"Since the launch of the Scalextric brand in 1957, we have amassed a significant consumer base, with millions of Scalextric products having been sold throughout the world," says Dale Luckhurst, Marketing Manager at Scalextric. "With the addition of a single Powerbase track, existing consumers can suddenly bring their Scalextric straight into the 21st century with racing features and statistics that even a few years ago would have been considered impossible to achieve on a mass-market consumer toy product." 

"Importantly for us this includes our customers being able to use their existing slot cars without any costly, or indeed complicated, modifications or upgrades," adds Scalextric Product Development Manager, Darren Nye. "So instead of having a toy that plugs into an app, we have an app that plugs into an existing much-loved toy to make it even more fun and exciting to use."

Nye adds: "I also have to commend Nordic Semiconductor for the way in which they have supported us throughout the product development process. As a toy manufacturer, we are not used to designing high technology products and none of our engineers came from an electronics engineering background. So at first the idea of adding Bluetooth Smart functionality to our Scalextric slot-car range was a very challenging and ambitious project for us.

"But with Nordic's support and the obvious technological investment the company has made in minimizing unnecessary complexity when implementing Nordic's Bluetooth Smart and 2.4GHz wireless chip solutions, we have succeeded in making Scalextric slot-car racing even more fun and exciting than ever before." 

"There are few market segments more cost sensitive than the toy industry," summarizes Geir Langeland, Nordic Semiconductor's Director of Sales & Marketing, "and few segments more able to benefit from the fun, simplicity, and freedom that wireless connectivity can create. 

"And with the advent of Bluetooth Smart technology, it has never been easier to develop wireless toys at mass-market price points by leveraging the computing power, user interface, and display simplicity of an every-increasing number of Bluetooth Smart Ready smartphones and tablets that consumers will already own and so can use and enjoy at no extra cost. And that's a win-win for both the toy industry and consumers." 

Scalextric RCSTM will be available later this year and available from all major toy retailers worldwide or direct from Scalextric at www.scalextric.com/RCS.