Tag: TOYS

While many gadgets don't fare well near water, BladeFish's Pool Jet is one that's designed strictly for summertime swimming. This scaled-down water scooter is similar to the larger ones you might have seen divers like Jacques Cousteau holding while they glide through the ocean. However, the $128 Pool Jet scooter is safe enough for kids to use, and is designed to work in the confines of a swimming ...

A b3ta user who goes by the handle "squirrelfantasy" has no small amount of know-how when it comes to LEGOs and the inner workings of printers. Having just written that sentence, we won't regret dubbing this gent an über-nerd, because he applied those twin fonts of knowledge when he built an inkjet-type printer out of LEGOs and felt-tip markers. It's not exactly fast, but -- unless you're ...

Perhaps it's just the video arcade generation, but playing a racing game like 'Mario Kart' without actually being behind the wheel of a car has always left us feeling a bit empty inside. Fortunately, though, electronics accessories manufacturer CTA has finally scratched our hard-to-reach itch. As Joystiq reports, the company has just unveiled a life-changing Wii accessory -- in the form of a ...

Share If you're still blaming 'Duck Hunt' for the fact that your kid grew up to be a serial killer, wait till you get a load of the bloodthirsty games Nickelodeon is now marketing to today's generation of miscreants. The Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has awarded Nickelodeon's AddictingGames.com with the dubious title of 'worst toy of the year,' after tallying nearly 5,000 ...

It should absolutely go without saying that geeks love LEGO. The LEGO affair has spawned an infinite array of designs and contraptions, which typically forces block-heads to exponentially increase the size, complexity and scope of their creations. YouTuber and LEGO engineer Invisibules has shed those expansive trappings, though, and crafted a compact, interlocking machine that is simplistically ...

There is devotion, and then there is crazy Apple fanboy devotion. Take a look at this Apple Store diorama built by Gary Katz -- a man with apparently a lot of time on his hands. Katz carefully recreated the interior of an Apple Store within a regular shoebox. By using two iPhones -- one to power the store's glowing Apple logo, and the other as a screen behind the Genius Bar -- he spent countless ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Ben Stiller frequently steals the spotlight at the Oscars with ridiculous costumes and zany routines. At this year's ceremony, though, his passionate love for the Na'vi from 'Avatar' apparently overpowered his desire for laughs. Stiller dressed as a blue-hued humanoid in a hilariously uncomfortable routine honoring James Cameron's ...

A toy that reads your brain waves to manipulate a foam ball sounds fun -- until said toy begins manipulating other things, too. Like your body's pain receptors. Doesn't sound too thrilling to us, but a few geeks apparently thought it'd be a great idea. According to GeekoSystem, some folks at Harcos Laboratories took Mattel's Mindflex and hacked it to deliver a painful electric shock to the ...

There's been some buzz surrounding Toy Fair 2010 (quite literally with this underwhelming Millenium Falcon 'copter), and the New York City event ends today. With an expected 95-percent of the show composed of Madame Alexander dolls and plush playthings for the preschool set, we embarked on a quest to find a handful of unique toys that both kids and parents will love. From robot bugs, to classic ...

We've frequently written about robots that either intrigue us or make us want to cower under our desks for fear of a droid revolution. From Ropid (the proto-fascist baby bot) to Watson (the Jeopardy-smashing IBM supercomputer), we've been somewhat wary of where robot technology is heading. But our friends at Engadget have stumbled upon a gizmo that we can wholly get behind. Mike Dobson of ...

Barbie, you've come a long way. After 50-plus years of conversely inspiring and depressing millions of young girls (and even some boys) with her unnaturally svelte figure and to-die-for looks, the dream doll has undergone yet another incarnation. Mattel has just unveiled Geek Chic Barbie, possibly the closest interpretation of a computer nerd that the designers could offer. The new figurine sports ...

Because we're fans of all things Google and its Android platform (and designer toys, too), we'll put this in the stack of things so freakishly adorable we've got to get them all. Artist Andrew Bell and Google have partnered up to release a limited run of 12 standard Android figurines, with super-rare editions to follow. Each stands 3-inches tall and features articulating head and arms. The ...

We would never advocate the making of a phony bomb threat, even to get out of a wedding or other dire situation. But potential pranksters (and inmates) have a new, more visceral way to terrorize in the Quanum RTR Bomb System. The bomb is a 1:6 scale replica that attaches itself to a radio-controlled model airplane, and is released via remote trigger by the user. Upon "detonation," the bomb ...

Babies -- think of them as the last frontier in the Twitterverse. After all, we've already got a tweeting beer tap and houseplants even have a voice on Twitter. So it's only natural that babies would be next in line to speak their minds 140 characters at a time, right? According to Mashable, a team of Belgian researchers have integrated Twitter into a plastic Fisher Price-like toy, which ...

Do you remember Shrinky Dinks? That's okay. Neither do most of the Switched staffers -- the bunch of whippersnappers they are [Ed Note: Not true. We love them.]. The once-popular, plastic arts-and-craft set, which first hit the scene in 1973, allowed children to color and cut out shapes on a thin sheet of plastic. When the shapes were put in the oven, they would shrink to one-third of their ...