Somewhere, as Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries is playing n the background, squadrons of Parrot AR Drones face off against Griffin’s new Helo TC somewhere over the Atlantic (since Parrot is based in France and Griffin in Tennessee, I figured that’s where they’d probably meet up).
Unlike the AR’s alien, four-rotor design, the Helo TC is more like a standard helicopter, with a main rotor (actually, two) and a tail stabilizer. It’s controlled via IR hardware that attaches and interfaces with the Helo TC app. It can either be piloted just like any other remote-controlled toy, with soft versions of stick and throttle controls — or via tilt control, which uses the iPhone’s accelerometers.
Also cool is the app’s ability to store up to three repeatable flight patterns. It doesn’t have the camera of the AR Drone, but at $50, it’s a heck of a lot less expensive.
