Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Everyone loves robots, especially kids. How about buying your kids a toy that is both fun and educational? From the creators of the Create-A-Story, V-Tech brings you the Wall-E Learning Laptop ($29.99).

The laptop has five modes–letters, words, math, logic, and games–and each mode has three activities. The different modes teach language and cognitive development skills, basic math skills, and independent play.

The keyboard has a flip-down QWERTY keyboard, which in itself can be useful in helping kids become familiar with keyboards. You can use the arrow buttons on the keyboard to move through selections, or you can use the moving arm controllers to scroll through options. The screen is a basic LCD screen, and isn’t anything special, but the images are pretty clear.

And, just like in the movie, Wall-E’s right eye opens and closes. His eye blinks each time you answer a right question. The toy is made for kids ages four and up, but I could see kids a few years older than that getting bored quickly with the limited activities.

The biggest issue I have with the toy is that there’s no headphone jack. I know a lot of toys don′t have it, but if I were a parent and had to listen to various toy noise every day, I might get a little sick of it. Thankfully, there is a volume control that lets you choose between three options (none of which are “mute”).

The Wall-E Learning Laptop is pretty simple, but can act as a very important educational tool in your child’s early learning.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

Kids break stuff. It’s a fact. If your son or daughter has ever asked to play with your new digital camera or tried to put a DVD into your $300 player, you’ve probably been one of the many parents who freeze in terror as you watch your kid destroy your tech toy. Instead of spending time guarding treasured electronics, why not buy your child a Fisher-Price Kid-Tough DVD Player or Digital Camera?

Both toys are made for kids three years old and up, and are very easy to use. To start with, the DVD player is simple and functional. It can act as a DVD player or a CD player. The screen, although small, has a good resolution. The player comes with an AC adapter, but it also has a rechargeable battery. So once you charge the battery, your son or daughter can watch DVDs or listen to CDs in the car.

And yes, there is a headphone jack, so you won’t have to listen to the Wiggles anymore. You can also connect the player to your TV with an AV cable (not included).

The DVD player is made to handle being dropped over and over again, so this is the perfect solution for your uneasiness when it comes to kids and electronics. The player does come with a hefty price though: $150. But, for a practically invincible portable DVD player, it’s well worth it.

Speaking of invincible, the Kid-Tough digital camera not only has the same protective rubber sidings as the DVD player, but it’s also waterproof. That’s right, you can now be free of worry when your daughter brings the camera to bath time. The camera is waterproof only for 30 minutes and in up to 3 feet of water, so no deep-sea diving!

The digital camera is just as easy to use as the DVD player. It has big buttons, and unlike your digital camera, there’s only one option when taking a picture. There are no “autumn leaves” or “candlelight″ settings–you’ll need to buy a real camera for that. But, for a 3-year-old, the Fisher-Price camera will do just fine.

Also, if your kid can tell the difference between low- and high-quality photos, this may not be the camera for them. The camera lets you take photos at the standard setting of 640-by-480, or you can take high-resolution photos at an interpolated 1.3 megapixels. Either setting produces pretty grainy photos, but most kids won’t care.

To take a photo, you can look through the LCD screen or use the two eye-holes that look like they belong on a View-Master. The camera automatically uses a flash if the area is too dark. There’s no way to control the flash, and there’s also no way to control the camera’s sound. Although not loud, sound effects play each time you turn the camera on or off, take a photo, delete a photo, or scroll through the photos.

It’s simple to connect the camera to your computer with the included USB cable, but keep in mind that the USB outlet is on a part of the camera which requires a screwdriver to open. This is to keep the camera waterproof. So, you’ll have to help your children when they want to upload their photos. The camera stores up to 500 photos with 64 MB of memory. For only $50, this is a gift that will make your kid one happy little photographer.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

OK, so it’s not really called SpongeBob Speaker Pants, but it should be. The SpongeBob Speakers and Sponge Dock, from Npower, is a fun way to play any of your digital audio players or computer.

