Orbotix Sphero Robotic Ball - Smartphone/Tablet Control

The Orbotix SPHERO-001 is a Sphero Robotic Ball that you can control with a touch or a twist of your smartphone or tablet. The shape of things to come is definitely round. The ball connects via Bluetooth to your Android or iOS-enabled mobile device. It's easy to set up and get going. At launch there are a handful of apps available that allow you to drive it around and even play a few games with it, including a variation of golf. You can upload "scores," as well as images and videos of your Sphero in action to Sphero World, the company's social-media play.

You can steer a couple of ways. There's the standard virtual joystick method or better yet, tilt mode that allows you to turn and tilt your device to drive. Really interesting is the "drawing" capability - you essentially draw out a pattern with your finger and the Sphero will then emulate it a couple of seconds later. As for battery life, it gets about an hour of drive time before you have to charge it using the included induction charger and stand.

Pull up the RGB color wheel on your device and you can tweak the internal LED to make Sphero light up in one of thousands of colors. Orbotix has developed several gaming apps that show off the Sphero's capabilities and developers can use the SDK to create their own Sphero-centric challenges.