ImaginativePRO Blog

RUMOR: THE APPLE IPAD 2 IS COMING TO TOYS "R" US, THAT'S GREAT, BUT WILL CHILDREN REALLY LEARN?

Toys "R" Us will soon be selling iPads alongside G.I. Joes, PlayStation games, and Legos. And did you know? One in five U.S. teens owns a tablet PC (which basically means an iPad). iPads: Apple's doin' it for the kids.

An attendee of a Toys "R" Us employee trainee session has leaked out a photo of training materials that are being shared with staff so that they're equipped to answer questions about everything iPad-related. This is more or less proof-positive that Apple's wondertablet will soon be appearing at Toys "R" Us stores across the nation in addition to its availability online, in phone stores, Apple stores, and venues like Best Buy. It also hints that Apple is finally getting on top of its supply-chain shortages for the iPad 2--and that the Japanese earthquake hasn't affected supply too badly.

It makes tremendous sense for Apple to sell iPads alongside Barbies and board games. Toys "R" Us already sells computing devices like Playstations and Nintendo's DS games console range--the iPad is seeing increasing use as a powerful games console, so it basically fits right in. Plus there's this new data to think about from Piper Jaffray that quantifies how many souls across the U.S. have bought a tablet PC. In its survey of 4,500 school kids, the analyst firm discovered that 22% of teens have a tablet PC already, and 20% more plan to buy one inside the next six months. Since Apple's basically snagged the lion's share of the tablet market (actually more like two or three lions' shares, if sales data for the Motorola Xoom are anything to go by), this means around one in five U.S. teenagers already owns an iPad.

 

And we know what teenagers are like: While they struggle and fight with their parents about establishing their individuality, if there's a vogue among their pals for playing with iPads, then they'll all want one. And what parent wouldn't be tempted to buy one for their kids, half thinking about the "educational benefit," half thinking about using it themselves sometimes, and being prepared to hand out $3 to $5 dollars every now and again for a new game, compared to $20 to $60 for a PlayStation game?

Apple's savvy about getting 'em young--and hoping they'll be fans of Cupertino-made gear for life.

COMMENTARY:   I am still concerned that kids will become too dependent on computers and tablets like the iPad to learn.   This raises a lot of questions which some parents addressed previously.

• Poorer families will be unable to afford an iPad, placing their children at distinct disadvantage versus children of more affluent parents.
• Not all familes have homes equipped with WIFI.
• What is the right age to introduce a young child to an iPad?
• Will parents use the the iPad primarily for education or entertainment or both?
• Will the iPad replace the TV as the children's "babysitter"?
• How will the iPad affect a child's cognitive learning skills and ability to solve problems?
• Will children become so attached to their iPad that their social development will suffer?
• Will children use the iPad to surf the internet, and are their parental controls?
• Will the iPad become a "crutch" for real book learning?

The above are serious concerns that several parents have voiced to me, and that Steve Jobs, in his ever ending quest to make the iPad the tablet of choice, may not have thought about.  

As a parent, I would rather spend $500 on real textbooks that develops the "complete child" with the ability to think and solve problems.  My main concern is that children will start using the iPad to play games, surf the internet and watch videos, while their real education suffers.    

What do you think?

Courtesy of an article dated April 7, 2011 appearing in Fast Company

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

 

SIFTEO CUBES REINVENTS TABLE TOP GAME PLAYING WITH CUBES THAT CAN PLAY AN ENDLESS ARRAY OF GAMES

Gadi Amit, the designer who refined the MIT concept for market, on why his design team didn't bother with user-led research.

When Sifteo Cubes debuted officially at CES earlier this year, they sold out in hours -- not much of a surprise considering they’ve been hyped as a reinvention of the very notion of table-top gaming.

 

But the success of these bite-sized motion-sensing wireless computers -- think of them as a combination of building blocks and iPhones -- was hardly a lock and can be attributed in many ways to savvy design by the San Francisco-based consultancy New Deal Design.

New Deal took a pie-in-the-sky gaming concept famously dreamed up by a couple of grad students at the MIT Media Lab and transformed it into a cute, sleek, and at $149 MSRP (or $99 for joining an early discount program), inexpensive product geared toward older children and adults. In short, they created something people would actually want to throw into a shopping cart. And they did it without relying on the usual cacophony of user feedback. “A key issue for Sifteo was that this is not just a toy; it’s a new platform for computing,” New Deal’s Gadi Amit tells Co. “The task for us was to make it much more refined, to make it a true tactile object.”

It’s no small order. Sifteo Cubes are unlike anything else out there. The Cubes, which come in a series, communicate wirelessly with each other and a computer. You download a game or learning tool, and its course is determined by how you manipulate the cubes, whether you’re stacking them up to practice your spelling and math or jostling them to navigate a penguin through a treacherous world. Their genius is in externalizing the computer process -- in giving concrete form to a logic we all know but never see.