SpongeBob comes with two eyeball speakers, which can sit inside the foam dock or taken out to sit on a flat surface. The eyeballs don’t just sit though: They can roll around with your music. You have the option to play your music without moving eyeballs, or you can switch the eyeballs to “rock″ and watch as they roll around your table. I had to make sure to really push the speaker cable into the speaker to make sure it worked on “rock″ mode.

There′s a small docking area at the top of SpongeBob’s head for you to rest your audio player in. The sound isn′t great, but it’s a fun toy. The speaker dock goes for $39.99 and can be found at Toys ‘R′ Us.

Take a look at our exclusive video of rolling SpongeBob eyeballs after the jump.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

We used to have the original Flower Rock by Takara Tomy a long time ago. If you don′t know, Flower Rock is a potted flower toy integrated with a speaker that dances to the tune of any music. To celebrate its anniversary and in an effort to become relevant (like how Bandai redesigned the Tamagotchi), the dancing toy gets a complete overhaul with the addition of colorful flashing LED lights on each of its petal and leaf.

As such, dancing now isn’t the only feature of the Flower Rock 2.0; expect to get entertained with light shows as well. You just plug in your iPod or other player and listen to music through the toy plant’s 1-watt amp and speaker. Tomy Takara’s Flower Rock 2.0 was released in Japan earlier this year at the Tokyo Toy Fair. Now thanks to the Japan Trend Shop, it’s available to all toy-loving geeks around the world for $77 each.

Original post by Mariella Moon

The Mattel Girl Tech Stylin’ Studio is made for girls ages 8 and up. And “and up” really means “and up”: No matter how old you are, you really can’t grow out of the joy of giving people makeovers. People are obsessed with makeovers–witness “Extreme Home Makeover” and “What Not to Wear,” to name just a couple of TV makeover shows. And Stylin’ Studio offers you the chance to do a DIY makeover for yourself or some lucky friend.

Stylin’ Studio ($59.99) comes with a touchpad console, stylus pen, and a digital camera that connects to the monitor. Everything plugs in through a USB cable. Once you pop in the provided CD, you simply run through the install steps and voila, your studio awaits you.

The first step is to either upload a premakeover photo or take one with the provided camera (attached to the touchpad)….

I found the touchpad somewhat difficult to use; it was much easier for me just to use my computer’s mouse, which pretty much makes the touchpad unnecessary. If the toy just came with the CD and a digital camera, it would work just as well.

With the photo you’ve selected to beautify, you first select and map out the lips, eyes, eyebrows, cheekbones, and face shape areas. Then you can change the hairstyle, makeup, clothes, accessories, and background to fit your style. Choices for each abound; your child (or you) will need a long time to get tired of them.

Once you’re done with the makeover, you have several options. You can print your photo in different styles, including Photo Booth, Magazine Cover, and so on. Or you can e-mail it, supposedly: I tried sending my photo to several e-mail accounts but never received it. I’m not sure why it didn’t work–and one of the major things Stylin’ Studio is lacking in is directions. There are no instructions in the box, and there’s no Help option inside the studio; and Girl Tech’s Web site offers no help whatsoever. Fortunately, it’s an easy toy to figure out; but if you run into a problem, you’re out of luck.

Besides those qualms, I really did enjoy the Stylin′ Studio. It would make a great gift for any age! Finally, Stylin′ Studio is not limited to girls: You can give your brother, dad, or boyfriend a makeover too! Here are a few photos of the fun we had with PC Mag boy makeovers.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

No, I′m not deluded into thinking these new Bandai BabyAnimal robots are even remotely real - they stare at you with lifeless glass (plastic?) eyes and remain immobile until you make them do something. All the same, they can melt my geeky robot-loving heart into a puddle of goo. Created by CCP, a part of Bandai Namco Group, are four BabyAnimal variants: polar bear, white tiger, lion and panda. The toys have a sitting height of 35 cm (around 14 inches) and run on four AA batteries.

There are four sensors embedded inside the toy, so every time you touch its neck, chest and head area, it emits the corresponding animal’s sounds. Ignore it for five minutes or lull it in your arms and it will go to sleep; to wake it up, you’d have to pull its ear. It will be available in Japan this week for $80 per cuddly robot, although according to CrunchGear, there could be a chance for the BabyAnimal bots to be available in the Unites States.

