Ever since the first time I saw the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank, I have geekily lusted for it. That was even before I owned an iPhone or iPad. After I bought my iPhone 4S I thought about getting one, but I could never bring myself to buy it because of the price tag. At $149.99, as nifty it was, I couldn’t justify it. However, when I saw it on clearance at Target for $49.98, I suddenly found that a hole had burnt right through my pocket, my money fell out, and the cashier scanned the box and took my money before I could do anything about any of it. So, ever begrudgingly, I brought it home to play with it, eh, um, *clears throat*, I mean test it for our readers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tKMw_jWzQ
After playing with it at my apartment a little bit, I took it in to the studio at WJCT and really put it through its paces.
As you can see in the video, the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank is relatively slow, but it is a tank after all. It’s not supposed to be a race car. I assume Brookstone chose the tank design to minimize the abuse that a remote control vehicle faces. The delicate hardware inside might not be able to take as much abuse as remote off-road cars and trucks deal with.
As the title of the product blatantly states this remote control vehicle is controlled by an app, specifically an iOS app. The app works on iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. The only real difference between the iPhone and iPad version is the size of the app resolution. There are no Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry apps at this time.
The Rover is supposed to reach 200 feet unobstructed and 100 feet through walls, but I lost connection with it in my 920 sq ft apartment. So, don’t expect to use this thing in a large building or from a car parked outside.
The controls are easy enough to use, but just like any touch screen controls, it’s easy to accidentally slip off the buttons without realizing it. The G Drive accelerometer based controls work well, but only moving forward, backward, left and right. You can’t spin left or right. Also the accelerometer cannot be calibrated, so you must hold the iPhone or iPad flat to remain stationary and turn it away from you to go forward. Someone wasn’t thinking there.
The camera is surprisingly decent. It only shoots 320 x 240 but it works well in all light. The colors can be off. We found that blacks show up as blues on camera and vice-versa. The camera angle can be adjusted, but only manually. So you have to drive the spy tank back to you to adjust the camera. Whoopsie again. The infrared night vision is surprisingly awesome. Even in pitch black darkness almost the entire view screen is visible The downside is that the Rover has two bright LEDs in the top, one blue and one orange. So, there’s no chance of it hiding unless you apply some electrical tape or open it up and disconnect the LEDs.
The Wi-Fi connection is built into the Rover. This is great because you don’t need to have a Wi-Fi network setup to use the tank, but unfortunately it means that you can’t connect to your router either. Connecting to a router could allow it to be controlled across the Internet and allow for greater range. Also, you wouldn’t have to switch Wi-Fi connections to run the Rover.
Over all, the Brookstone Rover App Controlled Spy Tank is a fun toy. I was right to wait until it went on clearance. I would have been sorely disappointed if I had spent $150 on this. However, at $49.98 it was definitely worth the price. It’s regularly available at Brookstone for $99.99. It’s worth noting that Brookstone released the Rover 2.0 recently, and from the reviews at TUAW, it looks like Brookstone has fixed all the problems with the original Rover and gave it a bunch of new features. That might make it worth the entrance fee.