New Deal started out with basic usability issues. They added a push-button clickable display, which is more intuitive for today’s gamers (accustomed as they are to mouses) than a Cube that only responds to motion and tilting. They also built a charging dock that holds and juices six Cubes at a time. A notch on the bottom of the dock stores the USB dongle that allows Cubes to connect to the Internet, and a clear plastic cover turns the dock into a carrying case.

Because the Cubes are made to be handled, the way they feel in your grasp was a top priority. New Deal gave them a shiny plastic shell with rounded edges and made sure they had plenty of heft so that they feel substantial when you hold them -- more like a computer than a cheapie plastic toy. A lack of definition between the top and bottom faces frees users to exploit the technology’s numerous interactive possibilities. A tiny lip around the top of the Cube protects the screen without introducing any rough edges. The result, in Amit’s telling, is “like a cross between a Domino, a block, and a pebble” -- in other words, gamer gold.

New Deal also worked to make the Cubes as small as possible. “A very small change in dimensions is very significant in terms of perception of the object,” Amit says. “The difference between 40 millimeters and 42 millimeters square is perceived as a 10 to 20 percent change in volume. You feel it in your hand. … And stuffing a lot of computer into a tiny cube is not easy especially for a startup that doesn’t have the procuring prowess of, say, Apple.” New Deal got the dimensions down to 43 millimeters by 43 millimeters -- smaller than expected, Amit says.

As for the packaging: The designers wanted to appeal to a mature(ish) demographic, so they eschewed the explosion of color splayed on most toy boxes and opted for a simple pattern of shimmering Cubes to subtly convey the game’s interactive elements.

The most intriguing part of the story here is that New Deal didn’t bother with user-led research. They simply assumed they had made something people would love -- like some other companies you might’ve heard of. “With cutting-edge technology, people don’t know what to say or how to treat it,” Amit says. “Either they’re being polite or over the top with their reflections. Here, you have a totally new object. It doesn’t have clear cultural grounding. ...Our job was to create a classic with immediate acceptance.” And you can’t do that by going to Joe Public.

Cubes start shipping to "Early Access" members this month (more on that here) and will be available to the wider public later this year. Check back on Sifteo's website for updates. 

COMMENTARY:    Sifteo's Cubes' modular approach allows the Cubes to become an electronic table game with virtually endless possibilities.  The software that comes with the kit, controls everything, sending wireless commands for each game to each Cube.  It is a sort of wireless Sony Playstation console which allows you to select which game you want to play, then each Cube executes that game depending on the positioning of the Cubes on a table top.  The sensing capability embedded into each Cube is what makes the whole thing work.  I can definitely vision a series of Apple or Android apps running on tablets in the very near future.  The design engineers at New Deal call Sifteo's Cubes a "a new platform for computing".  A rather crude one at that. Whether this is true or not, these pupplies sure look like a lot of fun.  No wonder they sold out at the Las Vegas CES show.   

Back on March 8, 2011, I profiled Modular Robotics' Cubelets, a robotic modular toy kit. Cubelets do not rely on software to control the movement or logic of the cubes. Each Cubelet has its own logic board, embedded software, micro-motors and wheels that control the movement.  With Cubelets, you can create toys that can think, sense and move, in an endless array of possibilities, depending on how the Cubelets are combined.  The advantage of Cubelets is that the Cubelets are combined a certain way act autonomously like a robot, with each Cubelet communicating with each other and working without the need of external commands.  

Either way, I like them both. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 18, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

By TwitterButtons.com  

MODULAR ROBOTICS' UNIQUE 'CUBELETS' ROBOTIC TOY BLOCKS CAN MOVE, SENSE AND THINK AUTOMATICALLY, AND ARE SIZZLING HOT

 

And they teach you the basics of programming while you're at it.

Everyone knows about those big brightly colored blocks that babies and toddlers play with. Well, those are sooooo 20th century. Now parents can give their little geniuses-to-be Cubelets: toy blocks that snap together with magnets and unlock interesting electronic powers, like sensors, motors, and data displays. Take that, Baby Einstein!

Cubelets Engineering Prototypes from eric schweikardt on Vimeo.

 

Cubelets are a spin-off project of Carnegie Mellon's Computational Design Lab, which developed them as "modules of a computational construction kit to scaffold learning math, science and control theory." Which is is a less-fun way of saying "blocks that let you build awesome robots and stuff."

The genius behind Cubelets lies in their flexibility: each block's function is extended and defined by the other blocks you magnetically attach to it. Snap a knob cube to a bar-graph cube, and boom, you've got a cool little light-toy. Even better: snap that to a motor cube with some wheels, and presto, instant robot. Using a kit of 20 blocks, you can build all kinds of funky little machines and doodads -- no instruction manual required.

