Intel is continuing a hard and fast push into the drone market with the acquisition of German flight-planning software maker MAVinci and the launch of the Intel Shooting Star — a drone specifically designed for light shows.

The Shooting Star, the second Intel-branded drone, is made specifically for coordinated use in fleets, using a lightweight design with safety cages around the propellor rotors. Intel released a new video showing an event in Germany where it says a Guinness World Record was set for most simultaneous airborne UAVs in a light show featuring 500 synchronized Shooting Stars. 

Earlier this year, Intel received a Part 107 waiver from the FAA that it said will allow the company to demonstrate the new technology in the U.S. Previously, Intel staged what it called "Drone 100," a light show with 100 drones in Palm Springs, CA, but the company said the new waiver will allow it to fly hundreds or thousands of drones at night in the U.S. in the future.

"We believe drones are an important computing platform for the future and we are continuing to invest in technologies and companies that will enable us to provide the best compute, sensor, communications and software integration for the growing drone ecosystem," said Anil Nanduri, VP of Intel's New Technology group, in a blog post, "These announcements represent a string of progress we've made in the drone space."

Intel: www.intel.com