LEGO® BOOST Building and Coding Set Unveiled at CES Empowers Children to Bring Their LEGO Creations to Life

– Building on the company’s history of merging digital programming and physical building, LEGO BOOST will inspire a younger generation to build and code their way to limitless play –

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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW – Today the LEGO Group announced LEGO® BOOST, a supercharged building and coding set that lets children bring their LEGO creations to life by adding movement, sound and personality. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, LEGO BOOST will be previewed to members of the global media at Digital Experience! on January 4 and will be demonstrated to CES attendees as part of the Kids@Play Kids & Technology Marketplace from January 5-8, 2017 at the Sands Expo. With a suggested retail price of $159.99 (USD), LEGO BOOST will be available in the second half of 2017.

Build the Toy You Want
LEGO BOOST combines the endless play opportunities of a traditional LEGO set with an endless variety of movement and sound capabilities made possible through an easy-to-use, app-based coding environment. LEGO BOOST was developed for children ages 7 and older by an international team of LEGO designers. Using familiar LEGO elements and simple coding language, LEGO BOOST delivers an intuitive approach and opportunities for quick success.

Powered by a Move Hub, a LEGO stud-covered brick with built-in tilt sensor upon which children can add LEGO elements, motors and a sensor that combines color and distance detection, LEGO BOOST brings movement to any LEGO creation. The set includes building instructions for five diverse models; Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder, each designed to give children the basic building and coding skills needed to express their creativity by personalizing whatever they build.

„We know that children dream of bringing their LEGO creations to life, and our chief ambition for LEGO BOOST is to fulfill that wish. Once children build a LEGO creation, we give them simple coding tools to ‚boost‘ their models by adding personality,“ said Simon Kent, design lead for LEGO Group. „We want children to first and foremost have a fun and limitless play experience, adding the coding opportunity is the means to get there.“

Coding Brings Your Toy to Life
LEGO BOOST introduces children to coding through a free downloadable app that contains the guidance, building instructions and simple coding commands to bring to life five LEGO creations, one at a time. Much like building with LEGO bricks, children build behaviors and actions by linking digital coding blocks in an easy-to-understand horizontal layout. To further personify the experience, LEGO BOOST lets children add voice recordings to their creations, adding personality without requiring spelling and typing. The app also includes more than 60 activities designed to inspire additional building, coding and play.

Creative Canvas Lets You Boost Any LEGO Creation
To further inspire creative building and coding, the LEGO BOOST app includes a „creative canvas“ that includes basic building instructions for three simple base models that children can use to customize their own LEGO creations. The three bases available at launch include: a walking base for making animals like a dragon or a pony, a driving base for building vehicles like a dune buggy or rover, and an entrance base so that children can make their own castle, fort, or even a futuristic space station. Once children are comfortable with building and coding the various LEGO BOOST models, they can use the kit to „boost“ any LEGO creation – from LEGO CITY and LEGO  Friends to LEGO NINJAGO and The LEGO BATMAN Movie.

LEGO® BOOST Includes:

Hardware

  • 3 BOOST Bricks:
    • Move Hub with built-in tilt sensor
    • Combination color & distance sensor
    • Interactive motor
  • 843 LEGO elements
  • Playmat, calibrated to the app, designed to facilitate mini challenges to practice simple coding trials

LEGO BOOST App

  • Free, downloadable app is iOS and Android tablet compatible

LEGO BOOST uses 6 AAA batteries. Alkaline batteries are recommended, but rechargeable batteries can be used, though may result in weaker power output.