That last part is what separates truly educational toys like Cubelets from tricked-up junk like Baby Einstein: kids learn by playing and exploring the design of the system on their own, not according to some adult's proscriptions. Do they need to know that Cubelets contain intense techno-stuff like actuators, logic boards, and photosensors? Nah. All they need to know is that when you snap 'em together, they seem to come alive -- in predictable, but surprising and complex, ways.

The electronic "brain" of a Cubelet.

If that sounds suspiciously like Computer Programming 101, that's because it is. But who says you need fancy programming languages to learn how to code? By making programming abstractions concrete and physical, Cubelets intuitively introduce kids to one of the most powerful creative tools that humans have ever invented.

The Cubelets will be available next month, and the set costs $300 here.

COMMENTARY:   WOW!  Robotic leggo's.  The kids (and adults) will go crazy over Cubelets.  I am predicting that Cublet's will become the hottest new toy to hit the market since Star Wars and Transformers.  

Quick Overview

The standard kit of cubelets has 20 blocks and contains an assortment of sensor, action, and operator blocks. With it, you can experiment and create mobile robots and logic constructions.

Details

The cubelets standard kit comes with 20 magnetic blocks that can be snapped together to make an endless variety of robots with no programming and no wires. You can build robots that drive around on a tabletop, respond to light, sound, and temperature, and have surprisingly lifelike behavior. But instead of programming that behavior, you snap the cubelets together and watch the behavior emerge like with a flock of birds or a swarm of bees.

Each cubelet in the kit has different equipment on board and a different default behavior. There are Sense Blocks that act like our eyes and ears; they can sense light, temperature, and how far they are away from other objects. Just like with people, the senses are the inputs to the system.

On the flip side, the Action Blocks act as outputs. They do things. Some have little motors inside of them so that they can drive around or spin one of their faces. There are blocks that make noise, shine a flashlight, or display their information through a light-up bar graph.

Which cubelets are in the Standard Kit?

• Action Blocks: 2 Drive, 1 Rotate, 1 Speaker, 1 Flashlight, 1 Bar Graph
• Sense Blocks: 1 Knob, 1 Brightness, 2 Distance, 1 Temperature
• Think/Utility Blocks: 2 Inverse, 1 Minimum, 1 Maximum, 1 Battery, 2 Passive, 2 Blocker

Each cubelet has a tiny computer inside of it and is a robot in its own right. So when you put blocks together, you're actually making a robot out of several smaller robots. Each block communicates with its neighbors, so you know that if two blocks are next to each other, they're talking. If you make a simple robot by connecting a Light Sensor block to a Speaker block, they'll start to talk, and when the light in the room gets brighter, the Speaker will get louder. Actually, you'd need a third block to make this work: every robot needs a Battery block to run. Next, you could swap the Speaker for a Drive block, and when the light gets brighter, the robot will drive faster. A third category of blocks is the Think Blocks: maybe you’d want to put an Inverse block in between the Light Sensor and Drive blocks. Then, the robot would drive slower as the light gets brighter. This simple communication between adjacent blocks is what gives the kit a little bit of magic.

Cubelets are designed for people age 8 and older.

Questions? Find some answers in the Cubelets FAQ.

Courtesy of an article dated March 7, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

By TwitterButtons.com 

‘CELEBRITY’ LOVE DOLLS THE LATEST CRAZE IN CHINA, WITH LIKENESSES OF CHINESE CELEBRITIES AND EVEN BARACK OBAMA

SILICONE rubber dolls which resemble Chinese film stars Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are in hot demand. They provide “sex services” at RM10 per hour in China, Nanyang Siang Pau reported.

The silicone rubber dolls, similar to “blow-up dolls”, were also available in the likeness of Maggie Cheung, Bridget Lin and contestants of the popular Supergirls singing competition in China.

An undercoer reporter visited an entertainment outlet in Hu Lu Dao of Liaoning province was stunned to see the dolls in a room for him to choose from.

He hesitated but the boss then gave him a demonstration by fondling “Lin’s” breast and the doll replied “tao yan!” (hate it, in a coy tone).

Americans may have fallen out of love with President Barack Obama, but the president of the United States is still an object of affection for the Chinese, who have remodelled him as a blow-up sex doll.

The boss said the dolls, equipped with a computer-controlled voice system, would make different sounds according to the movements.

He said he planned to expand his business for women by providing Chow Yuen Fatt and Jackie Chan dolls due to the overwhelming response for these celebrity dolls.

The extra-marital affair of a contractor was exposed after he told pressmen the heroic act of him catching a robber in Johor Baru.

The 44-year-old Singaporean informed Sin Chew Daily on Tuesday that he was injured while fighting a robber, who tried to rob his “wife”.

After the news was published, a woman telephoned the daily claiming she was the wife of the contractor.

She said they have three children aged between seven and 21.

