Because dogs don’t have to deal with work, other people and taking care of dogs, you can’t always match your pet’s enthusiasm and energy. But you can’t just leave your buddy hanging right? That’s why Grant and Denny Hamill invented the iFetch. Contrary to its name, this device throws balls for pets to fetch. And as far as some dogs are concerned, that’s all you’re good for anyway.
I first saw the Sphero robotic ball about 2 years ago at CES, but I never really got a chance to play with one hands-on until now. When I first saw it in action, all I wanted to say was “Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.” This little orb is packed with cool technology that lets you use it as a remote-control vehicle, a game controller, and tech toy/plaything.
Made by Orbotix, the Sphero itself is a durable polycarbonate-shelled orb which fits nicely in the palm of your hand. This is no accident, since this makes it work perfectly as a controller or plaything itself when it’s not rolling around on the floor. Inside of the ball are its brains, wireless circuit, motion sensors, motors, a small rechargeable battery and multicolor LEDs.
The spherical robot is capable of traversing a variety of surfaces, including hardwood floors, tile, grass, concrete and low-pile carpet (it has a hard time on thicker carpets). It’s even waterproof, so you can drive it around in the bathtub or in a puddle. To juice up the Sphero, simply set it in its inductive charging cradle, and it’ll go for up to an hour on a single charge.
You control the Sphero using either iOS or Android apps, which range from the main Sphero R/C controller app to games, interactive toys, augmented reality and macro programming apps. The library of Sphero apps continues to grow too, since there’s a full Sphero API and SDK available for developers to make their own applications. Many of the current apps are free, while the few that cost money sell for $1.99 or less.
Playing with Sphero is a blast, and it’s stupid-simple to use. Simply pair it with your Bluetooth device, load up an app of your choice, orient the Sphero properly and start playing. It’ll operate at distances up to about 50 feet from your device. Setting the Sphero’s orientation is simple. Just place the ball on the ground and use two fingers to maneuver its secondary blue “tail” LED to point towards you. If you should pick up and move the Sphero, you can do this again in a jiffy.
The main Sphero app is a great place to start, as it lets you drive the Sphero and play with its colors with ease. You can choose from a touch-based or motion-based control scheme, as well as several pre-set macros for things like circles, Figure 8′s and a flashing light show.
The Sphero app can also capture stills or video of your escapades and save them to your device.
And if you log into the Sphero ecosystem, you can record fun achievements, track stats and compete with others for Sphero supremacy.
I tried out just about every Sphero app I could find on the iTunes App Store, and here are my personal favorites: 1) ColorGrab – a frustrating, but fun multiplayer game in which players must quickly pick up the Sphero when its flashing in a specified color; 2) Draw & Drive – which lets you simply draw a path for your Sphero to follow; 3) Etch-o-Matic – this turns your Sphero into the controller for an Etch-a-Sketch inspired drawing pad; and 4) Sharky – an augmented reality app which turns your Sphero into a funny looking beaver that you flick virtual cupcakes at. It’s completely silly, but a fun tech demo.
The hacker in me got the most joy out of the MacroLab app, which lets you create complex programming sequences for the Sphero, adjusting all of its available parameters. These include movement, rotation, light color, speed, and basic programming constructs like delays and loops. The only thing I wish is that you could take your saved macros and load them into the main Sphero application for playback. Apparently, the Android version can even control multiple Spheros at the same time.
If you and your friends have more than one Sphero, they can be independently controlled for races, running obstacle courses, or even for playing Sphero miniature golf (which can also be played solo).
All in all, I really have had a good time playing with the Sphero, and I can only imagine that kids and geeks of all ages would get a kick out of having one. It’s also great for tormenting your pets. The fact that it’s programmable and has a software development community means that even if you get bored with it for a little while, there will be more apps coming down the pike to give it new life. And if you’re a real tinkerer, you can even make your own apps.
Sphero sells for $129.99(USD) over on the Sphero website, and is also available from a number of retailers both online and offline.
Disclosure: Orbotix provided the Sphero for review in this article. However, all reviews are the unbiased views of our editorial staff, and we will only recommend products or services we have used personally, and believe will be good for our readers.
This unique ball turns the beautiful game into the energy-generating game. Made by a small company called Uncharted Play, the Soccket is a football that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. In other words, you get electricity simply by playing with it.
