Axis Vidius: The smallest first-person camera drone is here and its selling for $75 on pre-order

Move over selfie sticks, the world's smallest video piloting and first-person view camera drone is here. The Vidius by Axis drones capable of flying up to 100ft according to the company is the tiniest camera drone at just 4.3cm wide and 2.5cm tall. The drone's onboard camera can stream and record videos in 420 pixels and also snap photos all while being controlled from your smartphone.

Axis, which is selling the drone camera on its website for $75 (£50) on a pre-order scheme, says the drone's rotational yaw allows it to perform 360-degree flips and rolls all while streaming via WiFi and recording live video. It can be controlled from an Android or iOS phone or simply from the provided 2.4Ghz controller.

The tiny drone camera has a 150mAh battery pack which gives it a maximum flight time capacity of seven minutes and needs just 20 minutes to fully charge via a USB cable. It also includes pre-programmed speed settings, allowing users extra control over the amount of flight sensitivity they desire.

The drone also features bright LED lights, standard for such tiny drones which help locate the quadcopter in the dark. In case the Vidius slips away from the operator and suffers a crash, Axis is providing an extra set of blades.

Regulations for drone operations

The Vidius is in fact is so tiny that its users don't have to register it with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in US. Owners and pilots of drones must register with the agency since 21 December 2015. Anyone who operates an aircraft in the US that weights between 0.55lbs and 55lbs needs to sign on before 19 February 2016 to comply with FAA's guidelines.

As for the UK no registration is required for buying a drone and taking it out flying, as long as the drone weighs less than 20kg, is not flown above a maximum height of 400ft and is not used for a commercial purpose. However, one must avoid flying it within 150m of a congested area and 50m of a person, vessel, vehicle or structure not under the control of the pilot. To know more about drone rules in UK see this video.

Age of camera drones

Although there are a number of well equipped camera drones like the Skye Pico drone, Dromida Omnius FPV and a host of models from Parrot's MiniDrones range, the Vidius is so far the smallest. It does not give image clarity and battery back up like some of the other powerful camera drones but will fit into your palm in a jiffy.

Prior to this, Torquing Group had in 2014 introduced the Zano drone, a similar quadcopter nano camera drone that measured 6.5x6.5cm. The latest drone by Vidius at 4.3x4.3cm is slightly tinier than this. The Zano never really kicked off with users as experts said its features weren't as good as promised.