Quick Overview

  • Includes over 840 LEGO® pieces, plus a LEGO Move Hub, Interactive Motor and a Color & Distance Sensor.
  • Move Hub features Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity, two encoded motors, activation button, internal tilt sensor and a light.
  • Interactive Motor is an encoded motor.
  • Color & Distance Sensor detects distance, motion and color, and can also function as a light.
  • Check out the cool white, orange and blue color scheme.
  • Rotate Vernie’s head to activate its shoulder-mounted spring-loaded shooter.
  • Build the M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4) and try out the different tool and customization attachments to prepare the vehicle for an array of exciting activities.
  • Learn how to play a song and rock out with the Guitar4000.
  • Look after your own pet with Frankie the Cat. Be sure to feed it the right food—or it might get upset!
  • Construct, code and operate the AutoBuilder to produce real miniature LEGO® models.
  • Build and code robots and models, and complete exciting activities with the playmat and intuitive LEGO® BOOST app, available for iOS and Android tablet devices.
  • Easy-to-use intuitive software with icon-based drag-and-drop coding interface.
  • Building instructions for all 5 models are included with the free LEGO® BOOST app.
  • This product requires batteries (not included). Please refer to the product packaging for type and quantity.
  • Vernie the robot stands over 10” (27cm) tall.
  • M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4) measures over 4” (12cm) high, 9” (23cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide.
  • Guitar4000 measures over 1” (5cm) high, 16” (42cm) long and 5” (15cm) wide.
  • Frankie the Cat stands over 6” (17cm) tall.
  • The AutoBuilder measures over 10” (27cm) high, 7” (19cm) long and 6” (16cm) wide.

LEGO BOOST will be available at most stores and online shopping sites where toys are sold, through select consumer electronics retailers, and at LEGO Stores and shop.LEGO.com in the second half of 2017 and will have a suggested retail price of $159.99 USD, €159.99 (EUR) and $199.99 (CAD). For more information, visit www.LEGO.com/BOOST.

About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK., Shanghai, China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials. Guided by the company spirit: „Only the best is good enough“, the company is committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.

Bobbie 1S Robot

DEN HAAG, Netherlands, Dec. 23, 2016 — Anyone searching for a cool personal robot might be interested in Dawody Robotics, Bobbie 1S robot. This cute humanoid robot is voice controlled and can be used as a home guard, personal assistant, educational robot and family member in one.

The robot can be described as a Smartbot. A telephone and robot in one, Bobbie is equipped with a touch screen monitor and a camera that enables it to monitor the house, make calls, surf the web, receive messages and much more.

Bobbie has a simple program, making it easy for young and old to develop new applications for it. The robot has its own, sometimes annoying character that makes him special. Sometimes Bobbie will give surprising answers while having a chat with him. While shooting a promotion video, the founder of Dawody Robotics asked Bobbie who the President is. Bobbie’s answer was that he is officially running for president himself, promising to make Dawody Robotics great again.

Dawody Robotics‘ aim is to introduce Bobbie’s little brother in 2017 in collaboration with a partner company that will truly change the way we look at robots. „Our aim is to have robots in every household in a time span of 5 years from now, just like people have mobile phones nowadays,“ said Safa Dawody, the founder of Dawody Robotics. The price for Bobbie 1S is from $300 USD for the Super Early Birds and will be shipped estimated in March 2017 to its new owners. Who knows, maybe Bobbie 1S will make it to the White House one day.

LINK to Kickstarter

“Robots love Ice Cream the Card Game” to debut on Kickstarter

Robots Love Ice Cream the Card Game, a semi-cooperative family friendly card game for ages 8+, launches on Kickstarter November 13th, from tabletop publishing studio 25th Century Games.

The card game is based on the hit video game Robots Love Ice Cream™ by mobile experience studio Dragon Army, also located in Atlanta, GA. The video game was released in 2014 and named one of the best games of the year on both iOS and Android. This tabletop version features all of the same characters and art style found in the video game plus new illustrations only available in the card game version.

“In the card game version, we capture all of the fun, fast-paced dynamics from the much beloved mobile game. The vibrant art, quirky characters, and semi-cooperative gameplay make it a must have addition to your family’s game collection,” said Chad Elkins, creator of Robots Love Ice Cream the Card Game. “It’s hard not to like both robots and ice cream, so layering that theme on an easy to learn set collection card game proved to be a big hit in play testing.”

One to four players travel in their ice cream trucks to five different planets across the galaxy. They must work together to collect matching sets of weaponized ice cream cards and use them to destroy waves of attacking robots. If all of the robots are defeated, Spinston’s plans are foiled, collectively saving that planet’s supply of ice cream treats.

