Boombox
Lego set to launch a line of portable electronic gear for kids
Lego Systems has joined with Digital Blue to produce a range of colorful Lego-inspired electronic gear for kids. The range of portable electronics includes an alarm clock (pictured), boom box, MP3 player and later in the year, a stop animation video camera. Designed to appeal to little and big kids, the first products will be released mid-year. Read More
Sony's new range of iPod compatible products makes good on the company's stated promise to “continue to develop products that are compatible with popular hardware formats and audio codecs.” Not surprisingly, this includes Apple’s ubiquitous portable player. The five-strong range includes a mini hi-fi system with docks for two iPods and DJ functions, two designs of iPod speaker system and two clock radios, one having CD playback in addition to its iPod compatibility. Read More
The concept of the Boombox is no doubt reminiscent to many of our readers of people walking the streets with large objects the size of a sheep on their shoulder, doing irreparable damage to their hearing and conveying their lack of taste to everyone within shooting distance. Those readers, like yours truly, should get set for a brain reconfiguration with this story. The US$300 Logitech Squeezebox Boom all-in-one network music player looks like a boombox but it ain’t – it has an integrated amplifier, high-performance speakers and an 802.11g wireless network connection. With it you can listen to your digital music in any room of your home. There are no wires to connect. Just plug it into a power outlet. Then, using your existing home network, you can listen to the music on your computer, podcasts, Internet radio stations, and subscription services, even when the computer is off. Read More
The semi-autonomous robotic boombox the Miuro has a new big brother. Tiger Electronics, a division of Hasbro Inc. has teamed up with Japanese distributor SEGA Toys to introduce the Automated Music Personality (A.M.P), a 2.4 feet (73 cm) tall black robot that can be hooked up to an MP3 player or iPod and bobs its head and dances while red LED lights on its head flash. The A.M.P. pumps out 12 watts of stereo sound through a 5" mid-range speaker and two high output tweeters while more boom can be added to any song with the dedicated bass boost button. The A.M.P. also features two turntable shaped hands that allow users to be the DJ and use A.M.P. as a virtual mixing deck. The touch pad hands serve as a way to layer different sound effects and scratches over the music with the left touch pad used to add music effects and the right touch pad controlling the audio. Read More
May 1, 2008 Known for DVDs, plush toys and movie character figurines, Disney Consumer Products has announced that it will now enter the fast growing robotic toy market. Disney has created its debut line in collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios, Thinkway Toys and WowWee. Read More
March 26, 2008 In the 80's it was the boombox on the shoulder, could the 21st century be the era of the stereo backpack? Not likely, but this hardshell "Boom Boom Backpack" featured by Yanko Design would be ahead of the pack style-wise if the idea ever caught on. Read More
June 28, 2007 If your PC holds your master music collection, you've either got to listen directly to the speakers it's connected to, or transfer tunes onto a portable device. But what if you just want to head out to the front porch, or spend some time working in the garage? Sony's got an answer: the VAIO WA1 is a wireless boombox that streams music from your PC to anywhere around the house. The WA1 is compatible with SonicStage, iTunes, Windows Media Player and suitable for Internet radio... and it looks pretty sexy, too. Read More
September 4, 2006 It’s been billed by some media as an over-the-top iPod accessory which is being somewhat unfair to the JPY108,000 (US$924) Miuro robot. Yes, it does accept the iPod, but as it’s much smarter than the average boombox, and it has its own wheels, it can be summoned from wherever it might be by remote control. Equipped with Kenwood speakers, it will stream any audio format (MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, AIFF including web radio) wirelessly (802.11 b/g) from your home computer, has AM and FM radio, can follow set routes around the house, or remember the optimum spot to position itself in each room. It’s a new concept – a mobile, semi-autonomous boombox, which combines your MP3 collection, AM/FM and web radio and brings it to you. The result of a joint venture between Japanese robot company ZMP (makers of Pino, e-nuvo and nuvo) and audiophilic icon Kenwood, Miuro can be reserved via the internet, as of yesterday, but only if you’re living in Japan. They’re promising delivery before Christmas 2006, with overseas availability expected in the second half of 2007 – we expect there’ll be shopping outlets on the internet with it the minute it becomes available in Japan. Excellent image gallery. Read More
August 16, 2005 Our Hemi-engined gadget article got a lot of response, including a company that really does make V8 snowblowers and this remarkable contraption – the “Frontgating Griller.” This amazing lean, mean, no-stick grilling machine will feed a family of 40 heated by your truck's own engine block. Specially designed grooves channel brat juices and burger grease into the bumper trough for easy cleanup or you can convert your engine to biodiesel and reuse all that succulent fat to fuel your reformed eco-unfriendly gas-guzzler. BTW – the gun at right is a 9mm semi-automatic-styled universal remote control and sneakers are boombox sneakers. Read all about them here. Read More
