Remote controlled cars are really old tech. But what’s relatively new is the replacing of the controller with an iPhone. These little HotWheels iNitro SpeedCars use an application that gives you a total of 5 different ways to control them. The first is using regular on-screen analog sticks. According to CNet, this causes the car to be herky jerky, with fine tuned control being difficult. Another one uses the iPhone accelerometer and does allow for a little bit more finesse. A third option involves a trackpad like operation, where dragging your finger on screen will cause the little car to move accordingly. A fourth is a set of predefined shapes, like a figure 8, that the car is able to reproduce. The final option is the most interesting, as it lets you draw a pattern (any pattern) and the HotWheel will follow it.
You should know that the iPhone connects to the cars via an IR adapter which is cumbersome to setup but works well once it is. The cars come in 8 different models and will set you back a modest $40. For what looks like tons of fun at any age (even if it’s squarely aimed at 8 year olds…), it’s not a whole lot of money.
It may have the top speed of a caffeinated turtle, but YouTube user Prallpratt’s DIY steam-powered RC car is impressive nonetheless. Just watch to see what we mean.
Not much is known about it aside from what you see in the video and in the description. Made in his “Secret Ural Russian Laboratorys”… Whatever. Cool rig though, dude.
So Halloween is over. You know what that means. Santa music’s gonna be blarin’ in malls across America and the pressure is on to spend money and buy gifts. For what it’s worth, the American economy could use a little consumerism at the moment. So here’s a nice and inexpensive present to buy someone. It’s a small RC replica of a Boeing AH-61A Apache helicopter. The remote control however is not your typical radio joystick box but your Android or iOS device. Simply attach the IR dongle (seen in the pic) into your 3.5mm jack, run the app and you’re good to go. The helicopter is gyro assisted so it should level itself out. Better yet, pitch, roll and possibly yaw are all controlled via your device’s own gyro sensor. You’ll just have to use the onscreen controls for elevation. Range and battery life are not discussed, but this is clearly more of a cool toy than a serious RC application so don’t expect to be able to use this from very far for very long.
No one can argue that George Lucas will slap the Star Wars brand on just about any product imaginable. However, his other hit series usually doesn’t get a lot of wacky merchandise. At least that’s what I thought until I saw this crazy Indiana Jones R/C Ant.
I’ve slept a few times since I watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but nothing really sticks out in my mind about giant ants in the plot. Sure, there was that scene with a swarm of not-so-giant ants, but I digress. The giant R/C ant is controlled by, you guessed it, a crystal skull. It crawls around, pinches its mandibles together, and lines the already wealthy pockets of Mr. Lucas for just $35.
Remote control cars are great, but unless you get one of the expensive gas-powered ones, its hard to find one that stands out from the rest. At the end of the day, they all still just drive around on the floor, some faster than others. If you’re looking for a car that won’t break the bank and does things a little different, look no further than the Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro R/C cars.
Sure, these aren’t quite as large as your average R/C car, but then again your average R/C car can’t drive on the ceiling either. These awesome little 6-inch cars use a powerful fan to keep themselves attached to whatever surface they are driving on, including walls and your ceiling. You can pick up one of these for $44, which doesn’t seem too bad if it can really drive on the ceiling.
If you are a big fan of 80′s pop culture, then there’s a chance you’ve already picked yourself up a Knight Rider R/C car. Sure, KITT was an awesome car, but what about that sweet GMC van that the A-Team rode around in?
If you want to add another 80′s icon to your collection of R/C cars, then the A-Team van is probably the way to go. Unfortunately there’s not really anything exciting about this, aside from the looks. It’s an officially licensed product which runs on 4x AA batteries and 1 9v. It’ll set you back around $60. Personally, I’m holding out for a Back to the Future DeLorean R/C car.
As a kid I loved playing with remote controlled cars. I’d always go down the toy isle to check out the latest and greatest ones. I have to say that in all that time, I never once saw an RC tire. Generally there were three others and a body, however, the TOSY R-Tyre skips out on all the extras.
I honestly want to see this thing in action, as I can’t really imagine it working all that well. Then again, I never could master the unicycle, so perhaps it’ll be easier than I’m thinking. I am a bit concerned by the amount of buttons on the remote control. Perhaps they’re making up for the missing car parts by adding in extra buttons. No word on pricing or availability.
With summer fast approaching, everyone is looking for a good excuse to get outside and enjoy the weather. Toys that can only be used outdoors are always a good excuse to leave the confines of the house for a bit. If you happen to have access to a large body of water, this R/C Stealth Boat would be a great reason to get out.
While this boat looks like something that would be piloted by a certain caped crusader, it is simply called the R/C Stealth Boat. It also isn’t very stealthy, but that alright, I don’t think anyone really intended to use this for actual spying. What it can do is is reach speeds of around 19 mph and run for around 30 minutes off of a four hour charge. The $88 price doesn’t seem too bad, especially since you’ll be the envy of everyone at the lake.
There’s something about summer that seems to bring out the lazy person in all of us. When it’s beautiful outside, there’s little more that you want to do than sit out and enjoy the weather. Unfortunately it gets warm out there, and you need to keep hydrated with a cool drink or two. Rather than getting up to go get something, or even keeping a cooler sitting next to you, why not get a remote controlled cooler?
This little cooler might not hold the most beer of any other in town, but it’s likely the most convenient. You can have it filled with six cans of your favorite drink, and call it over from 30-feet away with the remote. When it’s empty just send it back inside and have someone refill it for you. If you’re truly lazy, then I’m sure it will be a $70 well spent.
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