Put down that Lego nerd, it's time to give your (only?) other interest a poke. Meet the $68 animatronic Darth Vader and R2D2 USB hubs. Just stuff a USB Princess Leia into Darth's neck and watch the dark lord's eyes glow red as he scans side-to-side for the pretentious scowls of your contemptuous co-workers. Sounds effects? Oh you betcha, listen in after the break.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

Remember that R2-D2 projector that's been taunting you for months? Of course, how could you forget? Apparently, these critters are getting set to roll off the assembly line (seen above, if you couldn't piece it together) and into eager hands everywhere. The R2-D2 DVD Projector is up for pre-order right now for a stiff €2,799 ($4,114), and while that's most definitely more than we'd like to pay, it's probably better than waiting for all 4,000 to run out and being forced to pay "market price."

Oh you know you want it. Ever since his January debut at CES, you've been pining for the iconic friend of righteousness and home DVD projector. Let's just hope you saved up the ¥388,500 (about $3,160 or 43,000 galactic credits) to take him home. The 1/2 scale DLP projector features a slot-loading DVD player, 1,800:1 contrast, 1,500 lumen brightness, and resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels. But you're not buying this based on specs alone now are you. Limited production run of 1,000 units begins "this fall." Prepare.

[Via Impress]

So it seems pretty obvious when you think about it: if you're gonna go out and spend $1000+ on a projector / DVD player / iPod dock shaped like R2D2 from those Star Wars movies, you can't really hook it up to just any old speakers, now can you? Sure, some nice tower speakers from Energy or Boston Acoustics would sound pretty great, but if you want your home theater to have that authentic Jedi feel to it, it would seem that something more thematic / tacky is in order. Well, projector (and matching R2 Skype webcam) manufacturer Nikko has apparently come to this realization as well, and probably due to the unexpected popularity of its products tucked into a corner of South Hall at CES, has come up with a 2.1 speaker system shaped like a pair of Tie-Fighters. Scheduled to launch at CeBIT, not much is known about this unique setup other than the fact that bass comes courtesy of a dedicated subwoofer emblazoned with the classic Star Wars logo. Check out a few different angles in the gallery below, and stay tuned as we attempt to once again track down Nikko's booth for more in-depth coverage of what will likely be the sleeper hit of this year's show.

Who knew the United States Postal Service could feel the Force? In honor of Star Wars' 30th anniversary, these kick-ass R2D2-wrapped mailboxes will be replacing the old boring ones in post offices across the nation. Star Wars lovers / haters can say whatever they like -- we're just glad this has nothing to do with Jar Jar Binks.

[Via Boing Boing]

This could be reaching out to our geek audience a bit too much, but the combo media dock-cum-projector housed in the Nikko Electronics R2D2's guts has to get at least a look. Besides the fact that it's the iconic little droid, the projector's remote is housed in a Millennium Falcon Hyperdrive, adding to the geek cred. Granted, the $2,500 price tag could be a bit prohibitive for your 12-year-old Star Wars obsessed nephew, but maybe he could give the wireless R2D2 webcam, or the Anakin Skywalker Lightsabre Skype phone a go. Regardless, check out the gallery below and the video after the break (or get your download on, if that's your thing).

[MP4] Download the video