The crowd-sourced Kickstarter campaign for Robots Love Ice Cream the Card Game will help raise funds for the manufacturing costs to produce the game. The campaign will begin on November 13th and conclude on December 14th.

To learn more about Robots Love Ice Cream the Card Game, visit the Kickstarter page.

About 25th Century Games

25th Century Games is an Atlanta startup dedicated to publishing entertaining tabletop games and puzzles that bring people together. The company recently published their first project, a 1000 piece puzzle featuring a historic map of Atlanta from 1892. Their focus is designing games and puzzles which are family friendly and are suited for a variety of age levels.

About Dragon Army

Dragon Army, based in Atlanta, GA, is a mobile experience agency built to deliver the best entertainment to mobile devices everywhere. Consisting of a blended group of marketers, game designers, developers and artists, the team applies their diverse skills to create rewarding mobile experiences for the world’s top brands. The company currently partners with The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Red Bull and InterContinental Hotels Group.

Recently funded, London-based startup, SAM Labs, releases new kit, Curious, entering a new, immersive territory of smart playthings.

After raising $4.5m, led by Imperial Innovations in May 2016, SAM Labs announces the release of a new kit, Curious: an immersive out-of-the-box inventing experience, allowing users to build and program their own cars and games.

Empowering youngsters worldwide to get hands on with smart tech, SAM Labs makes smart construction kits of clever little blocks and a fun app that gives everyone the power of technology to build awesome inventions. With the Curious building blocks and the SAM Space app, you’ll be stretching your imagination to create projects, games, inventions and hacks in no time.

Equipped with five paper-fold car bodies, a car base, and remote control, kids can build and program their own vehicles with SAM, whilst gaining 21st century skills. A step-by-step tutorial booklet, and the informative SAM app, both filled with detailed instructions, will guide you through an array of other smart projects and hacks. The kit even encases an additional booklet with even more offers a diverse range of wireless blocks, that when paired with the app, SAM Space, provides for a fun, experiential, and open-ended learning session.

The kit also comes with its own unique new app: SAM’s Curious Cars. Available across iOS and Google Play, the app, made with Unity, encompasses the ‘connect the dots’ feel of SAM Space, with an added gaming element. Explore challenges and tasks to connect SAM blocks together by playing in both the game and in real life.

The kit will launch for $199 (£149), debuting both in stores, at John Lewis in the United Kingdom and Barnes and Nobles in the United States throughout the month of October, and online on Amazon and on the company’s own site, samlabs.com on the 1st October. CURIOUS buyers will also receive a complimentary 20% off code for their next purchases at samlabs.com.

“Curious is the future of SAM, where creativity can be unleashed through an epic immersive experience. When you think about inventing, you think Curious.” – Joachim Horn, Founder and CEO

bionicTOYS Launches Flexible Building Bricks on Kickstarter

bionicTOYS Launches Flexible Building Bricks on Kickstarter An Award-Winning Design That Turns Child’s Play Into STEM Learning

BERLIN, November 29, 2016 — Inspired by nature’s own flexibility, bionicTOYS has launched its first collection exclusively on Kickstarter. These highly-elastic building bricks let children and adults explore the art and science of motion through play.

 

bionicTOYS was created by German product designer Marcel Pasternak as a way to introduce important STEM-based skills to children. Through creative building, they are able to replicate organic actions found in nature and learn about bionics, mechanics, potential energy and other important principles of physics. The patent-pending flex-brick design allows for inventive, multi-functional play that can also interact with existing building bricks, such as LEGO® Technic or TinkerBots®.

With its Kickstarter launch, bionicTOYS is reimagining construction-based play. “It’s quite handy because you can just bend it in all directions,” says 13-year-old Felix. Its colorful design and easy-to-construct sets allow school-age children, parents, teachers, LEGO® fans, and design enthusiasts to explore a great range of creative possibilities.

About bionicTOYS bionicTOYS was created by 29-year-old Marcel Pasternak as part of his master’s thesis in product design. It has quickly developed into an educational toy company that has won the Green Product Award (Kids category), the Marianne Brandt Award – Material Effects (Product category) and is one of the winners of DMY ́s New Talent Award.

Link to Kickstarter

A Robot Arm for the Rest of Us

Slant Concepts is creating a robot arm that anyone can use.