Original post by Mariella Moon

As School House Rock has taught us, education can be fun. Here’s more proof: Disney and VTech have joined forces to bring you Create-A-Story ($49.99), an interactive book that lets your child read along with, and even build, their own stories. The game is intended for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years old. It can be used alone or you can easily plug it into a TV to interact with the characters.

Create-A-Story comes with two books–Read-A-Story and Create-A-Story–and a software cartridge. You simply place the software cartridge in the back of the console and place one of the books in the center, then interact by using the stylus pen. The game has Volume Control buttons, as well as Mute and Help buttons. Your kid can also listen to the game through earphones, which will be nice for you.

Read-A-Story lets your child hear a story and play various learning games. Touch words with the stylus pen to hear them sounded out . When the entire story is read, the words are highlighted on the screen to associate how the word looks with how the word sounds.

The Create-A-Story booklet lets your child create, and if plugged into the TV, animate their own stories. Personalize it by entering his or her name in the beginning. Then, if you’re using the TV version, the story reads “By Jenny,” for example, and congratulates her at the end. Choose characters, settings and actions, and then watch the animated story on the TV screen.

Part of the appeal of Create-A-Story is that you can take it on-the-go or have it plugged into your TV, but I think it loses interest when it’s not plugged in. The whole point is that you can see and interact with the characters on the screen–and without that, it’s really not as entertaining.

Create-A-Story teaches reading skills, creativity, story making, uppercase and lowercase letters, word identification, phonics, rhyming words, syllables, punctuation, and colors. Depending on the age of your child, he or she could easily fly through the two books and want more. Fortunately, you can buy more books to use in the console, including Cars, Disney Princess: Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty, Finding Nemo, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Each new package comes with two booklets and one software cartridge for $19.99.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

It doesn’t really have a purpose other than for fun and if you’re a toy lover, then it does deliver. The ROBO-P (or Roboppi) toy helicopter is an indoor flying toy that’s sort of a hybrid between a helicopter and a UFO. The couple of plastic rotors propel the device that you can move via a remote control.

Here comes the fun part - ROBO-P is equipped with numerous varicolored LED lights that provide the whirring and flashing illumination display which looks best in the dark. Coming in pink, blue and orange, ROBO-P has built-in batteries that work for six straight minutes on a 25 minute charge. ROBO-P is now available for everyone outside Japan through Japan Trend Shop for $42 a pop.

Original post by Mariella Moon

It’s almost Halloween and I’m a lot of people are dressing up as witches and wizards, their costumes replete with the symbolic wand. Unfortunately, the most we can do is wave the wood around like it’s but a large toothpick. Not anymore. No, the Van de Graaf generator isn’t only good for giving you an induced bad hair day; apparently, it could also make you a bit more convincing in your costume.

Making science look more akin to magic, this wand has a built-in Van de Graaff generator. You just push a button to activate it and when it builds up static charge, it can control 3D mylar shapes in mid-air. Yep, like magic. Aside from being able to levitate mylar shapes, the Fly Stick Van de Graaff Wand could also contort these shapes and change their form. Of course, the more science-adept might guess at first glance, but I bet it’s good enough to entertain kids, toy lovers and inebriated friends. Now available in ThinkGeek.

Watch video of Fly Stick Van de Graaff Wand in action after the jump.

Original post by Mariella Moon

We’re checking the Web for great bargains every day. Here are a few good deals for you.

1. ThinkGeek is offering to 70 percent off the price of all kinds of propeller-based R/C flying toys (here’s one, shown at left). Original prices range from $99.99 to $24.99, but are now $59.99 to $14.99.

2. Canon is offering an instant rebate on many of its camera lenses and flashes from now until January 17, 2009. Save up to $125 on select products.

3. Need Flash memory? Check out this Kingston 16GB USB 2.0 Data Traveler Thumb Drive from Woot! (get there fast!). It was originally $51, but it’s on sale for $24.99.

