Last year on April Fool’s Day, Mimobot jokingly announced a Jar Jar Binks styled thumb drive in their line of Star Wars related storage accessories. Luckily, this was only a joke as it was revealed that they would not be taking it to the manufacturer. Everyone had a good laugh with sighs of relief.

But apparently there was some negative backlash over Jar Jar’s false Mimobot. And it wasn’t PTSD for those who contemplated bombing the Mimobot factory. It was from people who were actually disappointed that it wasn’t really happening.

It seems 500 people (which is our best guess since the Jar Jar Mimobot will only have 500 produced) made enough of a fuss to get Mimobot to create a thumb drive of the Gungan nightmare. After all, why would they risk making more Jar Jar Binks Mimobots than they believed they could realistically sell?

Continue Reading →

Like all good things done by Nintendo, it’s time for special edition hardware. With the Pokemon franchise being possibly the most recognizable mobile game in the world with its original GameBoy roots, Nintendo is bringing the pocket monster flair to their behemoth (only in terms of importance, not size) pocket based console.

Retailing for a cool $199.99, the Pikachu themed 3DS XL will come with a 4 GB SD memory card and be available in limited qualities. From the look of the above image though, it may only be the top of the 3DS XL that features the Pikachu treatment as the hinge appears white, meaning the actual body of the system may be white as well.

Continue Reading →

Now, I’m not going to come on here and pretend I know what every geek in your life is going to want. But if they are anything like me, there is at least something on here that they do want.

The nice thing is that even if they already have it (or you picked the one thing on this list they actually hate), every item is coming from a store they will be able to return it to and buy something they do want.

Continue Reading →

With entertainment technology jumping by leaps and bounds every year, it’s up to the audience to try to keep up with the ever-growing quality of video and audio for some of their favorite music, video games, movies, and TV. Video may be covered by bigger and badder TV’s, but it’s all about lightweight and compact when it comes to audio.

That’s where NoiseHush completely excels. They’re mastered car and mobile audio for the modern consumer, and now they’re tackling gamers and those who need HD audio in a stationary setting such as a bedroom, office, or living room.

With their newest release, the NX26 headphones, you get complete inundation of the deep bass and distortion-free audio you’re listening to and no pinching or pressure that most over-the-ear headphones leave you with.

With soft foam ear muffs and top, there’s no telling that these noise cancellation phones are even on your head half the time.

That’s nothing, however. The best feature lies in the set’s microphone and control button on the lengthy wire. The mic is on-par with some of the top-line mic’d headphones on the market today, and not only will the control button work with your mobile device, but it will control iTunes when the headphones are plugged into your computer.

Continue Reading →

This comes directly from the “things we would love to have when we’re filthy rich” department. Yes, we have one of those here at The Flickcast. Doesn’t everyone?

To what lust-inducing thing of beauty am I referring? Well, be sure you’re sitting down because this one is pretty impressive. I’m talking, of course, about a turbine powered Keaton-era Batmobile.

Designed and built by Casey Putsch, the car is a hand-made repliaca of the famous vehicle powered by the same Boing engine used in a Navy drone helicopter. Sadly (but good for someone else) Putsch has decided it’s time for his creation to go to someone else.

So, what do you do with your turbine powered Batmobile when you want to sell it? You put it on eBay of course.

The price? Well, as they say, if you have to ask you can’t afford it. Okay, it’s $620,000. Start looking under those sofa cushions.

Also, click through for a video of the car in action.

Continue Reading →

Yes, E3 has a lot of games to demonstrate and attract the attention of gaming enthusiasts. It also has a lot of hardware to dazzle the eye and entice your wallet open.

One such piece of hardware is the Batarang Controller from Power A for the XBox 360 and PS3. Yes, you read that right: It’s a controller made in the shape of the famed Batarang made famous by none other than Batman himself.

Here’s more info from the official release from Power A:

Developed by Rocksteady Studios and based on DC Comics’ core Batman property, Batman: Arkham City, batman fans will revel in the authenticity of the design of the Batarang, while gamers will appreciate the comfort and performance that POWER A brings to these one-of-a-kind controllers.

The Batarang controller for PS 3 is wireless with reverse analog sticks and a Batman-themed USB RF receiver. The Batarang controller for Xbox 360® is a wired controller with a 10-foot / 3m inline release cable.

