wee

The 404 1,152: Where there's no basement in the Alamo (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Katie interviews DC Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee at New York Comic Con.

- Check out Katie's new app Splatrpult, available today for a free download.

- The New Yorker traces emojis back to the beginning.

- Real apples branded with Apple's logo.… Read more

PeeWee Pivot 2.0: A Netbook for the wee ones

These days, IT knowledge isn't just good to have, but apparently a must-have even for pre-schoolers. So, instead of spending money on a laptop-like toy with a tiny LCD screen this holiday season, why not get a real child-proof Netbook that will last the kid through his destructive years?

The PeeWee Pivot 2.0--a follow-up to the PeeWee Pivot Laptop Tablet--is a convertible laptop running on the previous-generation Atom N450 1.66GHz processor and integrated graphics chip. While $599 is pretty expensive for these specifications (considering a similar Netbook retails for about $300 these days), what sets the PeeWee Pivot 2.0 apart are its ruggedized features, 10.1-inch resistive touch screen and prebundled education software.

It even comes with a spill-resistant keyboard and accelerometer for auto screen rotation. This minilaptop was tested to survive drops up to 1.6 feet, which should help keep it ticking in the hands of most children. … Read more

Roboscooper tidies up your room, whacks objects

What could be better than robots that promote laziness? Robosapien maker WowWee is introducing a household robot that can tidy up after you, autonomously locating and picking up socks and other objects on the floor and carting them away.

Roboscooper works in two modes--autonomous and remote-controlled. With four infrared sensors, the robot can avoid obstacles and detect objects on the floor that are up to a foot away.

It can grab lightweight stuff (around 1 ounce) with its large hands and then swivel to drop them in its cargo bay. If an object is too heavy or stuck, it will … Read more

WowWee's Cinemin pico projector: A must-have iPhone accessory?

WowWee's Cinemin Swivel is one of the more distinct pico projectors on the market thanks to its swiveling design, which allows you to project images at various angles, including straight up at the ceiling.

In case you don't know what a pico projector is, as its name implies, it's a miniature handheld projector that's capable of casting a big image (WowWee says the Cinemin Swivel can project an image from 8 inches to 50 inches). The key to these pint-size projectors is that they use an LED light source that's very energy efficient.

Pico projectors … Read more

Red-hot robot action from WowWee

When the folks from WowWee visited CNET UK the other day, we were amused to hear them refer to their robotic wares Rovio, Joebot, and RoboRover as "he" and "him." But dang it if we weren't doing the same within five minutes of seeing the little fellas trundling about, flashing their lights, and generally charming their servos off.

Read more of "WowWee Rovio, Joebot, Cinemin and RoboRover: Red-hot robot action" at Crave UK.

Putting a Net-controlled robot on 'guard duty'

Robots may be the eventual downfall of the human race, but for now, most are either cute or useful. One that exists in both categories has spent the last week lurking quietly in a darkened corner of my house, watching my every move. Did I mention I'm happy about this?

The robot in question is the Rovio, which made its debut at last year's Consumer Electronics Show. From an Internet-connected computer, you can drive the $250 robot around your house, watch it from the built-in camera, and talk to people in your house through the mic and speaker. For all intents and purposes it's a toy, but it's also got the makings of a very capable telepresence machine.

Unlike traditional Web cams, or mounted security cameras, the Rovio is mobile. It has a built-in Wi-Fi antenna and three wheels that have little wheels of their own. This design means it cannot handle stairs, but it does let it move in any direction without a lot of back and forth cornering like you'd get with a vacuum. All the while you can watch everything it's seeing in streaming VGA-quality video.

The Rovio's control system is managed entirely in a Web browser. You control all of its movements with a cockpit of controls that lets you perform a number of tasks without any special training. In other words, you don't need to read the manual.

Included is a control grid that lets you rotate the robot a predetermined number of degrees in one direction or the other. Or you can hit one of the four-way directional buttons to get it moving forward, backward, or side to side. Its big trick though is that it also lets you drag your mouse as if you were using an analog control stick, which controls how fast it moves in any one direction. This provides a very fluid-like feeling when maneuvering it around your house.