“Our relationship turned sour after he was having an affair with the woman,” she claimed.

The daily’s reporter attempted to contact the other woman but she hung up the phone upon hearing the question.

COMMENTARY:   When I first heard about the popularity of silcone celebrity love dolls in China, I knew I had to look into it.

Chinese love dolls are not a Chinese phenomena, but are also very popular in Japan, where the love doll craze really started back in 2006.

Celebrity silicone love dolls are not cheap, costing $6500 to $20,000 or more depending on the degree of detail and customization.   An Italian gentlemen missed his ex-girlfriend so much that he spent $15,000 for a silicon replica. 

Today, love dolls are gaining popularity throughout Asia, in Japan, Korea and China.   They are also available in the U.S. through adult shops and online sites.

Courtesy of an article dated May 9, 2009 appearing in The Star Online

HOW LEGO HELPS KIDS BUILD ROBOTS FROM LEGO BLOCKS, SPONSORS WORKSHOPS AND COMPETITIONS, TO DEVELOP TOMORROWS ENGINEERS

 

Dressed in medical scrubs and  looking much wiser than his 11 years, Matthew Monroe was on a mission.

Twelve, actually.

The 6th-grader was one of more than 100 Atlanta 4th through 8th graders who demonstrated robotics projects Saturday at B.E.S.T. Academy on Hollowell Parkway, in the 11th annual FIRST LEGO League Competition, sponsored in Atlanta by 100 Black Men of Atlanta and the Atlanta Public Schools.

The robot-building competition was one of 84 FIRST LEGO regional events held in communities across the United States and around the world. The robotics project is one of a dozen themed challenges that FIRST LEGO League teams tackle.

Young students from Parkside Elementary in Atlanta, Georgia compete in the FIRST LEGO League

 

Adults say the robotics event gives pupils with strong math and science abilities an opportunity to apply classroom talents to real-lfe engineering challenges.

But the future engineers, designers and doctors at Saturday's competition seemed to have a more immediate goal in mind.

"What we're really going to do is win this whole competition," said Matthew, who attends Imhotep Academy Charter School, 551 Harwell Rd. He and his teammates wore scrubs to reinforce the "Body Forward" theme of this year's competition. "...we're ready to show our robot."

Showing off a robot was, indeed, the focus of Saturday's 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. event.  In the main auditorium of B.E.S.T. (Business, Engineering, Science and Technology) Academy, also known as the Benjamin S. Carson school, students and adult coaches hovered around large tables to watch students demonstrate the abilities of their robots.

First Lego League local competitions take place throughout the U.S.  The winners then compete in the national and world championships.  Here are a few photos. 

 

Though the robots were designed from LEGO kits, each group Saturday displayed unique designs. 

Coretta School King Academy teacher Susan Hall, one of the coaches for the only all-girl's team, said FIRST LEGO competitions not only give students a chance to build fun robots but also allows them to hone team-building skills. 

"They really learn to work together," Hall said, moments after high-fiving two of her girls for successfully programming their robot to accomplish an assigned task. "They get to learn how to solve problems together." Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy is located at 1190 Northwest Dr.

The 2010 FIRST LEGO theme is "Body Forward." According to the FLL website, the theme allows teams to "explore the cutting-edge world of Biomedical Engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the body's potential, with the intended purpose of leading happier and healthier lives. " FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) LEGO is a multinational, nonprofit organization that uses LEGO building blocks as a basis for youth engineering, math and science projects.

Saturday's event included robotics teams from B.E.S.T., Imhotep, King, Drew Charter School, Parkside and Towns elementary schools and King and Inman middle schools.

The FIRST LEGO series ends in with a "world festival" every year;  this year's festival is April 27-30 in St. Louis. For more information about FIRST LEGO, go to www.firstlegoleague.org.

COMMENTARY:   You have to love the enthusiasm these youngsters demonstrate as they build working robots made from Lego blocks.  Kids will be kids, and it doesn't matter where the kids come from, they all share several things:  1) enthusiasm to learn engineering and technology skills, 2) learn how to work as a team, 3) express their creativity and originality, 4) gain inspiration to pursue future creative and technical careers and 5) having a lot of fun.

The best way to summarize FIRST LEGO League is to say that it is a robotics program for 9 to 16 year olds (9 to 14 in the US and Canada), which is designed to get children excited about science and technology -- and teach them valuable employment and life skills. FLL can be used in a classroom setting but is not solely designed for this purpose. Teams, comprised of up to ten children with at least one adult coach, can also be associated with a pre-existing club or organization, homeschooled, or just be a group of friends who wish to do something awesome. 

Contrary to popular belief, our coaches DO NOT need any technical experience. In FLL, the children do the work! And the work is comprised of programming an autonomous robot (using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robot set) to score points on a thematic playing surface and create an innovative solution to a problem as part of their research project. These two elements - the Robot Game and Project - make up what we call our yearly Challenge. Like any other organized “sport”, teams also fundraise, create a team identity, and go on field trips. To see some of our teams in action, visit ourYouTube Channel, or read about their experiences on our blog. 

