Posts with tag Hasbro
Despite numerous technological advancements in home automation, it's never really seemed to catch on with the mainstream. Now it's time for the children -- our future -- to take things into their own hands. Hasbro is launching the Room Tech Clock (left) and Room Tech Lamp (right), which put a bit of wireless conspiracy to good use by having the Clock turn on the Lamp when the alarm goes off. Sadly, these kids aren't really dreaming big yet, since that's about all this duo can do, other than an audio jack on the alarm to play tunes off your portable audio player. The two Room Tech devices will be out in September, at least in the UK, for £39.99 ($79 US) a piece.
Hasbro serves up toys galore, aims for tweens
Gateway and Linksys aren't the only firms using Digital Life to showcase new wares, as Hasbro is making the most of its opportunity by inviting fun-lovin' tweens over to its booth to play with a number of new holiday must-haves. Aside from the familiar Power Tour guitar and NET JET game, the company is also showing off its Littlest Pet Shop VIPs (virtual interactive pets), which will launch next month for $14.99 apiece, and a few new critters in the Furreal Friends family, one of which is pictured above. Additionally, Tiger Electronics is introducing its October-bound I-Dog Amp'd ($34.99), which will "tap its paw to the tune, bob its head to the beat, swish its ears and wag its tail to the rhythm of your favorite songs." Lastly, the I-List Music Party game sounds like the perfect way to entertain guests at your next sleepover, and should be available soon to test your knowledge of music for $19.99. Click on through for a few more pics.
Sony's PlayStation Eye gets a release date
For those of you whose salivary glands have been working overtime when thinking about Sony's new PlayStation Eye PS3 camera accessory (and we're sure there's at least one or two of you), you better go get a napkin. According to reports, the interactive, VGA cam will be heading out to stores bundled with Hasrbo's RPG / card game The Eye of Judgment on October 23rd, for the shockingly low price of $69.99. No word on whether that bundle will include the EyeCreate editing software, or when / if the Eye will be available on its own. Hey -- you'll probably want the game anyhow.
Hasbro's Power Tour guitar finally launches
It's been a long time comin', but the Power Tour guitar we peeped back in January is nearly ready for your youngster's hands. Modeled after a Gibson SG, this axe enables your little ones (or you, it's alright) to plug in any source and rock right along with it, and the built-in learning mode should do a decent job in creating the Guitar Zeros of tomorrow. Ships on the 15th for just under $70.
[Via OhGizmo, image courtesy of Popular Science]
[Via OhGizmo, image courtesy of Popular Science]
Hasbro unveils Real Gear Transformers based on real life gadgets
Those of you not able to bust out your cardboard box Optimus Prime costume and make a scene at your local theaters next month when the new Transformers movie hits can at least comfort yourselves with the most amazing onslaught of merchandise tie-ins and cross-promotions we've yet seen out of Hollywood -- Hasbro's Real Gear line of bots are an Engadget editor's geeky wet dream mashup of gadgets and Transformers. See: Speed Dial 800 (pictured), which seems to have copped his look from a Star Trek, or Power Up VT6, which from what we can tell is the unholy marriage of Sega Game Gear and first-gen Game Boy Advance. Pics of all the new Real Gear Transformers (with our guesses as to which devices they likeliest correspond to) in the gallery.
[Via Crave]
[Via Crave]
Hasbro recalls almost 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens
Many of us have fond childhood memories of scarfing down delicious, undercooked treats courtesy of the old Easy-Bake Oven, but it looks like today's chefs-in-training have a little more to worry about than runny brownies: Hasbro is recalling almost a million of the toys because of a risk of burns and trapped extremities. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 985,000 Ovens sold between May 2006 and the beginning of this month contain a potentially dangerous defect, wherein children can receive a nasty burn on their chubby little fingers after getting them trapped in the oven's opening. So far there have been 29 reported incidents of stuck fingers and five reports of burns, prompting Hasbro to release a retrofit kit that apparently remedies the problem and sports a helpful warning label. Owners of the affected models should immediately pull their rugrat away from that soufflé he or she is baking and stick the Easy-Bake on a high shelf until the kit -- which is free by request -- arrives in the mail. In the meantime, this might be a good opportunity to review the whole "stop, drop, and roll" procedure and teach your tykes to apply burn cream, just in case another one of their toys (Flamosapien, perhaps?) gets a little hot under the collar.
