Cute
Latest
You can build a life size BB-8 out of a beachball
It took just days after BB-8 was shown to the world for someone to build their own, with the first one coming 48 hours after Star Wars Celebration. We've seen 'em come in all shapes and sizes, from a customized Sphero (before the company made its own) through to thousand-dollar versions. Now, 17-year-old Angelo Casimiro thinks that he's found a way to craft a version for just $120, if you have the patience. Thankfully, almost all of the parts required are available from your local hardware store, including an Arduino Uno, some wheels and, best of all, a 20-inch beachball.
Only in Japan: the robot that's a smartphone that's a robot
RoboHon ("Robot Phone") is the cutest smartphone ever: a (familiar looking) robot frame that fits in your pocket. It can take calls, dance, project photos, display maps and more. It's a 'bot with a smartphone inside. Yes, some will snort at the idea of a phone with a 2-inch touchscreen, but it's certainly an original notion -- unashamedly so. That said, is it innovative? Is there a point to it all? Does it really fit in your pocket? We'll know better when it launches here in Japan early next year. For now, here's a closer look in person, answering at least one of those questions.
Cute adventures in Alfheim Tales Online begin November 26th
If you've been sitting back and thinking, "Gee, I just don't have enough cute in my MMO diet," we've got some news for you. You'll be able to serve yourself up some on November 26th at 9:00 p.m. EST: Alfheim Tales Online, a new browser-based fantasy world with a heaping helping of cute, is opening up for adventurers. Produced by the Hong Kong-based Ray Media Group, this game sports cute characters with cute pets romping about the fairtytale-esque world of Carlyl on cute mounts. And if combat can actually be considered cute, this game probably has a lock on that as well. [Source: Ray Media Group press release]
The Daily Grind: What MMO has the cutest pets?
The picture above is a Goobbue Sproutling from Final Fantasy XIV. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't fully convey how adorable it is, since a static image cannot occasionally shake its head and yawn, but you get the idea. Also not pictured above is the small spherical lizard that looks at you and squawks for food or the baby behemoth that tries to roar but succeeds only in looking ridiculously precious. The point is, cute minipets. Players love having pets in games since they can serve as status symbols as well as just being cute to look at (without the usual feeding/walking/waste management issues created by real pets). So as fluffy as they are, we ask you today about these little bundles of squealing joy. What game has the cutest pets? Is it a game you still play, one you've left behind, or one that you have never played but still squeal about when you spy its cute critters? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Daily iPad App: Peterest is Pinterest for your pets
What do people most use the internet for? Corresponding with loved ones? Reading news? Buying useless things on eBay? None of the above. The correct answer, of course, is to look at pictures of adorable animals. The creators of the website Peterest -- and its new iOS companion app - have clearly stumbled upon this fact long ago, using the knowledge to create an app with the sole purpose of letting people share photos of their pets. As the name suggests, Peterest is very much a Pinterest clone with added furry flavor, letting users favorite photos from other users and create a collection of cute pets pics. You can save and store the names of your pets within the app and use that info to tag each photo you submit. All of your submitted pictures are linked to either your Peterest account (which you can sign up for within the app) or your Facebook account. When browsing the photos other users have submitted, you can sort via date or popularity, but sadly there is no option to sort via pet type. Personally, I'd stay in the "Cat" section permanently. Unfortunately, that's not the only area where the app falls short of its potential. At the moment, Peterest is very, very basic. Aside from submitting and browsing photos, there is little else you can do. There is no comment feature, which is a real letdown. There is no ability to follow other users, and there's not even the option to see who favorited your own submitted pictures. On top of that, there's not even an option to add an avatar to your account unless you link with Facebook, leaving you with the default blank face icon. Peterest could really be a fantastic time killer -- and in some ways it's already a fine way to kill a lunch break -- but it definitely needs to be fleshed out before it approaches greatness. The app is free, so there's no harm in downloading it now and waiting for the much-needed features to eventually appear, if they ever do. For now, I'll just keep submitting photos of my cats and pretending everyone loves them.
Caturday: The cute, it burns us, precioussss.....
Surgeon General's Warning: The picture above is too cute. Avert your eyes quickly, and move on to other TUAW posts before you get the urge to rub this kitten's cute little belly and pink feet, warm from snoozing on his owner's MacBook Pro. If you've got a Caturday nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Thanks, dborup!
