For the past few years, one of the hottest topics in the drone industry has been the development of drones for commercial deliveries. When people imagine the future, they see a world where people will have their food, groceries, medicine, and shopping delivered by drones a few minutes after placing an order. However, even though the concept has been proven to be practical, we are still yet to see major steps that will finally bring the delivery drones into existence, until recently.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has announced that it will be testing its new drone delivery service in Finland in 2019. Named the Wing, the drone has been in development for the past few years and will finally get to see what the engineers at Alphabet have come up with. The capital city of Finland, Helsinki, has been chosen to be the first European location for the Wing project, which had previously been testing their drones in Australia.

The drone will be able to deliver packages weighing up to 33.3 pounds (1.5 kg) within just a few minutes after an order is placed. This is not the first time a company has attempted to bring the idea of drone deliveries to life. Several drone companies, including Amazon, have spent years developing the technology but are yet to launch. Their efforts have mainly been hampered by strict drone regulations that prohibit the operation of drones close to the public.

Wing said their drones had made over 50,000 successful deliveries in Australia of items like food, medicine, and household goods. The European test is set to begin soon in Finland and is expected to be well received by the Finnish people who are known to adapt quickly to new technology. Wing invited suggestions from the public on what the drones should deliver. Some of these suggestions included medicine, food, and household essentials. The customers will use an app to place their orders then wait a few minutes for the drone to arrive with their order. The delivery service will be free of charge during the entire trial period.

While the delivery service has been well received in the country, there are still concerns from opposing individuals and organizations. Critics question whether the public will be comfortable with the noisy delivery drones flying all over the city. There are also concerns about privacy with the drones flying so close to the public. It is up to tech companies to show that delivery drones are safe and reliable. Wing believes their drone will provide a faster, safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly way of making deliveries.

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