As you roll and bounce Soccket around, a pendulum inside it cranks a small generator, which in turn is connected to a small battery. I wouldn’t be surprised if a typical hand-cranked generator can convert energy more efficiently, but of course that’s not as fun to use as the Soccket.
The Soccket weighs 17 oz., just 1 oz. heavier than a normal football. Aside from its power generating capability, the Soccket is also water-resistant, is airless and will never deflate.
Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Soccket. As of now, the electricity stored within the ball can only be used by one device – the complementary LED lamp. But Uncharted Play did say that they’ll come up with more complementary gadgets as well as a USB adapter if Soccket reaches its goal on Kickstarter. Can you imagine if all kinds of sporting balls in the world had a generator inside? We would hate ball games. Just kidding.
These days, having a small, handy speaker to carry with you is pretty convenient – especially when you want to share your music or watch a video with your friends, without having to rely on the paltry integrated speakers on your tablet or smartphone. These portable speakers come in all shapes and sizes, but this is definitely one of the more unusual designs I’ve seen.
The orb-shaped BALLO speaker was designed by the Swiss firm Bernhard Burkard for Hong Kong-based OYO – Objects You Obsess. It has a built-in rechargeable battery and works with most devices that can play audio thanks to its 3.5mm jack. The design is pretty minimal, and it has a colorful belt that joins the two hemispheres of the spherical speaker. The shape and perforated surface reminds me of the tip of an old-school microphone.
BALLO is available in ten different colors, and it costs about $30(USD). It can be ordered directly from OYO.
[via NOTCOT]
From the day that Star Wars came out, I always thought R2-D2 looked like a trashcan on wheels. So an R2-D2 trashcan makes sense as a mechandising tie-in. On the other hand, I never really pictured R2 as an orb. But that didn’t stop Underground Toys from making him into one.
This literal oddball features what looks like the unholy spawn of R2-D2 and Wheatley, with its googly cyclops eye staring back at you. This plush R2-D2 ball even “talks” – whatever that means. I’m guessing that it just beeps like this guy, since the little maintenance droid never uttered an word of English in its life.
If you’re ready to play with your balls, then head on over to BigBadToyStore now, where you can pre-order the R2-D2 Talking Plush Ball for $19.99(USD), where you can also find plush ball versions of Yoda, Chewie and the Dark Lord himself.
[via R2D2Central]
You remember Sphero, right? Last we checked in with its creators from Orbotix at E3, the $130 robotic ball was getting ready to act as a 3D controller and the guide point for an Augmented Reality Engine. This week, along with the release of a firmware upgrade, a few new free apps have been released, including two that’ll let you use that 3D controller functionality. Better yet, Orbotix has given us a sneak peek at the progress it’s made on the AGR since we last checked it out. Join us past the break if you’re curious to find out more.
Filed under: Misc, Gaming, Peripherals
Sphero gets a firmware upgrade and new apps, we get another look at its Augmented Reality Engine (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Usually, cars don’t explode in a huge ball of fire, as Michael Bay wants you to believe. Unless you are at the Kashira highway in Moscow, Russia, just like these guys. More »
When it comes professional soccer around the world, FIFA is the league where most of the major teams play. It’s not uncommon for the referees to have a difficult time calling a goal during a match because it can be hard to determine when the ball passes the goal line. FIFA has just approved a new high-tech soccer ball that will eliminate any misunderstandings when it comes to scoring a goal or not.
The ball itself looks normal on the outside, but has bands of copper sensors on the inside that wrap completely around the ball. When a player kicks the ball through the goal, as soon as the entire ball crosses the goal line antennas mounted to the goal pick up the score. A light on a watch worn by officials then comes on to signify the score.
It’s not clear at this point when the ball will make its first appearance in a professional soccer match. However, this technology should easily end any arguments about whether or not the goal was good down at the pub.
This miniature Death Star is the ultimate power of the table tennis universe. That’s right, this Death Star was actually created by carving a ping pong ball.
It was created by a forum user named tatumaru5963. I’m not sure what went into to making it since Google Translate kinda sucks, but it does look pretty amazing. There are some images that show a few of the steps necessary to create this thing though and judging by those images, this must have taken quite a while.
This space station is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes. All I can say is that this guy has some serious knife skills to build this thing with such precision. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.
[via Geekologie]
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