Toys

Gizmag wouldn't normally advocate urban light pollution but there's no doubt the twinkling lights of the cities around the world at night create a pretty light show. The City Light Globe is a 6" revolving globe that shows you both Earth and all its named countries as seen during the day, and automatically illuminates the city lights around the world as seen from orbit as each country falls into night-time. Read More

We've seen the value of using multiple rotors in unmanned microcopters like the CyberQuad, DraganFlyer X8 and more recently Parrot's AR.Drone. The HexaKopter is another case in point - the 1.2kg, six-rotor device has a flight-time of up to 36 minutes and can carry around 1kg along with a high-definition camera that delivers some amazing images. And it's also a lot of fun. Read More

Parents take note! Sneaky brothers and sisters beware! Soon your every move can be captured by a new kids' toy from Wild Planet. The Spy Video TRAKR is billed as the first app-enabled, programmable remote-controlled vehicle that transmits color video, audio and data, and allows kids to create, download and share custom programs. Read More

Anyone with a serious fondness for the moon landings and the craft that got us there, or even just those with a penchant for big toys, will be sure to sit up and take notice at Space Toys built to order full scale lunar modules. Offering “amazing details and fantastic authenticity”, the fully customizable replicas can be matched to specific landing missions and crafted with or without an interior. Just make sure you have the US$89,000 and a 20 X 30ft spare room ready. Read More

I’d love to be a kid again. Seriously. The technology age has delivered children all manner of sophisticated toys and games, think Nintendo, Playstation and Wii ... just to name a few. Now, they even have a variety of mini digital cameras to choose from, including the Kid Tough camera and the Preschooler’s digital camera. The Preschooler’s camera is a kid-tough unit that is suitably sized for small hands, can take photographs and video, and has a fixed-focus lens - so kids simply line up their shot and press a button. Read More

When communicating via the typed word, sometimes a text or regular instant message just won’t do the trick. Here to take personal communication to a quirky new level is the iXP3 Instant Messaging Clock, which, through a simple Internet connection, changes from a mild-mannered clock to a personal messaging device that projects messages in the air. Read More

Ever since the Rubik’s cube took the world by storm in the 80’s there has been a steady stream of puzzles looking to capture the public’s imagination – even Prof Erno Rubik has tried to recapture lightning more than once. The latest brainteaser to take a stab at puzzling glory is the Revomaze, a cylindrical device that has been individually milled from a solid block of metal, and that features an internal labyrinth which must be navigated to remove the metal core and solve the puzzle. Read More

Toy-maker Mattel is releasing a range of action figures that incorporate augmented reality technology, based on characters from the Avatar movie hitting our screens around Christmas. The toys, to be launched in October, ‘come alive’ on your home computer when scanned on a webcam. Each action figure in the range has a unique 3-D web tag (i-TAG) which, when scanned, reveals special content onscreen. The animated 3-D models will show off “engaging, evading or defending moves”, says Mattel. And when two i-TAGs from the same Battle Pack are scanned together, the 3-D characters will interact on-screen. Read More

May 6, 2009 If there’s one thing besides the retreat of my hairline and expansion of my waist that makes me wish I was a kid again, it’s the seemingly endless supply of cool toys that today’s youngsters have to entertain them. While I was forced to make do with a stick and a piece of string growing up, the children of today get to enjoy toys like the transforming Amphibious Tank – a remote controlled tank that is as happy on land is it is in the bathtub and comes complete with a water cannon to smite your enemies. Read More