Is GoPro Entering the Cloud Arena?

We previously discussed how a series of leaked photos and an early draft of a user’s manual believed to be the next generation GoPro Hero 5 came to light, giving GoPro fans insight into the big changes ahead for the popular hardware. Perhaps some of the biggest news surrounding this leaked information however has nothing to do with the hardware but everything to do with the new software and digital services GoPro may be offering alongside it’s popular camera services.

It was back in July that the name GoPro Plus was leaked on a Reddit page when a user “accidentally” accessed a sign-up page for the yet-to-be-unveiled service, which by all accounts looks to be the company’s first foray into the cloud arena. The speculation was pretty much corroborated by a profile conducted with GoPro CEO Nick Woodman in May of this year when he described the GoPro Plus as being one of the “blockbuster features” of their latest camera technology.

However, now that the leaked user’s manual has been fully vetted by curious minds online, we have more details about what exactly will be “Plus” about this new technology.

For starters, it appears that GoPro Plus will be a cloud-connected feature that comes built into the new Hero 5. This is a big deal considering the only other major updates that were noticeable in the image leaks of the new device were a waterproof packaging and more agile commands, including voice and touch screen features.

According to the guide, in order to access GoPro Plus and upload footage from your device to a storage hub, the camera has to be plugged in and charged all the way, and once the battery is full, all of the content on the camera will automatically sync up your content to a private cloud account.

While this is a big step, there are a few red flags about the tech to not at this early stage. The manual doesn’t indicate that the new Hero 5 will have cellular connectivity, so access to the GoPro Plus information will be contingent on WiFi access. This also indicates that the cameras won’t facilitate live-streaming from the field, which is a downer but not a gamechanger.

The goal is to allow users to upload video from the GoPro and edit from anywhere on this new technology. However, users of the Fasetto app know that content from the GoPro can be uploaded to any device from the app and into cloud storage that can be accessed for editing anywhere, any time. While the new Hero 5 won’t be on the market for some time, GoPro users can already take advantage of cloud storage to increase their experience and get their videos published in record time.