When you’re buying your lunch today, you might want to take a moment and spend a little more. Gizmodo’s Lunch Time Deals posts point out any particularly good bargains for Aussie bargain hunters around the ‘net.
There’s drones, and then there’s Star Wars Drones. If you’re in the market to pick up a Tie Fighter, X-Wing or Speeder bike, you’re in luck. They are $100 cheaper than when they launched.
You can grab one for just $96 here
Here’s what we thought when we got our hands on one:
Yes, these are Star Wars drones – and that’s awesome in itself.
But they are also multi-player battle drones, with built in games that help you get really, really good at T-65 X-Wing Starfighter vs Tie Fighter Advanced X1 vs 74-Z Speeder Bike space battles with your mates at a top speed of 45 kmh and oh gosh this just makes me so happy.
This is the Special Edition (with a numbered fancy box, that’s the only real difference), but there’s a standard edition drone, too.
The App is at the heart of everything for this drone – and it teaches you to fly even before turning the drone on. There are 34 specifically-designed training missions to prepare you for your battles, and it tracks every battle you compete in, saving all battle stats to your gamer profile.
The drone also has a training mode that reduces the speed and height of the drone. And apparently it’s super, tough, too – Propel says it is “virtually indestructible” – but if you do manage to break anything or everything, Propel will replace it for free within the first year.
As for the tech involved – the battle drones are the first consumer product globally to utilise “LiFi” capabilities. 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, it tranfers info at “light speed”, Propel says – and this is how you can have a battle with 12 drones at once that is communicated in real-time to your drone and the app.
There is also a brand new “Reverse Propulsion” technology with the propellers placed on the bottom of the drone rather than the top. This means the fighter looks like a fighter, not a drone as we know it. The propellers are also clear so are “virtually invisible” when in flight.
The drones take 4 AA 1.5v alkaline batteries (not included) for the wireless remote control, the charge time is 30-40 minutes on average and the run time is around six to eight minutes- so you might want to keep a backup charging pack at the ready if you’re taking it away from a power source.
Another warning – the battery pack is a right pain to get open, so have a screwdriver handy.
The Standard Edition is $199 from JB HI FI, Harvey Norman, Tech 2 Go, Myer, Apple Stores and Telstra. You can find out more info here.