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iPad, iPhone toys represented at Toy Fair 2013
Visiting the annual Toy Fair trade show at New York's Javits Center earlier this month was an exercise in sensory overload. Hundreds of vendors, from tiny single-product companies to former garage startups grown massive to legitimate industry giants, staff booths and pitch passersby with their fun, family-friendly offerings. While technological toys make headlines and grab attention, most of the products seen on display don't use anything more technologically advanced than a few AA batteries or some brightly colored surgical tubing. If you can throw it, build it, paint it, read it or stick it to a wall, it's represented at Toy Fair. Most exhibitors were showing products that won't make it to store shelves until this summer if not later, but the buyers and retailers who need to plan ahead for the busy shopping seasons were happy to have an up-front look. Among the toys with Apple tech tie-ins, quite a few used iOS device cameras to deliver augmented-reality content triggered by the design of the physical product. Ravensburger's line of AR-enabled puzzles can quiz you or plant your pictures in the middle of Times Square, and the Popar Toys books and games with AR features allow your eager reader to take pop-up books to the next level with 3D, animated storytelling matched to each page. Here's a quick video demo of Popar's technology in action. Along with AR, the venerable QRCode showed up in a number of toy and game tie-ins. As Megan posted last week, the upcoming America's Funniest Home Videos game will be powered by QRCode scanning, with video clips embedded in the app for data-plan-free playtime. The US$14.99 Codigo Cube also uses QRCodes on a special die, with each code triggering a different trivia category in the corresponding quiz app. Given the level of frustration usually associated with real-world scanning of QRCodes, I don't know how effective this will be in the games market, but we'll see. It's not shipping until late this spring, but the Verzis four-way family game controller looks intriguing. The flat gamepad-style controller set sits underneath your iPad, giving everyone on the table their individual controls. The real question there will be the number (and quality) of apps that end up supporting the controller; several are planned for release with the gamepad set. Pretty much every manufacturer of remote-controlled toy vehicles has a selection of iOS-linked flyers, drivers or none-of-the-aboves. Model helicopter and car maker FunkyPlanet showed several 'copters compatible with its AppRC Fly iPhone controller (you have to add the $19.99 IR dongle yourself), and there are forthcoming Mini Cooper and Porsche models that work with the AppRC Drive app. Chinese OEM Woddon Toys has a whole line of iCon app-controlled models on the way, including the dramatic iConEyes quadcopter: camera equipped, app-piloted and looking like an angry baby Batmobile with rotors. For pure RC cute, however, you would have to search hard to find anything more adorable than the DeskPets line of teensy RC tanks, cars and battling, maze-walking vehicles. DeskPets's TankBot models are $29.95 each, putting them on the less expensive end of the app/RC spectrum. Honorable cuteness mention gets a split decision, with both the Romo iPhone-powered tank robot and the Sphero rolling, swimming robot ghost ball drawing oohs and ahhs from passersby. Romo's going to have some competition with the Robo Me robot coming this spring. (We covered both Romo and Sphero at CES earlier this year.) The iPhone also found itself playing a tactical role as an augmented-reality gunsight in quite a few toys, most of which won't hit stores until later this year. Tech4Kids upcoming TekRecon rubber-band shooters, due in the fall, use the iPhone as the sight while you try to tag your buddies. Metal Compass's Xappr AR gun bypasses the physical ammo altogether and links with more than 10 iPhone apps for virtual battles; it also works with a handful of Android apps as well. Unfortunately, despite an orange frontpiece the Xappr looks a little bit too realistic for comfort. Here's a quick video of the device. Even if actual iOS games weren't overwhelming the show floor, the consequences of those games were clearly in evidence: scores of licensed products from Cut The Rope and Angry Birds. Cases, games, snacks, accessories and more -- check out the gallery for some examples. I lost count of how many Angry Birds tie-ins I saw across the exhibit space. %Gallery-179871% Honorable mention to our pals at ThinkGeek, holding down a comparatively staid and distinguished booth filled with Minecraft and Star Trek gadgets, and to the impressive breadth of Mac and iPhone-themed items at the Thumbs Up! booth. I definitely want a Padintosh iPad cover. There were a few legitimately inventive ideas on the show floor, which we'll get to in detail in subsequent posts. Tiggly Shapes looks like a very promising iPad toy for preschoolers, and the Apptivators line of iPad toppers definitely garnered some attention. Our former Engadget colleague Joanna Stern, now covering the tech beat for ABC News, found some of the higher-profile iOS tie-ins at the show, including the clever Nerf Cyberhoop basketball hoop/app combo (the app does automatic scoring, listening for the audio of a made basket) and the technologically impressive, deeply creepy Barbie Makeover Mirror. This particular product, which I did not get in to see (Mattel's full-floor solo exhibit space at Toy Fair was by appointment only, and fully booked up when I inquired) uses the iPad's front-facing camera in mirror mode, then allows the player to apply virtual eye shadow, blush and lipstick via a Bluetooth-linked palette of plastic makeup. The applied color then tracks her (or his) facial features. We've got until August to get used to this idea. Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. We'll be sharing a few more of our impressions from Toy Fair over the next few days.