The control panel also gives you three choices for how you want its camera angled. The default has it sitting flat, but you can also have it move up a few inches (while still staying level), or going up in a 45 degree angle that lets you sneak a peak at the ceiling. Out of the three I found the middle to be the sweet spot, but I often found myself wanting… Read more

Recession trips up the robot revolution

To combat a robot invasion in the movies, the hero may need some sort of high-powered superweapon. To slow one down in real life, a heaping helping of recession should do the trick.

NextGen Research on Tuesday eased back the throttle on hopes for a surge in the number of robots arriving on the home front in the near future. In its new "Personal Robotics 2009" report, the research company forecasts that the global market for personal robots will be worth more than $5 billion in 2015, up from just over $1 billion seen for this year.

Put … Read more

My kid's Netbook is better than your kid's Netbook

Specifically marketed with kids in mind, PeeWee PC is a site that offers not only kid-friendly PCs, but also laptops customized for your ever-growing child.

On Wednesday, PeeWee PC is rolling out the Atom-powered PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop. The 3-pound PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop--which is more of a tablet Netbook than a laptop--sports a rotating screen that converts between a normal notebook orientation and a touch tablet.

Kids can use either a keyboard or an included stylus to interact with their favorite programs or games. The unit features a rugged, spill-resistant case that's designed to endure the bumps and knocks the younger generation has to offer. So, parents, when your child goes into a temper tantrum and flings the machine around, you might be knocked on your a**, but know that your investment has sustained the fall from your head to the floor.

Kidding aside, the PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop runs Windows XP on a 10-inch screen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM (upgradeable to 2GB) and a 60GB hard drive. In addition, the tablet has two USB 2.0 ports, an SD/MMC media card reader, a VGA port, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam. Reminiscent of Intel's Classmate PC in 2007, the Pivot Tablet has a carrying handle that's removed by taking out the battery and then removing the four screws that affix the handle.

The PeeWee Tablet Laptop ships with game titles for pre-K, early elementary, or upper elementary students, plus a free Walt Disney Windows XP theme, and a proprietary security suite so parents have complete control of how and when kids use the notebook--parents can also view browsing histories, block sites, take screenshots, and control the system remotely. … Read more

Baby sites for the new baby boom

A recent report claims more babies were born in 2007 than any year in U.S. history. Since then, baby Web sites have become all the more important as a tool for parents who want to document and show the world how their little one is growing up.

I've found four baby sites that provide parents with the option to share photos with friends and family. They also let them track milestones in the baby's life. And they're all worth trying out.

Baby sites

BabySpot

BabySpot is a social network for parents to share some of their favorite pictures of the baby in their life.

Once you get to your baby's page, BabySpot lets you upload pictures and tag them. You can connect with others and share your photos. You can even write blog posts, post events, and upload videos of your favorite moments. Think of BabySpot as a Facebook for babies.

One of my favorite BabySpot features is the ability to add applications to my profile. Though there aren't nearly as many apps as you'll find on Facebook, one app, called BuboMe, lets you customize your baby's photos. You can add holiday themes, bubbles, and more. It's a neat tool that will help you add some flair to your pictures.

BabySpot is well designed, has an active community, and creating a profile that's filled with all your baby's special moments is easy.

Lil Grams

Lil Grams helps you secure your memories and send them off to friends and family, no matter where they are.

Once you get to your personal Lil Grams page, you can start uploading pictures of your kids. If you don't have access to the portal, you can add pictures to your profile via e-mail. Lil Grams even has a desktop app so you can drag-and-drop images into your profile without using your browser.

It's a nice touch, but the real value of Lil Grams shows itself when you start sending those images to family members. You can e-mail them a link to view the photos, you can send them an SMS if it's easier to reach them on their mobile phone, or, if you want to send photos to your parents who don't have a computer, Lil Grams will let you create prints and send them through snail mail. I didn't order any prints, but I did share some photos of my cousin's child through e-mail and SMS and it worked beautifully.

Overall, I was quite impressed with Lil Grams. Though you can share images through services like Flickr and Shutterfly just as easily, Lil Grams uses its focus on babies to attract parents.… Read more