Hasta La Gadget!

Ready to have your mind blown? Good, then sit down for a moment: we’re hearing from a trusted source that the thoroughly-leaked Motorola Droid 2 for Verizon will be launching on August 12 — although it seems to be something of a soft launch, because marketing efforts aren’t scheduled to kick in until a week and a half later on the 23rd. What’s even more interesting, though, is that there’ll be a Star Wars edition of the phone launching with a white R2-D2 on the back. For the record, this isn’t the first time Verizon has toyed with the Droid line’s Star Wars origins; Motorola actually had to license the name from Lucasfilm, and to promote the original phone, Big Red sent around remote-control Artoos last year to various media outlets. What we don’t know is whether the special edition will be launching at the same time as the stock version — so if the plain-vanilla Droid 2 comes out first, that might automatically make the decision of which to buy for some folks. What about you?

[Thanks, RBF]

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Droid 2 launching as soon as August 12, embraces Star Wars roots with R2-D2 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The folks behind Star Wars want you to know that Wicked Lasers are not lightsabers, no matter what you might hear. Lucasfilms, which, let’s face it, has always been eager to pursue legal action when it comes to protecting its trademarks (particularly those of the “Star Wars” variety), has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wicked Lasers, asking the company to either change or halt production of its Spyder III Pro Arctic Series.

As any properly opportunistic business would, Wicked Lasers has taken the opportunity to use the potential suit to promote its product, sending out a press release titled “Lucasfilms Ltd. Sues Wicked Lasers Over Lightsaber Confusion.” According to Wicked Lasers, the company “has never compared this or any of his products to the Jedi weapon wielded by Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader–not to mention the other obvious differences between the two products.”

What “obvious differences,” you ask? Well, there’s the fact that the lightsaber is a terrific tool for beheading Sith and Jedi alike, whereas the Spyder III couldn’t scramble an egg. That said, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit filed by the company that owns the trademark to Jedi Mind Tricks.

If there’s validity to a suit, it’s not in the use of names (which Wicked Lasers seems to largely avoid) so much as in the product design. As evidenced by the above picture, there is something pretty lightsabery in the design of the device’s handle.

Poor George Lucas just wants to let the world know that these are not the lasers they’re looking for.

What does an AT-AT do when it’s not advancing over the icy wastes of Hoth or crushing trees and blasting stupid teddy-bears on the forest moon of Endor? Why, it chases dogs, sniffs fire-hydrants and drops dog-eggs on the sidewalk, just like any other four-legged pet, of course.

This fantastic video by Patrick Boivin, entitled AT-AT Day Afternoon, shows a day in the life of a pet AT-AT. It’s a little too full of schoolboy humor, but the Jabba gag is priceless. Best of all, it’s only a minute long, so you have no excuse not to quickly brighten your day. I wish my brother’s toy AT-AT had been this much fun, instead of just collecting dust and filling up the toy-box.

AT-AT Day Afternoon [YouTube via Geekologie]

See Also:

• AT-AT Table Invades Your Living Room

We guess TomTom was listening when we said it had to respond to Nokia’s Own Voice app for custom turn-by-turn navigation instructions, as the Dutch company has announced a new Darth Vader voice pack. Following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Homer Simpson and Burt Reynolds, the Sith Lord has contributed his vocal stylings to the cause of guiding the lost and confused down the right path. Though it wasn’t without hiccups — check out the video after the break for the recording session — the pack is now complete and ready for download, provided you have $13 handy to smooth the transaction. Yoda, C3PO and Han Solo packs are set to follow in the coming months. May the farce be with you.

Continue reading TomTom strikes back with Darth Vader voice pack (video)

TomTom strikes back with Darth Vader voice pack (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 03:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geeks, get out your plastic. The designers at Mimobot have dipped into the Star Wars well once again, and the fifth series of its Star Wars line of USB Flash drives looks extremely cool.

The stormtrooper Mimobot, you see, comes with a removable helmet. You won’t know if you’ve got Luke in disguise or Han in disguise until you remove it. How cool is that?

Other figures in the series include R2-D2 (finally!), Obi-Wan, and a Jawa. Each one comes loaded with desktop wallpapers, icons, avatars, and screensavers (they’re Flash drives, after all), and they come in 2GB to 16GB capacities. Prices start at $29.95.