Modern smartphones now have a huge range of applications that can be downloaded to them, and we are now seeing an increasing amount of other products that can be controlled by the devices in our pockets. We now have news of the Lego Mindstorms EV3 toy robot kit that will be available for owners of Android and iOS devices.

The company has now revealed a new generation of MindStorms, which is the famous company’s robotics range that is aimed at providing application programming to younger users. The idea is to connect software programming with real world physical actions.

This new kit from the company features directions for up to seventeen different robots that mainly resemble animals such as snakes and scorpions. The range has been around for a number of years now but this latest version is the first time that owners can program straight onto the new EV3 Intelligent pack, where before they could only program the robots via the computer before running an app through the robot.

Using the Intelligent Brick users can add or even change actions or commands straight from it, which will appeal to younger users as well as robotics enthusiasts. Younger users can make use of the simple block by block interface that will help them learn the basics of programming, while other users can debug programs without the need of a computer.

The MindStorms EV3 kit also brings an infrared sensor to the package as well that gives the robots the ability to see and detect various objects, and it uses a Linux based firmware that also has USB and SD ports. This firmware will have integration with Android and iOS straight out of the box as well as 3D virtual instructional guide that is available on the iPad.

Lego’s new kit will be available during the second half of this year with a recommended retail price of $349.99. Do you use the Lego MindStorms range?