By David Ponce
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.
[ Product Page (Careful, auto-playing sounds) ] VIA [ CNet ]
Sooner than later, I speculate that the majority of devices will be controlled from our phones. It amazes me everyday how fast technology is evolving.