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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    New Toys Let You Spy on Neighbors

    By Sean Captain | LiveScience.com – Tue, Jan 10, 2012

    LAS VEGAS - A crowd gathered around a remote-control toy car and helicopter here at Sunday’s opening press reception for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) — probably drawn more than anything by the notion of something playful instead of another hardware utility.

    Neither toy was exactly a novelty on first glance, however.

    “We’ve always been in the R/C business,” said Ian Chisholm, marketing director for the company, Interactive Toy. “And we’ve always done very well with that.”

    But the sex appeal of the new products is summed up in the name: “Wi-Spi Video Surveillance Vehicles.” Who wouldn’t get excited by that?

    Going on sale this fall, in time for Christmas, the $120 helicopter and $100 “Intruder” car each feature a low-resolution video camera. Instead of standard R/C frequencies, they use Wi-Fi to take commands from and beam video to apps running on Apple or Android phones or tablets. Virtual pilots and drivers can watch the video streaming live and also record it for upload to YouTube and other sites.

    Creepy for some, but now brand new.

    It’s the same idea behind the Parrot AR Done -- a four-propeller toy helicopter that debuted at CES two years ago. Parrot brought out a 2.0 version last night that mainly improves the video performance – upgrading from a camera that shoots VGA video (roughly that of a standard-definition TV) to a 720p high-definition model. Parrott also introduced “ AR.Drone Academy,” a site on which flyers can post their best videos and compare their flights.

    Why the fascination with spy craft? Toys, for kids and grownups, often take their cue from military tech — from toy soldiers to semiautomatic paintball guns. Chisholm characterized customers as “mature wallet, immature mentality.” Today’s military is becoming more remote-controlled, with virtual pilots flying drone aircraft from computer screens rather than cockpits. Toys like the Wi-Spi and AR Drone helicopters offer the novelty of multimillion-dollar technology in a little battery-powered package.

    Their missions will likely be a commensurately less serious. Chisholm theorized that people might use them to spy on people in the neighboring cubicles at work.

    This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

     

    45 comments

    • Mr Frost
      Mr Frost  •  4 mths ago
      I declare my backyard as private airspace, anything that flies over it under 555 feet will be fired upon, brought down and seized by the sovereign command.
    • Im comin Lizbeth
      Im comin Lizbeth  •  4 mths ago
      If I caught someone spying on me the kids toy would be destroyed, and the parent would be supporting their favorite dentist
    • bobby-o
      bobby-o  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      Soon there will be no privacy for anyone.....
      • Wayah
        Wayah 4 mths ago
        It's 1984 plus 28 and counting . . .
      • David44149
        David44149 4 mths ago
        Soon as in today? You have precious little privacy left, even in your own home.
    • jjrufus
      jjrufus  •  Mt Hamilton, California  •  4 mths ago
      Oh look a spy helicopter, time to shoot skeet.
    • Play3r 1
      Play3r 1  •  Memphis, Tennessee  •  4 mths ago
      Next time I see a toy car or helicopter coming in my direction, I'm shooting it.
    • anonymous
      anonymous  •  4 mths ago
      I would definitely purchase a personal signal blocker. Someone needs to develop a pocket carry device that will block all wireless signals within a 40 yd radius of the user. It should be able to block all signals. (ex. radar, radio, cloud, wifi, microwave etc.....)
      • Brett
        Brett 4 mths ago
        Already exits its called a radio jammer.
      • Brett
        Brett 4 mths ago
        exists*
      • Mr Frost
        Mr Frost 4 mths ago
        I'm up for that, I'd prefer an industrial strength one at that.
    • kirk
      kirk  •  4 mths ago
      For now, a 28" barrel and a load of birdshot will take care of that toy helicopter. Soon I expect a 'toy' surface to air missile will become available.
    • Poster
      Poster  •  4 mths ago
      If I found out my neighbor used one of these on me and uploaded a video to YouTube, that neighbor wouldn't have a house by morning. Be very careful about using these toys in an invasive way on your neighbors or anyone else. People have a tendency to forget the bounds placed by laws when they feel that they are being victimized...and that includes privacy issues.
      • Rob
        Rob 4 mths ago
        You can't creep up to a house and peek in the windows, but you can use binoculars from the street, that has won in court cases. So just assume you have no privacy, and use your shades.
      • Poster
        Poster 4 mths ago
        Rob, that is a done deal, but people should also assume that looking at your neighbors through binoculars is not going to end well for you if that neighbor catches you doing it.
    • Wes
      Wes  •  Elmhurst, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      get a life
    • Ricky Heinrich
      Ricky Heinrich  •  Dothan, Alabama  •  4 mths ago
      Lawyers will love this one, I can see the backlog of law suits already...
    • Chris
      Chris  •  Bridgeport, Connecticut  •  4 mths ago
      Time to develop a personal radar station with coordinated sam launcher, on a mini scale of course....Stay tuned for more of yard wars
    • Chuck
      Chuck  •  4 mths ago
      Marketing opportunity. Build RC toys that ram and destroy the spy toys.
    • jim2
      jim2  •  Dallas, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      If my neighbor were to send one of those toys my way i would use an old fashion Winchester 12 gauge to eliminate it.
    • Rick Taylor
      Rick Taylor  •  Dayton, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      Realize these are also illegal in using without Law Enforcement so if u get busted lookin @ Ms Dennis Ta Ta's she can have you thrown in jail,sue you and then u go to jail for up to 5 years for invasion of privacy or depending on the state you live in also legally shoot you under the Home Castle Law (each state is diiferent in the naming of this law but they all have it). So b4 using one of these gadgets u better make sure it is legal,most are not.
      • Arlon
        Arlon 4 mths ago
        Castle laws typically state you can legally shoot an intruder inside your home. They do not state you can shoot someone that flys or drives a toy onto your property.
      • Rick Taylor
        Rick Taylor 4 mths ago
        thats outside too in my state and they have to be breaking the law in some way. trust me on this,its not the same in all states. No matter,if they fly something spying on me the cops will be the least of their worries.
    • Barney the Purple Dinosau ...
      Barney the Purple Dinosau ...  •  4 mths ago
      Well, I was going to try to build something like this to do fly-overs of the local park. Not sure that there's anything I particularly care about at the park, but wanted to see if I could build it.

      It's going to be hard to motivate now since there's already a cheap consumer product which does most of what I wanted to create. ;-)
      • JohnW
        JohnW 4 mths ago
        Ah, but what you can build is so much better and not really that much more expensive.
    • QXR
      QXR  •  4 mths ago
      There is no Privacy anyway. There are to many who would exploit this technology in a negative way, Like the Military and other agencies of the Government
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Cincinnati, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      SHEEIT son, lets buy the helicopter. Ms Dennis next door with the big pom poms often sunbathes nude.....CAPT AHAB
    • PeedNUrGenePool
      PeedNUrGenePool  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  4 mths ago
      We The People need to use these to WATCH OUR GOVERNMENT officials....police, SWAT Teams, politicians, etc.
    • DJ
      DJ  •  4 mths ago
      my neighbors arn't worth spying on.
    • Bleedinginchgo
      Bleedinginchgo  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  4 mths ago
      paint ball targets
     Post a comment
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