Costing a damn sight less than the $US300 Parrot AR Drone, Griffin’s Helo TC helicopter can be flown by an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch using a free compatible app.
Part of Griffin’s new AppPowered Accessories range of toys (including that Crayola HD stylus we like so much), it charges up by USB and talks to your iOS device using infrared signals. The Tilt-to-Fly flight mode sounds the most fun, as it uses the iOS device’s accelerometer to mirror the movements. Traditional controls, including a virtual joystick, can also control the helicopter. Once you’ve got your flight mission all sussed out, you can choose to record up to three flight plans for impressing friends later. Unfortunately it’ll need to be plugged back in after that show-off sesh, as the battery only lasts for eight minutes at a time.
On sale before Christmas, it’ll cost £35 ($53) and come with a free app download. [Griffin]