Robot arms have been doing redundant tasks in manufacturing for nearly 70 years. These hundred thousand dollar behemoths manage assembly lines and pack boxes. But they only exist on the assembly-line. Why aren’t they in the home cleaning counters, feeding the pet, and prepping breakfast.

The main reason for this situation is that they are difficult to use. Th industrial arms in factories require skilled engineers or tradesmen to get working. They are also incredibly expensive. But a company named, Slant Concepts, is changing that with the ShopArm.

The ShopArm is a 3D printed robot arm that makers can build and the rest of us can just use. The ShopArm is meant to be used to perform some of the repetitive tasks in our lives.

The ShopArm currently can be trained to do anything it is physically capable of, by using a common PC. The ShopArm software lets the user select waypoints for the arm to move to. Just click on a place on the virtual workspace where you want the arm to go and it will move there. Then you can record a series of these to have the arm put bread in a toaster and start it.

Another way that Slant has created to train the ShopArm is with a camera. All anyone has to do is hold a green colored tracking marker over a camera on the end of the arm. Then arm will then follow the marker around and record the movements

Eventually, users of the arm will be able to bring it into their home, show it what they want done and then just leave it. They might train it to start the toast every morning at 7:00 AM or feed the pet on a regular basis. But the real value of the arm is in performing one-off repetitive tasks. Train it to decorate a Christmas cookie then have it do that 100 more times.

Slant is running the Kickstarter in order to continue developing the project to full implementation by normal consumers.

About Slant Concepts: Slant Concepts is a product design company based in Boise, ID. Slant was founded in 2014 as a product consultancy and micro-manufacturer. After completing numerous projects for client over its first two years, in 2016 Slant focused entirely on robotics and dedicated itself to producing internally developed products for the home, school and business.

Two Bit Circus Launches Kickstarter Campaign for New Maker Kit That Combines ART and STEM to Inspire Creativity in Young Inventors

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Two Bit Circus, an engineering entertainment company, today released a new survey report highlighting the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)-based activities for children, revealing art as the key entry point to STEM, especially for girls.

Two Bit Circus recently surveyed an audience of more than 500 parents to understand gender differentiators in how children play and learn in relation to STEM/STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) activities. The report uncovers key insights on children’s educational interests and preferences for extracurricular activities and also shows a lack of awareness for STEM/STEAM in general. In fact, 47 percent of parents are unfamiliar with STEM/STEAM toys such as chemistry sets, microscopes, Arduinos, etc. And surprisingly both boys and girls share similar levels of interest in science and math in school, but girls are far more likely to prefer arts and crafts inside and outside of school than boys. This points to why there has been such a strong push for STEAM in order to help close the gender gap in STEM.

Additional key findings from the STEM vs. STEAM: The Gender Gap report include:

  • Parents of both male and female children equally report that their child’s favorite STEAM subject in school is either math (26%) or science (30%)
  • 41% of parents with boys say their child shows the most interest in technology/computing activities outside of school compared to only 18% of parents with girls
  • 45% of parents with girls report their child shows the most interest in art outside of school compared to only 10% of parents with boys
  • 62% of parents say that their child never participates in STEM extracurricular activities outside of school

To drive momentum for the STEAM movement and blend creativity, curiosity and critical thinking to inspire the next generation of inventors, Two Bit Circus is launching a Kickstarter campaign to support the creation of Oomiyu, a paper craft and technology kit. By allowing beginner inventors to build a fun, customized and interactive paper craft robotic owl, kids get hands-on experience with basic mechanical principles, electronics and programming that combined creates a unique STEAM experience. This maker kit is designed to bring art alive through creative innovation, combining art with STEM for a well-rounded and engaging creativity platform.

“Not only does Oomiyu foster a sense of excitement for STEAM by building creative confidence and curiosity in children, it also helps develop critical thinking skills and makes technology more appealing for creative and analytical thinkers alike,” said Two Bit Circus CEO and Co-founder, Brent Bushnell. “By creating this holistic STEAM-based kit, we hope to bring out the makers we know are hidden in every child.”

