Getting Your Gadget Fix at CES 2007 - Cool Toys
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In a sense, CES is all about the "cool toys." These are intended for gamers and others who play with electronics. If you're buying one of these for your kids, be warned: you may end up playing with it more yourself.
Interactive Toy showed off the world's smallest helicopter at last year's CES. The company added the Blade Runner Recon chopper to its lineup. This radio-controlled flying machine features a 2.4 GHz video camera mounted in its nose. Users can watch the video live on the remote control's 2.2-inch video screen. With a range of around 10 meters, it takes spying on your neighbors to a whole new level.
Toy robotics company Wow Wee boasted a life-like bust of Elvis Presley in its booth with a karaoke feature that lets you sing along with the king. While Elvis fans will see this as a must-buy purchase (he does more than just sing), the rest of us will probably find the Robopanda a lot more interesting. Covered in plastic instead of fur, it stands more than a foot and half tall and weighs in at eight pounds. It boasts eight touch sensors and stereo and IR sensors, so it should be able to avoid obstacles, track objects, and turn toward sound sources. Wow Wee says it can also tell stories and will have its own plush panda toy that it interacts with. As to movement, it will be able to sit, crawl, roll over, and hug. It won't have a remote; users will interact with it naturally by touching its sensors. It's also supposed to show "mood-specific behaviors...based on [user] interaction." The Robopanda will cost under $250 and be released later this year.
This next item isn't a toy per se, but a technology. Philips unveiled its amBX PC gaming peripherals at the show. AmBX is supposed to provide gamers with a full "sensory surround experience." They include a pair of left and right satellite lights, speaker lights and subwoofer, a pair of desk fans, a wrist rumbler and a directional wall washer light and controller unit. So game designers can now use sound, color, vibration, and air flow to immerse you in the game - by having the fans blow on you when you enter a chilly room in the game, for example. The starter kit will cost $200, while the premium kit (which includes everything mentioned) doubles that price. The kits should be available in the first quarter of this year.
If you already have a Nintendo Wii, you'll probably want one of the products Nyko featured at CES this year. The gaming console's remotes go through AA batteries faster than you go through ammo in a first person shooter. Nyko's solution lets you replace those AA batteries with lithium battery packs for two Wiimotes, and set them in a charging stand when they're not in use. It includes replacement battery covers that feature no-slip grips, for those of you prone to accidentally throwing your controller at the screen (or your girlfriend). You get all this for $30. If you own a PS3, Nyko has something for you too: an adapter that will let you play all of your PS2 favorites on your PS3. Guitar Hero players, rejoice!
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