AIR for Android , a Phidgets motor control, a slot car set, and a custom built LEGO housing for good measure — if this project isn’t meant for Engadget, we don’t know what is! The premise is pretty straightforward: Grant Skinner uses his Nexus One to send accelerometer data to a desktop PC, which then sends it to a motor controller. In turn, the controller tells the cars how fast to go.
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AIR for Android app turns Nexus One into slot car controller (video)
Sure this ain’t the first time we’ve seen Mario Kart step outside the game console, but we’ll be damned if Tomy’s Japanese line of RC cars don’t inspire a serious case of gadget lust. In addition to the usual remote controlled shenanigans, these guys have the ability to “shoot” virtual shells and bananas at other cars; power-ups are indicated on the controller via LEDs; and cars contain infrared sensors so you know when you’ve been hit with a weapon (which causes you to rumble and slow down) Cars are available from Amazon Japan to the tune of ¥2,730 (around $30) each
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Mario Kart RC game brings the Mushroom Cup to your living room
That’s right, grab the tissues and take some time to mourn the death of the Tamagotchi as we knew it. The guys at Bandai have gone and totally revamped the beloved virtual pet, giving it the new name of TamaTown Tama-Go to match that of the already existing Tamatown.com virtual world.
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Tamagotchi renamed TamaTown Tama-Go, no change in amount of attention it requires
“But mommy…it’s like your Kindle and Daddy’s iPod Touch! I want one NOW!” Yep, that’s how the discovery of Fisher Price’s iXL is going to go down in the Toys R US aisle, like it or not. In what we can only compare to a shrunken Entourage Edge , the $80 clamshell device is meant for 3-to-6 year olds that are just learning to read and write, and it packs a color, resistive touchscreen and a plastic stylus. While some tots may complain about the not-very-finger-friendly display or the rather chunky and heavy design, Fisher gets that it’s all about the software.
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Fisher-Price iXL is a tweener that no kid needs convincing of
We haven’t seen too many notable R/C cars since Takara Tomy’s wall-climbing AeroSpider RC turned our world upside down way back in late 2008, but it looks like Mattel thinks it might just have the next big thing with its new foldable Stealth Rides cars.
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Mattel rolls out foldable Stealth Rides R/C cars
Sparkle Labs — an online DIY electronics kit maker filled with pep, cheer and other such disgustingly sweet things — has just announced its new Papertronics kits. As the name suggests, these are paper toys with electronics inside them, with the kicker being that you have to construct your Spaceboy (above) or Aliengirl yourself, before activating them via contact with their “landers.” Hey, it’s not like you can be a gadget geek and not have an appreciation for the fine art of papercrafting .
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Sparkle Labs’ Papertronics are the gift you’ll never admit to wanting
We’ve been cranking on our holiday gift guide series, but if you’ve already decided that there’s someone in your life who you simply can’t buy for, here’s a suggestion: snag ‘em one of these. Following up on last year’s blockbuster camera gift card , Target is offering up what’s believed to be the planet’s first remote control gift card for the 2009 holiday season. Put simply, this stupendously cute Santa Mouse card actually doubles as a small toy, with the card itself acting as a remote that controls a tiny mouse.
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Target’s remote control gift card puts normal ones to shame
New Jersey’s own David Smith is enjoying his 15 minutes right about now, as the world is finally talking about his model train set.
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Planet’s smallest model train set revealed to macro lenses, microscopes (video)
It’s taken nine whole months for this mental-stresser to go from CES show-stopper to household mainstay, but at long last, the only Mattel product we could ever recommend (with a straight face) to those with an age larger than 12 is finally shipping.
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Mattel’s Mindflex: now stressing brain muscles for $80
According to the gang at Joystiq, the Toys R Us videogame trade-in program launches in earnest today, meaning that any of you cats with old videogames laying around can trade ‘em in for the retailer’s gift cards, no questions asked. Just take your old games (even going as far back as the Atari 2600 or Intellivison) to the customer service desk of your local store and they’ll make you an offer at which point, according to a store representative, the games are then “taken by a third party company that refurbishes them for resale.” This year’s been pretty tough, but between our old game cartridges, Cash for Clunkers, and Compton’s “Cash for Firearms” program, it looks like things might finally be going our way after all! The worm has turned, our friends. Indeed, the worm has turned
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Toys R Us videogame ‘buy back’ program underway nationwide
