Toys go hi-tech and make a comeback: remote control leads the way

[mandy]

The robotic Dragonfly will take flight again at the American International Toy Fair, the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere, which begins Sunday in New York. But it will hardly be alone there in its use of technologies that are giving a new generation of toys extraordinary capabilities to fly, float, walk and roll — almost always inexpensively — in ways unimaginable just a few years ago.

“Is there a revolution?” asked Gene Khasminsky, the design director for Interactive Toy Concepts, the Canadian maker of the Micro Mosquito, a palm-size, radio-controlled helicopter that was in demand among holiday shoppers at about $70.

“I think, right now, that there is a push back from our industry to get kids off the couch where they’re playing video games,” Mr. Khasminsky said ...“We’re moving into an age where toys are becoming more high-tech to stay competitive with gaming.”...

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/techno...1328590800&en=26e03ccbf2d22481&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[mandy]

A related article:

If you think that souped-up cell phones, iPods and videogames have rung the death knell for toys, then think again.

A preview of some of the hottest new toys that will be unveiled for the first time next month at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York, show that toymakers are ready to battle for their turf with plenty of innovation and creativity.

Some of the standouts include high-tech robots, guitars, MP3 players for babies and a singing "diva" Barbie. Jakks Pacific has a new laser tag game that actually shoots out a visible beam.

full article: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/31/news/com.../index.htm

[amy]

remote control leads the way

I spent the entire day listing remote control toys