WowWee's AppGear turns toys into smartphone 'appcessories' (video)
WowWee, the company best known for its endless supply of adorable robot toys, is kicking off 2012 with something a little more virtual than visceral. AppGear combines actual physical toys with iOS and Android apps, like the launch title Foam Fighters. Each collectible, action figure or playset is paired with its own free, downloadable app that offers an augmented reality game or virtual way to interact with the toys. The line will be launching in "early" 2012, for between $9.99 and $19.99 depending on the particular toy. Six products will be available at launch, including Alien Jailbreak, Zombie Burbs, and Elite Commander which you can check out in the videos below alongside some incredibly vague PR. And we'll be gunning for WowWee booth when we land in Vegas to get some hands-on time with this lineup of AR-toys.
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New Toy Category Equals New Revenue for Retailers in 2012
AppGear™ to Premiere at CES 2012.
LAS VEGAS, 4 Jan. 2012, from ShowStoppers @CES 2012 -AppGear™ from WowWee is a line of collectible toys that interact with free downloaded apps; the latest trend in gaming and graphics. AppGear changes the way consumers interact with the world of gaming, connecting apps with traditional tangible toys providing the user with a unique interface combining the digital and real world; essentially creating a new reality..."Amplified Reality".
Launching in early 2012 with 6 unique titles, AppGear will be the low-cost innovative leader in the newly created category, known as AppCessories. A leading national newspaper recently said the AppCessory™ category will be the hottest toy category for 2012.
Last year App sales surpassed 5.2 billion dollars and this year that number is expected to increase to over 15 billion. By 2014 experts expect to see the number grow exponentially to 185 billion in sales.
"Until now, traditional retailers or brick-and-mortars have been unable to tap into this huge growing market. They've been left out of the app party, but now App Gear is providing retailers an opportunity to take a bite out of the "app" pie," said Mike Gonzales, Creative Director and Digital Brand Manager for WowWee. "AppGear products will be sold at retail with price points of $9.99 up to $19.99, making the AppGear experience affordable for the real consumer!"
Every AppGear product, such as a collectible figure, interactive playset or customizable toy, will connect or interact with the associated free downloaded app. Also unique to AppGear and crucial to the success of AppGear for 2012, every AppGear product is compatible with all IOS(iPhone, iPad, iTouch) and Android platforms.
"Apps used to be something you played on your mobile devices. Thanks to WowWee's AppGear you now play with real toys in the virtual world. Foam Fighters is one of a series of toy based apps. You fly your toy, play on your phone, using your real world as background. How cool is that? " said technology expert, Robin Raskin. Earlier this week "Foam Fighters" was chosen as one of the 10 finalists for this years Mobile Apps Showdown. As part of CES, The Mobile Apps Showdown honors the best of the best apps founded by Robin Raskin, Founder of Living in Digital Times.
