Hot Wheels goes digital with smart tracks and NFC cars, exclusively in the Apple Store

Mattel introduces Hot Wheels id, which allows kids to race their NFC-enabled Smart Wheels on their Smart Track and scan their collections into a free iOS app. In the app, which acts as a virtual garage, kids can track speed and turns via infrared sensors in the Hot Wheels race portal, which analyzes your car and connects to classic Hot Wheels tracks. This sounds great for kids who are obsessed with tracking details and are using cold and difficult data to back up claims on the fastest-speed car.

Companies have been trying to find ways to keep the classic brands alive by using digital components, but sometimes too forcefully. Anki Drive, another toy launched exclusively by Apple, was a smartphone-controlled racing game with a similar interest in statistics, but the company finally folded, having never really found an audience, and Hot Wheels itself played (sorry) with incorporating technology into its classic range of racing cars, ranging from a disappointing augmented reality game that only worked on some devices, to remote-controlled cars.

But robotics companies such as Anki and Sphero have opened an interest in both physical and digital toys, and there is a sense that traditional toy makers are finding their place. Hot Wheels allows at least to keep the physical game aspect and complete this experience with virtual challenges and mini-games.

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For kids who already have Hot Wheels tracks, they can simply use a phone or race portal to scan new id cars, which feature NFC chips on the bottom to store the car's performance data. according to EngadgetThis means that the app is not strictly necessary and that children will not have to borrow their mother's phone every time they want to play because the data can be transferred later. The advantage of getting the Smart Track Kit would be the booster included for launching cars, which Hot Wheels calls the fastest and most powerful of all time, and the ability to track distance and speed with the 16 elements connected to the Smart Track of the Smart Track.

The set is available exclusively on Apple.com and Apple stores. An Android version of the app will be available on Google Play on July 10th. Individual identification vehicles with a hot wheel cost $ 6.99, while the race gate, which includes two ID cars, costs $ 39.99. The Smart Track Kit, which includes two ID cars, the Smart Portal and 16 tracks, costs $ 179.99.

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