Sphero, the company that brought to us our very own Droids, have today announced their new product, the Sphero Mini.
The Sphero Mini is a robotic ball the size of a golf ball that is designed to make coding fun and accessible for the whole family. The Sphero Mini is a smaller version of Sphero’s educational SPRK+ product which provides the users with opportunities to “create, contribute and learn” while having fun with the robot.
After programming the actions into their device the ball can then be moved at up to 1.5 metres per second using the app. The robot can also be controlled using facial expressions — we are unsure how this works but have one on the way to us so we’ll be sure to include this in the review.
The interface is a visual block-based building interface and aims to teach the user the basics of programming. The users can browse through activities, keep track of a class and share their creativity with others. With so much emphasis on coding these days (it is taught at a very early stage at my kids’ primary school) it is a great way to help your kids along and have fun while learning.
The Sphero Mini comes with interchangeable colour shells and includes a 6-axis inertia sensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, LED lights and Bluetooth LE. It is compatible with devices running iOS 10+ and Android 5.0 and above. It has a battery life of 60 minutes and is charged using a microUSB cable. For more information head on over to the Sphero website and check it out.
The Sphero Mini is available in JB Hi-Fi, Apple, Australian Geographic, EB Games, Harvey Norman, Myer, Kogan.com.au, and Macaddict.com.au from October 6 for AU$79.99. For the New Zealanders out there it is available for NZ$89.99 from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, PB Technologies, Noel Leeming, EB Games, MightyApe, Tech2Go, The Loop Duty Free, Airpoints, and Flybuys.
If you have a young child (or are just a big kid like me) this could make a great Christmas present. Give the child a toy and at the same time they will be learning while having fun. Stay tuned for our full review of the Sphero Mini coming in the next few days.
