Come Christmas and parents will be forced to share their iPads with their kids as experts predict that iPad toys will be one of the top selling gifts for children this year.
Come Christmas and parents will be forced to share their iPads with their kids as experts predict that iPad toys will be one of the top selling gifts for children this year. From remote control helicopters and robots to toy cars that can be driven on the iPad's screen, the toys - costing up to 40 pounds each - are set to cost parents dearly.
As studies show rocketing numbers play games on their parents' tablets, manufacturers have begun to target children with a range of "real" toys such as cars that can interact with a tablet, the Daily Mail reported.
Even Furby, one of the original electronic animal toys, is set to be re-released with an accompanying iPad app.
The secret to many of the app toys is simple - conductive paint.
Applied to small areas on the toys base, they allow the iPad to track each paint spot as if it were a finger, allowing developers to write games that can track the toys accurately.
The toys, such as a car or an action figure, are placed on the tablet's screen and interact with an app, or can control a toy themselves, such a remote controlled helicopter.
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Recent research in the UK and the United States found 39 percent of adults who own an iPad have downloaded an app for children aged six to 11.
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The tablet connected toys are now tipped to be one of the top 10 Christmas toys this year, with giants like Disney and Mattel spearheading the move.
"They are going to be very popular this Christmas," Stuart Miles of web site Pocket Lint said.
"Luckily there aren't too expensive, and they do use the tablet which a parent already has.
"I think with things like the cars people will see them as stocking fillers," he added.
Miles also believes that the toys will be just as popular with parents.
"Kids will feel its more a traditional toy, even though they're really just a bit of plastic, while the more advanced toys like remote control helicopters appeal to grown ups as well.
"Parents who are into technology want their kids to play as well - and they get to play with toys as well.
"I'm a dad, I want to be able to play on my iPad more, so my son can play with me, and we both have a great time," he said.
Source-ANI