| Battle Machines hands-on (video) Feb 13th 2012, 15:22 | When Jada invited us up to its private show room at Toy Fair to do "battle" we were a little concerned -- last we checked we'd done nothing to offend the company. Thankfully, it just wanted to challenge us to a duel with its Battle Machines line of RC toys. A couple of years back the company debuted the line with a pair of cars that drive around playing laser tag with each other. Then, last year, things got really interesting Air vs. Land -- an RC chopper and turret that duked it for IR-equipped superiority. This year the company is expanding the line with Battle Quads (laser-wielding ATVs complete with rider) and Battle Heli (essentially one half of the Air vs. Land package, but programmed to perform rotor-powered dog fights). Neither of the new products were quite ready for a test run yet, but we did give the turret and copter combo a try... just for the heck of it. The toys are complete with blaster noises and, when shot down, an internal IC takes over the helicopter and does a little aerial death dance. After about 15 minutes we finally started to get the hang of piloting the aircraft but, by then, the Jada rep had us plummeting from the sky. Both the Battle Heli and the Battle Quads should be hitting shelves in August for $30 and $60, respectively. Check out the video and PR after the break. Continue reading Battle Machines hands-on (video) Battle Machines hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Googleplex expansion plans hint at Project X lab, wireless testing facilities Feb 13th 2012, 14:25 |  Google's eyeing up some vacant space at the end of its lawn to throw $120 million at a Grand Designs-style extension to its Mountain View campus. Residents will soon see the @Home lab, purportedly to test fully formed consumer devices and whatever secret home entertainment / wireless communications gear we've heard rumblings about. The new development will enable Project X (the interesting one with the James Bond-gizmos, not the lecture series website) to move into a meatier facility where they can perfect projects like Majel and the self-driving car. The most notable development (according to business-types, anyway) is the "Experience Center," a 120,000 square foot private museum / demonstration space for Google to schmooze its most important clients in style (wait, aren't we the most important clients?). VIPs will be invited to play with the newest toys the company can produce before gorging themselves on canapés, or something. Californians wandering past 1600 Shoreline Blvd down the road from the Googleplex, might also notice a new building that's not covered in official branding -- because it's going to be a new wireless testing facility that's being shielded from external signals. At least, that's where we'll be pitching a tent with a couple of long lenses when it opens for business. Googleplex expansion plans hint at Project X lab, wireless testing facilities originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  CNET |  San Jose Mercury | Email this | Comments | | iCade 8-Bitty hands-on (video) Feb 13th 2012, 14:00 | It's still about two months out, but when the 8-bitty hits shelves it might just become our favorite member of the iCade family. At the moment the Bluetooth gamepad is little more than a hand-made prototype with some AA batteries taped to the underside and a sticker printed on the office InkJet slapped on the front. As a production quality controller, though, it should be the perfect handheld button mashers for those of you with a taste for the retro. The boxy, rectangular 8-bitty may be wireless and the final version will likely sport six buttons -- still, you can't help but be whisked back to your days spent blowing into dusty Contra cartridges and tapping out the Konami code. We gave the early prototype a quick try and the D-pad and red buttons feel just like their '80s inspiration. Unfortunately they're not quite as responsive yet, but we're figuring there's still some kinks to be worked out before it ships this Spring. The 8-bitty should be launching exclusively with ThinkGeek for between $25 and $30. Check out the gallery below and the video after the break. Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.Continue reading iCade 8-Bitty hands-on (video) iCade 8-Bitty hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
