62 FEATURE: SMARTPHONE TOYS
Smarter than the average toy
appBlaster By: apptoyz Category: Action RRP: £19.99 Call: Main Sauce Productions 01780 765290
By incorporating an iPhone into its sights, this toy delivers motion-based gaming experiences at a value price-point. The appBlaster launched in July 2011 with one app – Alien Attack, an augmented reality experience where an army of aliens invade the player’s surroundings. Since then, more games have followed in the shape of Tin Can Alley and Pull! with more to follow. Yann Le Bouëdec, creator and projects director at
apptoyz, explains how the idea first came about: “We first started thinking about app related toys when we thought about an iPhone-controlled helicopter. We then started coming up with other product ideas and that was when we fully comprehended the opportunity in this area. “We can create the most interactive and technologically advanced toys ever seen at price point with mass-market appeal. If we were making
AR.Drone By: Parrot Category: R/C RRP: £279.99 Call: Flying Toys 01702 295110
You’ve probably seen the Parrot brand before – but perhaps not on a toy. The wireless technology expert specialises in mobile phone accessories and in-car hands free kits, but has recently turned its attention to toys with the AR.Drone.
This flying quadricopter is not only piloted by a
smartphone, it has a front facing camera which streams a live feed to the device’s screen, providing the basis for a variety of augmented reality games. “The AR.Drone is the outcome of a dream: develop a high tech product for kids and adults by creating a new concept of video gaming, using iDevices as the first step,” says Asif Gillani, Parrot sales director for the UK & Ireland. “Parrot’s first entertainment project was a Bluetooth
racecar – but Henri Seydoux, founder and CEO of Parrot, was not fully satisfied with it. Why? Because it
did not captivate him and he wanted a product that would excite all who saw it – it should fly. This is where the idea of the AR.Drone came from.” For Parrot, latching on to the growing smartphone market is key, not just for toys, but for everything it makes. “All of our products in development work with a phone, because mobile phones are part of everyday life and provide customers with high end and innovative features,” says Gillani. David Rawlins, managing director of Flying Toys, was initially sceptical of the new concept. He explains: “I couldn’t help feeling that restricting the sale of any particular range to the owner of a £400 iPhone was not the way forward to producing increased sales. “But judging by the number of new products using this concept entering the market, we may have to reconsider this position for 2012.”
App-Player By: Cheatwell Games Category: Games RRP: £19.99 Call: 02392 524098
The App-Player represents a huge achievement for Cheatwell Games; its first ever app-enabled board game. “An electronic ‘quizmaster’ is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” says Jon Church, founder of Cheatwell Games. “Until smartphones became so mainstream, there was no other way of getting the idea into the hands of families without the cost being to prohibitive.” Incorporating a smartphone into a board game has
numerous advantages for Cheatwell. The first is more games. The App-Player launches with four of them – each one a free download on the App Store – while the board has been designed to accommodate no limit of new titles. “We’re able to include far more ‘cards’ at no extra cost. A typical playing card can cost 3p, which works out at £30 for a game with 1,000 cards in it. Electronic
FEBRUARY 2012
cards can be revised, extended and made immediately available to all users.” Forthcoming games will be priced at the lowest possible price point, currently 69p on the App Store. “It's a bit like investing in the smartphone itself. You buy it once and can then extend its life and functionality by downloading more and more apps,” explains Church. Cheatwell has plans for more products like the App-Player and has established a new brand, Smartgames 4 Smartphones, for the purpose. Church says: “The exponential increase in the adoption of smartphones across the country in the past year has made it impossible for retail buyers to ignore this genre. Like the seismic change to the world brought by the iPhone and the iPad, I see that this area will see an explosion of products that will turn the board game market upside down.”
the appBlaster as a stand-alone, without smartphones, it would cost around £1,500.” One of the challenges for makers of these toys is the co-development of both physical and digital products. Le Bouëdec believes that if you’re not prepared to service your customers with updates and new apps after launch day, then you’re missing out on a key USP that the platform offers. “Apple updates can cause problems with apps
and render the product useless,” he explains. “By doing our app development in-house we can fix problems quickly and give our customers the highest level of service.” Apptoyz has more than 14 products in
development for 2012. Le Bouëdec sees a big future for the category, and the company: “With our large range of products, licensing strategy and IP portfolio we are going to make an impact in the toy market.”
These tech-savvy toys leverage the expensive, sophisticated technology found in smartphones. Lewis Tyler takes a look at this emerging category and talks to the people behind the products...
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250