News

DJI Releases The New $999 Air 2S Drone

Minor design and construction tweaks aside, there are 3 main upgrades that differentiate the DJI Air 2S from its predecessor, the Air 2.

Published

5 years ago

April 19, 2021

Joanna Melki

DJI

The DJI Air 2 was one of the best drones released in 2020, offering everything most drone operators could ever want: a high-resolution camera, excellent battery life, tremendous range, and intelligent obstacle avoidance technology, just to name a few of its selling-points. Now, the Chinese drone powerhouse has released an updated version, calling it the DJI Air 2S.

Minor design and construction tweaks aside, there are three main upgrades that differentiate the DJI Air 2S from its predecessor:

1-inch CMOS sensor capable of recording 5.4K footage at 30 frames per second or 4K footage at 60 frames per second.
Intelligent obstacle sensing in four directions that makes it possible for the drone to actively avoid obstacles in more complex scenarios and at high speeds.
Advanced O3 (OcuSync 3.0) image transmission technology capable of delivering an ultra-smooth, clear, and reliable image feed at distances of up to 12 km.

These features alone make the DJI Air 2S a great all-rounder capable of recording professional-grade video footage, covering large distances, and providing aerial views, among other things.

Other noteworthy features include intelligent HDR technology capable of merging multiple shots, automatic hyperlapse and panorama creation, and MasterShots, an advanced intelligent feature that gives you the best shots in any location with just a tap.

Also Read: Sightec Completes First Drone Delivery Without GPS

The DJI Air 2S starts at $999, but the price jumps up to $1,299 if you purchase it two extra batteries, four ND filters, a charging hub, and a shoulder bag.

DJI Air 2S Fly More Combo

At this price point, it’s very difficult to find a more capable drone, especially if you’re a traveling videographer and want the best image quality in the smallest package. One possible alternative is the Skydio 2, a self-flying drone released in 2019 that records 4K footage at 60 FPS.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.