Toys R Us

[don]

for the kids . . .

Parrot's new smartphone-controlled toys and flying and jumping across CES 2014.

International CES is packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful gadgets, with some of the best being tech-infused toys. Here are some highlights.

Parrot Jumping Sumo

This two-wheeled robot can jump 2.5 feet into the air.

This little two-wheeled robot is controlled by a smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi, has a camera in its nose and can make 90-degree turns at high speed. But its party piece is the fact that it can jump up to 2.5 feet in the air and always land back on its wheels. It’s like a cat robot.

Parrot Mini Drone

The Parrot AR Drone shrunk and with wheels on.

A shrunken version of the Parrot AR drone, this mini drone is small enough to fly around indoors without destroying everything in its way. The flying toy is controlled via a smartphone or tablet over Bluetooth and is highly stable in flight thanks to a kind of built-in autopilot. Add-on wheels make sure it can roll up walls, across the ceiling or along the floor if Top Gun you are not.

Orbotix Sphero 2.0

Orbotix has upgraded the Bluetooth controlled ball to make it even faster.

The latest iteration of the Bluetooth connected smartphone-controlled rolling ball is now faster than ever, and can even be kitted out with rubber tread for a better grip.

Orbotix 2b

Two wheels make the 2b a mini speedster.

The younger brother of Sphero, 2b takes the control and fun from the ball and creates a two-wheeled speed demon. Controlled by a smartphone, 2b can shoot along the floor at up to 5 metres-per-second, or about running pace, and has an IR camera for a bit of multiplayer battling. Expected to be available by Christmas 2014 for under $100.

Yuneec E-Go Cruiser electric skateboard

Why both pushing when you can power your way along the street?

Skateboards still exist, and at CES they get an upgrade with added electricity. This longboard has an electric motor and sends riders flying along the pavement at the touch of a remote-mounted button. The board will manage hills and travel 18 miles on a single charge.

Onewheel

Is the Onewheel just a toy or a genuine new form of transport?

The Onewheel is essentially a single-wheeled Segway, which self-balances a wooden board around its rubber tyre using gyroscopes and accelerometers to produce a smooth ride. It will run for around 20 minutes per charge, and can be had on Kickstarter right now for a minimum pledge of $1,200.

Ozobot

This little guy could transform boardgames.

This tiny robot is about the size of bottle cap or 50p coin can recognise codes and sensors it runs over. The codes can be displayed on a mobile device, like a tablet, but also be built into board games and other real-world items.
The Ozobot can be used in games like race tracks or other robot-orientated board games, with lights built into the body to indicate what the little robot is up to. It doesn’t do a lot at the moment, but there’s a lot of potential for a modern twist on board games here.


for the bigger kids . . .


Withings Aura

The Withings Aura promises to sort out your sleep. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Fitness trackers are all well and good, but what you really need help with is sleeping. Withing’s new Aura promises to wake you up with “scientifically validated” coloured light when you’re ready in the morning. Looks like an old ship ventilation funnel on the side of your bed, but promises to help you sleep better and wake up feeling refreshed.

Withings blood pressure monitor

Measure your blood pressure for the ultimate in DIY health charting.

Feeling stressed? Maybe you’re dealing with a bad boss trying to make your life hell? Withings has a fancy blood pressure monitor to tell you just how much it is affecting your well being. What you’ll do with that information is up to you. Meditation is apparently meant to reduce stress.

Netatmo June

Not just a pretty face - this smart jewellery promises to help you avoid getting sunburnt

Those of us lucky enough to have seen the sun recently will know how glorious is can be, but this bit of smart jewellery can tell you how much UV exposure you’ve from harmful rays. It connects to your phone over Bluetooth so you can monitor your tanning progress without that dreaded sunburn rouge.

Tinke

Place your thumb over the sensor and watch Tinke work its magic. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Taking your heart health tracking to the next level, Tinke is a heart rate, blood oxygen level and breathing rate monitor in one, and all it needs is your thumb. It’s meant to be able to tell you how fit and healthy you are, but it gave me a clean bill of health and said I was “fresh” when half-dead from jet lag, so accuracy may not be guaranteed.

