Parrot AR.Drone Now Available for Pre-Order

The personal remote-controlled quadcopter will hit the market this September 2010.

Found our feature on the Parrot AR.Drone interesting? US buyers can now pre-order the personal remote-controlled quadcopter. Interested parties will have to shell out $300 on Brookstone.com to become an early adopter of this ultra-maneuverable aircraft, and will receive their unit by this September 3.

The Parrot AR.Drone debuted at the last CES, and was one of the highlights of that otherwise boring show. It's small enough to fly indoors, with four individual rotors that allow for hovering and good maneuverability. A foam "external hull" goes over the rotors to protect prevent damage to it (and damage caused by it) in tight spaces. Other items in the package:

-1 battery

-1 battery charger and 4-pin mains adapter

-1 set of stickers

-1 quick start guide

There are two integrated cameras on the quadcopter. One faces the floor to track the aircraft's speed, while its front-facing counterpart provides a feed that allows the operator to steer the gadget properly—even when out of view.

The video feed is streamed over WiFi to an iOS device running the remote control app. Parrot hopes to build an entire ecosystem of augmented reality software, through a device API that allows developers to overlay graphics on the feed and pull flight stats for whatever purpose.

For those who don't jump on bandwagons early, Brookstone will start selling the Parrot AR.Drone through its brick-and-mortar channels by this October 31. The remote control app is a free download from the iTunes store.

Parrot AR.Drone on Brookstone ($300)