Hasta La Gadget!

You may recall ThinkGeek’s pretty convincing April Fools’ prank last year: the iCade cabinet for the iPad. Now, thanks to the keen beans at Ion, the two companies held hands and turned this totally rad concept into reality (although they’re definitely not the first). Come late spring, retro gaming enthusiasts will be able to pick up one of these well-built Bluetooth joystick kits for $99 direct from Ion, and eventually they’ll make it across the pond for about €99 and £79. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of classic games available to suit the iCase courtesy of Atari, who’s already got Asteroids working beautifully on the iPad (and it’s actually a lot harder than it looks); any iOS game that takes a Bluetooth input peripheral should also play nice with the iCade. Hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Ion iCade hands-on: gaming on the iPad like it’s 1979 (video)

Ion iCade hands-on: gaming on the iPad like it’s 1979 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Withings Smart Baby Monitor almost makes it worth having a baby, just so you can play with it. The cute white block goes way further than the traditional dumb walkie-talkie style monitors of old. In fact, it’s almost like a remote control for your kid.

Fold the cube open and you’ll see the main meat of the device: a 3MP video camera, with infra-red LED lamp for night-vision. This and a microphone beam sounds and pictures to your smartphone or computer so you can spy on junior (or at least check that he’s doing OK). There’s also a speaker so you can soothe him back to sleep without leaving the sofa and that glass of whisky you’re nursing. You can pipe music to the speakers, too, to soothe baby to sleep.

The monitor also has an array of sensors to check temperature, humidity and movement, and you can set an alarm to alert you if any of these go out of a range of your choosing. The monitor hooks up to the phone via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or even a wire.

The Withings Smart Baby Monitor will be in stores this March, price tba.

Smart Baby Monitor [Withings]

See Also:

• Biceps-On: Withings Blood Pressure Monitor for iPhone, iPad …
• Smart Scale Crunches Numbers to Keep You Thin

LAS VEGAS — Xpand’s new universal 3D glasses not only adjust to suit the 3DTV you want to use them with: they also adjust to suit you. Dubbed “Youniversal”, the specs come in a range of sizes and can be further tweaked to change a numer of parameters.

Like other Xpand 3D glasses, these can be set to sync with any television that uses active-shutter 3D, and work with Bluetooth, RF, infra-red and DLP-link connections. Unlike other specs, these come with a companion smartphone app to tailor them for your eyes only.

Choose black, gray or red frames, and from two sizes, and fire up the app. You can adjust the glasses according to ambient brightness, whether you’re wearing prescription lenses already, and also the amount of the 3D effect – from in-your-face Jaws 3D-style to subtle Pixar’s Day & Night-style.

I like the look of these specs. They’re actually very similar to my everyday glasses. I do wonder how long it will take to get the ultimate in personalized 3D specs: prescription lenses.

Available April, price yet to be announced (but probably more than the regular $130 Xpand glasses).

Youniversal product page [Xpand via Harry McCracken]

See Also:

• Goofy Glasses Hold Key to 3-D's Future
• One Pair of 3-D Glasses to Bind Them All
• 3-D Tabletop Display Gets Rid of the Glasses

Talk about a long wait. Razer’s Chimaera — which first popped onto our radar in prototype form here in Vegas a year ago — is finally shipping to end users. That’s according to staff at the company’s booth today at CES, who seemed quite pleased that they could change their answer when asked about it from eager (read: impatient) customers. The website still hasn’t been updated, but the 5.1 channel surround sound headset ($199.99) should be more widely available to purchase soon. Also, a 2.1 version will be on sale for $129.99, rocking a fairly similar design and charging station. For those needing a refresher, this is a wireless Xbox 360 headset, complete with an equalizer, audio out jacks (on the station) and a flip-down microphone. Have a peek at the gallery below, and feel free to start checking your doorstep at an unhealthy clip.

Razer Chimaera emerges at CES 2011, starts shipping to consumers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The urge to kill a chicken is surprisingly strong when operating in the dead space between sleep deprivation and a caffeinated buzz of hyper alertness. The fact that the beast is giant and in space makes it downright compulsive especially when given the opportunity to team up in combat with Max Planck over an 802.11n WiFi Direct connection… without an access point and without any lag. This isn’t your father’s Bluetooth connection, son. See the carnage go down after the break.

Continue reading WiFi Direct helps you kill space chickens without an access point (hands-on)

WiFi Direct helps you kill space chickens without an access point (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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