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

As a toy lover, I’m thrilled that Takara Tomy has announced a minute and cute train set called the Q-Train. It belongs to the series of Q toys by Tomy that includes those similarly diminutive QFO flying UFO. The Q-Train comes in a set with three cars measuring three centimeters per complete with traffic lights, sign posts, a bridge, a station, and a crossing among others. The trains were even made to look like real Japanese trains. A remote control is used to maneuver the toy and can be used to control two cars at once.

According to CrunchGear, it’s not impossible for the Q-Train to arrive in the US through Tomy USA just like the Choro-Q racing cars sold as Penny Racers. In Japan though, the Q-Train will be released on November 15 and is priced at $38 per set. As for me, I have a decade-old toy locomotive I’m setting up to run under the Christmas tree for the holidays that might just be replaced.

Original post by Mariella Moon

As a toy lover, I′m thrilled that Takara Tomy has announced a minute and cute train set called the Q-Train. It belongs to the series of Q toys by Tomy that includes those similarly diminutive QFO flying UFO. The Q-Train comes in a set with three cars measuring three centimeters per complete with traffic lights, sign posts, a bridge, a station, and a crossing among others. The trains were even made to look like real Japanese trains. A remote control is used to maneuver the toy and can be used to control two cars at once.

According to CrunchGear, it’s not impossible for the Q-Train to arrive in the US through Tomy USA just like the Choro-Q racing cars sold as Penny Racers. In Japan though, the Q-Train will be released on November 15 and is priced at $38 per set. As for me, I have a decade-old toy locomotive I′m setting up to run under the Christmas tree for the holidays that might just be replaced.

Original post by Mariella Moon

I’ve always had trouble grasping the purpose of action figures based on video games, but heck, I’m not one to judge. However, the purpose of creating action figures based on a video game based on a real-life marketable skill set adds a whole new level of confusion. That said, I can’t say I’m really surprised to find out that McFarlane Toys has seen fit to capitalize on the massive success of the Guitar Hero video game series.

Just in time for World Tour, the third installment of Guitar Hero, McFarlane is issuing the first series of action figures based on the game. It features characters Lars Ümlaut, God of Rock; Johnny Napalm; and Axel Steel–the latter (pictured left) wears a Spawn shirt, a nod to the most popular creation of McFarlane Toys founder, Todd McFarlane.

The 6-inch toys retail for $10 to $13 and will be available at Toy ‘R′ Us stores next month.

So, what’s the next logical step? Might I suggest a Lego Star Wars-style game based on the figures based on the game based on the real-life marketable skill set? Think about the tie-ins!

Original post by Brian Heater

We at Gearlog love Halloween and it seems we′re not the only geeks who do. We found so many chill-inducing devices that we had to break our list into two posts! So turn on all the lights, lock your doors, and peruse Part 1.

Mimobot’s rayD8gig
Mimobot’s rayʰgig (above) is a super, ultra-limited inverse color variant of the extremely popular MIMOBOT Core Series 2 character, rayD8. The drive glows in the dark, and like all Mimobots, when you insert and remove the drive, it greets you and says goodbye (this one actually says, “Get out″ and “Step into the underworld”). The drive also comes with a personalization suite that gives you icons, avatars, wallpapers, screensavers, and other surprises related to its character. The rayʰgig is $99.95 for 8GB, but you’d better hurry–only 200 are being sold.

Will Work For Food With the Mini Candy Grabber
It’s not so easy to grab a few candy bars and run the next house, when you have to work for them. The mini Candy Grabber ($33), via Popagadget.net, has three joysticks to maneuver the claw. Fairground music plays for 75 seconds as you try to get your candy. The toy comes with a bag of fake coins, but the candy, and batteries, are not included.

Ex Voodoo Knife Set
OK, so it doesn’t plug into a computer, but it’s still really cool. Impress your friends with the Ex Voodoo Knife Set ($99.99), via ThinkGeek. The knife set could also make a great gift for your husband or wife: You′re supposed to give a gift of steel for your 11th anniversary, so what better way to show you care than with the Ex Voodoo Knife Set? The holder is magnetic to keep the knives in place.

