Gizmodo: flytech

Disney RC Tinkerbell Ornithopter Redefines the Term "Flying Fairy"

Benny Goldman — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:07:59 EDT

This Disney RC Tinker Bell is one seriously sweet flying fairy. As you see in the video, it's using WowWee's FlyTech ornithopter-type vertical flying system to flutter, glide and dive around this Waldorf-Astoria suite. It'll be out in the fall for $40. [Disney]

Hawks Agree: WowWee's Dragonfly Tastes Delicious

Sean Fallon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:00:30 EST

It appears that hawks the world over are not Giz readers, because they would have known that WowWee's Dragonfly is for high flying fun—not eating. Apparently, one such technologically impaired hawk in Long Island learned this the hard way after it snatched a boy's Dragonfly out of mid air.

After investigating the story printed in the local Manhasset Press newspaper, WowWee's Customer Service Department determined that it has received 45 different calls over the past 2 months about hawks and other birds of prey swooping down and snatching consumers' FlyTech Dragonfly out of the air.

Interesting—although we probably should have seen this coming after the epic battle between the Dragonfly and Mark Wilson's cat. Look out WowWee. The animal kingdom is waging war against you and your products. [WowWee]

WowWee Bladestar Autonomous Helicopter and Waiter-Decapitation Device

Adam Frucci — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:38:12 EST

This is the new WowWee FlyTech Bladestar, an R/C helicopter-type toy that can also fly around "autonomously," avoiding walls and faces using an IR beam. You still need to pay attention to it, however, as it'll keep flying higher and higher unless you tell it to stay low, otherwise it'll fly too close to the sun and melt its delicate, delicate blades. If you're flying it manually you've gotta be careful or you might take out a waiter or two, as our friend from WowWee managed to do pretty quickly. It'll be on sale next month at Target (and only at Target, for some reason) for $50.

Flytech K790 'I Will Cut You' PC

Mark Wilson — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:44:22 EDT

The K790 from Flytech is an ultra-rugged compact PC. The 12, 15, 17 or 19-inch touchscreen houses the entire Celeron PC—a la iMac—but that touchscreen is housed in 60mm of stainless steel. Clearly waterproof, the K790 is intended for public use in kiosks, but the high brightness display will make it suitable for your poolside. There's no word on the price, but durability tends to cost you. Then again, insurance companies must appreciate customers who own PCs that could stop a bullet* without missing a beat.

*We at Gizmodo do no condone shooting computers, unless they are old, really crappy ones from Q1 07 or earlier. [aving via bornrich]

My Cat Vs. The Dragonfly, The Battle to End All Battles

Mark Wilson — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 18:02:02 EST

Let me give you a little background on my cat. She may look innocent, and on many accounts she is. But there are grown men in this world who fear her, as if she is a full-grown lion prepared to maim those who do not refill her water dish with the proper alacrity. (To be fair, half of that description is true).

So when I received my review unit Wow Wee/Flytech R/C Dragonfly, I knew just who to test it on. Surely Anya (my cat) would be leaping through the air, clawing with maximum kitten power to destroy this home intruder. The subtle flapping of wings would be too much for her to resist, and besides, the unit comes with a replacement pair.

So what happened?

In short, Anya was traumatized. She ran from the room and would have nothing to do with the toy from then on. (And caught the typo...it's there forever now).

As for the Dragonfly, in the five minutes I've spent with my unit (that came out wrong but I refuse to rephrase myself), I haven't gotten it to fly properly. Given other reviews out there, I'm sure it's user error. But also given that I was once a strong R/C car enthusiast, I'm shocked at my ineptitude.

And cool feature to note: the Dragonfly is charged directly from the remote control in about 20 minutes for a reported 7 minutes of flight. It's a good idea, be it presumably heavy on AA usage. – Mark Wilson