Some teams choose to attend an official FLL tournament, which is hosted by one of our Operational Partners. Operational Partners volunteer to run the FLL program in their region or country and are associated with other like-minded organizations to the FIRST mission.

First Lego League has inspired the formation of workshops throughout the country that are specifically designed to promote and develop robotics learning skills.  

Robotics Learning, located near Cupertino, California, has been conducting in school and after-school workshops to educate kids on how to build robots using Lego pieces since 2004.           

I keep reading that America is losing its technological edge to other countries, or that we are not developing enough engineers, but Lego First League, shows what can be done to inspire children at a young age to learn creative and technical skills, that may lead them to become the engineers of tomorrow.   

First Lego League robotic competitions are sponsored for kids at three different grade levels:  K-3rd grades, 4th-8th grades and 9th-12th grades.   

School budgets have taken a tremendous hit, but with the help of over 3,500 government agencies and private corporations have provided mentors and donations to sponsor robotics learning workshops in elementary schools throughout the U.S.  

Courtesy of an article dated December 11, 2010 appearing in CascadePatch

JUNO BABY RAISES $4.5 MILLION, WITH PLANS TO TAKE ON BABY EINSTEIN FOR A SHARE OF THE PRESCHOOL EDUTAINMENT MARKET

Taking on Baby Einstein’s DVD empire is a formidable task. But Juno, a precocious puppet with big googly eyes, pigtails and a red dress, is up for the job. Her strategy: Create original orchestral music for children, surround herself with a host of equally quirky characters (like Rai Rai, a toddler who wears nothing but a cape and diaper), and leverage mobile technology like no puppet has done before.

It won’t be easy. Baby Einstein is the 800-pound gorilla in the industry--it was bought by the Walt Disney Company back in 2001 and commands an estimated 90% of the infant media market. By contrast, Juno Baby (the startup that created Juno’s character) operates out of a small office in downtown San Francisco, where just 13 employees toil away on a line of DVDs, CDs, books, and iPad applications for tiny tots.

The market for babytainment is not only dominated by one mega-player, it’s also highly controversial. Just ask Baby Einstein, which has battled critics (including the American Academy of Pediatrics and child-advocacy groups, who say baby-specific programming could have a harmful effect on children’s development) for years.

Juno Baby started seven years ago, when pianist, Emmy Award-winning composer and new mom Belinda Takahashi went searching for classical music to play for her newborn daughter. “I was dismayed with everything that was out there,” says Takahashi. So she teamed up with her husband, a former financial analyst named Adam Adelman, to create Juno--a muppet (named after the couple’s daughter) who sings along to originally composed live music, not synthesized melodies.

After tinkering with the idea and putting up their own cash to shoot a pilot video they ended up hating, Takahashi and Adelman finally launched Juno Baby in 2009. They brought in a CEO, raised $4.5 million in funding and put together an impressive advisory board that includes the former COO and president of FAO Schwarz and a psychologist from Yale University who specializes in childhood development and electronic media.

Last August, Juno Baby launched its products in FAO Schwarz stores (the company also sells on Amazon.com and says it’s in the process of closing deals with several additional retailers). Despite a growing lineup of original CDs, DVDs and colorful books, their hottest seller so far is the Juno plush toy. A Juno television show is in the works, though the company won’t disclose which network will carry it. Juno Baby already has one app on the iTunes store (the Music Learning Adventure, which is available for free download) and plans to launch about 18 more over the next year, including slick interactive books and virtual musical instruments.

It’s even developing a distribution platform (think of it as iTunes for babytainment) and plans to white-label apps for other content creators. “It isn’t just Nickelodeon and Disney who dictate what children will consume anymore,” says Barrett Cohn, Juno Baby’s CEO.

The company relies on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to spread the word and is heavily focused on selling its increasing portfolio of apps over the iTunes store--which has relatively little barrier to entry. There is big opportunity in mobile and tablet applications for children. A recent Duracell Toy Report listed the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad as the most-requested holiday gifts among children. An estimated 50% of moms who have iPhones let their kids use their phones; 29% of those moms have kids under four years old.

 

Of course, Juno’s not the only kid-friendly app in the iTunes store (where every children’s brand, from Curious George to Fisher Price sells digital books and games). Last May, Baby Einstein also launched an iPhone app that sells for $3.99 and features music, videos, and a digital scrapbook.

But even though more children are using mobile devices more often, critics who believe babies shouldn’t watch any programming aren’t likely to think they should be playing with iPads either. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that older children (ages eight to 18) who are heavy media users report getting lower grades. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero television programming for children under two, regardless of whether it’s viewed on a TV, laptop, or mobile device.

