iOS Toy Sphero Now Available For Pre-Orders

[Akshay Masand]

Some of you might remember seeing Sphero, a remote controlled ball toy controlled by an iOS device during CES 2011 (the Consumer Electronic Show). If you were and still are interested in purchasing one, it is finally available for pre-orders. The toy’s been released for pre-order for a price tag of $129.99. The price is a bit on the hefty side but then again, if you want to be one of the early people hopping the bandwagon for the device, it is probably worth the money.

The ball comes with six different apps, including Sphero Drive, which is a standard remote control app; Sphero Golf, which is self-explanatory; Sphero Blox, where you can set up commands for the ball; and SpheroCam, which will give recordable access to the onboard camera. The other apps to be offered by the company include Sphero Chromo, which is a puzzle game and Sphero World, which is said to make the whole toy experience social by combing information and results with others around the world.

With the number of functions the device offers, the price seems to be fair. The company Sphero is planning on shipping as soon as December, just in time for the holiday season. If you have been waiting to try this toy out , you’ll finally have a chance to do so. If you are interested in pre-ordering, you can go directly to the Orbotix store, and possibly from Amazon in the near future as well.

Source: GoSphero

[czarcasm]

lol this ball is cool i guess.in a few years give me a little robot that can be controlled from my iphone and that will be even cooler

[raduga]

lol this ball is cool i guess.in a few years give me a little robot that can be controlled from my iphone and that will be even cooler

It's a robot alright, though it could be the most basic one there is.

It can move, and flash RGB colors.
It can sense its position and motion.

It accepts commands and transmits sensors over Bluetooth via something they call an "Open API".

Sounds pretty robotic to me.
_____

What I'd like to know:

• How well it can maneuver over obstacles. Videos show it climbing a very, very slight incline, and rolling over a surface with ~ 2 mm bumps. Is that the best it can do? Or will the Sphero normally just get stuck on the ground/floor and unable to move at all?
  
  
• Just how OPEN the mysterious API actually turns out to be.
  
  
• And, um.... when they go on sale after it turns out nobody wants them, and tigerdirect has them for ~ $20 (+ $20 shipping & handling).

Also, Akshay:

"SpheroCam" is a load of bollocks. Its an app for recording video with the iPhone camera, while controlling the wonky thing.

[mortopher]

Sign me up for one when they can hit >20mph.

[i.Annie]

If I had the spare cash for a toy that entertains but serves no "useful" purpose in my current life...I would. Cool concept though. Maybe when I'm making bank in the future they'll have a more advanced toy to fetch me a bottle of water that I can then purchase.

[raduga]

Sign me up for one when they can hit >20mph.

> 20mph over bluetooth?!

[iZangetsu]

$130 for a rolling ball?

That's by far one of the biggest waste of hard earned bucks there is!

[raduga]

$130 for a rolling ball?

That's by far one of the biggest waste of hard earned bucks there is!

But you can control the ball with your $600 iPhone.
And make the lights flash.

How cool is that!!!

[iZangetsu]

But you can control the ball with your $600 iPhone.
And make the lights flash.

How cool is that!!!

It's a ball! A ball! Make it go up stairs or fly or amphibious or let's see it off-road, transform? $600 I will never spend $600 on a phone if you did, well I'm sorry to hear that.

That can be implimentent on a $20 RC car

[Darkspell]

AR.Drone is a lot more fun.