rc

We didn't bother mentioning the laser-fighting cars when they came out, feeling that they paled in comparison to the laser helicopters released just weeks earlier. And both fall well short of the "R/C Laser Tag Shocking Tanks," which send electric shocks to your opponent's remote upon a direct hit.

But these remote-controlled bumper cars are a different animal altogether, melding the retro trend and the RC craze while retaining a good dose of mischief along the way. Each car has sensors that detect and keep track of contact; the first to get bumped three times … Read more

There's hope for those plagued by friends and co-workers who insist on irritating us with their flying gadgets: You can now launch a counterattack with a laser-firing helicopter.

OK, so the "Sky Challenger Micro Helicopter" can't really shoot down other airborne toys, but it's still worth it. For one thing, you can give a pair of them to those maturity-challenged acquaintances and send them out to the parking lot so they can shoot at each other instead of bothering you. While they can't knock each other out of the sky, according to Tech Digest, … Read more

If you're ready to jump-start the hydrogen economy, well, you might have to begin at 1/10th scale. Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies announced a kit that lets you convert an electric radio-controlled car to get its electricity from an onboard hydrogen fuel cell. Horizon's H-Cell system stores low-pressure hydrogen gas in three canisters. The fuel cell system offers the advantage of four times the range of conventional batteries, letting you run your little racer for 60 to 70 minutes. With a regular battery, you would have to put it on the charger after about 15 minutes. So if … Read more

Automobiles have paved the way for hybrid and alternative energies in transportation, but other vehicles are quickly following their tracks. We've seen trains, golf carts and even wheelchairs running on non-fossil power sources in recent months alone. But one there's one category we hadn't anticipated: toys.

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies first made headlines with its hydrogen-powered "H-racer" remote-controlled miniature car, which Gizmag says is the "best-selling fuel cell product in the world." Now, Horizon has developed what it calls the "H-cell" power source, which it claims allows miniature cars to reach … Read more

Forget those wimpy remote-controlled pests that seem to be proliferating by the minute. You really want something annoying? Get an RC Hummer H2 replica that's a full 2.5 feet long. That's easily big enough to knock over your idiot uncle before Christmas dinner has even begun. Making this beast even more irritating are flashing lights and spinning rims, so it might be tough to sneak up on guests. But at cruising speeds up to 20 mph, you won't need too much stealth to catch them.

Note to industry: If you must make tons of remote controls for MP3 players, please don't make them as complicated as the six or seven we need to watch our TV right now.

We haven't yet laid hands on Keyspan's "TuneView for iPod" but fear that it may be going down this treacherous road. There's one obvious reason: Its manufacturer claims to have introduced a bevy of features that'll all make life simpler. Where have we heard that before?

The product language scares us already: "TuneView for iPod consists of a 2-way … Read more

When we started seeing remote-controlled mini-helicopters and mosquito choppers buzz into the market, we kiddingly warned that a locust-like invasion must have been imminent. We're now sorry to say that the joke may be on us.

RoboCommunity is reporting that WowWee--maker of the hugely popular Robosapien--has submitted applications with the FCC for a remote-controlled "FlyTech Dragonfly." Quoting a user manual submitted to the agency, RoboCommunity says the device "has wings (like a dragonfly) and a tail rotor like on many helicopters, and is supposed to be 'crash-proof' due to what they term the 'high-flex' design. … Read more

That irritating mosquito copter we wrote about earlier had better not run out of batteries around this thing, or it'll be squashed like the RC bug that it is.

Hammacher Schlemmer has come out with this all-terrain "screw-propelled remote control car" that would gleefully crush anything in its path. Why "screw-propelled," you ask? As any schoolboy knows, that refers to the technology used by the "Snowbird 6 vehicle that crossed the Bering Strait during the Ice Challenger British exploration expedition of 2002," according to the product literature. When constructed wisely, a pair of … Read more

It's that time of year, when every manufacturer in the world hopes to strike it rich with the "It" toy. And every year we're flooded with e-mails touting remote-controlled mini-somethings.

This season, it's the miniature helicopter, all of 6 inches long and about a third of an ounce. You can see one in action in this cheesy video, complete with a score reminiscent of Magnum P.I. (A competing version that looks identical can be seen here too.) The demos are a far cry from this amazing RC plane footage, but the mosquito-like copters are … Read more