Hasta La Gadget!

You know who you can count on to protect your technology? Fisher Price, that’s who. We know, it sounds a bit crazy, but what other company out there is thinking about safeguarding your gadgets from those adorable yet greasy-handed kids? The company is kicking off Toy Fair with a few new gadgets that do just that, and first up, is that cute little Laugh & Learn iCan Play iPhone case up there. The $20 plastic enclosure stores any generation iPhone or iPod Touch and has a screen cover to protect your precious capacitive LCD from “dribbles and drool.” Seriously, OtterBox has its work cut out — the toy even has rattles and handles to entertain when mommy or daddy have to yank the phone out to make a call. And because looking at e-mails, texts, or apps could get bit boring for those three to 36-month-olds after awhile, Fisher is adding a few new Laugh & Learn apps to the App Store later this month.

What about the older kids, you ask? Well, they won’t be interested in your brand new point-and-shoot when they’ve got a Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera of their own. Or at least that’s what the company’s hoping — the plastic camera has a rotating 1.2 megapixel lens with a 4x zoom so kids can take pictures of themselves and then check it out on the 1.8-inch LCD screen. The shooter houses a SD card slot and is powered by four AA batteries. Sure, it doesn’t have the latest and greatest specs, but what $70 camera do you know that can customize shots with “fun digital stamps”? We told you your gadgets would stay safe and sound. The iCan Play Case and Kid-Tough camera won’t be available until this summer, but we’ve got the gallery of hands-on shots below so you can check ’em out earlier.

Fisher Price releases iCan Play Case and Kid-Tough See Yourself Camera, you’ll thank ’em originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a look at the PCMag.com Labs as only an electronic toy can see it. This video was shot with the Wild Planet Spy Gear Spy Video TRAKR, and while it doesn’t look all that great, just the fact that it can shoot it is pretty neat. The remote control spy video car is available for $129.95, but Wild Planet might have something even more advanced coming down the line. 

We’ll find out this weekend, at Toy Fair 2011. In the meantime, check out the video, after the jump. 

Damn kids these days and their cool tech toys! We know we sound cranky, jealous, and old, but how are we supposed to react to Mattel’s new Hot Wheels Video Racer? Yep, just as the headline reveals, everybody’s favorite matchbox car is now home to a VGA video camera that can capture 30 to 60 frames per second and a .95-inch LCD that allows you to play back that recorded footage right on the belly of the tiny vehicle. While a short clip of the Video Racer flying off a self-made jump may be pretty awesome, Mattel will also include protective cases so those wild and crazy kids can mount the cam to a skateboard or helmet. Disappointingly, the small car only houses 512MB of storage, which can only hold 12 minutes of video, but at $60, Mattel also includes a rubberized mini USB to USB cord for connecting the cam to a Mac or PC and child-friendly editing software. The Video Racer won’t actually peel out until the fall, but we managed to take a few shots of the little thing this week and nab some video of it while at CES. Hit the break for that video and start saving that allowance!

Continue reading Hot Wheels Video Racer has a VGA camera under its hood, confirms that kids have it all

Hot Wheels Video Racer has a VGA camera under its hood, confirms that kids have it all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disguised as a mere toy, the original Mindflex is actually a kind of limited telekinesis simulator in that it allows you to control the up and down movements of a ball suspended in air by, well, flexing your brain. With the release of the Mindflex Duel, you can now test your telekinetic prowess against that of your closest friends. That’s right, Mattel’s latest offering allows you to play what amounts to tug-of-war (with a tiny foam ball) using only the power of your mind. The Duel also lets people play cooperatively, but that doesn’t sound like nearly as much fun as hooking this to a stim unit for a little friendly competition and some elevated stakes for the loser. We’re not sure why, but the mind games won’t start until August, though the device is currently available for pre-order on Amazon for $99.99.

Mattel’s Mindflex Duel in the works, allows true test of wills originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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