nabaztag/tag
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The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Wireless Device or Technology of the Year
Now's your chance to cast your ballot for the 2006 Wireless Device or Technology of the Year! Our Engadget Awards nominees are listed below, and you've got until 11.59PM EST on Sunday, April 15th to file your vote. You can only vote once, so make it count, and may the best tech win! The nominees: 802.11n (draft 1.06), HSDPA, Nabaztag/tag WiFi rabbit, Microsoft Zune, and Ultrawideband wireless USB. %Poll-227%
Nabaztag/tag users up in arms about spotty service, missing features
While we typically question the sanity of anyone who would pay $200+ for a talking rabbit (not really, we're just jealous), it looks like Nabaztag/tag fanboys/girls have a reason to be upset. Out of the box, many buyers of the cute little bunny found that they had just purchased a cute little paperweight, since Violet's API was down for days at a time. Now that those server problems have been fixed and the Nabaztag/tag can actually receive info from the service, buyers are finding that Violet expects an extra fee for some services, and completely failed to include other features in the box, such as RFID tags compatible with the bunny. Other features are hopelessly bad in their execution, such as instances of asking tag/tag for the weather, and receiving a response three minutes later. Hardly the virtual pet nirvana most users were hoping for. Violet has indicated that it has heard the complaints of its customers, but still hasn't issued a formal response to address the issues. We'll keep an eye out for such a word, and until that day we'll put our hope in Violet-alternatives such as OpenNab, which promise to help "Unleash Your Inner Bunny" without all the hassle of tangling with the company that gave it birth.[Thanks, Mark B]
Nabaztag/tag enters the wild, our hearts
As of midnight in France -- 6PM EST -- the Nabaztag/tag went live, bringing with it RFID, a VoIP belly button and a whole lotta love. We're not quite sure yet if we're most excited to talk into this thing's belly button, allow it to sniff our various vegetables, or observe the RFID functionality at work -- a recent demo of the rabbit showed the Nabaztag/tag reading a children's book based on RFID encoded data. Violet, the creator of Nabaztag and its new successor, is also rolling out a software update that will affect all current Nabaztags, including personalised MP3 messaging and expanded newsfeeds. Sadly, we can't get the Violet site to load right this minute, so you might have to wait a bit for the server elves to do their thing before you can make this bunny yours.
Nabaztag/tag can smell!
Wondering what all the Nabaztag/tag hubbub is about? Then check the video of this v2 WiFi bunny who not only emerges from DEMOfall with a mic stuffed in his fake plastic belly, he snagged a sense of smell too. That's right, in the demo he's able to detect a big dirty carrot held in front of his felt-tipped "T" of a nose and respond accordingly. Somehow this all seems perfectly fine and even a hare arousing when explained by mister French Elvis. Oh Nabaztag, we know this world is killing you.
Nabaztag gets a smarter sib, meet Nabaztag/tag
Nabaztag was only just birthed onto these golden shores to the quivering delight of geeks a-plenty. Now, just like you'd expect from a dirty, drrrty French bunny, Violet got busy on the quick and conceived Nabaztag/tag for release into the Internet wilds. On display at DEMOfall starting today, Nabaztag part deux brings all that 9-inches of WiFi interactivity only now with a fully-functional mic in the belly for two-way, verbal communication and the ability to play podcasts and web radio. Just an additional Jackson to take the $169 Nabaztag/tag home starting November 18th. [Via NetworkWorld]
