version of DJI’s new Phantom 3 Quadcopter)