by Rafe Needleman
Control the AR.Drone from your iPhone.
(Credit: Parrot)
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LAS VEGAS--This is the coolest toy I've ever seen: the Parrot
AR.Drone, a remote-controlled helicopter with a twist. It's controlled
over Wi-Fi from an iPhone or iPod Touch, and it's got a camera in its
snout that streams to your iPhone's screen.
The copter itself is computer-stabilized, so controlling it is much
easier than the standard $40 toy RC helicopter you may be familiar
with. But it should be: it'll cost in the neighborhood of $500, when
it ships this year. You'll get about 15 minutes of battery-powered fun
on a one-hour charge.
You tilt your iPhone to steer the helicopter, with touch controls to
adjust altitude.
The iPhone app features a virtual game mode, where the screen will
show virtual enemies in front of your real 'copter, for you to strafe.
Or you can just fly it around to spy on pets or neighbors. Two
caveats, though: Its range is limited by Wi-Fi. If it manages to lose
contact with your phone it will hover for a minute until you walk back
into range (or it runs out of batteries). And it only works in still
air or very light wind. If you take it out to your yard and try to fly
it up over your house, you'll probably hit some currents that make it
uncontrollable, I was told.
Parrot plans to open up the Wi-Fi control interface. I can't wait to
see what the geeks come up with when that happens.