Nov 02

Sphero goes up for pre-order, ready to roll its way into your heart

Posted in: augmented reality, AugmentedReality, hands-on, minipost, remote, Today's Chili, toy

Our favorite iOS / Android-controlled toy ball is coming soon to an annoyed cat near you. You can pre-order Sphero now for $130 through Amazon, and it’ll start shipping in December, just in time to remotely find its way into a stocking or two.

Sphero goes up for pre-order, ready to roll its way into your heart originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 17

Spyro figurines bridge the console divide, bring flame-grilled peace to the world

Posted in: 3ds, gaming, ios, nintendo 3ds, Nintendo3ds, peripheral, playstation 3, Playstation3, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video, wii, xbox 360, Xbox360

Kids lacking the imagination to bring their own toys to life now have the option of letting a games console do it for them. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure has teleported into stores, boxed with three toy figures and a ‘portal device‘ that brings them to life in-game. The bundle totals up at $70, and Activision is billing it as the “first true cross-platform game”, with the toys playing nice across Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 3DS and iOS versions. The statuettes, which connect to the portal peripheral through embedded RFID tags, also store game data across platforms. The business plan presumably involves groups of kids investing in Spyro’s latest yarn and swapping characters amongst themselves, while holding onto their own precious in-game achievements. If your little brother has trouble trading with friends who couldn’t care less about the antics of lava-belching monsters, they can always can stump up an extra $8 for new figures. Click ‘Read more’ for some explanatory cartoon violence.

Continue reading Spyro figurines bridge the console divide, bring flame-grilled peace to the world

Spyro figurines bridge the console divide, bring flame-grilled peace to the world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 14

CubeStormer II rocks a Samsung Galaxy S II, makes CubeStormer I look downright slothful (video)

Posted in: arm, lego, robot, samsung, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video

CubeStormer I was pretty cool, we guess, but that was way back in 2010. Now we’re all about CubeStormer II. Built by Mike Dobson and David Gilday, the puzzle-cracking robot is capable of solving Rubik’s Cubes at blazing fast speeds, shaving precious fractions of seconds off of human world records. The ‘bot was constructed from four Lego Mindstorms NXT kits, with our old pal the Samsung Galaxy S II serving as the its “brain.” CubeStormer will be making a public appearance at ARM TechCon 2011 in California, later this month (and really, the whole thing seems like a bit of an ad for ARM — albeit a really awesome one). In the meantime, check out some video of it in action after the break.

Continue reading CubeStormer II rocks a Samsung Galaxy S II, makes CubeStormer I look downright slothful (video)

CubeStormer II rocks a Samsung Galaxy S II, makes CubeStormer I look downright slothful (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 20

Desk Pets’ TankBot rolls out with Android and iOS support, is the tiny racer in your hand

Posted in: Android, app, Apple, application, GoogleAndroid, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, robot, Today's Chili, toy, video

Lonely and living in the city, but don’t have the patience or maturity for Man’s Best Friend? Well, you could always take a TankBot under your wing. Desk Pets’ palm-sized four-wheeler first whirred into our hands earlier this year at the International Toy Fair, promising a variety of play modes and iOS control. Now, the team behind the roving gizmo has finally released it to retailers’ shelves, tacking on a $25 price tag and adding Android compatibility. The mini-bot operates in a trio of configurations: an autonomous mode that makes use of its infrared sensors to navigate obstacles, a free-roaming option that’ll have it wandering aimlessly and, most importantly, a free mobile app that puts dual joystick control on your Apple device’s screen or universal remote (connected via headphone jack) for steering on an Android phone. Don’t expect to squeeze hours of fun out of this little tchotchke, though, as its retractable USB port only gets you about 15 minutes of gee whizzery. Skip past the break to watch a video demo of the lil’ guy en vivo.

Continue reading Desk Pets’ TankBot rolls out with Android and iOS support, is the tiny racer in your hand

Desk Pets’ TankBot rolls out with Android and iOS support, is the tiny racer in your hand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 13

My Keepon drops by for a brief hands-on, we can’t handle the cuteness (video)

Posted in: hands-on, Music, robot, RobotApocalypse, Today's Chili, toy, video
See that little dude up there? That’s My Keepon, and it should look familiar if you’re a fan of Spoon or keeping up with autism and related human interaction research. It was just about four years ago when we glimpsed the original dancing research robot by BeatBots dubbed Keepon, and now the $50 toy version we’d been teased is finally set to make its debut this holiday season. Considering its Pro sibling costs nearly $30k, we were curious to see how well this version made by Wow! Stuff would keep the original’s essence in tow. To find out, we spent some time with a pre-production unit and had Marek Michalowski, co-inventor of the robot, walk us through it.

Gallery: My Keepon hands-on

Continue reading My Keepon drops by for a brief hands-on, we can’t handle the cuteness (video)

My Keepon drops by for a brief hands-on, we can’t handle the cuteness (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Switched On: A toy for the smartphone gaming generation

Posted in: column, education, Games, mit, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video, Wireless

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The first thing worth noting about Sifteo Cubes — which recently became available for pre-order at $149 for a starter pack of three that should start shipping this month — is that they are not geometrically true to their name. Their square surfaces sit atop depths that are less than half their side length, so even stacking two Cubes won’t produce three-dimensional symmetry. They are a little smaller than the game pieces from the much more limited and less expensive Scrabble Flash digital letter-arranging game that was a hit last holiday season.

