Remote Control

Dads who are thinking about what to surprise kids with this coming Christmas might actually end up getting the PicoZ Heli Mission for themselves (using their kids as an ulterior motive so that the wife can approve of the gifts budget).

This groundbreaking R/C mash up combines the thrill of helicopter flight with the excitement of driving a SWAT truck. Wow! It might look like a stealthy brute of a vehicle – and it is – but this macho truck features a cavernous cargo bay that opens up, upon your command, to reveal a fully-functioning micro helicopter sitting on an auto-elevating launchpad. Incredible! It’s like Thunderbirds meets Airwolf with a highly Hasselhoffian touch of 80s folly thrown in for good measure. Both precision-engineered machines are controlled via a single transmitter with smart shoulder buttons that allow you to switch seamlessly between truck and chopper.

It will take some fair bit of hand-eye co-ordination to keep on alternating between the two as you plan an imaginary assault on the enemy base. One thing though – what happens when the helicopter is in mid-air and you switch over to the truck? Will it just hover there until the subsequent instruction? Guess you’ll need to fork out £59.95 to find out!

The G-Bound remote control car is no ordinary toy – it is the stuff of science fiction, where your standard remote control car is not only able to zip around the home without missing a beat, you can even send it to the local pond in order to chase ducks and other water-based fowl as well. Available in Japanese stores since last month, these cars can run on water not due to magic, but because the tires can be inflated coupled with a fully waterproof body. It will come with a maximum range of 10 meters and uses a standard 9V battery to run.

Source: Hobby Media

The G Bound Amphibian R/C car can go just about anywhere, even over water.

Some radio controlled toys are too cool for words. This can be true with the G-Bound, which not only does crazy stunts on land, but thanks to it’s balloon type tires, can drive on water as well.

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One of the problems with the keyboards made for HTPCs (Home Theater Personal Computers) is they tend to be too big and bulky. Unless you have a Logitech diNovo Mini, you might want to look at this very intriguing Wireless Keyboard and HTPC remote.

Yes, that is what this is, not some new version of BlackBerry or some prototype version of the Palm Pre. This is a wireless keyboard that works via wireless dongle, and that “screen” that you see is a touchpad.

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For those who have longed for a Microsoft Surface in your own home should forget it, and embrace a CRISTAL era of remote control.

CRISTAL, or Control of Remotely Interfaced Systems using Touch-based Actions in Living spaces, is a concept device that allows the user to control all the devices in their living room from one place. As you can see in the picture, the CRISTAL can connect with an overhead camera, giving you a bird’s eye view of your living room.

From there, the user just touches the image of the device to take control of it. For example, lights can be dimmed or brightened with a sliding gesture. Roomba vacuum cleaners can be controlled by simply drawing a path on the floor. See more of what it can do with this video after the jump.

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Remote controls have become a staple device for many of us these days, and more often than not there will be a tussle among family members for essential remotes in the living room at prime time for obvious reasons. Logitech themselves have delved into the world of remote controls in the past, and they show no signs of slowing down in that department. Recently, the Swiss company has rolled out the Logitech Harmony 900 remote that boasts redesigned RF technology, a full color touchscreen display alongside intuitive button layout to help even newbies get used to it as soon as possible. The Logitech Harmony 900 remote relies on rechargeable batteries to keep it going, allowing you to enjoy a whole range of entertainment from movies to games and music even when the respective components are located safely behind cabinet doors.

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What you are seeing here is not a vacuum cleaner attachment or what happened after an aardvark sneezed. This is a motion-sensitive remote control. I realize that was probably your last guess, assuming you didn’t lose interest after my somewhat weak aardvark joke.

This concept remote control device, known as the “Remotion” is designed by Ryan Sorrell, and has some Motion Control like the Wiimote or the Loop.

As you can see, buttons are absent from this device as the user moves it to his or her liking. Adjusting the volume is as simple as shaking it up or down. In order to change stations, you move it left or right with a flick of the wrist.

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We’ve seen some pretty decent metal detectors in the past, but Hammacher is back with a more novel way to discover hidden treasures at the beach or in your backyard with their Metal Detecting Dune Buggy.

This is the remote control dune buggy that can detect buried metallic objects when driven over suitable terrain, including backyards, dirt lots, low grass, or flat sand. The buggy can detect buried iron-based metals down to 4″ and when it does, it flashes a red LED and begins beeping to alert you of potential treasure. The remote controls forward, backward, left, and right movement from up to 25′ away. Metal detecting sensitivity can be modified to suit the terrain with a simple dial on the buggy. Includes three faux gold doubloons (metal) to bury and two plastic digging tools. Four AA batteries (not included) for the remote provide up to four hours of operation; buggy requires one 9-volt battery (not included).

The product description reads “Ages 8 and up”, and chances are the adults might be spending more time on this than their little one since times are pretty hard, so who knows, you might actually discover some hidden treasure right smack in the middle of your backyard, eh? The Metal Detecting Dune Buggy is going for $49.95, so you might need to discover a fair number of lost coins before recouping your initial investment costs.