“The reality is that there is screen time for babies,” says Liz West, a spokesperson for Disney’s Baby Einstein. “But there is no substitute for interaction with your baby.” Earlier this week, Baby Einstein launched Discovery Kits, boxed sets that include a DVD, CD and picture book or cards that it says will “give parents another way to interact with their babies.”

According to West, all Baby Einstein DVDs will now be sold as part of a kit. Juno Baby says it never makes claims that its products will make babies more intelligent. “We believe your baby is already smart,” says Takahashi, Juno Baby’s co-founder.

Juno may not have the power to raise your child’s IQ, but she sure is cute. And her songs--about eating broccoli or getting a haircut--have won national awards and captivated the short attention span of many infants and toddlers, as attested by online reviews and moms’ blogs. Of course, parents--the tall people with the pockets full of money and smartphones just waiting to be used as a cheap alternative to babysitters--are Juno’s real demographic. At the rate new media usage is growing among young children, Juno can expect to go up against even more competition in the near future, not just from Baby Einstein.

COMMENTARY:   Belinda and Adam have a great eye for what kids like.   Her Baby Juno characters are all very cute, although Baby Juno's huge eyes, something that you see in many of today's character's for kids, looks too much like Dora the Explorer.   All the characters have that round, plush and hugable appearance which is very much like Tele-Tubbies, but let's face it, imitation is the biggest form of flattery.  

Juno Baby is moving at breakneck speed, offering a wide range of products:  Juno Baby DVD's, music CD's, books, apparel and music downloads on Apple iTunes.  It's a strategy of building the Baby June brand quickly through rapid product distribution and a possible future TV kids program to boot.   

Belinda is definitely capitalizing on the Christmas shopping season, when parents purchase the most toys for their children, and it doesn't hurt having a former president and COO of FAO Schwarz as one of your advisors and distribution channel.

I think Juno Baby's timing could not be better and is entering the pre-school market at just the right time.  Baby Einstein's and Dora the Explorer are getting a bit dated and kids are always looking for something new.

I am very familiar with the preschool and children's entertainment markets very well.  The market for children's entertainment and educational products is very crowded and highly competitive. The children's book market has 7 to 10,000 new titles every year.  Although DVD's sales are down because so much content is moving online, children's DVD sales continue to be strong.    

Belinda Takahashi and husband Adam Adelman are up against some formidable odds, but are throwing caution to the wind, and not wasting any time. Entrepreneurism at its very best.   But, $4.5 million is not a lot of capital, and Juno Baby is going to quickly discover that in order to maintain this rapid rate of growth, that a second and third round will quickly become necessary, but they just might be able to pull it off.      

Courtesy of an article dated December 6, 2010 appearing in Fast Company

USEFUL AND PLAYFUL ROBOT GIFT IDEAS FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SEASON

With so many families struggling to make ends meet this holiday season, the most welcome Christmas gifts likely will be practical ones that provide a helpful service. That being the case, don't overlook the robots! They never tire of working for you and some can also be programmed to sing a medley of Christmas songs including “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

There are robots that will vacuum your floors, keep your family car at a safe distance from the car ahead of it, fetch you a beer from your refrigerator, or stand you to a game of pool.  There are even kits for build-it-yourself robots who will perform a variety of tasks depending on what you assign them to do.

So says Frank Tobe, of Santa Barbara, CA, editor and publisher of The Robot Report, a continuously updated Internet magazine you can read at www.TheRobotReport.com that brings readers the latest information about the constantly expanding world of robots from toys and tools to hospital operating rooms and battlefields. 

For Mom: iRobot Roomba and Neato Robotic Vacuum System

For example, you can program robot vacuum cleaners to do all your floors while you're out and come home to a fresh-looking house. There's Neato, priced at $399, and iRobot Roomba, for about $380 "that show off what a single-purpose robot can do," Tobe says. "They can navigate around the room without breaking anything and operate seamlessly on different types of floor surfaces."

For Dad: Adaptive Cruise Control Available as an option from most car companies

A robotic device that will make your family car safer is adaptive cruise control. Utilizing radar that is installed in your front grill, the device will automatically slow your car down if you are getting too close to the vehicle ahead of you. The version for a Ford is about $295 and the one for a Mercedes-Benz is $2,900 (which also includes parking assistance). "This is something every motorist who drives a car should have, particularly if you do long-distance driving," Tobe says.

For robotically interested: LEGO Mindstorm Robot Kit

A do-it-yourself robot kit is available from LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 that you can use to build as many as four robots that will do your bidding. LEGO provides 619 pieces and will teach you programming as you go along. It contains software sensors so that the robots can see, move (using motion detectors), and speak. "You can build it in the form of a humanoid or an alligator," Tobe says. "It's up to you and your imagination and kids as young as 10 should be able to construct with it. If you can dream it, you can build it." List price is $279.