USB Hub Monster
For the uber-geek, why not make your own Halloween gadget? VIa Ubergizmo, the Hub Monster is a DIY project that lets you be scary, MacGyver style. The project consists of a 7-port USB hub, a roll of wire, black fabric and seven 1-foot USB extension cables. For full instructions, visit Instructables.com.

Pumpkin USB Lights
If you like to decorate your cubicle, like PC Mag‘s Jen the Weird Hunter does, then USB Brando’s USB Halloween Pumpkin Decor Lights are for you. A string of eight lights cost $13 and plug easily into your computer. They’re great for decoration, but Jen says the incessant blinking can get a little annoying.

Take My Hand, I Insist
If cute little pumpkin lights don’t cut it for Halloween spirit, then how about a dismembered hand or foot? Your wrist can get tired when sitting in front of a computer and resting your wrist on a cold, hard desk all day. Well, the Halloween Bloody Hand and Foot Wrist Rest ($17.90), via Coolest Gadgets, can help your wrist stay comfortable. And, you may appreciate your own limbs more while you stare at the detached limbs on your desk.

Disco Is Dead
With the release of the movie “Mama Mia,” ABBA has brought back disco to the masses. So, why not do a little dance with this skeleton disco ball ($40), another find from Coolest Gadgets. The disco ball has an 8-inch skull and red light-up LED eyes.

Spider-Senses Tingling? Make Your Own Spider Webs
If you’re really into making an authentic-looking haunted house, cobwebs are essential. The Webcaster Gun ($49.95) is your solution. It looks pretty similar to a glue gun, and although I haven’t tried the gun myself, it seems to work the same way–but with one exception. You need an air compressor, which shoots the “webs″ around your set. You can order white webs, glow-in-the-dark webs, and even black light reactive webs. If you want your house to look like it belongs to the Munsters, the Webcaster can help.

Boo! Mouse
The Halloween Ghost Computer Mouse ($39), via Ubergizmo will make a good addition to the limb wrist wrest at your desk. The mouse is designed by Pat Says Now, a Swiss manufacturer of computer mice. The ghost glows in the dark, is a modern 3-button optical wheel mouse, and has a 3-year warranty.

The Pumpkin Gutter
What’s the worst part about carving a pumpkin? Is it lugging a 20-pound pumpkin home? Is it risking cutting your finger off as you carve into it? Or is it taking out all the goop and seeds that seem to get stuck in the those pumpkin-strings? I’m going to go with the latter. It takes just as long, if not longer, to take out the insides of the pumpkin, so why not make it easier on yourself and try the Pumpkin Gutter? Simply insert the gutter into a regular or cordless drill. It removes the seeds and strings, and still keeps the seeds undamaged. It’s dishwasher safe, and you can use it on squash!

Come back soon for Part 2 of Gearlog′s Halloween gadget guide!

Original post by Jennifer Bergen

Today the search is on for green methods of producing power. One answer might lie in a snake-like device suspended beneath the surface of the World’s oceans. It’s called “Anaconda” and the obvious reference to a large snake is not accidental. Funded by the U.K.’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Anaconda is ready to go into small scale tests. There’s promise, though it’s not yet the real thing.

As the Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits us, tidal forces tug at the seas which cover most of the Earth. At the same time, as the Earth’s tilt relative to our orbital plane creates uneven surface heating, wind is produced. The real bottom line is, our oceans are always in motion. It’s free energy that’s been squandered. Harnessing it in a major way is only now close to practical and worth being considered.

Anaconda is closed at both ends and filled with water. Sitting just beneath the surface, its tether allows it to turn keeping it always pointed to the oncoming sea. I’ll let EPSRC pick up the story.

“A wave hitting the end squeezes it and causes a ‘bulge wave’* to form inside the tube. As the bulge wave runs through the tube, the initial sea wave that caused it runs along the outside of the tube at the same speed, squeezing the tube more and more and causing the bulge wave to get bigger and bigger. The bulge wave then turns a turbine fitted at the far end of the device and the power produced is fed to shore via a cable.”