DJI set the tech internet ablaze this past week with a cryptic 21 second video teasing the release of a mystery product on June 11. The video, titled Learn To Win, showed us a lot of nothing and only a little of something. Close-up shots of the unknown product reveal some exposed cable routing, a wheel whirring off-screen and a camera with an FOV of 120° — but not much else.
The video is accompanied with an equally vague description.
DJI was built by tireless engineers who never stopped looking for answers and pushing boundaries. Now, get ready to push yours. If you’re ready to win, be prepared to learn.
Will it be a drone?
Most people initially assumed that DJI would be announcing a new drone like the Mavic Air 2 or Spark 2. This isn’t a bad assumption, after all DJI is the most popular drone maker in the world. But looking closer at the video (since it’s all we have to go by), the signs seem to point to something different.
First, the tagline Learn To Win itself is quite different than the taglines which have come with past DJI drone releases. With the Mavic 2 they told us See the Bigger Picture in reference to the 1″ sensor of the Mavic 2 Pro. The Mavic Air gave us Adventure Unfolds, capitalizing on its unique folding design. Learn To Win is unlike either of these because it implies a competition rather than a product feature.
While we do expect DJI to be launching at least one new drone this summer (most likely the Mavic Air 2), they will most likely be holding an actual event like they have in the past. Aerial UAV’s are such a large part of their business DJI wouldn’t announce a new one without some serious fanfare.
So if not a drone…what?
DJI has been on small-camera streak over the past 6 months with the release of both the Osmo Pocket and Osmo Action. If predictions for the Learn To Win release are correct, then this streak will be coming to an end.
Though there have been basically no leaks surrounding this product, it is fairly safe to say that it is a robotics platform for students participating in competitions. The modularity of the platform (as indicated from the visible wires) and the inclusion of what appears to be a mecanum wheel in the first shot (a popular and versatile gear in robotics) are key clues we get from the video.
Then the title itself, Learn To Win. It would make sense for DJI to be trying to get into the education space. Many tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Google have all made successful attempts to get their technology in the hands of students. Doing this gets the students used to working with your devices and software, the hope being that they stick with it for life. DJI releasing a product for highschool students (students do a lot of learning) that participate in robotics competitions (winning only happens in a competition) makes sense from a business sense and given the tagline of Learn To Win.
That’s all we know for now. DJI will be “announcing” — read: posting on their website — the new product(s) on June 11th at 10:30pm ET. If you head over to their website now, sign-up to be notified when they announce it and also enter to win an Osmo Pocket.
