We didn’t know the toy industry was ready to jump into the app store game, but apparently’ we’ve underestimated its fad-grabbing prowess. Wild Planet is calling its new Spy Video TRAKR remote controlled robot the first “app-enabled” toy, with special filters and routines that kids can program for the vehicle and share online. We sort of thought Lego’s Mindstorms beat them to the punch on this, but we’ll try not read too far into things. The bot itself is equipped with a camera that streams video to an LCD-equipped remote, and videos and stills of the TRAKR’s exploits can even be stored to an SD card. Sample programs include a routine to detect an intruder, shout a few choice words at the doomed sibling out of the TRAKR’s built in speaker, and scurry off into the night, but Wild Planet hopes kids will program even more imaginative routines and share them online. The bot will be available in October for $120.
Spy Video TRAKR runs custom kid-built ‘applications’ for stopping snooping siblings in their tracks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
Business Wire | Email this | Comments
Chip maker Broadcom has unveiled no fewer than three new mobile-themed hunks of silicon this week in preparation for MWC in just a few days’ time. You ready for this? Alright, first up we’ve got the catchily-named BCM20751, which performs the rather ordinary tasks of GPS, Bluetooth, and FM radio management but also throws in an audio processor to offload some work from the phone’s primary CPU, which the company says can reduce battery consumption enough to improve playback time by up to 100 percent in some situations. Next up, we’ve got the BCM4751, a GPS receiver that Broadcom’s confident is going to set a new benchmark for mobile location-based services; a complete setup takes less than 30 square millimeters of precious board space and is claimed to be a guru at picking up weak signals all the while sipping power. Finally, the BCM2049 supports Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, FM (both transmitting and receiving), and Bluetooth Low Energy — something that was recently adopted for standardization in Bluetooth 4.0. All three should be on display at the show next week. That’s not all, though — the company is also announcing comprehensive support for Android across much of its product range, which seems like a pretty prudent business decision all things considered.
Broadcom announces Android support, three-pack of chips to make your phones more awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | BCM20751, BCM4751, BCM2049, Android support | Email this | Comments
It’s a well known fact (’round these parts, anyway) that Lian Li is one of the more creative PC chassis manufacturers on the planet, but who knew the company responsible for crafting a case in the likeness of Dubai’s own Burj Al Arab had a top-notch marketing staff, too? In the video past the break, the company’s innovative new open-air Mini-ITX benchmarking case is revealed to the world, and while the device itself is a fantastic creation, it’s the pitch that really sells it. Essentially, the highly flexible T1 Pitstop “Spider” is made for hosting smaller systems for limited amounts of time, making it easier to test and benchmark a litany of systems without having to crack open a traditional case with each setup. We’re still trying to determine whether or not Lian Li truly expects to build and sell this thing, but whatever the case, the clip awaiting you below is totally worth a watch.
Continue reading Lian Li masters PC chassis marketing, gets our attention with T1 ‘Spider’ video
Lian Li masters PC chassis marketing, gets our attention with T1 ‘Spider’ video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
Coolest-Gadgets | YouTube | Email this | Comments
Already feeling the limitations of your Motorola USBw 200 WiMAX dongle? Then you might be just the ever-demanding sort that Moto is after with its new docking station for the WiMAX adapter. While it might look a tad out of place at a coffee shop, the dock should improve performance quite a bit when you’re at home or at the office, with it promising to fully double the 3db gain that the WiMAX adapter provides on its own, and effectively give you the same performance as a standalone desktop WiMAX unit. No word on pricing just yet, but Motorola says this one should be available sometime in the second quarter of this year.
Motorola debuts docking station for USBw 200 WiMAX dongle originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Motorola | Email this | Comments
When Humax introduced the UK’s first Freeview HD set-top box last week, quite a few of you were understandably disappointed that it didn’t come with PVR functionality. Well, you can now strike that off your list of worries, as Toshiba has just gone official with its own Freeview+ HD PVR box that packs a healthy 500GB of internal storage alongside two HDMI inputs and one output, a duo of USB ports and Ethernet connectivity. Equipped with dual tuners, it’ll allow you to record a pair of simultaneous broadcasts, while the internal hard drive — good for storing 120 hours of video — should be augmentable with external variants. Toshiba makes sure to include DivX and MP3 playback support in the HDR5010, so it should also make for a decent media streamer when it makes its admittedly distant debut in June for £349 ($545).
Toshiba HDR5010 marries Freeview HD to a PVR in time for the World Cup originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Pocket-lint | Email this | Comments
