All the Way to the Supreme Court

Robin Raskin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:13:26 +0100

The Supreme Court is about to hear an important case that involves the restriction or banning of the sale of video games to minors because they are “violent in nature”. This will be the first time that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on any of the state laws attempting to restrict or ban sales of certain video games. Until now, all such laws have been struck down by lower federal courts as unconstitutional restrictions on Free Speech protected by the First Ame...

Listen Up: The Scoop on Adolescent Hearing Loss

Robin Raskin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:34:07 +0100

Do like your music loud? Anyone who has ever sat next to a school-bound teen armed with an iPod on the bus, subway or in the car can attest to the fact that teenagers – for whom music is a central aspect of their identity – sure do. And it’s no surprise that music pumped directly into the ear at high volume can cause damage, as recent research by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES) in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows.

Your iPad or Your Toilet

Robin Raskin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:39:02 +0100

Add cell phones and touch screens to the list of germaphobe nightmares. New studies are placing shared touch screens right up there with pens, hairbrushes and grocery carts. And for good reason – touch screens are as ubiquitous as (just-as-germy) doorknobs these days, and many otherwise clean freaks are reluctant to clean expensive touch screens as part of the daily routine.

According to these studies, disease causing organisms can live on your touch screen as long as a...

Barbie VideoGirl: Here's Lookin' at You

Robin Raskin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:33:02 +0100

You may think that's your sweet little girl, sitting on the couch, playing with her Barbie Doll. A closer look and you realize she's a little Mata Hari wannabe.

Barbie's got a new look and this one's from the inside out. Look closely at her neck. Yup. that's an embedded video camera hidden in her pendant.
Dressed in snazzy denim Capri pants and ...

Jim Bower on Science, Kids, and Video Games

Robin Raskin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:03:56 +0100

Jim Bower, Founder of Numedeon (creators of Whyville) and University of Texas San Antonio Professor of Computational Neurobiology, spoke at the Kids@Play conference last January about the future of virtual games. Check out this video clip from SXSW 2010 where he chats about using simulation-type video games to get children interested in science.

Intel Discovers and Cures Hourglass Syndrome

Robin Raskin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:09:06 +0100

At a press gathering today, with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, Intel warned of the Hourglass Syndrome. It hits when you’re expected to keep up with everything – email, facebook, twitter – but instead you find yourself staring at the endlessly spinning hourglass icon on your screen – your technology is failing you in a time of desperate need. T...

THQ’s Low Cost Drawing Tablet Makes a Pretty Picture

Robin Raskin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:16:56 +0100

Recently at the Nintendo store in NYC I got a chance to doodle around with uDraw, a new drawing tablet/software package designed to interface with the Nintendo Wii.
uDraw is sort of a mashup of several good ideas. The drawing tablet has a pocket that accommodates the Wii Remote (a la Guitar Hero guitar controller). The Wii...

World of Cars: Another Land in Disney’s Virtual Empire

Robin Raskin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:51:30 +0100

Lane Merrifield, the creator of Club Penguin, is now overseeing Disney’s virtual world kingdom. ToonTown was the first of Disney’s virtual lands, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Pixie Hollow, and Club Penguin. Making it an even five is the newly launched World of Cars, based on characters from the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated movie "Cars". It’s D...

PaperJamz: WowWee’s New Faux Jam Band

Robin Raskin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:31:14 +0100

Somewhere between a Pet Rock and a Hard Rock lies a new fad waiting to be born. WowWee is betting on the fad factor with its new PaperJamz product line. Best known for whimsical toy robotics, WowWee recently released a guitar, drums and amplifier band set. Each instruments is about as thick as a piece of cardboard.
The guitars ...

EA and Sony’S New Games Get Creative

Robin Raskin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:05:50 +0100

Everyone and their brother has tried to tap into kids’ love of nurturing things. Tamagotchi, WebKinz, Neopets ... move over. Sony takes it to a new dimension with the PlayStation Move and its game EyePet (no relation to iPet). That’s how I found myself oohing, cooing and down on my hands and knees to make Sony’s EyePe...

A Book Club for Digital Kids

Robin Raskin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:37:54 +0100

Disney Digital Books is the first digital subscription library of children’s books. A $24.99 subscription fee gives you 3 months of downloads. The books I saw demonstrated were pure Disney – Mickey Mouse and Toy Story all the way up to Hannah Montan...

Call for Entries: Second Annual Kids at Play Interactive "KAPi" Awards at CES 2011

Robin Raskin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:13:15 +0100

10 Awards Recognize Top Products for Today’s Digital Kids

New York, July 21, 2010 – The call for entries for the second annual Kids at Play Interactive – “KAPi” – Awards at the 2011 International CES is now open. The KAPi Awards honor children’s technology products that raise the bar for innovation and design excellence – from toys to apps, websites and games. In addition to the product categories, a Digital Pioneer award ho...

3D Versus Body Motion: What Matters Most for Next Gen Gamers?

Robin Raskin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:31:00 +0100

According to NPD, a research firm, families are using video games big time. After sports games and action games (each holding approximately 20% of the market), family games represent 12%, the next largest category. Though the press would have you think otherwise, nearly 50% of games sold are rated “E” for everyone. And the game platforms are looking for new cool ways to exploit the growing gaming market.

This holiday, the three big industry platform giants—Sony, Micr...

Where Old iPhones go to Find New Lives

Robin Raskin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:18:26 +0100

There were 1.5 million new iPhone 4s sold on the very first day of its availability. It stands to reason that a lot of these were bought by early adopters salivating to upgrade to the latest new version. Apple has become the Jedi Master of planned obsolescence; the iPhone upgrade being just one example. Before your old iPhone winds up in your personal electronics graveyard, consider these ways to make a few bucks or just do the right thing.

Robin Raskin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:10:58 +0100

OLPC , short for One Laptop Per Child, began as the vision of Nicholas Negroponte at the MIT Media Lab. The idea was to create a PC so inexpensive that every student on the planet could have access to technology.
After a few years of fits and starts, OLPC is showing off renderings of its next generation XO-3...

A History of Kids Toys: Brief, Biased and Mostly Binary

Robin Raskin — Sat, 22 May 2010 14:31:09 +0100

Who loves Powerpoint? Well, this one's fun. It's the essence of a talk I gave in Toronto at INplay. Mark Northwood, from EarthRangers, was the moderator and we had a blast looking at where toys have been and we're they're heading. See how many of these you remember.

Games for Junior Pilots

Robin Raskin — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:48:53 +0100

Flight Simulator the Microsoft game thats ultrarealistic controls and navigation path gave many armchair pilots a chance to take control of the wheel. Now the kids can get into the act with two games announced for the junior fly-guy set.

MySims Sky Heroes: launching by this Sept
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