toy

We don't cover a whole lot of kids toys here at CNET, but every year we make the journey to Toy Fair, which is once again in town at the Javitz Center in New York. And like every other online gadget publication, we wanted to give you a little taste of what's there.

Granted, with somewhere around 1,500 manufacturers, distributors, importers, and sales agents from 30 countries making the rounds at the convention center, we're only highlighting a small fraction of all the products that are on display. But hopefully there's a little something for … Read more

Caroline McCarthy from CNET's The Social blog joins us on today's podcast to discuss this morning's Oscar nominations and eight nods for "The Social Network" including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.

The film undoubtedly deserves the recognition, but it seems they left off Andrew Garfield for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Eduardo Saverin, Facebook's co-founder and a 5 percent shareholder of the $2.5 billion company.

Despite this oversight, Garfield will likely have another chance with his upcoming role as the famous Webslinger in the upcoming reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. The rest of the cast includes Rhys Ifans as the Lizard, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, and Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson.

But there's no chance the movie will be quite as awful as "Turn off the Dark," Broadway's version of the Spider-Man genesis wrought with disaster even in the face of its new finale.

Wilson checked out an early preview of the show and has an equally negative review to share that makes this Onion headline sound right on the mark: "Nuclear Bomb Detonates During Rehearsal For 'Spider-Man' Musical." We blame Bono.

As usual, the Razzie nominations were announced today in conjunction with the Oscars, and it's no surprise that the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" swept the Golden Raspberries for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Robert Pattinson), Worst Screenplay, and...actually, the movie appears in all the categories except for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D, where they were ineligible to be nominated.

This is TankBot from DeskPets, a fairly inexpensive (sub-$20, they say), treaded, remote-controlled toy robot that you can control with an iPhone or an iPod Touch, or even an iPad.

While using iDevices as a remote is nothing new--indeed, Apple has an app simply called "Remote" for controlling the Apple TV--the TankBot is unique in that it doesn't use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as an interface but rather a dongle that plugs into the headphone port of the iWhatever.

Once attached, an app is downloaded. The device then uses its built-in accelerometer as a steering mechanism, allowing … Read more

The 1990s produced so many of our favorite music, movies, toys, and TV shows that we're making this a tribute to the decade. We're talking Supersoakers, TGIF, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Dumb & Dumber, Seinfeld, Gushers, Street Sharks, Clueless, Nerf Guns, Discmans, Laserdiscs, and more!

Buckyballs aren't a traditional tech item, but they are magnetic, meaning there's science behind how they work. And because science and technology go hand in hand, voila: there's my justification for today's slightly unusual deal.

Today only, and while supplies last (which may not be very long), Sellout.woot has two sets of Buckyballs for $29.99, plus $5 for two-day shipping (which should get them in your hands just in time to stuff them into some stockings).

Update: Sorry, everyone, but the Buckyballs are sold out. Same goes for the monitor deal below. But the … Read more

Computer hardware is hot among holiday buyers this season, according to data out yesterday from ComScore.

As online buyers scoop up iPads, e-readers, laptops, and other portable devices, computer hardware is ringing in the holidays as the product category showing the most growth for the season so far, a 25 percent increase compared with last year.

Lower prices on flat-panel TVs is spurring growth in consumer electronics, helping that category grow 22 percent among online buyers over the same period last year, says ComScore. Books and magazines are also proving to be a popular gift item, up 21 percent from … Read more

Santa might as well make his elves redundant: kids would rather Steve Jobs fill their stockings with expensive Apple gear.

The iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPad were the three most wanted gifts among children aged 5 to 16, according to the Duracell Toy Report, the Telegraph reports. Nearly 4 in 10 children questioned wanted something from the Apple cave of wonders this year.

Read more of "Kids want iPhones and iPads rather than toys for Christmas" at Crave UK.

Zillionz is a toy line that's meant to teach kids how to keep track of their money. It features toys like cash registers, digital piggy banks, and electric coin jars, all of which use kids' real money to help them manage their personal finances and save up. It's kind of a cool idea, even if the private plastic ATM is a little weird.

The latest edition to the lineup is the Zillionaire, a personal-savings machine. It's like a trio of savings jars, each one assigned to a different child or fund, like "new bike," "… Read more

OAKLAND, Calif.--"Computers don't create computer animation any more than a pencil creates pencil animation. What creates computer animation are artists."

Those words would ring true no matter who said them, but in this case, the source has just about the highest possible credibility on the issue at hand: John Lasseter, the chief creative officer for both Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, and the director of four of Pixar's most loved films.

Lasseter's words hang high on a wall in the Oakland Museum of California here, where the exhibit "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation&… Read more