Kolibree

Kolibree, the world's first connected toothbrush records how well you brush your teeth.

Everything is connected to apps these days, why not the humble toothbrush? Kolibree goes way beyond just tracking brushing time; using an accelerometer and a magnetometer to sense direction, the toothbrush knows how thoroughly you’ve brushed, whether you’ve reached all the areas in your mouth and tracks your efficiency. Perfect for those with poor dental hygiene and tracking your kids’ efforts.

Tao Wellshell

The Tao Wellshell pits your own muscles against yourself. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

For the most part, fitness trackers just do exactly that - track your movements. The Tao Wellshell takes it to the next level tracking your motions like everything else, but actually integrates into a full workout. Based on isometrics, it measures your compressive power and produces precise workouts using your own muscle strength against you. It can even be used as a game controller for things like Jetpack Joyride.

FitBug Orb and Kik Plans

The FitBug Orb, released last year, makes fitness trackers more affordable at under £50. Now FitBug has released bespoke “Kik Plans”, which are workouts designed with specific purposes, such as improving a woman's stomach tone after having a baby - all tracked through the Orb and FitBug’s website.

Wellograph

With a sapphire crystal face, the Wellograph is a classy-looking fitness device

A fitness watch with a strange name, this thing has a heart rate monitor on the back and tracks your motions. It lasts two weeks on a two-hour charge and has a sapphire crystal face protecting an OLED screen that shows your what you’ve been up to for the last couple of months. Of course, it’ll also connect to smartphone apps for more detail. The creator thinks its smart enough to pull double duty as a dress watch too.

Notch

More than just a fitness band, Notch allows athletes to precisely map their complex motions

A new modular approach to fitness tracking, the Notch system links up to 10 sensors mounted around your body tracking individual motions. The collected data can tell you how your body is moving and track complex motions like kicking a football or serving in tennis, allowing sports people to analyse and improve their technique.

RunPhones and RunPhones Intensity

A sweatband with headphones embedded means no more earphones popping out when you take to your stride

Running is, for most people, dull. Listening to music helps pass the time and keep your mind off your pounding feet and aching lungs. RunPhones integrate a set of headphones into a comfy headband that won’t move or come lose when you’re really going for it. The new RunPhones Intensity has a built in player too with music and an integrated personal trainer who barks out motivation for 10-minute high intensity workouts.

LG Lifeband Touch

A fitness tracker and smartwatch-like bracelet that puts alerts from a smartphone on your wrist.

Electronics giant LG has also decided it wants a slice of the fitness-tracking market. Its Lifeband Touch tracks your activity like a Nike Fuelband, but includes a touch-sensitive screen on the top of the band. It connects via Bluetooth to a phone and LG’s fitness app, but will also display notifications for calls and text messages and control music playback on your smartphone.

LG Heart Rate Earphones

LG's new fitness earphones measure your heart rate in your ears.

Coupled with the Lifeband, LG unveiled a pair of earphones that measure your heart beat in your ears while playing you music as you work out. They connect to the Lifeband for more information, as well as your phone.

Pebble Steel

Pebble's new steel enclosure updates the e-ink smartwatch's design.

The Pebble smartwatch has been one of the best selling smart wearables since it successfully achieved funding on Kickstarter and went on to sell over 300,000 watches. Now its been given a new metal case – brushed stainless steel or matte black – and a charging indicator light.

Razer Nabu

Razer's fitness tracker-cum-smartwatch hybrid has two OLED screens.

Gaming peripheral and laptop maker Razer has released a fitness tracker and smartwatch. The Nabu tracks your motions like most fitness bands with an accelerometer and altimeter, but has two small OLED screens, one for notification icons and one scrolling text screen for messages, emails and other text notifications.

Sony SmartBand

Sony's SmartBand promises to be more than just an activity tracker.

A bit more than just a fitness tracker, the SmartBand “offers life empowerment by logging daily activities”. It tracks your motions like any other activity monitor, but also logs things like the music you listened to and where you’ve been via the Lifelog Android smartphone app so you can quantify your life in even more ways.

