The PowerVision PowerEgg looks like an egg, but it’s a drone!

This is adapted from a piece originally written for MarketWatch.com. Read the entire piece here.

In the world of consumer-oriented drones, there are kite drones and modular drones. There are also GoPro drones and foldable drones. But there’s one common theme among this aerial menagerie: They all compete with drone behemoth DJI.

Some reports estimate that the multibillion-dollar Chinese drone manufacturer has as much as 70% of the total drone market share.

But one drone maker thinks it has a shot at taking on DJI with its newest offering.

The thing is, it looks nothing like a drone. It looks like an egg.

Chinese robotics maker PowerVision Technology Group has announced the PowerEgg, a drone that resembles an egg when turned off, but when turned on transforms itself into a drone with propellers on all sides and a camera on the bottom. When it’s done flying, everything folds back in and the drone rests in egg form.

Unlike many drones, it’s geared specifically to people who don’t profess to be radio-control experts or professional photographers. While operators can use a traditional RC transmitter, PowerVision wants its customers to start flying it with a gesture-based, one-handed controller dubbed “Maestro.” It’s like a Wii video-game remote, where thrusting the controller to one side will send the drone in that direction.

Some PowerEgg specs:

• Weight: 4.6 lbs (Battery and propellers included)
• Maximum Flight Speed: 13 m/s (Professional mode)
• Maximum Ascent/Descent Speed: 5 m/s ascending; 2 m/s descending
• Maximum Flight Time: Approx. 23 mins
• Optical Positioning System Range Altitude Range: 0.66 – 13.12 ft
•  Max Transmission Distance: 3.1 mi (Subject to regulation andlocal operating conditions). 

The PowerEgg drone is available for pre-order for $1,288 and begins shipping in October.