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Microsoft

Microsoft Robots to Watch Kids 544

Posted by samzenpus from the if-I-sleep-the-robot-will-get-me dept.
Archangel Michael writes "Microsoft announced today that is testing a new toy / robot to watch over kids. My question is, if the toy BSOD does it take the kid with it? Now we are letting inanimate objects raise our kids! When will it end?"
It's funny. Laugh.

RFID + Dart gun = DartMail! 238

Posted by timothy from the late-than-never dept.
breon.halling writes "Snail mail? Too slow. Email? Too much spam. So what's left? DartMail! Tony Tang and Eric Pattison from the University of Calgary introduce a new (well, new as of January 2003) method of transferring files and possibly shooting your eye out. Using RFID and a toy dart gun, 'DartMail lets people physically shoot electronic information at others.' Be sure to check out the movie, too!"
Handhelds

Mobile Phone with PC running Linux 2.6 191

Posted by timothy from the good-for-the-ski-lift dept.
A8 writes "There is a new toy (aka the S101) around the corner from a German company called Road GmbH. Looks like the Nokia Communicator, but is a little PC with GSM, GPRS, IrDA, Bluetooth, WLAN -- you name it, running Linux 2.6/Qtopia! Sorry seems like the page is in German only." There are also versions based on the same hardware but running Windows CE and Symbian.
PlayStation (Games)

More On PS3 and Xbox 2 541

Posted by michael from the controllers-now-twice-the-size dept.
News for nerds writes "The BBC has news about the next-generation game consoles, with comments from various third parties. According to Rory Armes, studio general manager of EA in Europe, they have already received the development kits from Microsoft, but not yet from Sony and Nintendo. He assumes Sony's PlayStation 3 will have a little more under the hood and be more cost-efficient than Microsoft's Xbox 2. Gerhard Florin, head of EA in Europe, remarks 'PS3 will provide graphics indistinguishable from movies.' Spider-Man 2 or Toy Story 2, that's the problem."

How Do 'Singing Magnets' Work? 89

Posted by Cliff from the operatic-rocks dept.
dpbsmith asks: "Singing magnets are available at all of the usual geek-toy emporia, and, for all I know, ordinary toy emporia as well. They consist of a pair of magnets made of a polished substance with the general appearance of hematite. What is surprising, pleasing, and unexpected is that when the magnets strike each other under their own power, they produce a sharp, loud buzz that rises in pitch. The sound lasts a good fraction of a second and climbs somewhere into what sounds like the 200-500 Hz range. The exact sound and its duration are somewhat unpredictable and depend on how the magnets happen to strike each other. It is a little like the sound that you get when you mash a pingpong ball against a pingpong table with a paddle. What physics are involved in the production of these sounds?"
Role Playing (Games)

Offline Everquest 2 Character Creator 18

Posted by Zonk from the cute-toy! dept.
Worthplaying has a note that Ubisoft (SOE's EU distributor) and SOE have made available an offline character creator on the UK EQ2 site. It's somewhat large, but the EQ2 character creation process is somewhat in-depth. Should make for a fun toy.
Toys

Top 100 Toys From The '70s or Thereabouts 307

Posted by michael from the as-seen-on-TV dept.
doctorfaustus writes "Found this on Daily Rotation -- it details, with pictures, many of the toys we all wanted from our parents at Christmas a few years ago.... Everything from '160 Exciting Science Projects' to 'Stretch Armstrong,' along with the promises made in the toy's advertising and how often those promises were broken... The story has a British orientation, but I didn't see a single toy I didn't remember from my American youth.... They're all here: Simon, Slime, Magic Rocks, Sonic Ear... Even the Sinclair."
Hardware

ASUS Barebones: Multimedia Even Sans Hard Drive 331

Posted by timothy from the pop-and-play dept.
technomegalomaniac writes "This new stylish barebones combo from ASUS (case+motherboard) is going to outdo Apple in 'the way it looks matters' department. Customizable to your heart content, no OS included (obviously, since you need to buy your own hard drive). Comes with 'Instant On' software that lets you play CDs, DVDs and MP3s without entering the primary OS thus bypassing the long boot process. Definitely a living room toy." Doesn't beat Apple hardware in my eyes, but still looks like a nifty box.
Toys

Bandai SpaceWarp Rereleased in Japan 27

Posted by Zonk from the make-yer-own-fun dept.
Cubricon writes "One Christmas in the early 90's, my parents ordered a SpaceWarp Set 30 coaster set from a JC Penny's catalog. It was one of the most amazing toys I have ever had, Legos included. A few years later, after many of the pieces were broken or lost, I looked to buy a new set. I was dissapointed to find out that Bandai stopped making the toy. Even though you can find 'new' sets on eBay they cost double or triple the original prices. The good news is that Tanomi is remaking the toy. Presenting... SpaceWarp 5000. Currently, the toy is only available in Japan, hopefully we'll get it here soon."
Hardware

