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Engadget's holiday gift guide 2012: fun stuff!
Welcome to the Engadget holiday gift guide! Picking presents for friends and loved ones is never a simple task, and with thousands of options for each category, buying technology can be an especially frustrating experience. We're here to help. Below you'll find today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. And don't forget to enter our giveaway -- leave a comment for a chance to nab AT&T's LG Optimus G. Ideally, all the gifts you'll give and receive will fall under the "fun" category, but sometimes this description is especially applicable. Welcome to the lighter side of tech, where you'll find gadgets meant to make life merrier rather than to impress with mile-long spec lists. That's not to say that these gizmos aren't productivity-friendly -- the picks below enable everything from learning to play the guitar to keeping New Year's resolutions on track.
Fruit Ninja plushies coming soon to a wrapped gift near you
Angry Birds can't have all the fun, right? Halfbrick Studios is set to embrace the iOS marketing frenzy by releasing a pair Fruit Ninja plush toys. The sensei and a smiling (or is that sliced?) watermelon in a branded headband will introduce the series. The sensei is available right now on the company's web store for US$15.99, while the watermelon will be available "soon" for just a buck less. I have to admit, these are pretty darn cute. Halfbrick Studios is not only a talented set of game designers, but a really nice group of folks as well. Does this mean we'll soon be getting a Jetpack Backpack from Jetpack Joyride? I don't know how cuddly a sliced watermelon is, but Fruit Ninja is a great game, and I wouldn't mind having one of these guys under my tree come this holiday season.
eMac converted to self-tweeting cat bed
What do you do with an obsolete computer the size of a huge, plastic canned ham? Let your cat use it to tweet her naps, of course. The eMac was a behemoth of a computer, released by Apple in 2002. Originally meant for the education market, Apple eventually made them available to all consumers. It looked like the runner up in a "Re-design the iMac" contest and was very heavy. Now discontinued, it makes a sweet cat bed. The "eSleeper" by Samuel Cox is an eMac shell that's been tricked out with lights and cozy blankies. But that's not all. An infrared beam is monitored by an ethernet-connected Arduino. When the cat breaks the beam to enter the eSleeper, its lights come on, the startup chime sounds and the cat's entry time is recorded. When it breaks the beam again to leave, the lights switch off and a random phrase is tweeted to @eSleeper1. I imagine this is how Auntie TUAW's cats sleep. Pretty neat, Samuel, but we're afraid you weren't the first. I was going to end with a Mac OS X naming convention house cat joke, but decided against it. You're welcome. Here's a video of the eSleeper in action. eSleeper from Sam Cox on Vimeo.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Since the weekend is finally upon us, we figured now's as good a time as any to sit back, relax, and have some fun. Play along with our fun stuff picks -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's Friday, and that can only mean one thing: two days of parties, sleeping in, and seeing your campus transform from a vehicle of intense education to a spring break-like haven of drunken delight. We've rounded up a few toys to help you relax before you head back to class -- a memory card reader that doubles as a pocket mirror, an Arduino-powered car that can stream video from the dorm hall, and an electric-powered sports car that can drive you and a friend far from campus for a pricey weekend getaway -- so kick off the shoes and prepare to embrace these 48 hours of freedom. And when it's time to get back to the books, we have the gear for that too -- and we're giving it away! Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details.
