Control BB-8 droid toy using the force

A Star Wars toy that was one of the UK’s most popular Christmas presents has been revamped with a twist — you can now control it with The Force.

Sphero, the firm behind the toy of BB-8 — a droid in The Force Awakens — has updated the toy so that push and pull gestures propel it using a Bluetooth link to a wristband, known as the Force Band.

Sphero senior director Claire Tindall said the firm was mentored by Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, who “showed the team secret images from the set and asked if we could make the consumer version.

"It was somewhat of a game of 20 questions, they were very secretive with a lot of those details.”

Netflix is live in 190 countries, the online streaming service’s chief executive has revealed.

Reed Hastings told CES that Netflix has launched in more than 130 new countries and aims to reach 200 by the end of this year.