Anki to unveil ‘Overdrive,’ an upgrade to the smash-hit toy racing cars

Anki to unveil ‘Overdrive,’ an upgrade to the smash-hit toy racing cars

Overdrive builds off of the Anki Drive toy car system, which became one of Amazon's biggest sellers and sold out quickly.

Anki Drive, a company that debuted in 2013 with toy cars that became one of the hottest sellers on Amazon, will be looking toward the next phase in its growth: Overdrive.

Anki sells a $150 starter kit that includes a high-tech slot-car and 10 track pieces, with software that allows the three-inch car to drive itself around the track. It became the second-best selling toy last Christmas after a Frozen doll, according to a USA Today report.

Anki was founded by former Carnegie Mellon University robotics guru Boris Sofman, and his engineering friends, Mark Palatucci and Hanns Tappeiner, and they will introduce Anki Overdrive at the Toy Fair in New York this weekend.

Anki Overdrive is scheduled to come out next fall and will feature some changes to the original product without changing the price tag for the starter kit.

Tappeiner called it the “next generation of Anki,” and compared it to a Google car, minus the price tag, according to the report.

Software has improved for the cars and the track as well, and because the pieces snap together with magnets, buying more pieces allows for almost limitless track modifications — although the hobby could get expensive quick, as additional track pieces cost $10 to $30 each. An additional car is $50.

Anki attempts to combine the virtual and the real world with Overdrive, which allows friends to actually race each other using apps on their smartphones. Users can also race autonomous Anki cars that have their own moves and weapons.

Play involves holding the smartphone with both hands as if it were a steering wheel, which causes the car to respond and start racing other autonomous vehicles.

You can also buy a 180-degree track piece, which causes the car to suddenly spin around and switch directions, preventing the need for a track that loops back around.

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