TailorToys have been making the PowerUp systems for quite some time now, but their new 3.0 version has iPhone control. That’s awesome, but let’s start at the beginning, because we’d never even heard of the 1.0 or 2.0. The PowerUp devices are little electric propellers that clip onto the tip of your paper airplane, and give it some thrust. This way, gravity, aerodynamics and paper airplane engineering aren’t the limiting factors; battery life is. And yes, this works with just about any paper airplane, from the shitty to the elegant. The 3.0 version seems to have added iPhone control, though we don’t have any details on just how well the plane is controlled with this scheme. It would appear that the new device doesn’t just give the plane forward thrust, but would allow you to steer as well. Considering the toy just won Popular Science’s Best of Toyfair award, we’re going to go ahead and assume it’s pretty well done.
They should be available later this year for an unspecified price. Considering previous generation models are going for around $17, we can’t imagine it’ll be that expensive.
[ Product Page ] VIA [ Technabob ] AND [ Gizmodo ]
