I came back home a couple of days and found this waiting for me:
It’s a remote-control helicopter with a twist. Instead of having a dedicated remote control, it has an infra-red emitter that plugs into your phone. And you control it using an application you can download from your phone’s marketplace. And it doesn’t just work on the iPhone, there are also a number of Android phones that it supports. It was nice to find out it supports the phone I have, the Samsung Galaxy S II, so all I had to do was download the app and give it a try.
The helicopter handles well. It has an in-built gyroscope which makes it quite easy to control. I haven’t played with it much so far, as I tried it out in the sitting room and kept worrying that I would crash it into the TV. I’ll try it outdoors one of these days. In fact, the application has a “Demo” button in it, but I wasn’t ready to just let it go berserk in the living room. The app even has a mode where can control the helicopter just by tilting the phone in the direction you want the helicopter to go. Here’s a short video where you can see the chopper in action:
Very much recommended, and you get get one for yourself down at Paramount Zone, where you can find it in their Christmas Gifts section. I think my kids are too young for it just yet. Which means I get to play it all by myself. Muhahaha!