Parrot AR.Drone to attack this September, for $300

The Parrot AR.Drone made waves when it was shown off CES earlier this year. The WiFi quadricopter that uses an iPhone as its remote control will launch in the US this September, for $299.99. You can control the device using an iPhone, iPod touch, or an iPad, and the drone has both a downward- and frontward-facing camera.

With two control modes that give you a sense for how the thing flies, anyone should be able to pick it up and get moving pretty quickly. The real fun comes when you install the augmented reality games onto the iPhone. Use the device's camera to blow away virtual ships from real space, or pilot against other drones and engage in dogfights using virtual rockets and munitions. 

The software is open, and testers have enjoyed prerelease access to both the SDK and hardware to get their games and demos up to speed, making this a fun project for those who like to play as well as those who like to tinker. At launch, there will be two $2.99 games available from the App Store to try.

There are different shells you can attach to the core device, with different designs suited for flight both inside and outside. The modular design also makes it easier to repair the drone if it's damaged in flight, and as you can see from the pictures, the drone can look very different depending on which shell you're using.

Having flown an earlier model of the drone at CES, I was surprised at how touchy the controls felt; it definitely takes some time to get used to tilting and manipulating the iPhone to control it with anything approaching precision. Soon though, I was diving and floating with the best of them. Using the included cameras to check out the crowd as I flew was interesting: it was weird to see things from the point of view of the drone itself. Sadly, none of the games were yet ready to test, but be sure to read about our time with the drone for our full thoughts on the product.

With the software in the hands of the public, the AR.drone has a ton of potential, and the $300 price tag is reasonable for the hardware you get. Of course, you'll have to bring your own iPhone.