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Amazon Drone Makes First UK Delivery


An Amazon Prime Air drone is seen in flight in this Amazon handout photo. (Amazon)
An Amazon Prime Air drone is seen in flight in this Amazon handout photo. (Amazon)

Online retailer Amazon has completed its first delivery by drone.

The drone delivered an Amazon Fire TV streaming device and a bag of popcorn Wednesday to a user in the Cambridge area of the United Kingdom.

According to a tweet from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the delivery was made within 13 minutes of the order being placed.

While successful, it may still be some time before delivery drones are widespread, as there are only two customers as part of its “Prime Air” trial.

That the first test was done in the U.K. is not surprising as Amazon announced last summer that it got permission from the government to test delivery drones.

Though drone deliveries have been tested in the U.S., Amazon has complained that regulations in the U.S. make it harder to conduct trials.

The U.S. saw its first drone delivery this year when a 7-Eleven drone from the company Flirtey, delivered a chicken sandwich, coffee and donuts to a customer near Reno, Nevada.

Other companies experimenting with drone deliveries include Google and Wal-Mart.

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