Dec 12

Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone

Posted in: Android, Apple, Games, iPhone, robot, robotics, smartphone, Today's Chili, toy, video
Don’t have the airspace required for an AR.Drone? Gearing up for its CES 2011 debut, Sphero is a small, robotic toy ball made by Orbotix, and controlled remotely via Bluetooth and your smartphone’s tilt sensor. A ball that moves by itself? Call us lazy (too lazy to roll a ball even), but we think this is a toy whose time has come. Sure, the whole thing is pretty straightforward, although we hope that once iPhone and Android developers get ahold of that open API we’ll see plenty in the way of augmented reality gameplay: a maze or a racing game of some sort would make this thing quite coveted, in our opinion. Catch a video of the prototype in action after the break.

Continue reading Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone

Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 02

8-inch robot wreaks havoc on Denver commuters, Cylon war narrowly averted

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili, toy

The Capricans in Denver, Colorado should can consider themselves blessed by the Gods. An 8-inch tall Centurion was spotted near Coors Field park, prompting one citizen to notify the police. You probably know what happened next: adjacent 20th street was closed causing rush hour traffic to pile up, and two hours later, after being unable to determine at the time if it was safe, the bomb squad remotely detonated the little Centurion. Move along, nothing to see here. It’s not like they walk among us in human form or anything. Yet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

8-inch robot wreaks havoc on Denver commuters, Cylon war narrowly averted originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 01

Computer Engineer Barbie now available, and her phone has been upgraded since we last saw her

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, Today's Chili, toy, Toys

We were fairly impressed with Computer Engineer Barbie‘s Linux laptop and cellphone when we last saw her at the Toy Fair in New York City. Well, the doll is available now, and her gear has gotten an upgrade for the retail version. The pink laptop now boasts some kind of custom Barbie operating system, and yes, she seems to be sporting an iPhone these days. We assume this is a tie in with Mattel’s Barbie ‘I Can Be’ iPhone app, but we also remember from our childhood that Barbie is an intense tech geek who always has to have the latest gear, so we can’t say that we’re surprised. Computer Engineer Barbie is available now for $12.99. A shot of the first Computer Engineer Barbie we met is after the break.

Continue reading Computer Engineer Barbie now available, and her phone has been upgraded since we last saw her

Computer Engineer Barbie now available, and her phone has been upgraded since we last saw her originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 09

Isabella Products reveals 7-inch Fable connected children’s tablet

Posted in: education, slate, tablet, Today's Chili, toy, Toys

Hello, diversification. The same company responsible for the Vizit photo frame is branching out in a big way — Isabella Products has just introduced what it’s calling the planet’s first fully interactive, connected children’s tablet. Just like mum and pop’s Galaxy Tab, the Fable boasts a 7-inch touchpanel and inbuilt 3G, but details beyond that (hardware wise, anyway) are few and far betwixt. We are told that it’ll come preloaded with children’s titles from partner Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, including Curious George, Martha Speaks, and George and Martha. As you’d expect, it’ll boast a tyke-friendly user interface and will provide a secure, SFW connection to the company’s VizitMe.com content management system. There’s nary a mention of price (nor how much it’ll cost to maintain that 3G connection each month), but all should be crystal clear by the time it launches in mid-2011.

Continue reading Isabella Products reveals 7-inch Fable connected children’s tablet

Isabella Products reveals 7-inch Fable connected children’s tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 19

dSolar panels for Mindstorms bring green power to your Lego creations

Posted in: awesome, diy, green, hack, lego, robot, solar, solar power, SolarPower, Today's Chili, toy, video
When society collapses and the national energy infrastructure goes to pot, at least you’ll still be able to run your fantastical Lego Mindstorms NXT creations. That’s right: the fine folks at Dexter Industries are offering panels, batteries, and all the geegaws necessary to power your projects the old fashioned way: with the sun. The basic dSolar 2W System ($90) features a 9 volt solar panel with enough juice to power the NXt and a single motor in direct sunlight (about 250 mA). There is also a four watt system available for $100, as well as capacitor banks, parallel connectors for multiple panels, and more. Hit up the source link to get started — but not before you check out the video after the break.