For all ages: Parrot's AR.Drone Quadricopter Rated #1 Consumer Electronics Product of 2010

More on the fun side is the Parrot AR.Drone QuadriCopter, a remote-controlled flying-and-hovering machine that Tobe says "combines the best of many worlds, including autonomous flying, video gaming and augmented reality." It can be controlled by an iPhone, iPad or iTouch and features a number of sensors including frontal and vertical cameras and an altimeter so that the controller can set the flight height. This retails for $299.

For grandparents and their grandkids: Pleo Dinosaur - previously Ugobe; new version from Innvo Labs

Grandparents and their grandkids are showing a keen interest in Pleo, a scientifically accurate baby dinosaur "that looks, moves, sounds, and behaves like a living creature." Tobe says, "It is fully aware and cognitive and explores its environment and interacts with people. Pleo is equipped with sensors for sight, sound and touch. It feels joy, sorrow, anger and annoyance and expresses itself with realistic dinosaur sounds." Personality downloads include Holiday Pleo – where petting Pleo in a certain place makes him change his Christmas tune.  A joy toy at $299.

For pre-teen boys: WowWee's RoboRaptor with control unit

Speaking of dinosaurs, there's WowWee Roboraptor, a predatory robot "with instincts to match his wild technology," Tobe says. "His mood determines his behavior. He'll go into predatory mode, nervous and cautious mode, or friendly, playful mode, depending on how he wakes up. A laser tracking system allows you to draw his path and RoboRaptor will follow it without banging into objects like table legs.” For pre-teen boys. Price: $59. 

For pre-teen girls: Penbo and her baby Bebe

Specially designed for pre-teen girls is Bossa Nova’s Penbo, a Robotic Penguin and her baby that is affectionate to you and her baby. She responds to your touch and sound and speaks "Penguish," yes, 'Penguish." Press Penbo's ear and an egg magically appears from her pouch. Penbo calls for, and interacts with, her baby, plays hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo baby games and rocks her baby to sleep. Price: $82.

For little kids: Zhu Zhu hamsters

For the little kids, ages 4 to 8, is Zhu Zhu Hamster, which has its own unique personality and whimsical sounds. "You can pet them, love them, and hear them chatter," Tobe says. "It's fun for children to provide them with accessories and watch them interact on their own timetable and agenda."  Price: about $37 with accessories.

For millionaires and rich alumni: Willow Garage's PR2 Personal Robot

Finally, for the millionaire who has everything but doesn't care to put another servant on the payroll (or the alumni wanting to make a useful contribution to his or her alma mater’s robotics lab), there's the class act of personal robot servants called PR2 from Silicon Valley’s Willow Garage (the "garage" in the name referring to the number of successful new products that got started in entrepreneur's garages). “This life-sized robot is able to navigate in human environments and has the dexterity to grasp and manipulate objects in those environments," Tobe says. "It can clean up with a cart, fetch a beer from the refrigerator, play a respectable game of pool and is programmable to meet your needs and ideas at any level." The PR2 robot comes with open-source free software and lists for $400,000.

Further information on the above gifts may be found on The Robot Report, which gathers industry

news, tracks the business of robotics, and has developed proprietary (ROBO-STOX™) methods to compare robot stock performance to the NASDAQ Composite Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The publication also makes available a comprehensive world-wide database of public and private firms and research facilities involved with the robotics industry.

COMMENTARY:    Robotic toys for Christmas.  Go figure.   Kids have it so good today   When I was a kid all we had was wind-up toys.  For my money, nothing makes a child happier than an electric train set.  They can play with that toy forever without ever getting tired.   I posted an article about the Zhu Zhu hamsters, the hottest toy of 2009.   I am glad to see they are still hot in 2010.

Courtesy of a press release by The Robot Report 

FAO SCHWARZ DELIVERS NEW BRANDING TO ITS STORES AND WEBSITE

FAO Schwarz has a new logo.

The toy retailer began a rebranding initiative yesterday, timed to coincide with the beginning of the holiday shopping season. The brand redesign includes a new logo, new products and a new look for its e-commerce site.

The branding redesign will be featured at the company’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, in dedicated boutiques in all Toys ‘R’ Us stores nationwide and in approximately 10 FAO Schwarz temporary seasonal stores at shopping malls around the country. Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. acquired FAO Schwarz  in May 2009.

The newbrandingis in place on the retailer’s e-commerce site, FAO.com, and later this month the site will launch approximately 200 FAO Schwarz products in what it calls the Legendary Christmas Collection. The collection includes FAO Schwarz signature items, such as its annual holiday ornament and collectible bear, and a selection of gifts priced up to $25,000, such as the Barbie Foosball Table.

