هل أنت متشوق جداً لأقتناء الطائرة المروحيه Parrot AR.Drone كما وعدتنا شركة Parrot بأنها ستكشف عن موعد الأصدار والسعر خلال مؤتمر E3 2010 وهاهي تفي بوعدها. الطائرة المروحيه العجيبه الغريبه AR.Drone ستكون متوفره في شهر سيبتمبر القادم ؟ أذا يمكنك عمل طلب مسبق للطائره فقط بـ 299 دولار أمريكي علما أنه سيكون متوفر حصريّا من قبل متجر Brookstone وهذه الطائرة الرائعه لايمكنك فقط التحكم بها عن طريق الوايرلس فحسب بل يمكنك التحكم بها عن طريق الأيفون أو الأيبود أو الآيباد أو حتى عن طريق نظام الأندرويد، مع العلم أن هذه الشركة Parrot مختصه بطرح سماعات رأس تعمل بتقنية البلوتوث ولكنها ارادت أن تبهر كل من حضر CES فلذالك أطلقت هذه الهلكوبتر وكمعلومات أوليه فأن هذه الطائرة يتم التحكم بها عن طريق هاتفك المحمول آيفون أو الآيبود من خلال شبكة الوايرلس.
Parrot AR.Drone now available for pre-order, shipping September 3rd : Been itching to get your hands on the Parrot AR.Drone ever since it first took flight at CES way back in January? Well, you can now finally get your $299 pre-order in to ensure it ships to you on the September 3rd launch date. What's more, Parrot has also announced that the Drone will be exclusively available at Brookstone stores in the U.S., where you'll be able to try it out first-hand through October 31st. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and be sure to check out our recent hands-on if you need a reminder of the iPhone-controlled shenanigans possible with the device.
Parrot promised to reveal the launch details for its AR.Drone at E3 this week, and it's now delivered -- the remote-controlled quadricopter will be available in the U.S. this September for $299. Of course, this is hardly your ordinary remote-controlled quadricopter, as it's not only controlled via WiFi, but via an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch -- something we got well acquainted with both at CES and on the Engadget Show back in January. Incidentally, an Android app for the device was also recently demoed by the company, but it's apparently still not quite official. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the Drone itself in some of its various configurations.
Update: We swung by the company's demo station outside the show floors here at E3, spoke with the company CEO, got a little more information about the post-release plans for this thing, and dive-bombed a few PR reps before running for the hills. All those details and a funky fresh new video are waiting for you after the break. Hopefully you're not sick of the AR.Drone, because we sure aren't, and we took another opportunity to take it for a spin, and to speak with Henri Seydoux, founder and CEO of Parrot, the company behind the thing. Naturally the big news of the day is the $299 price, which is steep but honestly a little lower than some of the cynics among us were predicting.
For that money you get yourself one drone with two bodies: one for indoor flying with expansive foam bumpers and a second for zipping around outdoors. This one ditches the bumpers in favor of better stability in crosswinds and, we presume, better overall speed. You also get a free download of the control app in the App Store, as well as a simple combat app in which your view on your iPhone is overlaid with missiles, lasers, and explosions as you duel with another Drone -- meaning you have to talk a friend into getting one, too if you want to get the most out of it.
That's not exactly a stunning deal for $299, but it's the future that has us intrigued. The idea is that there will be additional apps added to the App Store on a regular basis that will add new games and challenges. Henri suggested there might be bombing runs on the Drone's cardboard box (which has a target on the back), missions to rescue hostages far out in your backyard, and pretty much anything else that anyone can think of. This is because, of course, the AR.Drone's software is completely open-source, and the company will be encouraging others to write their own games and release them to the App Store -- or via any other distribution system. Basically, creative types will be free to do whatever they like, and if this thing has one fourth the success that LittleBigPlanet achieved the results could be amazing.
The controls right now are simple and intuitive. The iPhone displays two inputs, the right being a virtual thumbstick that raises or lowers altitude, and allows you to rotate the Drone on its axis. If you hold your thumb on the left control you can tilt the iPhone to bank the Drone in any direction. There's also a button you can tap to take off or land automatically, which is good for those prone to buying the farm.
The initial Android app is not expected to be ready at launch time, which is disappointing, but that should come soon enough. We're hoping that independent devs flock to this device and fill App Stores, Marketplaces, and everything else with augmented reality minigames. If that happens this somewhat pricey, high-tech novelty could turn into a truly killer augmented app.