Continue reading dSolar panels for Mindstorms bring green power to your Lego creations

dSolar panels for Mindstorms bring green power to your Lego creations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 17

SK Telecom’s Android action figures as flexible as the OS itself (video)

Posted in: Android, Google, Today's Chili, toy, Toys, video
Here you go: Androski, the skiing Android mascot. He certainly gets more exercise than you (at least he meets more snow bunnies), and he’ll look great on your desk. Too bad he’s only available from SK Telecom way off yonder in the Republic of Korea. Of course, this ain’t the first Android toy we’ve seen in this space, but it’s certainly the most athletic! See for yourself after the break.

Update: It looks like there’s actually a variety of places to get the figures, not just SK Telecom — there’s also KT, LG U+ and some other names at the bottom of the website that we’re not terribly familiar with.

Continue reading SK Telecom’s Android action figures as flexible as the OS itself (video)

SK Telecom’s Android action figures as flexible as the OS itself (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 15

Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg

Posted in: remote control, RemoteControl, robot, tablet pc, TabletPc, Today's Chili, toy, video
Hammacher Schlemmer's tablet PC-controlled 'Emotive Robotic Avatar' will capture your heart, nest egg

Yeah, it’s almost time for the holidays, and smart busy-bodies are already checking items off their shopping lists. For that special someone, consider the most outrageously overpriced plastic toy we’ve ever seen. $65,000 buys you this “Emotive Robotic Avatar” from Hammacher Schlemmer, a little servo-actuated guy that can wave its arms around and go from looking happy (above) to evil (below). It’s all controlled by a tablet PC with a 30 foot range that receives a real-time video feed, as we saw when we checked this guy out at the Toy Fair earlier this year, back when he was called Quasai. As shown in the video after the break, the “operator” can even speak through the robot, which will pitch shift his or her voice, a trick sure to give your children nightmares. If that doesn’t work, just tell ’em you blew their college fund to buy the thing and they’ll have to get work study jobs. That ought to send the shivers up their spines.

[Thanks, Evan]

Continue reading Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg

Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 18

Franklin AnyBook brings timeshifting to the voice recorder world, thinks of the children

Posted in: education, Today's Chili, toy

Hello there, Franklin — sort of forgot you existed in the consumer electronics realm. Our bad. But being frank, we’re pretty stoked about your newest educational tool, and we get the feeling that parents everywhere will be as well. The AnyBook digital pen is a voice recorder at heart, but it’s actually far more unique underneath. Put simply (or as simply as possible), parents can record their own voices as they read aloud the favorite books of their offspring, placing a special sticker on each page as a marker and denoting page turns by pressing a button on the pen. Then, if the child(ren) wish to hear mum or dad read the text aloud in the future (say, while at daycare), they simply tap the pen to the aforementioned stickers and a familiar voice comes belting through. Think of it as comfort food for your tyke, but in aural form. The October-bound AnyBook will ship in two flavors: the DRP-3000 holds up to 15 hours of voice for $39.99, while the DRP-4000 holds 60 hours of soothing, loving words for $59.99. Touches your heart, doesn’t it?

Continue reading Franklin AnyBook brings timeshifting to the voice recorder world, thinks of the children

Franklin AnyBook brings timeshifting to the voice recorder world, thinks of the children originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 13

Disney aiming to establish technology standards for web-connected toys

Posted in: Today's Chili, toy, Toys

Details are still pretty light on this one, but it looks like Disney is doing its part to add a bit of order to the wild technology frontier that is web-connected toys — the company’s consumer products division will reportedly detail a proposal to establish a set of technology standards at the Engage Conference and Expo later this month. That plan will be laid out by the head of Disney’s “Toymorrow” team, Armen Mkrtchyan, who will apparently discuss what sort of standards Disney is currently looking at, and how such standards could lead to things like cost-savings and “increased playability.” Unfortunately, that’s about as specific as things get at the moment — head on past the break for the complete press release.

Continue reading Disney aiming to establish technology standards for web-connected toys

Disney aiming to establish technology standards for web-connected toys originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 07

Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too)

Posted in: controller, hack, mod, Today's Chili, toy, Toys
We thought that our homemade Theremin was difficult to control, but this one is in a different league altogether! The, ahem, brainchild of Apples In Stereo’s Robert Schneider, the Teletron takes a Mattel Mindflex game and uses it as a control voltage source for… well, any piece of musical equipment that has a CV input. In the video below, the musician / producer plugs it into a Moog analog synth and increases / decreases the pitch solely with his mind. At least the thing doesn’t give you an electric shock when you hit the wrong note! But enough jabberjaw out of us — see / hear it in action (and get some instructions, if you’d like to build your own) after the break.

Continue reading Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too)

Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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