To showcase the online products, a Flash animation of the collection provides a zoom view, and once selected, each item’s “story” and product description is shown on dedicated pages that appear in pop-up windows. The collection is also organized into a variety of categories, such as age, price, award winners and favorites, designed to help shoppers narrow down the gift options for the children on their lists.

“We are proud to introduce the next evolution of FAO Schwarz, building on its storied history, while preserving the tradition that has defined this treasured brand for nearly 150 years,” says Jerry Storch, chairman and CEO at Toys ‘R’ Us, No. 37 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. “For many, FAO Schwarz evokes fond memories, and this redesign will help bring the classic brand to a whole new generation of children.”

The FAO Schwarz brand design has been transformed regularly over the years and the logo has included a teddy bear, ABC blocks, a toy soldier, a rocking horse and an animated clock tower, the company says.

FAO Schwarz shops were featured in Toys ‘R’ Us stores for the 2009 holiday shopping season. The concept was expanded this year into permanent 230 square-foot boutiques at the front of each store that offer approximately 85 unique FAO Schwarz toys at prices ranging from $3.99 to $199.99.

As part of the holiday toy expansion, FAO Schwarz-branded infant and toddler items are available in all of the nearly 260 Babies ‘R’ Us stores operated by Toys ‘R’ Us.

COMMENTARY:  I have always loved FAO Schwarz ever since I lived in San Francisco, and used to take my son to the local store.   FAO Schwarz truly provides the ultimate "shopping experience" unlike anything else.  This is not an ordinary toy store.  To a three year old child it is like stepping into Santa Claus' toy workshop.  One of the few stores that actually let kids play with their toys. During Christmas holiday season, the FAO Schwarz stores truly come to life, and at their very best.  Nothing like the FAO Schwarz store in New York City during Christmas time.  If you have been there, you know what I mean.  Huge plush toy animals, beautiful ornament decorated Christmas trees and glittering lights everywhere,  the toy "soldiers" standing in front of the store greeting customers, and Christmas carol music.  

Toys 'R Us, the bad asses of toys, acquired FAO Schwarz, but I am glad that it has remained true to its culture and hasn't lost any of its warmth and charm.   Ahh, if I were a three-year old.  

Courtesy of an article dated  October 15, 2010 appearing in Internet Retailer

FOR MINIMALIST MOMMIES AND BABIES, BRINCA DADA DESIGNS MODERN DOLL HOUSES TO SPOIL YOUR KID ROTTEN

Toys that won't ugly up your living room have arrived. Who cares if kids don't want to play with them?

Ah, children. What sweet little darlings they are ‘til they go and ruin the clean lines of your DWR living room with their hideous plastic Barbies and Legos and stuffed animals tossed all over the place. You almost want to throw them out (the toys, that is).

One company has turned this niggling clash of sensibilities into a business opportunity. New York-based Brinca Dada (from the Brazilian “brincadeira,” which means “game” or “play thing”) sells dollhouses and mini furniture that look like they were taken from the pages of Dwell. Instead of Barbie’s Pink Dream compound, you’ve got a De Stijl-inspired townhouse and instead of frilly, fringy Victorian lampshapes everywhere, you’ve got recessed lighting -- made of LEDs, naturally. “Nothing brings a parent greater joy than seeing their children’s faces alight as they open the perfect gift,” Brinca Dada writes in its press materials. “But few modern parents would want that toy to stay in the living room forever. Until now.”

So here’s the company's marquee product. It’s called the Emerson house, named for the street the designer, Brinca Dada co-founderTim Boyle, grew up on. Built at a 3/4-inch scale, it’s got all the boring-adult luxuries: scored hardwood floors, cut-stone walls, wood beams -- even solar panels on the roof that power the aforementioned LEDs. The cost: $329.99. (Which could probably buy you three real houses in Detroit.)

Then we've got the Bennett House below, billed as “an oasis in the sea of glitzy toy houses." (It won't be available for purchase until next year). Eschewing color for simple lines and patterns, it's designed in the tradition of the Schroder House by Gerrit Rietveld, the grand-daddy of the De Stijl movement. “Townhouses are typically a stack of floors with a few windows on each floor, and no inside/outside relationship,” Boyle says on the company’s Web site. “I prefer architecture that reveals structure and engineering, hence windows extend past floors to show the weight and thickness of the structure.” Wait, is he still talking about dollhouses?

Brinca Dada sells matching furniture, too:

Obviously this stuff would be a blessedly minor intrusion on any design-minded household. But would children even play with it? Have you ever seen kids gravitate toward anything beige ... ever? Us neither.

Turns out, parents aren't dollhouse shopping for their kids anyway. See what we mean here.

COMMENTARY:  A lot of parents spoil their kids rotten.   These doll houses take kid spoiling to the next level.   Whatever happened to Lego's and Construct-A-Set?  Let the kids use their imagination and build their own toys and doll houses.   

Courtesy of an article dated September 28, 2010 appearing in Fast Company Design