Wilke did not say where customers might see the drone in action, but Amazon made its first customer delivery by drone in the United Kingdom in 2016. For years, the world's largest online retailer has promised that packages would be landing on shoppers' doorsteps via these small aircraft, but hype around the service has long outpaced reality. The company has worked to ensure that hard-to-see wires would not trip up its vehicles, for instance, and it has faced tough regulations limiting commercial flights, particularly in the United States.
The company's announcement indicates its ambitions have hardly shrunk. Wilke said Amazon has been working to build fully electric drones. These can fly up to 15 miles (24 km), and Amazon is adding facilities closer and closer to urban areas. They also can carry goods that weigh under five pounds, which represent the majority of the items it sells. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Susan Thomas)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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