Hasta La Gadget!

Interactive Toy is back at CES, bless its heart. This year the company has topped its Duck Hunter game, which proved a pretty big splash at the show a couple of years back. How does one top a thing, you ask? Simple–add a shotgun.

The latest version of the Duck Hunter game–Duck Hunter: Launch and Load–features a small orange shotgun that, cleverly, actually launches the little duck toy itself. Once launched, the duck will flap around a bit, until, hopefully, you get a good clean shot with the gun.

Duck Hunter: Launch and Load is due out this fall for $34.99. It’s recommended for ages eight and up–but really, is it ever too young to start shooting fake animals?

We’ve been seeing supposed iPad 2 cases for about a month now, all of them with the same telltale cutouts: a camera hole in the back, a camera hole in the front, and a big ol’ speaker hole. Today’s find beats them all, however: we just found a case with a machined aluminum iPad 2 mockup inside. Dexim is the eager exhibitor, with an actually very intriguing case design involving a Bluetooth keyboard that magnetically adheres to the front cover of the book-like sleeve, allowing for a laptop-style setup, or a keyboard-free case when you want to shave a few ounces. It was so intriguing that we asked to put our own iPad inside, which is when we were told it wouldn’t fit, since the case was designed for the next iPad. Indeed, the mockup that we found inside the case was a tad bit slimmer than the first-gen iPad, with a taper leading to the edges that reminds us of the iPod touch, and a home button positioned nearer the bottom edge. We found all the typical cutouts on the case, and their mirror on the machined mockup, including a large square for the speaker.

So, what does it all mean? Well, there’s certainly a consistent iPad 2 make that these Chinese manufacturers seem to be designing against, and while there’s always the off chance that their info is wrong, it seems odd they’d go so far as to actually make the cases if they were unsure about their sources. It also means a slimmer iPad with cameras and a bigger speaker, which is never a bad thing. Check the pictures in the gallery below and make up your own mind.

iPad 2 case shows up at CES, packing a mockup iPad 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A guy standing in front of me at the Black & Decker table said the words “finally, a sexy paper shredder.” The woman behind the table didn’t disagree. So there you have it, the company’s iShred Verticle may be the first paper shredder that can be accurately described as such.

The iShred has a fully enclosed shredder head, does six sheet crosscut, shreds stuff really small for security purposes, has easy emptying, and something the company calls “100 percent jam-free technology.” The thing can take on credit cards and staples and keeps it all at a noise level of 68dB and under.

The iShred runs $99.99. A small price for sexy shredding right?

Texting while driving is deadly, for serious. But, letting someone else read to you is rather less risky, and talking isn’t so bad either — in moderation, anyway. Bring those two together and you have OnStar‘s solution, an upcoming Bluetooth app that will read text messages and status updates to you and, somewhat more interestingly, lets you speak a custom message that will be transcribed to your recipient. Fascinating? Absolutely, but we can’t wait to hear what sort of fun and cheeky mistranslations come out of that feature. You can also post voice messages to Facebook and say things like “call back” to return a call. The app is, as of now, intended for Android devices only and is set to hit the Market sometime in the first half of the year, and at least initially it’ll only work on cars that have Bluetooth or those equipped with the company’s new aftermarket mirror, though you’ll have to be paid up on your OnStar dues if you want to use it. Full details in the PR after the break.

Continue reading OnStar announces Bluetooth voice app, reads your Facebook messages to you

OnStar announces Bluetooth voice app, reads your Facebook messages to you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want OnStar? Sure, why not, the company fields over three million calls a month from six million mostly from satisfied customers. But, until now, that blue button has only been able to be pressed by those who own General Motors cars. Now it’s spreading out to just about anyone, 99 percent of cars will be able to be supported by the new OnStar mirror, which the company is simply calling its “retail product.” For $299 (plus installation) you get a replacement mirror that will wirelessly connect you to the OnStar service. It also has Bluetooth, so it can connect to your smartphone, but we’re guessing many cars won’t be able to have their doors unlocked remotely, what is surely OnStar’s killer app. Quite naturally you’ll need to pay up to use it, service fees currently going at $18.95 a month, or $199 annually. Best Buy will be the exclusive partner here, which is perhaps bad news if you’ve read the horror stories about what sometimes happens in those blue and yellow stereo install bays.

OnStar showed off its ability by having mirrors installed in a variety of vehicles, ranging from a Camry to a Grand Marquis — hot cars they’re not but a pretty effective demonstration of the range of applicability here. GM also took this opportunity to show off the latest revision of its two-wheeled EN-V, which we’ll be taking for a spin a little later this week. All that fun is captured in the galleries below.

Continue reading OnStar announces a blue button for any car, Best Buy handling the installs

OnStar announces a blue button for any car, Best Buy handling the installs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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