The Gadget Helpline is here to help you with the annual nightmare that comes when trying to find that ideal present for someone special this Christmas! We’ve taken a sneak peak into Santa’s workshop to deliver you with our top tips for great gadget gifts and terrific tech toys in time to bring a smile to someone’s face on the big day!
Gadget toymaker AppToyz has created a range of innovative add-ons for your Apple gadgets, with an exciting range including an app-controlled helicopter and a racing car. All very cool, but the coolest may in fact be the appBlaster.
The £20 appBlaster has a sci-fi-inspired look with working trigger, which straps onto your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, encasing your precious Apple gadget securely on top of the toy and employs that augmented reality stuff, similar to what’s more expensively available through the Nintendo 3DS. This means that through the iPhone/iPod’s camera a real-time environment is captured, but the ultra-cool AR means that the gadget’s display turns into a graphic targeting system to be used with a range of available app games which can be played anywhere in 90 – 360 degree range!
Twin paddles attach to the trigger mechanism and tap the gadget’s touchscreen when a player wants to fire and the appBlaster can be ‘reloaded’ with the point-away and cock motion used in popular arcade shoot ‘em ups. App games can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store for free or for a small fee of around £1.50 and include a traditional ‘Tin-Can Alley’ range, clay pigeon-themed ‘Pull!’ or defending against an invasion in ‘Alien Attack’.
The AppToyz range can be bought from Amazon UK and high street gadget-toy stores such Menkind, with the appBlaster costing around £20. You will, of course, need to own either an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch to use this toy!
In last week’s Christmas Gadget Gift Guide we featured the Magic Geek Ball. A 21st century spin on the mystic fortune-telling toy which now talks tech!
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