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- Digital Dream Labs, which purchased the rights to Anki's Vector, Cozmo, and Overdrive robots, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring software updates to Vector. It aims to remove Vector's reliance on the now-defunct cloud servers, and an SDK for developing custom software is also planned.
Anki has been one of the leading companies in this new age of smartphone-connected toys, alongside Sphero. Sadly, Anki has run out of money and is shutting its doors.
Anki's Vector robot launched in October. The little guy is certainly cute, and it's always had a useful trick or two; it can tell you the temperature outside or set timers, for example. But starting next week in the US and Canada, Vector is getting a whole lot more practical with the addition of Alexa functionality.
[Update: Now $80] Anki Overdrive is $86 ($64 off) on Amazon, Fast & Furious Edition is $93 ($76 off)
Anki's 'Overdrive' is a lineup of smartphone-controlled racing cars that can drive on a customizable track. We reviewed the Fast & Furious Edition last year, and it offered plenty of fun for the original price of $170. Now you can get the Fast & Furious version for far less than that, and the non-themed version is also on sale.The regular Overdrive kit is now $85.82 (a drop of $64 from the original price), and the Overdrive Fast & Furious Edition is now $93.37 ($76.62 off). Both products are very similar, but the latter includes cars from the Fast & Furious films (Dom's Ice Charger and Hobbs' International MXT) and a slightly tweaked mobile app.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv3cpB-Ez9w[/EMBED_YT]On both versions, the cars can accelerate, change lanes, and fire virtual weapons at other racers. You can buy either edition from the links below, and you can find our review here.
Anki has made several smartphone-controlled toy robots over the past few years, including the adorable 'Cozmo' and the 'Overdrive' race car set. For today only, you can get select Anki robots for 30-43% off from Amazon — including Cozmo, Vector, and Overdrive.First, the original Cozmo is 5.99, down from the previous price of $179.00. It's a tiny robot that can drive around your floor, play games with you, pick up cubes, and function as a remote-controlled RC car (with your phone acting as a video feed). We reviewed the Collectors Edition here, but the software is identical on all models. The Limited Edition version with blue accents is also 5.99.
In late 2016, San Francisco-based robotics company Anki released Cozmo, a robotic toy brimming with personality. The little guy looked like something out of Wall-E, with its curious animation and expressive digital eyes. Now, Anki's back at it with a new tiny robot named Vector that clearly shares Cozmo's DNA, but promises more functionality.
Did you forget to buy a gift for that one relative's kid? Think, think again. Did you gamble on a different toy that may never get delivered in time for Christmas or did you purchase another gift only to realize that it isn't exactly what it said it would be or what the child wanted? Or maybe did you forget to gift yourself something fun for the holidays? There's still time to save Christmas and save some bucks in one go.Three of Anki's products are discounted on Amazon by $50 to $55, practically making them a third-off compared to the MSRP. Not bad. The deals are on the connected car racing Anki Overdrive Starter Kit and the Anki Overdrive Fast & Furious Edition (check our review) as well as the programmable Cozmo robot (we reviewed the Collector's Edition, but the functionality is similar). Here are the links and discounts:
Back in September, Anki released a special Collectors Edition of its Cozmo toy robot, alongside a major app update for both the original and new models. One of its Cozmo's many features is the ability to program basic tasks through the mobile app. While a full Python-based SDK is available for those wanting to use real programming languages, the drag-and-drop Code Lab had most of the essentials.
Anki is one of the biggest names in electronic toys right now, and for good reason; it's one of the few companies that has brought robotics to kids. This all started with its 2014 introduction of "Anki Drive," a more modern take on slot car racing that added weapons and artificial intelligence. "OVERDRIVE" was released in 2015 as a successor to Drive, and proved to be a market success. After all, it's the first Anki product I'd ever heard of.
When I was young, I absolutely loved toy robots. I remember having a particular fascination for toys from WowWee, like the 'Robosapien' and the 'Roboraptor.' I managed to convince my parents one year to get the Roboraptor for my birthday, which I still own to this day. It was pretty basic by today's standards (the most advanced part of it was the IR sensor), but it was awesome at the time.A few years later, I got my hands on the second-generation LEGO Mindstorms NXT. It was a robotics kit with pieces like IR sensors and motors, but it used LEGO's standard 'Technic' pieces. I have fond memories of going through LEGO's online gallery of user creations and trying to replicate the designs, and downloading other people's programs (like a version of Pong that was playable on the tiny LCD).Today's toy robots are obviously much more advanced, with a great example being Sphero's recent Bluetooth-controlled BB-8. Another example is Anki's Cozmo, a robot with an immense amount of personality. The company announced a 'Liquid Metal' Collector's Edition earlier this year, and sent me a review unit to try out. I never got a chance to try out the original, but the Cozmo Collector's Edition is pretty great.
The definition of a toy nowadays is a lot more complicated and advanced than when I was still a kid. A small toy car, a plush bear, heck even a new eraser or pencil sharpener counted. Now, toys have to use batteries, be smart, connect to your phone in some form or another, and be expandable to suck you further in their franchise.But as far as these kinds of toys go, Anki's Overdrive is kinda cool. It's a racing track with the obvious phone connection, where you can upgrade your cars and their capabilities, build the track as you want with the different elements, and even expand on it with more cars, track parts, and players. The kit includes 2 cars, 6 curved and 4 straight track pieces, 2 riser pieces, 1 charging system, and 1 tire cleaner.The Anki Overdrive Starter Kit was released in the fall of 2015 for $150 and has dropped in price a couple of times to $120, but it's now down to $99.99 on Amazon. Right now, it sits as the number 1 sold remote control vehicle toy on Amazon with an average rating of 4.3 stars. Shipping is free and it should be with you before Christmas to give to the kids in your life, including yourself.Source: Amazon
Anki's first foray into consumer AI toys was Anki Drive (later Overdrive), and earlier this year the company announced a new AI product. It's a robot called Cozmo, and it's available today. Unlike some of the other consumer robots, Cozmo doesn't pretend to be a personal assistant or household helper. It's a toy, but a smart toy with personality.Cozmo is small enough to fit in your hand—it looks a bit like Wall-E if he was a forklift instead of a trash compactor. Cozmo can learn faces, and the more you interact with him, the smarter he becomes. The screen on the front serves as Cozmo's face, and it can display hundreds of facial expressions. Anki points out Cozmo has more processing power than all the Mars rovers combined. Although, I don't know that's a fair comparison; Cozmo's CPU would be fried by radiation on Mars.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/tyyXfgrcoZ4[/EMBED_YT]You'll need an Android (or iOS) device to pair with Cozmo. He comes with a charging dock and three interactive "power cubes," or as they are better known, blocks. You can order Cozmo from Anki, Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and more. Not all the listings are live or showing as in-stock, but they should update throughout the day.Source: Anki
It's 2016. Where are the robots? I don't mean the boring, factory drones that have gone after jobs. I mean the cute ones. The robots that follow you around and make adorable sounds, like WALL-E.
Anki Overdrive Expands On The Original Toys With Modular Build-It-Yourself Tracks And AI Boss Fights
The currently-available Anki Drive series of toys are undeniably cool, allowing players to drive tiny remote controlled cars along real tracks with their smartphones while the app keeps track of video game-inspired additions like weapons and power-ups. The next iteration of the toy, Anki Overdrive, is set to take things to the next level when it debuts this fall. The most visible addition is the new piece-by-piece track system, including risers for overpasses and jumps, walls for faster banks, and a modular design that allows for near-infinite expansion. It's a mixture of classic Hot Wheels tracks and modern electronics.