(Credit:
i-Buddy)
It should have been obvious that the "Nabaztag" was having some emotional problems when it turned to graffiti, let alone self-defacement. The Wi-Fi rabbit had apparently grown quickly from its innocent beginnings into precocious adolescence, perhaps accelerated by instant fame.
Yet it's not too late to set it straight: All it needs is some positive companionship to avoid following Britney to UCLA Med Center. And that's where "i-Buddy" comes in.
It would seem to be a perfect match for the troubled bunny, recognizing specific acquaintances when they sign onto MSN Messenger and then reacting to certain emoticons accordingly--shaking, twisting, changing colors, and flapping wings, according to Chip Chick. It wouldn't, however, be a good sign if its face turns red during an encounter with the 'Tag. But fear not, the i-Buddy won't pose much of a threat because, at just 3 inches tall, it's only about a third of the rabbit's height.
(Credit:
Ztore)
Sometimes, commissioning a pop artist to dress up a product is a good move; sometimes, it isn't. This is an example of the latter.
A year ago the "Nabaztag" Wi-Fi bunny was the darling of the digital pet world as others tried to figure out exactly what it was. (We're still not so sure.) For some reason, however, its creators at Violet have decided to subject the e-hare to the whims of French graffiti artist Andre.
The result, Luxist says, is a version with a tattooed ear and a "limited edition" price tag of $300. Somehow, as we study Andre's work in the image on the left, we can't help but think the joke's on us.
Exploring bunny guts
(Credit: CNET Networks)Crave sister site CNET News.com has been posting some of TechRepublic's photos of major invasive surgery performed on popular electronic devices in its "Cracking Open" series. Today's installment is on the Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit, which people pretty much either love or hate. At least everyone more or less agrees it's cute--but how does it work? As it turns out, the bunny holds some interesting secrets beneath its darling exterior. Find out what it's made of over at Cracking open the Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit.
'Making Things Talk,' a new book from O'Reilly--the publisher of 'Make' magazine--shows how to make do-it-yourself toys that can communicate.
(Credit: O'Reilly Publishing)Who doesn't love cool, do-it-yourself toys, the kind of projects that Make magazine has been celebrating for the last couple of years?
Well, now think of such things and imagine them talking to you, to each other or even to your cat.
That's the premise of Making Things Talk, a new book by Tom Igoe due out Oct. 15 from O'Reilly, publisher of Make.
The idea is just that, according to a press release I got this morning from O'Reilly: How to bestow "the power of communications upon your favorite tech creations through simple projects that present the guidelines for electronic verbosity."
Now, as a geek, I can't really help but salivate over that line. I don't think I have the skills myself to manifest Igoe's instructions, but I know a heck of a lot of people who do, and once I get my copy, I'm marching it over to one or two of them and offering a trade: the book for some talking toy.
An example of what Igoe teaches, courtesty of the release: "The Pet Lover: Want to play with your pet while you're away? Discover the 'networked cat cam' and the interactive pet bed that sends you personal emails!"
It sounds like playing Nabaztag with your own cat! How great is that?
Igoe, meanwhile, is a teacher at New York University's terrific Interactive Telecommunications Program, and that in and of itself is reason enough to buy the book. So if you have any toys you'd like to find talking to you when you get home from work--and who doesn't?--check this out.
For a conference about getting work done, there are sure a whole lot of toys here at Office 2.0 in San Francisco. Sure many of them are old hat, like the the Nabaztag/tag, but there's some new stuff here too like Pano Logic's zero client desktop. This shiny metal cube is actually a computer--well kind of. Actually it involves setting up a a beefy server to give everyone in your office a full version of Windows sans hardware. Just give give them a keyboard, mouse, monitor and one of these shiny cubes and they're ready to go.
For Skype fans there are also several handheld receivers from iPevo that hook up to your computer via USB and look cooler than wearing one of those headsets. The newer model of the handsets even has a screen to let you access your buddy list and start a call without having to manage your contacts inside the Skype app. The top of the line "Solo" is an entire desktop phone, complete with a keypad that doesn't require a phone at all. Just jack it in with a LAN cable, sign in to Skype, and you're ready to make and receive VoIP calls.
There are also e-Readers on hand, the first generation model from Sony, along with iRex's iLiad that launched last year.
On a side note, all conference attendees had their choice between a brand new iPhone, or a Sony Playstation 3. The few who chose the PS3 were seen (unhappily) lugging around the giant black boxes throughout the day. One Yellow Dog Linux-running PS3 was hooked up to a 40"+ plasma, although only to show off the conference schedule on Firefox--games were nowhere to be found. I've embedded some shots of the gadget goodness below.
The Wi-Fi bunny has done what rabbits do best: multiplied.
Formally known as Nabaztag--it's Armenian for 'rabbit'--the toy from French company Violet that last summer grabbed geek attention worldwide has gotten an upgrade already.
(Credit:
Violet)
The new guy is called Nabaztag/tag, and besides reading e-mails, RSS feeds through a Wi-Fi connection to a computer, acting as an alarm clock or playing music, he can now respond to sound via a voice-recognition device in its belly. That means owners can talk to their bunny, but it also means it knows when its owner is in the room. When it hears voices, it will begin relaying e-mail, text messages and news, weather and stocks.
In addition, the Nabaztag/tag can play sound continuously from Web radio stations, MP3 files, podcasts or books, and has been granted a sense of smell. An RFID tag reader lets owners wave an object in front of its nose as a signal to play cards, read books or, by the "scent" of a person's keys, will know who has just arrived home.
As if that weren't enough, the bunny also acts like a personalized Digg-er, searching the series of tubes for news or nonsense you'd be amused by or at the very least, find interesting.
Nabaztag 2.0 is slightly more expensive than the original, $165 versus $150.
Fellow Craver Daniel Terdiman called the first version "a fun, if somewhat confounding toy."
If confounding fun is your thing, you can adopt one here.
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