Daily iPhone App: Hackycat makes kicking the cat fun
Stick with me on this: Hackycat is basically a game about kicking cats. In real life, of course, I love cats, and would never want to kick one. But Hackycat, designed by a very talented artist named Ken Wong, is all about playing hackeysack with a bevy of cartoony, colorful and surprisingly serene cats, kicking them in mid-air by tapping on your iPhone's screen to keep them up ... and letting them grab cheeseburgers along the way. Yes, as you might have figured already, Hackycat is a silly game, but it is a lot of fun. The gameplay itself is relatively simple, as all you'll need to do is tap the screen to keep the cats bouncing where you want them to go. If any of them falls to the bottom of the screen (or if you hit a bird bomb as it flies by), it's game over. The game's progression system is very well-designed, however: as you collect cheeseburgers, you can use them as currency to unlock more cats to play with, open up new heroes or powerups, or help yourself to completing certain goals. And since the game uses Wong's great art, all of the designs are very slick and fun. Hackycat is not extremely complicated, but then again that's part of the charm. It's a solid game with an unlock system that will keep you playing for quite a while if you want to open up everything. You can grab a universal version on the App Store now for just US$0.99.
Flickr Find: Caturday edition
Next time you wonder where the kitten has gone, check the warm parts of your Mac's power cord. photo by MorrowLess - Alex Nelson
Spirit Tales livestream giveaway happening this Friday
Spirit Tales is counting down the days until its open beta goes live on April 25th, but that doesn't mean there's nothing for players to do between now and then. On the contrary, KoramGame is hosting a livestream event on April 13th to both show off the game and hand out prizes to its devoted fans. By tuning into the Spirit Tales livestream on Friday at 5:00 p.m. EDT, fans can get an eyeful of the game prior to open beta and have a chance at winning one of several giveaways. The livestream will cover a variety of topics, including character creation, PvP, dungeons, and the pet system. You'll need to be logged into Twitch.tv to have a chance at winning. In addition to handing out goodies over the livestream, KoramGame is awarding one Tt eSPORTS Challenger gaming keyboard and five in-game pets to winners of a future drawing. To get a shot at this, you'll need to register for a free account at the Spirit Tales website.
Hello Kitty pays a visit to CES 2012: If you want it, we got it in pink
An electronics show wouldn't be an electronics show without celebrity endorsements. But there was one icon who had more product tie-ins than anyone else. Yep, Kitty-chan was in attendance and she had plenty of pink paraphernalia to hawk to unsuspecting fans of all things kawaii. We've collated together all the gear spotted at CES and, fortunately, there was more than just a few phone cases and laptop bags. Merchandise spotted includes Kitty-themed karaoke machines, alarm clocks with mounted laser cannons projectors, cordless phones and more. A brief video tour of some of our favorite surprises is coming soon, but until then, enjoy all that the super-deformed cat had to offer in our gallery below.Sean Cooper and Sean Buckley contributed to this post.
iPhone icon cupcakes look touchable, tasty
We haven't posted a really good iPhone cake in quite a while now, so here we go: Reader Tim sends in this set of cupcakes that his girlfriend made him for his 21st birthday, and boy do they look good. There are a few things that, as Apple obsessive, we would call out in there, including the fact that this cake uses the old iPod logo instead of the new Music app logo, and the fact that the phone happens to be tilted the wrong way in these pictures. But hey, that's just us nitpicking -- these look great, very nice job, and I especially like the custom day and date, as well as the special message on the Notes icon. Happy belated birthday, Tim, and you've got one very talented and sweet lady there.
The Daily Grind: What enemies are almost too cute to kill?
You probably know that in most games, your first enemies are not going to be dragons with jaws that could shred steel. They're going to be something that's fairly non-threatening. But sometimes that goes overboard, and when you step out to do your first quest, the enemies in front of you have all the traits of the most adorable critter ever. Five minutes later, you're finally working up the nerve to actually fight one of them. But you can't because you've already named him Mr. Snuggletimes and you can't stop typing that you'll always remember him. OK, perhaps that's a touch extreme. But there are enemies in almost every game -- mandragoras from Final Fantasy XI, foxes from Lord of the Rings Online, dragon whelps in World of Warcraft -- that are hard not to find so adorable as to defy your normal killing urge. So what enemies strike you as being almost too cute to actually kill? Given the choice, are there critters you'd rather snuggle than slay? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
My Keepon drops by for a brief hands-on, we can't handle the cuteness (video)
See that little dude up there? That's My Keepon, and it should look familiar if you're a fan of Spoon or keeping up with autism and related human interaction research. It was just about four years ago when we glimpsed the original dancing research robot by BeatBots dubbed Keepon, and now the $50 toy version we'd been teased is finally set to make its debut this holiday season. Considering its Pro sibling costs nearly $30k, we were curious to see how well this version made by Wow! Stuff would keep the original's essence in tow. To find out, we spent some time with a pre-production unit and had Marek Michalowski, co-inventor of the robot, walk us through it. %Gallery-133464%
Hello Kitty, Snoopy lend their brand equity to the cute clamshell phone cause
In Japan, a certain hallowed distinction has been garnered by all ephemera cute and pretty. So, it goes without saying that this pair of oblong flip phones, with their familiar animated sponsors, should have the Harajuku hordes rushing in with charm straps at the ready. For its particular crack at kawaii, Panasonic's P-06C gets an understated splash of Snoopy cool, visible only through two available built-in themes. The clamshell entry comes with a 3-inch display, 5.1 megapixel camera and retails for about 28,560 yen (or $375). But, let's face it folks, the real stunner of the two is the Softbank-designed model Ms. Kitty-chan adorns. The Antique Berry-shaded 007SH KT packs a 3.4-inch display, 16.1 megapixel camera and Android 2.3 into a 180 degree foldable handset, and can be yours when it goes on sale next month. Be sure to jump past the break for a double dose of this wireless adorability.