Intel Smartwatch

Intel’s new prototype smartwatch integrates a full phone into a watch, not simply relying on a smartphone like most other smart watches, including the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony Smartwatch 2, for connectivity.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Toys R Us

We will likely see many more highly automated gadgets running their computations on our smartphones.
Our phones are powerful computers with elegant user interfaces on the touch screen, and now they all have high speed wireless RF data links (bluetooth) and good voice recognition.
Automated gadgets no longer need to include a computer in the selling price. Instead, run an app on a smartphone, and only sell people the actuators and sensors.

The processors and human interface are usually the most expensive part of any modest device.
Now we all have one in our pocket ready to use with any dumb- but linkable- device.

[GRG55]

Re: Toys R Us

We will likely see many more highly automated gadgets running their computations on our smartphones.
Our phones are powerful computers with elegant user interfaces on the touch screen, and now they all have high speed wireless RF data links (bluetooth) and good voice recognition.
Automated gadgets no longer need to include a computer in the selling price. Instead, run an app on a smartphone, and only sell people the actuators and sensors.

The processors and human interface are usually the most expensive part of any modest device.
Now we all have one in our pocket ready to use with any dumb- but linkable- device.

In my case the "dumb but linkable device" is me.

I find the steady onslaught of technology into our lives to often be too intrusive and distractive. I think it is hilarious that in this new age world people schedule time (on their smart phone calendar of course) and pay for things like "yoga lessons" in order to have periods of quiet contemplation in their lives...something that used to be "free" and nobody needed to "teach us" in the good ol' days.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Toys R Us

In my case the "dumb but linkable device" is me.

I find the steady onslaught of technology into our lives to often be too intrusive and distractive. I think it is hilarious that in this new age world people schedule time (on their smart phone calendar of course) and pay for things like "yoga lessons" in order to have periods of quiet contemplation in their lives...something that used to be "free" and nobody needed to "teach us" in the good ol' days.

A bit like the bottled water boom?

I don't remember any bottled water as a kid.

I'm waiting for a franchise called Luddites to appear.....a quiet space in a shopping mall where all 3g/4g, Wifi, and bluetooth signals are blocked/jammed.....for a fee.

They could also handle communication addiction outpatient services.

Having said that.....I can see health monitoring services and self medical testing devices to grow at a high rate(from a very small base)

[lektrode]

Re: Toys R Us

....waiting for a franchise called Luddites to appear.....a quiet space in a shopping mall where all 3g/4g, Wifi, and bluetooth signals are blocked/jammed.....for a fee......

whooo HAAAAAAA!!!

hahahahahahaha..... oh yeaaaaagh!!!

too late already - they've already taken over both houses of congress (who, backed by the vendors of all these 'advances' - will fight tooth-n-nail to 'defend our rights' to be distracted/annoyed/disgusted by it all ;)

[vt]

Re: Toys R Us

There are smartphone adult toys too

Since this is a family group you can Google further info.

[lektrode]

Re: Toys R Us

There are smartphone adult toys too

Since this is a family group you can Google further info.

eye'd go take a look, but somewhat concerned about what i'd start gettin/from whom for junkmail...
mostly because of this - but even more... because... uhhhhh.... even moreso worrysome about this
since.. well... the unintended consequences of even the simplest of.... ummmmm.... 'improvements'
has got quite risky these daze, eh vt?

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Toys R Us

There are smartphone adult toys too

Since this is a family group you can Google further info.

To be absolutely honest....the idea never struck me......but it makes perfect sense, and I'm sure like the VCR and the internet, adult industries will surely leverage apps and web enabled appliances for billions of dollars.

Just the other day I was pitching the idea of modifying a bluetooth device partnered to a mobile phone for better leveraging our customer base.

Both to both increase our market intelligence, but also to shift from controlling a hub/spoke community to influencing a potentially far larger mesh community.

The cost for small businesses to develop some of the potential capabilities displayed in the Minority Report movie visit to a future GAP store exist in the form of a smart phone.

