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This smart Rubik’s Cube helped me get my solve time under a minute
Competitions and tips gamify the whole experience
Over a decade ago, when I was still decorating my pharmacy, I bought two Disney-themed Rubik’s Cubes (Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh) to add a fun touch to the children’s section. I was hoping no kid would ever ruin the cube so much that I’d never be able to retrace their steps back, but that was not taking into account how fast kids can be. They messed up the first cube, then the second, and that’s when I decided to learn how to fix them — the cubes, not the kids. I couldn’t leave them all disordered like that. Between watching YouTube tutorials and trying to make sense of an image cube (more annoying than a regular colored one), my first solve took over two hours. Today, I just went under the one-minute mark thanks to the smart cube from Rubik’s Connected.
Even Dead Zebra's Android figurines have dark mode now
Also in standard green, if that's how you roll
Are you really an Android fan if you don't have at least one of Dead Zebra's figurines? The company has made countless limited-edition models of Google's mascot decked out in various themes, celebrating everything from Christmas and Chinese New Year to Oktoberfest and, uh, French cooking. If you've been hoping for a plain model you can keep on your desk year-round, an upgraded version of the standard Mini collectible Bugdroid is now available — and it even comes in dark mode.
If you have an inquisitive and curious-minded kid who spends more time indoors than out, then gifting a fun yet educational robotic toy like the Sphero BOLT will be a good way to get his or her brain juices flowing. Being a STEM toy, it's designed to prepare kids for a successful career later in life by developing their science, technology, engineering, and math skills. This smart toy usually sells for $150 but Amazon has it for $105 ($45 off) right now.When we reviewed the Sphero BOLT last year, we liked it for its neat and durable design, useful sensors, easy-to-use Sphero Edu mobile app, and good battery life. In addition to teaching users about coding with a variety of scripting tools, the BOLT can also be driven around like an RC car using the Sphero Play mobile app.
As the final installment of the latest Star Wars saga prepares to blast off into theaters this December, toy manufacturers are ramping up production of must-have items for the holiday season. Today's announcement from Hasbro includes a replica of the D-O Droid from the upcoming Rise of Skywalker film and an interactive lightsaber, both controlled by dedicated smartphone apps.
No self-respecting Android fan's workspace is complete without a Bugdroid mini or two (or three, or eleven), so we're always on the lookout to grow our collection with the latest collectible from Andrew Bell's Dead Zebra. Today Bell revealed the next mini to join the DZ lineup, announcing the limited-edition French chef.
Toy robot maker Sphero hasn't had the best time of late, with slow sales forcing job cuts this time last year and, more recently, an end to production of some of its licensed products. There must be high hopes for its latest product, then, which is a new type of musical instrument for that responds to different colors.
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- Whether you've got nasty allergies, a deep-seated affinity for robots, or just an excessive amount of disposable income lying around (you poor soul), Sony's new Aibo is now available for pre-order. Shipments should start in a few months, with the pups arriving at users' doorsteps in early December.
Sony first introduced Aibo, its robotic puppy toy, in 1999. It was discontinued in 2006. Then, last November, Aibo made a comeback in Japan, updated with modern trimmings like Wi-Fi connectivity and location mapping. The new model cost 198,000 yen (about $1,800), plus an additional 90,000 yen (about $800) for a three-year subscription to a cloud service. Now, Aibo is coming to America in a $2,899 "Limited First Litter Edition Release" that includes the robo-puppy itself, a subscription to the requisite cloud service, and some bonus items.
The Dead Zebra Android Minis have been a fixture of the Android community since the early days. There have been numerous blind box sets, as well as special editions to commemorate events or locations. There's a new special edition set today, and it's aimed at the pet lovers out there.
Sphero is known for creating both educational and recreational robots in a variety of different forms. The original Sphero was a robotic ball, and the company has since released movie tie-ins and numerous upgrades. Bolt is something of a modern-day reimagining of the company's very first product.
For those of you who haven't heard about it, PowerUp makes smartphone-controlled paper airplanes. They're relatively inexpensive, with a basic PowerUp 3.0 costing $24.99, and they work pretty well which has led to them becoming incredibly popular. The last time PowerUp used Kickstarter to launch a product, it closed on .2m after asking for only $50,000. This time around, the goal is just $25,000. It's not hard to see where this is going.
Even if you're not that familiar with the original Sphero remote control ball, you've probably seen the more recently released Star Wars tie-ins, such as R2-D2 and BB-8, or Lightning McQueen of Cars fame. The impressive toys have garnered much praise from reviewers, the robotic balls especially. A few days ago, a Play Store entry for a new app briefly went live before being taken down again, which leads us to believe a Sphero Mini is about to be released.
