Wabi Message Bear

http://www.wabi.com/

From the folks that brought us Teddy Ruxpin, a teddy bear that allows you to dial a phone number, punch in the code for your child's bear, and leave them a message. The bear then receives the message, giggles, and the child presses his paw to get the message. Sounds like a must-have for my daughter!

With Toys getting high tech from robotic pets and more advanced video games one new product has hit the market in the shape of a very talkative and cute teddy bear.

The Wabi bear is a teddy bear which enable parents and loved ones to remotely communicate with a child in their own voice or by sending an unlimited variety of content in the form of stories, lullabies, nursery rhymes, songs and educational games.

The primary target market consists of 19 million children aged 2 to 7 years old. The initial product using 900 MHz wireless technology allows Wabi to deliver messages and content with 100% reliability and security. Wabi connects people in unique, playful and memorable ways to each other. In 1985 Wabi's founders introduced the single most successful Teddy Bear in history with the launch of Teddy Ruxpin. While Teddy Ruxpin introduced at $70, sold over 5 million bears, the Wabi founders believe that Wabi Bear represents an even greater potential.

Teddy Ruxpin accepted cassette tapes with Teddy Ruxpin stories on them this allowed his mouth to move with the dialogue, in contrast this new bear has no moving parts in an attempt to cut product cost and improve reliability. When a family member or friend want to leave a message for the child's bear they ring a number punch in the bears code number and leave the message. The bear giggles when he gets a message and all the child has to do is press his paw to hear the message.

Fossil Palm OS Watch

This is another very cool geek watch; it actually runs the Palm OS, and it's by Fossil, so it's actually somewhat stylish! What *will* they think of next?

Fossil Palm OS Watch - Gizmo Highway Technology Guide: "Fossil Palm OS Watch"

In my quest for the coolest gadget, I came across this gem, funded by Paul Allen (co-founder of MSFT):

http://www.flipstartpc.com/

It's a PDA-sized PC that actually runs Windows XP, with an "instant on" feature. It's not out yet, but if they price it right, it could give the high-end PDA market a run for its money.

Solar Powered Jacket!

OK, now this is something *really* interesting: a solar-powered jacket that can power PDAs, cell phones, and the like. And it's fashionable too!

Wired News: Gadget Jacket Charged by the Sun

This is the Wired Vaporware 2003 article, in case you're interested:

Wired News: Vaporware: Nuke 'Em if Ya Got 'Em

Palm Tungsten WiFi Card??

Oy, vey. The one gadget high on my list is actually a gadget for my gadget: an SD card that would allow my Palm Tungsten T to access my home WiFi network. Sounds like it's going to be a while yet, as SanDisk has moved back the release date of the Palm drivers for the card yet again (uggh). The device already made Wired Magazine's Vaporware 2003 list, and it looks like it will remain so for a while yet.

Brighthand � SanDisk Moves Back Release Date of Wi-Fi SD Card Yet Again

I read about this in Wired magazine; I have been attracted to the DVR (digital video recorder) idea for some time, but haven't made the leap due to the price of the devices.

A small sidebar in the February 2004 Wired magazine (page 26) talked about how you can "rev up" ReplayTV, and it got me to thinking; it's a pretty cool device! I'll have to check into this more.

ReplayTV

January 24, 2004: While reading through this month's Wired magazine, it occured to me that I should be journaling all of the cool gadgets that I come across during my travels through cyber- and real-space. Thus, this blog was born.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a gadget freak, although I will admit that I am also not the first person on the block to necessarily have a given gadget. I am fortunate that, during the normal course of my job, I get the opportunity to review many types of gadgets without necessarily purchasing them--in this regard, I have the nearly perfect job!

That said, when I *do* find a "must have" gadget, there is a high probability that I will wind up owning one, but not until the price comes down into the range that I deem "affordable".

This blog will start with some of the neat things that I found in this month's Wired magazine, and who knows where it will take us?