Continue Reading →

At Toy Fair, Senario gave us a look at their latest line of the Zibits, a series of unique, collectible, miniature RC robots. Unlike most action figures from Toy Fair, the Zibits stood out to us at the Flickcast because they make a perfect little desktop toy.

They are cost effective ($10), small and geek friendly. What geek doesn’t want their own little robot servant?

Now while the Zibits are too tiny to do any real damage, they can definitely be a conversation piece or a time killer in any office. And that makes them perfect as a giveaway for the Flickcast.

How would you win such an awesome prize? Well, it’s simple! Just keep an eye on our Twitter account next week, and we’ll give you some classic robot trivia for you to answer. Get it right, and you can win!

In the meantime, take a look at another one of these cool RC Robots that you can win after the jump.

Continue Reading →

At Toy Fair, we were lucky enough to get the chance to see one of the newest undertakings by Activision called Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Under developer Toys For Bob, Activision is combining the much loved Spyro video game series with a brand new toy line.

But this isn’t just a tie in with action figures modeled off characters from the game. Instead, players will take these figures and place them on an attachment for their Nintendo Wii to load any of the 32 characters in to the game. Young players will be given the opportunity to do something they never have before, watch their toys come to life in front of them on a video game screen.

Seeing these toys in person, they look as if they were all beautifully hand sculpted. Spyro even has a little bit of a badass feel to him instead of the super fluffy dragon he started out as. What you don’t immediately see is the technology hidden underneath that gives these toys the read/write ability to load information in to the Wii using the Portal of Power and then take the experience and treasure that player has found with them to their next destination.

Continue Reading →

Holiday shopping is hard. There is so much going on like catching up on all the hottest games that came out in November that sometimes you just don’t have time to go out, brave the malls and deal with lunatic people who would gladly trample each other to save seventeen cents on an outdated plasma TV. But, you still have to buy gifts for the loved ones in your family. And with each item, we have included a helpful link to purchase the item without ever having to leave the comfort of your home.

Hardware

It couldn’t be Christmas without a big and expensive gift for “Santa” to put under the tree. Now, while you most likely have one for yourself, your best gaming friend may not be as hardcore as you are and isn’t going through his XBox 360 dashboard using Minority Report type controls of the Kinect.

Like we talked about in our review, the Kinect is fun and a great addition to any XBox 360 household.  Just make sure that the person you are buying it for has enough room in their living space for it to work properly.

Check out more of my picks for best geeky holiday gift ideas after the jump!

Continue Reading →

It’s a glorious day Apple fans as Verizon is now selling your favorite touch computing device the iPad. It can now be purchased online or in stores so if you’re getting ready for the full transition away from AT&T, this is a great place to start.

You may notice the pricing of the device is the same for both Verizon Wireless and AT&T (16GB: $629, 32GB: $729, 64GB: $829) despite the fact that AT&T sells the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G and Verizon Wireless is only selling the iPad with Wi-Fi. How can this be?

Well, it’s because Verizon is bundling a MiFi 2200 with each iPad. However, in a bid to stay competitive with AT&T, Verizon will not require a contract. Instead, the carrier is offering month-to-month data packages of 1GB for $20, 3GB for $35 or 5GB for $50. AT&T’s data packages for the iPad remain unchanged at $15 for 250MB/Month, $25 for 2GB/Month, or $30 for unlimited if you were one of the lucky ones to have had the deal prior to the change.

As someone who already has an iPad, this won’t really have much effect on me. However, it does bode very well for the future as Apple and Verizon solidify their relationship in time for the company to begin selling the iPhone next year.

Everyone likes to have an interesting toy sitting in their cubicle. Sometimes you need it to help relax after tackling a difficult problem. Sometimes you need a good icebreaker for conversations with new coworkers. And sometimes you just want to play with your balls.

While 99 times out of 100, this would get you fired from a job, Sphereplay allows players to use a custom designed and weighted sphere that can roll and balance across a person’s entire body. What seems like a very basic concept ends up becoming incredibly addicting as each Sphere comes with a instructional DVD tearing 55 moves that can be done with the simple sphere.

Starting out with just rolling the sphere over your fingers, most coordinated people can quickly have it moving over their hands, up and down their arms and ever over their whole body. The company claims that enough time with Sphereplay will help improve coordination, dexterity and balance. From our time with it, that definitely seems to be the case but, a word of warning: Don’t try sphereplay at first next to an expensive computer or television as the sphere sometimes seems to have a mind of its own and will make its way from your hands.