More PSP Impressions, Loading Times Examined 137

Posted by Zonk from the has-to-be-shorter-than-windows-95 dept.
ACTRAiSER writes "Lik-Sang.com once again took a close look at a new toy for gamers: the Sony PSP. The loading time for several games seems to be quite long." From the article: "Loading time and battery life seem to be the big factors which decide about the PSPs success or failure in many gamers eyes right now. While we can't comment on the battery life as of yet, latest reports from Japan about loading times on demo units that actually have access to the games are as follows..."
Toys

Make Your Own Cluster Balloon 243

Posted by michael from the we-disclaim-all-responsibility dept.
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "'Have you ever dreamed of being carried into the sky by a giant bouquet of colorful toy balloons?' John Ninomiya does exactly that using 50-150 four-seven foot diameter balloons filled with helium ... and sealed with tape (duct?) and cable ties. Folks may recall the lawn chair man who floated up to 16,000 feet, but John takes this to a whole new level and his site has some wild pictures ... and includes the comment 'Kids, don't try this at home!'"
Books

Holub on Patterns 211

Posted by timothy from the look-pretty dept.
James Edward Gray II writes "Apress sent me a copy of Holub on Patterns for review, and for that I'm extremely grateful, because this is a gem of a book I would not have liked to miss. Odds are, most object-oriented programmers will feel the same, so allow me to share the highlights." Read on for the rest of Gray's review.
Movies

Disney to Make Toy Story 3 Without Pixar 598

Posted by michael from the debian-naming-scheme-endangered dept.
rdurell writes "CNN is reporting that Disney has begun the process of setting up a new CGI studio with the goal of making Toy Story 3. Pixar has balked at the idea of another sequel thus far though Disney does own the rights to the franchise. Does this truly spell the end of the Disney-Pixar relationship? Can both Disney and Pixar live without the other?" We covered the Disney/Pixar breakup in January.
Wireless Networking

Wi-Fi Toys 71

Posted by timothy from the xmas-time dept.
prostoalex writes "A lot of avid PC users got first introduced to the computers through games. Some later turned their hobbies into full-time jobs. The ExtremeTech series of Wiley books aims at the readers who are curious about technology and are willing to dedicate some time to personal to projects that educate and develop skills. Before this review starts reading as a press release, I will throw in a link to my review of another title, Linux Toys, the book that pioneered the series." Read on for Alex's review of Wi-Fi Toys.
Movies

A Review of "The Incredibles" 500

Posted by michael from the leave-the-cape-at-home dept.
erikharrison writes "Last night I caught a late showing of 'The Incredibles', Pixar's new computer animated bonanza. Here is a review, relatively spoiler free." Read on for the rest of Erik's review. I saw the movie yesterday too, and it's excellent - go check it out.
Patents

Dept. of Homeland Security Enforces Expired Patent 1006

Posted by CowboyNeal from the tax-dollars-well-misspent dept.
Fouquet writes "Apparently the Department of Homeland Security does not have enough to do in keeping the US safe, and now is enforcing copyright law as well. The AP reports that a toy store owner in Oregon was requested by Homeland Security officials to remove a potentially copyright-infringing Rubik's cube-like toy from her shelves. The patent for Rubik's cube was issued in 1980, and so it is expired."
Handhelds

Samsung Producing 5 Megapixel Camera Phone 177

Posted by michael from the convergence dept.
Shippy writes "Straight from Yahoo News on the other side of the pond comes a story about Samsung's latest creation: a five-megapixel camera phone. This is pretty cool considering it's a pretty big jump from the camera phones that are currently available (many max out around 1.5 megapixels). It's expected to be available by the end of the year, but only in South Korea. I doubt it'll take long for a domestic carrier to pick up on this hot new toy." Other readers submitted a closeup picture and the company press release.
Toys

Neopets Gambling Controversy 354

Posted by Zonk from the neoaddicts-eh? dept.
Neopoet writes "Players of the online virtual pet game Neopets (claims 70 million pet owners worldwide) have gone nuts against an Australian current affairs show called Today Tonight after the show ran segments railing against the Neopets for introducing children to gambling. Click below to read on.
Handhelds

Sharp To Ship New HD-equipped Zaurus In Japan 181

Posted by timothy from the lust dept.
ctid writes "On 10th November, Sharp will release its new Zaurus PDA. The SL-C3000 includes a 4GB hard drive, a 416MHz Intel XScale PXA270 CPU and 64MB of RAM. All of that in a package weighing 298g! There is no news as to whether Sharp will release this ludicrously desirable toy in the West, but I'm not hopeful personally. Maybe we can rely on suppliers like dynamism.com (in the USA) or shirtpocket.co.uk (in the UK) to help us out?"
Hardware

Dual Opteron SFF PC Tested 127

Posted by timothy from the jeesharooni dept.
Steve writes "Back in May, IWILL announced the ZMAXdp (slashdot article), a dual Opteron SFF PC. Sept 23rd saw a further press release with more details of this intriguing system. At HEXUS.net, we've had the exclusive chance to get one of these systems in our test lab, obtaining pictures and specs along with our own analysys and benchmarks. The system runs suprisingly quiet and cool considering what's under the hood. This could become the system of choice for high-end workstation users who don't want a huge machine taking up their desk-space, or perhaps the toy of choice for those of us who hunger for so much power in such a small system."

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