Hasbro's NET JET merges USB controller with online gaming
We've all seen those cheesy kiosks at the mall with some guy trying to sell you a controller with "8,000 games" built right in, which you can plug directly into your television for about three minutes of actual enjoyment, but now Hasbro is hoping to add a shade of respectability to the plug-and-play controller game market with its $24.99 NET JET device. The USB controller plugs directly into your PC (sorry, Mac users), and once you insert your "game card" of choice into the controller, it navigates to an online web portal where the corresponding game is launched and played on your screen. Hasbro offers up a variety of somewhat kid-centric titles at $14.99 apiece, including Marble Blast XP, Kool Kart Racers, Super Soaker Water Fight, and the obligatory SpongeBob SquarePants' Pizza Toss. Ideally, this wouldn't be a bad solution to laptop gaming for your offspring on lengthy road trips, but you should be sure to get a 3G-equipped lappie before taking this out where the WiFi doesn't roam.[Via EverythingUSB]
Tiger Electronics' Power Tour guitar rocks out with lights and sensors
While your teenage daughter might prefer something a bit more sophisticated, and your male child is probably rippin' it up right now on Guitar Hero, Hasbro's Tiger Electronics is coming out with an axe designed to let little tykes learn their favorite tunes without all the complicated (and pricey) lessons. The Power Tour electric guitar will come with 12 pre-loaded songs, and the string-free instrument will rock a bevy of sensors on the fretboard and body, which will allow youngsters to play along as they follow the light patterns with the music. Additionally, it's slated to have an aux input, allowing users to plug in any song they choose and jam along, but there's no word on whether or not that sweet pictured amp comes along in the bundle. Nevertheless, this kid-friendly guitar could actually find its way into quite a few musically-challenged adult hands as well when it lands in August for a currently undisclosed price.[Via Yahoo, thanks Adam]
Playskool and Creative give birth to a healthy baby MP3 player
Considering that it has been made explicitly clear that iPods are not meant to be eaten or chewed on, the popular DAP is pretty much ruled out as a contender for the ears of our wee young ones. Thankfully Hasbro-subsidiary Playskool and Creative have teamed up to make sure that baby Apple isn't left out of the loop (you could be missing a key demographic, Steve). The "Made For Me" line of MP3 players is pretty scarce on details, but what we do know is that it comes preloaded with 50 songs, has a voice recorder, and can be used with other appropriately labeled "Made For Me" toys (sounds familiar). The device should be available come fall and is expected to retail for about $80. While we'd personally just stick a stereo in our kid's room and call it a day, we will reserve judgement and leave the parenting to the parents.[Via Shiny Shiny]
Peak of civilization reached: I-CY Penguin to chill with I-Dog
Now you've gone and done it, Hasbro. It's just all downhill from here, now that you've launched the world's awesomest and potentially most pointless audio accessory ever, the I-CY Penguin. A species of the I-Dog / I-Cat / I-Dog Pup / I-Fish family, the I-CY Penguin gets down with your music, and can communicate its moods through arbitrary musical riffs, flashing lights, movements and squawks. We know you want one, don't even try and deny it, and at $19.99 when this thing launches in March '07, you shouldn't have much trouble appeasing your I-CY lust.
[Via Chip Chick]
[Via Chip Chick]
Sega Toys' Dream Pony is one freaky robot
Remember the Uncanny Valley? It's that place where robots look very much like the biological entities that they're meant to emulate, but just dissimilar enough to give them a very creepy appearance. Well we'd suggest that Sega Toys' upcoming Dream Pony falls squarely into the valley, as the 4-foot tall bot certainly resembles a real mini horse -- though as you can see in the pictures (both here and after the jump), it probably has the potential to really freak people out. Nonetheless, Sega is confident that this latest addition to its zoo of robotic pets will be popular enough among little girls (and immature men such as ourselves) that it can move 10,000 of these strange toys per year. Since you wouldn't pay $600 for a stuffed animal that just sat around looking weird, Dream Pony -- a virtual doppelgänger for Hasbro's Butterscotch -- responds to visual, audio, and tactile stimulation by jerking its head around or emitting a frightened whinny, among several other forms of exciting feedback. Although this robopony won't actually trot around the neighborhood like the real one your parents would buy you if they weren't so stingy, you can still sit on its back (assuming you're under 80 pounds) and "feed" it a plastic carrot over and over again. All-in-all, the Dream Pony doesn't really seem to provide the kind of long-term playability you'd get from an Xbox or a Robosapien, but once your little girl starts begging and whining for one, you'll have little choice but to welcome Dreamy into your home.[Via Pink Tentacle]
Hasbro's Nitro XRC -- nitro RC for kids
C'mon, everyone enjoyed seeing a Hasbro box on Chrismahannakwanzika morning; that usually meant you were in for some sort of top notch toy that'd long since purloined your fantasies. Although more commonly linked to their lineup of childhood gadgets, Hasbro is branching out and aiming to deliver a "radio controlled experience" with their new Nitro XRC lineup. Rather than relying on those dreadfully expensive, long charging, short-lived battery packs to get your ride movin', the Nitro XRC vehicles will be powered by nitro fuel -- the same fuel that powers professional racing R/C vehicles. With the ability to reach speeds of 25mph, Hasbro is being careful to market these speedsters to those 16 years and up; while you can find these in hobby huts and mass merchants, they'll be MIA from typical toy stores. Two models are currently being prepped for release, the Nitro XRC Ricochet and the Nitro XRC Revolution MT; the dirt starts flyin' when they drop this fall for $179.99 and $129.99, respectively.

