Test your resolve against the Kirby: Mass Attack Japanese website
Kirby: Mass Attack promises to be a barrel of cuteness wrapped in a bow of adorable-osity floating in an ocean of kitties and baby penguins, according to its new Japanese website. If you can stand the brightly colored assault on the senses, the site has bunches of new videos for Mass Attack and enough miniature Kirbies to populate a small, bubblegum-colored island. Kirby: Mass Attack is scheduled for release on September 19 for Nintendo DS, so stock up on preventative action movies and death metal now, just in case the cuteness is too much to take later this year.
Scribblenauts' Maxwell now available for pre-order in toy form
The adorable Scribblenaut himself, Maxwell, is heading to toy stores this June. First, he's an action figure, complete with a pencil and notebook used to create anything you can dream of. Then while you're dreaming, you can hug a little plush Maxwell, available for $10 plus shipping.
Hamster-powered miniature Strandbeest proves that sometimes, cute is a gadget
Sometimes, after a hard day of gadget blogging, you just want to sit down at your terminal and watch a funny, heart-warming video of a hamster running furiously (as they will) in a plastic ball attached to a Strandbeest traveling across a table to the delight of watching children. Right? Video is after the break.
Iris Online heads into open beta today
Looking at the above screenshot of a party going on in Iris Online, you can tell immediately whether this is the type of game you will enjoy. For some, those crazy, brightly colored worlds full of goofy fun are absolutely their thing. For others, not so much. With that said, if you're the type who digs crayola-colored silliness in MMO form, then you'll likely be interested to know that Iris Online is headed into open beta today! Offering three races (humans, elves, and part-animal humanoids), some of the most horribly adorable mounts we've seen in a while, a card system allowing you to morph your character, a level cap of 55, and 20 areas to explore, Iris Online has quite a bit to offer new players. After all, it's not every day that you get to go up against a world full of carnival-themed monsters who fling pies. If it sounds like your idea of fun, you can head over to the Iris Online site to get signed up for open beta, or check out the trailer we've lovingly tucked behind the cut for your amusement.
Fujitsu's social robot bear is the supertoy of Kubrick's dreams, almost (video)
Ah, the Fujitsu bear cub social robot. What child or elderly person should go without a "people-friendly terminal" with snuggly-soft fur and a camera in lieu of the ever-popular button nose? The little guy made the rounds briefly earlier this year, but this is our first time making acquaintances. The duo waved at us, waved with us, laughed with (at?) us, and then at some point, decided to arbitrarily fall asleep and ignore us -- just like our actual friends! The representative told us this prototype -- with a reported 300 actions from 12 actuators (three face, three neck, and six in the body), 13 skin touch sensors, hand grip sensors, a tilt sensor, and a microphone -- is a ways off from hitting the childcare / nursing home market. For now, enjoy the pictures below and footage after the break... and if all this seems eerily familiar, hey, we're with you. A wink and a nod in that direction can be found via the second video. %Gallery-104247%
Dolphin uses iPad to learn to identify objects
Cats love iPads, dogs love iPads, and dolphins... love iPads? That's the word from a site called SpeakDolphin.com [PDF, here's the text], where researchers say they're using the iPad's touchscreen to offer up visual stimuli for dolphins to touch and interact with. A touchscreen for dolphins needs to have a few certain criteria, including being waterproof-able, sensitivity, and visual clarity, and apparently the iPad fits the bill, as you can see in the picture. So what kinds of apps does a dolphin use? Turns out they're addicted to Plants vs. Zombies HD, too. No, just kidding -- they use just an image that contains pictures of various items that exist around the dolphin in real life. The trainer points to an object in real life, and then asks the dolphin to point to that same object on the screen, laying the very first groundwork for lingual interaction. Interesting stuff. We haven't heard of dolphins using Apple's magical device before, obviously, but what's constantly surprising is that the iPad is slowly replacing all sorts of other technology, and being used in many ways that Apple's engineers couldn't even imagine. [via BoingBoing]
