Amazon is not alone: UPS, Google also testing delivery drones

Amazon.com made headlines this week with the announcement of Amazon Prime Air, but it isn’t the only company that’s testing delivery drones.

Reports this week say UPS and Google are two other companies that are also testing delivery drones for their services.

Unnamed sources say UPS is “testing and evaluating” different ways that it could add drones to its fleet of brown delivery vehicles, according to The Verge. Though UPS has not confirmed this report, the company did not dismiss it either.

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“The commercial use of drones is an interesting technology and we’ll continue to evaluate it,” UPS said in a statement. “UPS invests more in technology than any other company in the delivery business, and we’re always planning for the future.”

In Silicon Valley, Google is also testing delivery drones. Reports from as far back as February by news site 9to5Google say Google has been testing “mini-drone delivery systems” that it would like to use with Google Shopping Express, a same-day delivery service available in San Francisco and surrounding areas.

The Google drones come from Google X, the same department that is responsible for Google Glass and the company’s self-driving cars, according to 9to5Google.

Some day soon, we’ll likely receive our packages from drones; but first, government regulations need to change.

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