Way back in February at the 2017 New York Toy Fair, Hasbro introduced a new product in its FurReal line of robotic pet toys. Unlike the others, the Proto Max is part of the Maker sub category, so named because it can be programmed to perform different actions. It's yet another example of a toy maker combining coding with playing in order to tap into the burgeoning STEM market. Why is this of any interest to us? Because the Android companion app has just launched, of course.
LEGO must be one of the most ubiquitous toys in the world. It's hard to imagine growing up without it. Somehow, the company has managed to remain relevant all these years, finding new ways to engage with kids as the world around them changes. One of the most highly anticipated LEGO releases for some time is the Boost Creative Toolbox, which tasks you with building a robot named Vernie, among others, and programming them to perform certain actions using "drag-n'-drop coding." It's due to ship from August 1st, and in preparation, the Android app has just been made available.There are more than 60 activities to keep the kids entertained, as well as videos and digital instructions to help them through the process. Vernie is joined by other programmable models, such as a cat called Frankie and a guitar. The app is necessary to control the robots, which it connects to via Bluetooth. The set is intended for children aged between 7-12, and it's hoped that the rudimentary "coding" experience will pique their interest in robotics and technology going forward.
Sphero got itself recognized for making neat little toys that roll around. However, its next product doesn't move. It's an app-enabled Spider-Man toy with LCD eyes, speech recognition, and games in the companion app. We don't have all the details on this device yet, but retailer John Lewis accidentally pushed the product page live too soon, and Sphero published its app. That's good enough for a basic overview.
Everything can be hacked, as a certain Overwatch character is fond of saying. That seems to be increasingly true of consumer electronics... including stuffed teddy bears and unicorns. According to security researcher Troy Hunt, a series of web-connected, app-enabled toys called CloudPets have been hacked. The manufacturer's central database was reportedly compromised over several months after stunningly poor security, despite the attempts of many researchers and journalists to inform the manufacturer of the potential danger. Several ransom notes were left, demanding Bitcoin payments for the implied deletion of stolen data.
Most of us played with Play-Doh at some point in our childhood, but these days kids can take their creations virtual. Hasbro's new Play-Doh TOUCH app lets you scan things you make and place them in a virtual world. While it's technically for Play-Doh creations, it works with anything that appears to have limbs.
Anki's first foray into consumer AI toys was Anki Drive (later Overdrive), and earlier this year the company announced a new AI product. It's a robot called Cozmo, and it's available today. Unlike some of the other consumer robots, Cozmo doesn't pretend to be a personal assistant or household helper. It's a toy, but a smart toy with personality.Cozmo is small enough to fit in your hand—it looks a bit like Wall-E if he was a forklift instead of a trash compactor. Cozmo can learn faces, and the more you interact with him, the smarter he becomes. The screen on the front serves as Cozmo's face, and it can display hundreds of facial expressions. Anki points out Cozmo has more processing power than all the Mars rovers combined. Although, I don't know that's a fair comparison; Cozmo's CPU would be fried by radiation on Mars.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/tyyXfgrcoZ4[/EMBED_YT]You'll need an Android (or iOS) device to pair with Cozmo. He comes with a charging dock and three interactive "power cubes," or as they are better known, blocks. You can order Cozmo from Anki, Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and more. Not all the listings are live or showing as in-stock, but they should update throughout the day.Source: Anki
As someone who's kind of exhausted by the amount of Star Wars promotional material that's being vomited into our culture at the moment, I have to admit that the remote control BB-8 from Sphero is pretty awesome. Because even toys need sequels now, this year we're getting the original adorable droid in remote control form: R2-D2. Hasbro is planning on releasing a similar toy, complete with all the smartphone connection goodies. Here's the official app for it.
The biggest trend in the toy world at the moment is the blend of "real" toys and action figures with digital games. LEGO's already dipped its toes into the same pool as Disney Infinity and Skylanders with LEGO Dimensions, but that's not the only combination that the mega-company is working on. An original franchise, Nexo Knights, lets kids build playsets based on the techno-fantasy theme and then upload the various characters' shield codes into the accompanying game, Merlok 2.0.
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Dyzplastic's Android figures designed by Andrew Bell take that warm fuzzy feeling you get from using your phone and plaster it on top of your desk. You can get a standard green one or choose from any number of models that look as though they were taken from Androidify and put through a 3D printer.