Sure, there are potentially other designs that will get somewhat higher speed, though at some point that will require enough extra power that it won't be worth it.
Airplane style drones can fly further, but navigation is more difficult, and parachutes will pose a lot more logistical problems than landing quadcopters (or, more accurately, multicopters; they used octocopters in the demo). One of the nice things about multicopters is how easy control and navigation systems are compared to something like an airplane or traditional helicopter.
The biggest improvement would be from better battery technology. Battery technology is improving, but very slowly compared to, say, transistor density.
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Sure, there are potentially other designs that will get somewhat higher speed, though at some point that will require enough extra power that it won't be worth it.
Airplane style drones can fly further, but navigation is more difficult, and parachutes will pose a lot more logistical problems than landing quadcopters (or, more accurately, multicopters; they used octocopters in the demo). One of the nice things about multicopters is how easy control and navigation systems are compared to something like an airplane or traditional helicopter.
The biggest improvement would be from better battery technology. Battery technology is improving, but very slowly compared to, say, transistor density.