The pieces fit comfortably between two fingers for easy gripping, flipping and rearranging, which you’ll need to do a lot of in their various games. They are also a good size to substitute for many handheld playthings, reminding one of overstuffed Mahjongg tiles but also akin to shrunken toddlers’ alphabet blocks or playing cards. The sides and back are otherwise nondescript except for a set of contacts on their rear used for charging. Sifteo Cubes are charged via their tray, which showcases them through a translucent plastic top with room for three more Cubes at $45 each. Different games derive different levels of benefit from having more than three tiles, but most work fine with the starter set.

Continue reading Switched On: A toy for the smartphone gaming generation

Switched On: A toy for the smartphone gaming generation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 13

Sifteo intelligent cubes use NFC to interact with each other

Posted in: Gadgets, game, Games, nfc, Today's Chili, toy

A new gaming device has been revealed. No, it’s not another portable gaming console like the Nintendo DS or the Sony PSP, although it is indeed portable. The new gaming products that will be on everyone’s holiday list – both kids and adults alike – are called Sifteo cubes. This next-generation toy is actually made […]

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Aug 11

Researchers use children’s toy to exploit security hole in feds’ radios, eavesdrop on conversations

Posted in: radio, research, security, study, Today's Chili, toy
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a potentially major security flaw in the radios used by federal agents, as part of a new study that’s sure to raise some eyebrows within the intelligence community. Computer science professor Matt Blaze and his team uncovered the vulnerability after examining a set of handheld and in-car radios used by law enforcement officials in two, undisclosed metropolitan areas. The devices, which operate on a wireless standard known as Project 25 (P25), suffer from a relatively simple design flaw, with indicators and switches that don’t always make it clear whether transmissions are encrypted. And, because these missives are sent in segments, a hacker could jam an entire message by blocking just one of its pieces, without expending too much power. What’s really shocking, however, is that the researchers were able to jam messages and track the location of agents using only a $30 IM Me texting device, designed for kids (pictured above). After listening in on sensitive conversations from officials at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, Barnes and his team have called for a “substantial top-to-bottom redesign” of the P25 system and have notified the agencies in question. The FBI has yet to comment on the study, but you can read the whole thing for yourself, at the link below.

Researchers use children’s toy to exploit security hole in feds’ radios, eavesdrop on conversations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 11

MoleBot interactive gaming table hooks up with Kinect, puts Milton Bradley on watch (video)

Posted in: concept, gaming, hands-on, prototype, research, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video

Looking to spruce up that nondescript living room table? So are a smattering of folks from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. At this week’s SIGGRAPH E-tech event, a team from the entity dropped by to showcase the deadly cute MoleBot table. At its simplest, it’s a clever tabletop game designed to entertain folks aged 3 to 103; at the other extreme, it’s a radically new way of using Microsoft’s Kinect to interact with something that could double as a place to set your supper. Improving on similar projects in the past, this shape-display method uses a two-dimensional translating cam (mole cam), 15,000 closely packed hexagonal pins equivalent to cam followers, and a layer of spandex between the mole cam and the pins to reduce friction.

When we dropped by, the Kinect mode was disabled in favor of using an actual joystick to move the ground below. In theory, one could hover above the table and use hand gestures to move the “mole,” shifting to and fro in order to pick up magnetic balls and eventually affix the “tail” onto the kitty. The folks we spoke with seemed to think that there’s consumer promise here, as well as potential for daycares, arcades and other locales where entertaining young ones is a priority. Have a peek at a brief demonstration vid just after the break, and yes, you can bet we’ll keep you abreast of the whole “on sale” situation.

Gallery: MoleBot interactive gaming table hooks up with Kinect at SIGGRAPH 2011

Continue reading MoleBot interactive gaming table hooks up with Kinect, puts Milton Bradley on watch (video)

MoleBot interactive gaming table hooks up with Kinect, puts Milton Bradley on watch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 10

Sifteo Cubes up for pre-order tonight, gaming gets tangibly-cute this September

Posted in: education, Games, mit, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video, Wireless
Want a game for the tabletop with on-screen pop, and a sprinkle of adorable? Sifteo is officially set to get your gears going when its interactive Cubes, up for pre-order by the end of today, ship out in September. If you’ll recall, the MIT-rooted project uses blocks equipped with 1.5-inch displays to create a variety of gaming environments mixing touch, motion and on-display content. Also announced is a bundled “Creativity Kit,” which enables you to make your own games on the fly. It was was briefly available to early adopters in January for $99.99, and now $149.99 gets everyone in on some good times. You’ll receive a triplet of the oh-so-cute Cubes, a charging hub and a 2.4 Ghz wireless USB adapter for connectivity, as well as transferring Sifteo store apps purchased on your computer. Interest piqued? You’ll find details in the PR just past the break — unless you’re a square, that is.

Continue reading Sifteo Cubes up for pre-order tonight, gaming gets tangibly-cute this September

Sifteo Cubes up for pre-order tonight, gaming gets tangibly-cute this September originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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