Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve been following Technabob for a while, you might remember the Blockcar – a LEGO-style remote-controlled car from Japan. Well here we are a couple of years older and wiser, another brick-building car has surfaced – this time with iOS R/C capabilities.

These UTICO vehicle kits come with all of the bricks you need to assemble a pre-designed car or minibus. While they’re not official LEGO blocks, these snap-together R/C toys still look like they could be fun to play with.

Just because they come in specific kits for each vehicle doesn’t mean you couldn’t build something else with them – like a hot dog or a chicken on wheels or something.

Each kit comes with a USB-rechargeable motorized base platform, along with an infrared dongle you can plug into iPhones or iPads with the 30-pin docking connector. It looks like later-model iDevices won’t be able to control these at this point.

The R/C Brick Car is available from Japan’s JTT for ¥3,980 (~$43 USD).

You see free Wi-Fi stations all over the place these days, but when was the last time you saw a free ‘No Wi-Fi’ zone? Probably never, if you haven’t been down to Amsterdam lately. Instead of offering free Wi-Fi for bystanders and on-the-go passersby, Kit Kat’s station blocks all sorts of wireless signals instead.

If you’re the type who spends every waking moment on Facebook or Twitter, then you should make your way to this no Wi-Fi zone once in a while and take a break from all that madness of the online world. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay connected, but if you stop living in the real world and begin to ‘live’ more online, then you’ve got a problem.

Kit Kat’s ‘No Wi-Fi’ campaign was thought up by advertising agency JWT Amsterdam and was designed by Kyoko Takeshita.

[via Pop Up City]

If you spent the rest of your day putting your skull back together after seeing Gyuta K.’s LEGO Eva Gundam, brace yourself. Because as it turns out, he has an earlier project so awesome it will beam saber your brain to bits. It’s a LEGO action figure of the White Devil, the RX-78-2 Gundam.

Like many action figures, this LEGO Gundam has several points of articulation, making it quite poseable. And like many LEGO creations, the Gundam has swappable parts, including two different chests. One chest has a cockpit for a minifig Amuro Ray while the other transforms into the FF-X7 Core Fighter. I think I just saw parts of your cerebellum drip out of your nose.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to de-blow your minds. You see, Gyuta K. uploaded the pictures and details of his masterpiece on MOCPages way back in 2010. I know what you’re thinking – LEGO Cuusoo! Gyuta K. did submit a proposal to LEGO’s website, but it was rejected “for not following the Guidelines.” I guess it was just too badass to be mass-produced. Activate your Newtype powers and fly to Gyuta K.’s MOCPages page to see more of the action figure.

[via MOCPages & Gundam Guy via Nerd Approved]

If you’re a big fan of the Skylanders video game and collectible toy franchise, Activision has announced a new game is coming this fall. The new game is called Skylanders SWAP Force. The game will feature 16 new characters that will be on display at the Toy Fair 2013 in New York this month.

The coolest feature of the new game in the franchise is that the player can customize the accompanying action figures. Each of the 16 action figures that go along with the new  game has the ability to be separated into top and bottom halves. Those halves can then be interchanged, creating custom action figures with custom powers and abilities. In addition to the 16 swappable characters, the game will feature 16 new Skylanders, and 16 upgraded versions of classic characters.

SWAP Force will see players starting a new adventure in the mysterious Cloudbreak Islands. These islands are the home of a volcano that erupts every 100 years replenishing the magic in the Skylands. The special characters in the game were once blown apart by the volcano and left with special abilities, including the ability to empty your kids’ piggy banks.

The game is expected to be coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U later this year.

If you live in the area where Taiwanese artist Shu-Chun Hsiao set up his latest project, then you might be wondering why various locations have real and physical Google’s Maps icons plastered prominently on their walls or doors.

Wait a while, smell the flowers, and watch the birds, and you’ll have your answer.

These Google Maps icons aren’t just pieces of pop art based on the search giant’s popular maps application. They’re actually birdhouses that I’m sure birds of the right size will find a pleasure to live in.

Hsiao explains: “The project is aiming to put numbers of birdhouses all over the city for bird to accommodate. The iconic symbol will become a navigating landmark for the flying birds. Birds, have the most real experience of Google map. Birds can fly through the city, through streets. A birdhouse becomes their destination as Google Map(s) does.”

I’d like to have one for my house, please and thank you very much.

What do you think about Hsiao’s project?

[via Freshome via Laughing Squid]