Toy Fair 2013: 'America's Funniest Home Videos' board games includes QR cards to enhance game
America's Funniest Home Videos started when Steve Jobs worked on NeXT computers and Bob Saget, the original host, was best known as Danny Tanner on Full House. It's one of those shows that inevitably you find yourself doing a double-take and going, "That's still airing?" It's not just going strong, but the latest game based on the series debuted at Toy Fair 2013. TDC Games is using the show as its first subject in a line of Scan Games, which has a game board bundled with cards bearing QR codes. Scan the card with an iOS or Android device using a free app that you download after purchasing the game, and content related to the game being played will appear on your screen. In the case of the AFV game, the content is a clip of a home movie featured in the series. You guess what will happen in the video, then select the answer on your iOS device to see the rest of the clip play out and determine how many points you receive. It's not just the cards that have the QR code. There are codes embedded in the board as well, and point bonuses are issued when you scan those spaces. It's a neat mesh of technology and a traditional board game, and it's a game that's good for the entire family to play. The app is designed for an iPhone, so you will have to enlarge it on an iPad to take advantage of the screen. This could lead to video degradation on older iPads. This board game / iOS-compatible version of AFV will be available in fall 2013 for US$19.99. Bonus card packs, which can be played on their own or with the game, will be $9.99. Watch the video below to see the game in action.
Toy Fair 2013 features such wonderful toys
Toy Fair 2013 is happening up in New York this week, and in addition to those Tomb Raider minimates we spotted earlier, there are a bevy of various playthings, action figures, and replica items available from a number of famous video game franchises and settings. Just down below, we've compiled a few galleries of the video game-related toys on display for you to browse through at your leisure.Thrill, for example, at the newly revealed Motorized Patriot figure from Bioshock Infinite. Gaze upon the (still boxed!) figures from Batman: Arkham City, including Talia, Deadshot, and Bats himself. Or if full-sized replicas are more your thing, you can see some closeup shots of the Gears of War Judgement "Taxi Lancer," as seen above. Sure, your significant other may exclaim that you're too old to play with these toys, but they didn't say you couldn't look through a few galleries of them, right?
Tomb Raider Minimates debut at Toy Fair
At Toy Fair, Diamond Select Toys showed off six new Tomb Raider Minimate figures, based on the upcoming reboot. The Minimates, which look like Lego figures with more points of articulation, are slated to hit shelves this summer, as two-packs sold in comic and specialty stores. The six figures shown include: a basic Lara Croft, a Lara Croft with battle damage, Captain Conrad Roth (Lara's mentor), two enemy scavengers and a figure who appeared to look like a priest. Diamond Select wasn't at liberty to share the names of the characters but suggested that the figure with the hood was a type of priest. The Art Asylum-designed figures excellent details, right down to Captain Conrad's chiseled eyebrows and five o'clock shadow. Each figure comes with accessories. The basic Lara Croft has a more generic hatchet, while the battle damaged, mud soaked Lara Croft has the stylized hatchet we've seen from Tomb Raider concept art. The Molotov cocktail scavenger comes with just that – a Molotov cocktail. The second scavenger had a shield and an iron mask. The designs are still pending licensor approval.
Toy Fair 2013: Ubooly is soft, squishy and smart thanks to the iPhone
Like Macworld/iWorld, Toy Fair 2013 is filled with products that began life as Kickstarter crowdfunding efforts; Ubooly is one of them. This combo of a plush bear and an iOS app received more than US$28,000 in funding on Kickstarter in April 2012. It later received $1.5 million in seed funding. The Ubooly plush is an orange bear that appears to be missing its face. Users download the free app and activate it, then insert an iOS device into the plush upside-down to add a face. From there, a child can interact with the Ubooly in a number of ways, ranging from playing various games to telling jokes to simple stories. The plush is padded with memory foam, so it can handle being thrown or dropped and you don't have to worry about damaging your iOS device by accident. Still, as with a lot of the toys that Mike Rose and I saw at Toy Fair yesterday, it's best to use an older iPhone or iPod touch with Ubooly. You can use iPhone models going back to the 3GS and iPod touches starting with the fourth generation. The app also can be used on its own without the Ubooly pet. Outside of the plush, there are a number of mini-games that can be played and rooms for Uboolies that can be decorated using using in-app purchases. This is a great way to test the Ubooly with your child before investing in the plush toy. As with all situations with children using apps with in-app purchases, you should lock out store access so your child doesn't go overboard buying extras without your approval. Ubooly is $29.99 through its website, but is currently on sale for $19.99 at ThinkGeek.
