Need some irony with your angst-battered diet this morning? Swell, try some of this. Disney and Pixar are set to release their latest animated blockbuster, WALL-E, this summer. The premise of the film finds WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class) cleaning up the Earth's trash after rampant, unchecked consumerism made the planet uninhabitable. So how do they promote the film? You got it, they launch a new line of plastic WALL-E robots developed in partnership with Thinkway Toys which no child could possibly live without. Ultimate WALL-E will list for $190 when launched sometime this summer and feature 10 motors, a remote control, and plenty of sensors to avoid obstacles, respond to touch, and feel the mocking satire of its own existence. The bot will be joined by a $25 iDance WALL-E (think i-Species) and a $40 WowWee FlyTech Tinker Bell when they make their May 29th debut in San Mateo at the Maker Faire.

From now on, when we can't sleep at night, we'll be counting Pleos.

[Via Robots Rule]

Austinites and Texans near and far, we hope you're headed out to your local Maker Faire this weekend -- wish we could be there, too. Seriously, where else in the world are you going to see a skinned Sega Dream Pony? Do us a fave, put your pictures on up the Engadget Flickr group, would ya?

There was a lot to see at Maker Faire 2007 -- too much, really -- but if you're obsessed with robots like we are, this was THE place for you. Seriously, the last time we saw this many robot kits, sculptures, warriors, and automatons, we woke up in a cold sweat fearing the very destruction of mankind. Anywho, being that there is literally just too much to cover at the Faire, we've gone the lazy route and put up a mammoth photo gallery. The highlights:

• EepyBird debuting the Mentos/Diet Coke bottle nozzle (plus the 102 bottle show they put on)
• SparkFun's DIY cellphone and rotary cellphone
• Evil Mad Scientist Labs's DIY 3D sugar printer (writeup here)
  
• Hacked Nabaztags
• Half-lane electric cars
• Wired's NXT-powered flight drones
• Multiple drumbots

If you get a chance to make it out this weekend, we highly recommend!

P.S. -For last year's Maker Faire coverage, see here and here.

We caught the nifty YBox last year when it was still just a proof-of-concept, and now the folks at Uncommon Projects are ready to unleash their televised-widgets-in-an-Altoids-tin wonder on the world -- for free. There's a catch, though: you have to show up at the upcoming Maker Faire in San Mateo, California, and build it yourself. Yahoo is sponsoring free workshops with parts for all, and all the skills you need to get one together will be taught at the 'shops. No worries if you can't make it out to San Mateo, however, as you can still get the schematics and parts list from the YBox website and build one at home, but you'll be doing a little more work -- Uncommon Project's Kent Brewster has already milled 80 Altoids tins for Maker Faire participants. Peep a vid of YBox assembly after the jump.

[Thanks, Wasabi]

We've got more odd creations and far out gadgets from our leisurely Saturday and Sunday at the Maker Faire. If you liked round one, check out round two to see more from the Faire and find out about this robot made from scrounged and garage sale parts. See you next year, Maker Faire!