Gadgetory

in 2014 connected device maker parrot launched a pair of smartphone controlled toy robots called mini drones the line proved to be enough of a success the parrot is back this year with five new models for the sky land and water starting with the sky there are two new quad copters the airborne knight and cargo the knight has built-in LED lights that blink and flash at your command and help you fly in the dark the cargo has a base plate on top with six lego-like studs for attaching figures or bricks then on the ground you'll find the jumping knight and jumping race like the airborne Knight the jumping knight has built-in LEDs so you can roll around in the dark the race is capable of reaching speeds up to eight miles per hour doubling the Knights top speed the jumping part of the name comes from a rear spring-loaded leg that when retracted and released launches it up to two and a half feet into the air for zipping across the water parrot created a hydrofoil mount the included quadcopter on top to a hinged mechanism and spin up the props and it pushes the hydrofoil across the water you can also detach the quadcopter and fly it around all of the mini drones are controlled with a smartphone or tablet using parrots free flight 3 app and while cameras tend to be a big component of consumer drones that's not the case here only the jumping models can record video in only at VGA resolution the quad copters can take photos from a camera on their bottoms but again in VGA resolution only also as was the case with last year's models battery life isn't great at only up to nine minutes for the quad copters seven minutes when pushing the hydrofoil or 20 minutes for the jumping models prices range from $99 up to a hundred and eighty nine dollars and while there's no exact release date yet parrot says they'll be in stores this fall I'm Josh Goldman with CNET and that's a quick look at parents new mini drones for 2015 you