Hasta La Gadget!

Toy Fair is that rare trade show where one feels less like an industry drone and more like Tom Hanks in Big. Here are the ten best things from today’s show. Yes, Zoltan!

The Original, Classic Neon Super Soaker 50: It’s Back

This is What G.I. Joe Looks Like Now

Vex Walker Inspired By Terrifyingly Beautiful Beach Walkers

Nerf N-Force Swords Deliver Solid Smiting Without the Fleshwounds

Star Wars Force Trainer Brains On: Is The Force With Me?

How Long Is 5 Seconds?

Short Round and Sean Connery’s Papa Jones are My New Favorite Lego Minifigs

Taste Test: Yummy Dough Edible Play-doh

Gallery: Toys That Will Make Your Children Fat

Toy Fair Action Figure Gallery: Start Your Salival Glands

We’ve seen plenty of teensy speakers setups for phones, some wired, some Bluetooth, but the beauty of modu is that in this case, the speakers become the phone. Slip modu into this “music jacket” built by PCH International and you get some surprisingly good sound out of the stereo JBL Odyssey speakers, a quality speakerphone setup, and a regular (if incredibly fat) handset experience to boot. The phone side of the device includes a 2.2-inch display and a 3 megapixel camera with flash, and there’s a funky “digital sound meter” for visualizing your noise. The jacket will be available later this year; no word on price, but we expect it will stick with the modu trend of “cheap.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

modu music jacket with JBL turns your mini-phone into a mini-boombox originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It is more than just a bit quirky, but I could understand how the Sanyo people back in the 1970’s might have thought that washing machines made to bathe humans would be a natural progression in technology. To make everything automatic was a goal back in the day, hence the bathing chamber called Ultrasonic Bath. Sanyo showcased the curious contraption during the 1970 Osaka World Expo along with other appliances the company thought would be a common fixture in modern homes.

A user would have to climb into the contraption, the process beginning with a pre-rinse cycle by a five minute water jet spray, followed by a three minute massage bath that fills the chamber with hot water. Golf-ball sized massage balls pelt the body during the massage process, combined with pressure jets made by a whirlpool. Next, a wave generator creates bubbles to wash off dirt, followed by a rinse cycle and a “5-minute dry cycle blast” that makes use of infrared and ultraviolet light. Knowing all that and realizing how much energy might go into each use, you’d have to wonder how hard Sanyo thought it was just to take a bath the old way.

Its TouchWiz implementation is still a little raw — first time they’ve done this on S60, so we’ll cut them some slack — but otherwise, we’re seriously stoked by everything we’ve seen of the OmniaHD this week. The display simply has to be seen to be believed, clocking in at a breathtaking 3.7 inches — and we noticed that it has a rather uncanny capability for washing out any other display within striking distance. Check out this Memoir here, held side-by-side for comparison: taken alone, the thing has a gorgeous display, but it pales in comparison to that glorious AMOLED alongside (also notice how the already-large Memoir gets dwarfed by the OmniaHD’s massive package). Despite its size, the phone was comfortable in the hand — and even in its rickety pre-beta state, the firmware was really flying through crazy 3D transitions, so we’re hopeful that this is going to be one of the most desirable phones of the year when it hits. Follow the break for a video tour of the interface!

Continue reading Samsung OmniaHD hands-on, now with more TouchWiz

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Samsung OmniaHD hands-on, now with more TouchWiz originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is this for reals? If so… yay! If the above screenshot of a Toys R Us terminal is to be believed, there might be a new, red Xbox 360 Elite on its way to a shelf near you. Details beyond the SKU are pretty scant, but the price is the same as the current Xbox 360 Elite model — $399. We know a certain, fashion-conscious avatar who is going to be really excited if this is true.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Totally rad, red Xbox 360 spied in Toys R Us fine print originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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