Hot Wheels Introduces NFC And Smart Tracks In New Cars

Many still remember the fun they’ve had with the widely popular Hot Wheels toy cars in their childhood. Mattel introduced kids across the globe with every possible kind of cool cars there is to know about. The company had a diverse lineup of real life and even futuristic cars to put in children’s hands. Now the popular pocket-sized car toys are receiving a digital refresh with NFC and Smart Track.

Hot Wheels id by Mattel introduced new NFC enabled cars on its latest Smart Track. The application that allows kids to scan their collection is available in the iOS App Store for free. This app acts as a virtual garage that allows children to measure track speeds and laps through infrared sensors in the Hot Wheels Race Portal. The portal scans the cars and it connects to the Hot Wheels tracks. Users can actually provide cold hard numerical proof of who’s car is faster, inculcating a sense of healthy competition.

Classic brands have tried remaining relevant in the current tech-savvy younger generations for a while now. The hope of keeping collectable toys alive is a dying breed in the current world and failed attempts at digitalizing do exist. Mattel’s launch of an augmented reality game is one such example, failing due to poor compatibility with most handsets and even lesser remote-controlled cars. Hot Wheels id will still keep the physical aspects of toys while incorporating technology into its diverse range of racing cars.

Mattel’s Hot Wheels will add-on to the classic experience through virtual challenges and mini-games with the companion app. Those that own Hot Wheels tracks can just use a smartphone or the Race Portal to scan the new id cars. What differentiates the new iterations from the bunch is the NFC chip housed on the bottom of these toy cars. The chips will store the car’s performance data.

The app isn’t mandatory for the experience and children do not constantly require their parent’s smartphones or tablet computers as data can be stored locally and transferred later on. Hot Wheels Smart Track Kit brings the added benefit of a launch booster for the cars at the stars, making the toys the fastest and most powerful yet. Children can quantify the track distance and speed with the Smart Track’s 16 USB-connected pieces.

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The entire set is available at the US version of Apple websites and Apple stores. An Android version of the app is scheduled to launch on Google Play on June 10th. Individual Hot Wheels id toy cars cost $6.99 (approx. Rs.500) while the Race Portal, including two of the aforementioned cars, is up for grabs at $39.99 (approx. Rs.2,800).