Hollywood envisaged future in 2002:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDMlFycNrw

Reality in 2014:

http://estimote.com/

[lektrode]

Re: Toys R Us

.....
Hollywood envisaged future in 2002:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDMlFycNrw

Reality in 2014:

http://estimote.com/

somethings happnin, LD - check this out:

What Secrets Your Phone Is Sharing About You

Businesses Use Sensors to Track Customers, Build Shopper Profiles

Fan Zhang, the owner of Happy Child, a trendy Asian restaurant in downtown Toronto, knows that 170 of his customers went clubbing in November. He knows that 250 went to the gym that month, and that 216 came in from Yorkville, an upscale neighborhood.
And he gleans this information without his customers' knowledge, or ever asking them a single question.
Mr. Zhang is a client of Turnstyle Solutions Inc., a year-old local company that has placed sensors in about 200 businesses within a 0.7 mile radius in downtown Toronto to track shoppers as they move in the city.
The sensors, each about the size of a deck of cards, follow signals emitted from Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones. That allows them to create portraits of roughly 2 million people's habits as they have gone about their daily lives....

LOTS MORE on this one (and NOT behind the paywall...)

not sure i like where all this is goin...

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Toys R Us

somethings happnin, LD - check this out:

What Secrets Your Phone Is Sharing About You

Businesses Use Sensors to Track Customers, Build Shopper Profiles




not sure i like where all this is goin...

In this video, a fellow tests putting his cell phone into his refrigerator as a Faraday cage to block calls. That just did not work.
Then he put it into a common stainless steel cocktail shaker, and that DID work to block calls.

http://<iframe width="560" height="3...n=""></iframe>





There are companies that offer cases and pouches for cell phones that claim to do the same thing, block the RF to take your cell truly off line..




http://silent-pocket.com/



Here's another. These folks also sell a case to carry your passport that claims to block the RFID chip in all our passports.
http://www.itstactical.com/digicom/p...ywhere-you-go/

[Woodsman]

Re: Toys R Us

In this video, a fellow tests putting his cell phone into his refrigerator as a Faraday cage to block calls. That just did not work.
Then he put it into a common stainless steel cocktail shaker, and that DID work to block calls.

Remember when this used to be the domain of the tin hat crowd? Now your average suburbanite is considering "Tempesting" their data. Not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

[RebbePete]

Re: Toys R Us

In this video, a fellow tests putting his cell phone into his refrigerator as a Faraday cage to block calls. That just did not work.
Then he put it into a common stainless steel cocktail shaker, and that DID work to block calls.

http://<iframe src="//www.youtube.co...315"></iframe>





There are companies that offer cases and pouches for cell phones that claim to do the same thing, block the RF to take your cell truly off line..




http://silent-pocket.com/



Here's another. These folks also sell a case to carry your passport that claims to block the RFID chip in all our passports.
http://www.itstactical.com/digicom/p...ywhere-you-go/

Shut it all the way down (don't just turn the display off, which is usually all that the power button does) and/or pull out the battery, and you'll be fine. I know of no technology that can track a cell phone that's fully powered down, since then it's not transmitting anything at all.

[jr429]

Re: Toys R Us

for the kids . . .

What do any of the above products have to do with Toys R Us? I would imagine ToysRUs probably won't carry very many of them. The bigger story here is ToyRUs credit risk which I heard has been exceedingly bad - so much so that some factoring companies won't cover them anymore.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Toys R Us

Shut it all the way down (don't just turn the display off, which is usually all that the power button does) and/or pull out the battery, and you'll be fine. I know of no technology that can track a cell phone that's fully powered down, since then it's not transmitting anything at all.

That's the worry some have, that so many high end smart phones do not have removable batteries.
Both my iPhone 5 and Droid HTC require tools to change the battery, no way to easily pop out the battery like my old clam shell flip phones.
I'm not saying the fear is rational, just explaining it.

[Southernguy]

Re: Toys R Us

buy samsung....
Disclaimer: I have no other relation to the company than owning one of their cellphones