mechs

Powered mech for tykes is terrifyingly awesome

When I was 3 or 4, I was a terrible child who swept a path of abject destruction across my neighborhood. And that was with a Big Wheel.

I can't imagine what kind of trouble my friends and neighbors would have been in had I owned one of these gas-powered junior exoskeletons. It's from Japan (of course). It's self-propelled, weighs 400 pounds, and would terrify my pets.

The Kid's Walker is controlled by the pint-size pilot, not the parent, which is a bit worrisome, but at least it's not armed with some sort of firearm, … Read more

Kenwood gets into mech-free receiver game

LAS VEGAS--Yet another car audio manufacturer is testing out the CD-less lifestyle, as Kenwood announces its KIV-BT900 digital car audio receiver. Apparently, people don't just don't use discs anymore.

The KIV-BT900 drops its CD drive like a hot potato, instead focusing its attention on handling digital audio and video from USB-connected portable media players. Named among the supported devices are the iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Zune. USB mass storage devices are also supported for a variety of audio (MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV), picture (JPEG and BMP), and video (MPEG4, WMV and H.264) formats.

When the vehicle … Read more

Put your PMP in Sony's TuneTray

LAS VEGAS--Sony is tossing its hat into the "mech-free" digital audio receiver ring along with Alpine and Pioneer, but it's the way Sony is going about connecting portable media players (PMPs) to its new receiver that's so interesting. Sony's new DSX-S100 has an odd feature that's called the TuneTray. I know what you're asking: "What the heck is a TuneTray?"

The TuneTray is a storage mechanism for an iPod or other USB device that allows users to keep their PMP inside of the DSX-S100, rather than flopping around in the glovebox … Read more

Inflatable RC robot for less than $10 per foot

The words "inflatable" and "robot" rarely appear next to one another in a sentence, but there's a first time for everything.

The sub-$40 Mega Mech Airmagination radio-controlled robot may be full of air, but as the photo that accompanies this story shows, it's also full of enough awesomeness to cause amazed facial expressions from mulleted youngsters.

The robot has a built-in voice chip that spits out pre-loaded phrases, as well as wheels in its feet that let you drive it around RC-style.

Like most cutting-edge robots, the Mega Mech Airmagination is available at Walmart. … Read more