Crave

Novint Falcon game controller.

(Credit: Novint Technologies)

NEW YORK--Novint Technologies' 3D virtual feeling game controller will be available at CompUSA stores this October, the company announced Thursday.

The Novint Falcon, which originally debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, creates a more realistic and natural experience of movement when playing video games. It allows players to virtually feel things like texture, weight, dimension, 3D motion and force.

The Novint Falcon will be available in October 2007 at CompUSA as a limited edition bundle package for $239. The package will include 24 games and a sports pack that includes bowling, table tennis, basketball and baseball. Like the Wii, the Falcon is an obvious companion to sports-oriented video games.

As part of the deal, each CompUSA store will host a demonstration model of the Falcon for customers to play with.

The Barbie Girls MP3 player doubles as a dress-up doll.

(Credit: Mattel)

NEW YORK--Who's running things over at Mattel?

The Barbie Girls MP3 player that doubles as a paper doll with plastic clothes is now out.

First, I don't think parents should pay $59.99 for an MP3 player with 512MB of storage, even if you can dress it up. For that price I'd recommend spending a little more and getting their child the "big kid" iPod Nano or Shuffle you know they really want. To be fair, the device can hold a microSD card of up to 2GB.

But that's not my real problem with this tech toy.

Plugging the MP3 player into a computer grants the owner entry into new places in the BarbieGirls.com virtual world that non-buyers of the device won't have access to. It also gives you access to "exclusive" virtual purses and pets.

Seriously?

While I understand Mattel's desire to offer some sort of reward for buying the device, the concept of creating a virtual velvet rope seems destructive to the Barbie image the company has been struggling to improve.

"It's the next-generation fashion doll. We've always evolved with how girls play. It's all about music, being online and fashion," Lauren Dougherty, director of PR/Communications for Mattel Brands, told CNET News.com from the floor of DigitalLife 2007.

If Mattel is serious about reinventing Barbie's image and keeping up with the Webkinz of the world, maybe it should think about the overall picture.

As this writer was once a little girl who drooled over the outfits created for Barbie by some of the coolest fashion designers, I'm not anti-Barbie in the least. I just wish she was a little more Brenda Starr and a little less Paris Hilton. This is 2007, right?

Of course, this is the same company that in 1992 thought it was a good idea to make "Math class is tough" one of the lines for its Teen Talk Barbie.

We all know how well that went over.

Wrestling Roboquads

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

(Credit: WowWee)

NEW YORK--What's black and white and scares me?

The Roboquad robot from WowWee for $99. It's the first robot that's ever startled me or made me nervous. And I loved every minute of the interaction.

I've had the opportunity to meet more sophisticated lifelike robots such as Domo and "Tony X." While some find these humanoid robots unnerving, I've never felt anything toward them but the amused affection one might have for a dog or, say, a Muppet.

The Roboquad is another story.

Watching them in action, these arthropods move so organically that they really seem alive and uncontrollable. It's hard to believe it takes four C batteries. The robot has 72 functions and 40 commands, and it gets better doing them the more you play with it. It can also be put in autonomous modes for exploring its environment or acting aggressively.

And while we all know in the back of our minds that companies are producing robots for war, it's quite a jarring thing to see them before you acting aggressively.

One Roboquad can be made to fight another when in aggression mode. I saw one actually rear up on its hind legs toward the other, a moment I sadly missed with my camera.

In addition to having the quick crawl of a crab, the Roboquad has the same texture and color scheme of an Imperial Stormtrooper from Star Wars. Whether or not this was intentional on the part of WowWee, it certainly makes the robot more intimidating when in aggression mode.

Roboguards also react to changes in light, sight and sound. They have a fast-moving head that lets it "see" shapes, sizes and movement. It will flinch if startled. After my camera flash went off, one of the two Roboquads I met at DigitalLife 2007 quickly turned its head and looked directly at me before resuming his wrestling match.

And you know what? For all these reasons, plus the price point, people are going love this robot.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

Namco attached phones to arcade games to show off mobile gaming.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

NEW YORK--It seems people like any excuse to play any video game.

While Halo III and Guitar Hero may be drawing a crowd at DigitalLife 2007, so were classics like Ms. Pac-man.

Namco had a large space at DigitalLife to remind gamers that video games of the '80s are now available for their phone.

Namco offers games like Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Mr. Do, Popeye, Snoopy and the Flying Ace, Galaga and even board games like Scene It?.

The games are available, regardless of your carrier, for the Palm OS, Windows Mobile phones, the iPod and the Sidekick, as well as others.

To show this off, the company had working cell phones attached to arcade machines for the corresponding game.

Do you think people would really flock to play games they've played hundreds of times before on a large screen, just to try it on a cell phone?

Apparently, lots of people love just that.

People did not seem to mind at all that they were standing at an arcade machine, yet playing on a 2-inch screen.

The Namco area has been drawing a crowd for two days, which I can only imagine will grow as the show is opened to the public.

Gelaskin on iPod nano.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

Gelaskins offer matching desktop wallpaper to go with skins.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

Gelaskins are now available for the iPhone.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET News.com)

NEW YORK--Another new iPod, another new chance for accessory makers to try something new.

As you know, CNET has been a fan of the Gelaskins. The company continues to deliver on its that's-so-simple -and-probably-cheap-to-make -why-didn't-I-think-of-it, yet practical and inexpensive vinyl protectors.

Yes, Gelaskins seems to be a one-trick pony. But you know what? It works.

