This is the droid you’re looking for

The new must-have gadget is not the latest smartphone, but a cute Star Wars inspired robot.

The BB-8 droid is made by Sphero, which has made several cool whizzy robots before, including the Ollie, but this one has the world’s biggest movie franchise behind it.

It is about 10cm tall and is controlled by an iPhone or Android smartphone.

Because the BB-8 is similar to one of its existing robots, it only took the company a day to build a working prototype.

The robot can go up to 8kmh and the smartphone controller, which uses a virtual joystick, has a range of about 30m.

Other tricks include running away when you shout ‘‘it’s a trap’’.

There’s also a ‘‘patrol mode’’, where the BB-8 drives around by itself and attempts to learn the contours of the room it’s in. There aren’t any sensors built into the device, so it learns by bumping into things.

Then there’s a mock-hologram mode, a la R2D2 projecting Princess Leia in A New Hope. This works with ‘augmented reality’ – you point your phones camera towards the Sphero then on your phone’s screen you see it project a hologram. You can film the hologram yourself, or just get it to show you an X-Wing.

It has a magnetic, detachable head, which swivels around and tries to always stay on top of the the ball and gives it a personality.

BB-8 costs $280 and is available from Mighty Ape.