Who would have suspected that the hot toy of 2009 would be a robotic hamster?

If you’re not under 12, or a parent, the combination of cute, cuddly, and well, robotics might seem a bit alien. But kids have apparently been flocking to Zhu Zhu Pets (beware of the music!), a line of $10 robotic hamsters that roam through plastic tunnels, down slides and ramps, and power hamster balls.

Their appeal can apparently be summed up best by Cepia, the small American toy company that has imported them from China: “The best alternatives to real live hamsters, Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters don`t poop, die, or stink, but they are still a riot of motion and sound.”

While it’s unclear how many Zhu Zhu Pets have actually sold, the National Retail Federation highlighted the toys as one of the most popular sales items over the Thanksgiving holiday. Time to Play Magazine lists them as its top editor’s pick for girl’s toys.

So far, a quick scan of retailers’ Web sites seems to bear that out. Every item in the Zhu Zhu category is sold out on ToysRUs.com, while the “Squiggles” hamster – normally $9.99 on ToysRUs.com – is priced at a whopping $62.99 on Amazon.com, compliments of a partner, Begum.com. However, they’re also listed as “in stock”.

Documents uncovered in Apple’s ongoing litigation show Psystar told investors it would sell millions of Mac clones by 2011. In reality, it sold 768 in the last year.

Despite the distant memory that is film for most people, most DSLRs have plenty in common with their film-based ancestors, at least when it comes to form factor. Not this Nova DSLR concept. Conceived by Erin Fong, the idea is to allow for all sorts of hand holds thanks to the dual movable arms, and the controls at the fingertips seems surprisingly convenient. We’re sure there are all sorts of technical limitations holding something like this back, but after suffering severe kitted-out DSLR fatigue on multiple occasions, we could really get into something that makes a bit better use of how we regularly hold our non-imaging devices. Now if someone would just clean that lens already!

Continue reading Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring

Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A little bit of emulation is a basic rite of passage for a modern day device that allows open software development, and the N900 is no different. We first saw the device rocking some SNES way back in September, but apparently Nokia couldn’t pass up an opportunity to demonstrate the phone’s prowess and put up its own video of a few emulators in action. Unfortunately, while emulators are completely legal, the ROMs that run on them are rarely legit, and despite Nokia’s odd assertion in the video that “most publishers allow individual title usage provided that the user is in possession of the original title,” the phone giant has since pulled the video from the internets, and Nintendo is reportedly looking into the matter. Of course, N900 emulatin’ is still easy to come by from third parties — check one out after the break.

[Thanks, Nirvan]

Continue reading Nokia shows off SNES on N900, quickly thinks better of it

Nokia shows off SNES on N900, quickly thinks better of it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the Android Two Point Oh Oh Oh edition. True, all the fireworks from Android 2.0 and Google Navigation almost takes the boom out of everybody else’s apps, but with new definitive Twitter and running apps, it’s a good month.

To see the gallery on a single page, click here.

Other Android App News

•Android 2.0 Full Review
• Google Maps Navigation
• Mikandi: The World’s First Porn App Store for Android
• Higher Res Qik Video Streaming With Droid
• Gameloft Scales Back on Android Development (Then It Doesn’t)
• How to Make That iPhone-to-Android Switch
• A New Layer That’ll Make You Sick (By Tracking Government Bailout Dollars)
• Android’s Conquering the Mobile Internets (With iPhone)
• Google Navigation for 1.6 Devices
• Chrome OS and Android Are Coming Together, One Day
• Sergey Carries a Droid, Wears Footies
• Sony Ericsson’s Custom Nexus Interface Hands On
• Vimeo Works Better on Android Now

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this month, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here. See ya next month.