The vinyl iPod, laptop and now iPhone protecting art that the company was showing at DigitalLife 2007 now comes with free desktop wallpaper to match.

The corresponding desktop art is downloadable from the Gelaskins Web site.

The "Steampunk" Gelaskin by Colin Thompson closely resembles the mysterious Antikythera Mechanism.

Taking a run through the early, underpopulated hours of the DigitalLife expo here in New York, we were pleased to see at least three new laptops that mobile gaming fans will be interested in.

The Dell XPS m1730

First up was Dell XPS m1730, making its official debut. Of course, this may go down as one of the most-leaked "secret" laptops in history, with Dell itself sending a preorder advertising e-mail to its XPS mailing list earlier this week. Now that it's officially out, we'll politely feign surprise, but our excitement is genuine as this is a sorely needed update to the older XPS m1710 model.

While it still looks like a telephone book (unlike Dell's recent stabs at more elegant designs, such as the XPS m1330), the m1730 impresses with high-end CPU and SLI graphics options, including DirectX 10 support. It's also the first laptop we've seen to offer a mobile version of Ageia PhysX physics accelerator, which works with certain supported games to provide additional processing power for in-game physics, leading to bigger explosions, more interactive environments, and so forth. There are only a handful of games that support the PhysX card right now, but Dell did manage to get a custom-modded version of the upcoming Unreal Tournament III, which adds PhysX support, to use as a demo.

The Dell XPS m1730 is available today, starting at $2,999, but a fully loaded model will set you back closer to $4,500.

Toshiba's X205 adds SLI support

Toshiba, which always puts out systems that look good and offer lots of multimedia features, seems to be getting serious about gaming, adding Nvidia SLI technology to its Satellite X205 gaming notebook series. The new X205 will offer twin Nvidia GeForce 8600GT chips, which are DirectX10 compatible.

Toshiba was showing the system off with the PC version of BioShock (it even had a cobranded BioShock promotional sticker on the keyboard tray), and it seemed to run that resource-hungry game with no problem. The SLI version of the X205 starts at $1,999, which is great for a laptop with two GPUs. While they're taking orders now, the units should start shipping in a week or two.

HP and Voodoo unveiled the Envy M:152.

HP's partnership with boutique computer-maker Voodoo has already yielded amazing results with the massive Blackbird gaming desktop. The first new HP/Voodoo laptop is ready to hit the streets, and Envy M:152 is an equally impressive-looking, 15-inch gaming laptop, itself something of a rarity.

For around $3,300, you get a professional automotive paint job, the DirectX 10 Nvidia GeForce 8600GT GPU, and 1,680x1,050 screen resolution, which is excellent for a 15-inch laptop--all in a package that weighs under 7 pounds.

We'll be getting all three of these new gaming laptops in our labs soon, so stay tuned for in-depth reviews of each.

Most amusing DigitalLife moment: Free press room Wi-Fi for journalists at shows such as this is a notoriously sketchy affair. Even so, most events at least give it a shot. When my colleagues and I couldn't connect at the DigitalLife press room, we asked one of the attendants for help. He said, "Oh, we don't have Wi-Fi in here," even though there was a large sign right behind his head that said "Wi-Fi" and purported to offer a press password for a wireless network we were never able to find.

We checked back a few minutes later to find DigitalLife's ingenious solution to this problem--they had simply taken down the sign.

Spykee performs from the floor of DigitalLife 2007.

(Credit: Candace Lombardi/CNET Networks)

NEW YORK--Spykee, a communications robot from the toymaker Erector for $299, allows you to listen, see and record the surroundings of the robot from anywhere in the world through a Web-based software application.

(Credit: iRobot)

NEW YORK--Gadget-freak homeowners may never have to face the gunk of fall fallout ever again.

iRobot's CEO Colin Angle is expected to unveil two new robots at the DigitalLife 2007 consumer electronics show in New York on Thursday.

The Looj, which was accidentally leaked in August by the Federal Communications Commission Web site, is a remote-control robot that cleans out the gutters on the outside of a home.

(Credit: iRobot)

The $99 robot's mobile base was based on that of iRobot's military PackBot, only on a much smaller scale. The robot can be slid into a gutter and then driven by remote control. An auger drills into the mess of leaves and debris, while paddles scoop it out and fling it...we're not sure where. A small brush sweeps up any remaining crumbs.

"It's a safer, faster way of addressing that job that's otherwise neglected...It takes a nasty job and brings it to the domain of acceptable annoyance," iRobot CEO Colin Angle told CNET News.com in an interview.

Millions of teenagers may be rejoicing that they no longer have to face the gunk of fall fallout, but someone is going to have to clean up the wet nastiness that gets flung to the ground.

(Credit: iRobot)

It's not quite Rosie yet, Mr. Brooks, but we'll concede that the company you founded is a step closer to The Jetsons world of communications.

iRobot is expected to unveil this ConnectR communications robot, aka a physical avatar, at DigitalLife 2007 on Thursday.

(Credit: iRobot)

The ConnectR for $499 is a robot you control on your behalf from anywhere in the world using a Web-based application. With a VoIP speakerphone and one-way video, it allows you to carry on a conversation as if you are right in the room. You can also control where it goes.

The video camera mounted on the ConnectR allows the user to have wide-angle views and zoom in close enough to read text.

Think of it as a really advanced VoIP speaker/videophone that can move around the room.

ConnectR works over a local wireless network that the robot finds and prompts the owner to choose upon setup. Visitors are required to enter a unique access code in order to inhabit the ConnectR, but homeowners can also control access to the robot with a privacy button.