Make sure to take a peek below at one of the Sphereplay experts showing us his moves from NYCC and check out www.sphereplay.com for information on getting your own!

Continue Reading →

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I’m having a hard time getting excited for Microsoft’s Kinect. Sure, not using a controlller and being able to play you’re favorite game standing up as if you’re actually in the game seems like a cool idea. I’m just not sure I’m ready to give up my controller just yet.

Regardless of my feelings, Microsoft is going forward in a big way with Kinect and is launching the device, and several accompanying titles, very soon. In fact, just in time for the Holidays. Isn’t that nice of them?

Microsoft will have 17 games you can play with Kinect this year and here’s the list: Kinect Joy Ride, Adrenalin Misfits, Fighters Uncaged, Sonic Free Riders, Kinect Sports, MotionSports, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Dance Central, The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout, DanceMasters, Kinect Adventures (bundled with Kinect), Kinectimals, Game Party: In Motion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, EA Sports Active 2, Zumba Fitness, and Deca Sports Freedom.

The first twelve games will be available on November 4 (aka “Launch Day”) and the remaining five will arrive throughout November and early December. Now that we’ve seen the list, I can’t say I’m that much more interested. How about you guys? Will Kinect be the new “must have” gaming accessory?

Sometimes, things happen in public that actually reflect things you’ve been discussing in private. In this case I was just having a discussion about TV show rentals the other day and was lamenting the fact that Apple didn’t offer that model for its Apple TV device. Cut to today and it looks like that problem might be remedied by Apple shortly.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is supposedly in “advanced talks” with News Corp., CBS and Walt Disney Co. to allow iTunes users to rent their programming for 99-cents an episode instead of, or in addition to, the existing model where you can only purchase content. From the article:

“The content deals would give Apple users access to some of the most-watched shows on TV and increase the appeal of its devices. . . Added programming also would build on iTunes’ role as the biggest retailer of music and mobile applications, and help Apple ward off companies like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which offer their own online video services.”

Not only that, Apple will reportedly announce this service, and potentially more, at an as yet unofficial press event on September 1st. Some of these other things could include an Apple TV re-branded as the iTV and/or new versions of the iPod. With Apple, really anything is possible.

As someone who’s just gone through this and only wanted to rent some episodes of a show and not own them, I hope the rental deal turns out to be true. It makes sense that companies would want to offer this option in order to get some revenue instead of none from people only looking to rent a show and not own it. Hopefully we’ll find out on September 1st.

Accessory maker Power A has announced a new more compact version of the Nintendo WiiMote that they feel will enhance the incredibly popular system’s gameplay experience. With the Wii breaking 30 million units in sales, over 250,000 of those being just in the month of July 2010 according to the NPD group, it is no surprise to see a plethora of accessories and third party controllers come out for the system.

The Pro Pack Mini will feature a smaller version of the Nintendo WiiMote and NunChuk with larger face buttons to ease control and be more comfortable at the same time.

“We are delighted to announce the general availability of the Pro Pack Mini and are confident that Wii enthusiasts are going to love the comfort and precision of these new controllers,” said Eric Bensussen, president of POWER A and BDA. “The Pro Pack Mini has been met with great enthusiasm from the gaming industry and is one of many new gaming accessories that POWER A is bringing to market this holiday.”

Continue Reading →

Hot on the heels of Verizon’s Twitter campaign (follow @DroidLanding for details), as well as our own coverage of the Droid X here at The Flickcast, the wireless company has now released a sneak peek of a 60-second trailer for their hot new Android-based smartphone.

The video as well as the Twitter campaign have really served to build the hype in advance of the official Motorola Droid X launch, which begins today at Verizon retail stores nationwide. Since June 21st, Team Droid X has been tweeting tantalizing details concerning the whereabouts of  twenty of their so-called ‘Droid Designates’.

Advanced copies of the massive smartphones hidden in various states across the U.S. As the weeks rolled on, the hints became more and more specific, eventually culminating in a GPS coordinate that could be entered into Google Maps to learn an exact location.

Obligatory twitpics of the winners of the Droid X scavenger hunt began popping up late last week. One-by-one, the beaming faces of Droid X owners holding up their new smartphones really had me thinking that Verizon knows how to run a successful viral twitter campaign. And clearly, getting advanced copies of a hot new phone out in the wild only stokes the interest all the more.

Hit the jump for all of the launch-day details as well as the sneak-peek video!

Continue Reading →