Oomiyu, a customizable platform, allows children to build, design, customize and program a paper creature to move, respond and emote to various stimuli. A companion mobile app and open source software extend the possibilities even further. Simple connectors make it easy to add new features and the included Arduino 101 packs powerful features like Bluetooth low-energy (enables easy connection to other devices and the internet) and machine learning (enables other pattern matching behaviors).

Also included in the maker kit are off-the-shelf components like LEDs, motors and paper patterns. The new Oomiyu maker kit offers a unique balance of design elements combined with more technical aspects of personalized programming for a craft that lives beautifully with technology.

This crowd-sourced funding campaign hopes to reach its goal of $72,921 USD* within the next 30 days, or about 500 units sold. The cost of Oomiyu is $150.

For more information about Oomiyu visit the Kickstarter campaign page.

About Two Bit Circus

Two Bit Circus is a location-based entertainment company creating the future of fun. The team of artists, inventors, educators and performers builds social games and experiences that aim to inspire, engage and reinvent the way people play. For more information, visit www.twobitcircus.com or follow @TwoBitCircus.

Neato Botvac™ Connected Now Works with Amazon Alexa

Neato extends leadership in the smart home, control your Botvac Connected through Alexa

 Newark, CA—November 22, 2016—Neato Robotics, leaders in smart robots for the home, today announced the award-winning Neato Botvac™ Connected is the first Neato robot vacuum that can be controlled via the Alexa voice service using devices like the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot.

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“Neato’s innovation is a huge leap forward for the smart home. Alexa-enabled Botvac Connected advances Neato’s vision of SmartLife™ —where using the latest technology to make your life easier is the clear path to smart living,” said Giacomo Marini, Chairman and CEO of Neato Robotics.

The smart home is quickly catching on with consumers as many see the convenience of an intelligent connected device through which they can manage their home. For example, Alexa is able to assist users with everything from turning off lights to ordering a pizza. With the Neato Botvac Connected integration, Alexa can now voice-control the Neato robot vacuum. All it takes is a simple voice command – ‘Alexa, ask Neato to start cleaning’ – and it’s done. Doing simple tasks is just the first step.

The possibilities are endless. Today, if the Neato Botvac Connected is already vacuuming your floors, and you get a phone call, just say ‘Alexa, ask Neato to pause cleaning’—and give a resume cleaning command once you are off the phone.  The combination of Neato and Alexa means you can keep doing what you are doing and voice command your Botvac Connected at the same time so it fits into your SmartLife.

 About Neato Botvac Connected

Neato’s first official collaboration with Amazon Alexa is now available. The Botvac Connected robot vacuum, which can be controlled via Alexa voice service, is the most powerful Neato robot to date. To take advantage of this new Alexa skill, launch the Alexa app on your smartphone and select Smart Home from the left hand navigation menu, Get More Smart Home Skills and search for ‘Neato’. A Neato Botvac Connected is required, as well as an Alexa-enabled device such as an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot.

Neato Botvac Connected includes the company’s patented Neato LaserSmart™ technology that combines laser scanning, continuous room mapping and real time object detection to plan the most efficient course to clean a home. This means Neato alters its navigation instantly when a new obstacle enters its path. Intelligent navigation, even in the dark, as it moves room to room, and knows when to return to its base for recharging — and then automatically goes back to where it left off to finish the job. The Neato robots’ iconic D-shape design and CornerClever™ technology allows it to get close to walls and deep into corners. With one of the largest brushes and dirt bins on the market, Neato covers more square footage and picks up more debris than any other robot vacuum.

Availability

All existing and new Botvac Connected customers will have access to the Amazon Alexa skill today in the US and in the coming weeks in the UK and later this year in Germany.

About Neato

Neato Robotics designs robots for the home to improve consumers’ lives, allowing them to spend less time doing household chores and more time on the things they love. Neato SmartLife™ is about the intersection of humans and robots in today’s digital world enabling consumers to get back the most valuable thing that exists: more time. Neato drives innovation with intelligent laser navigation, smart home connectivity, and superior cleaning technologies. For more information, visit: www.neatorobotics.com.

iRobot CFO to Speak at NASDAQ 35th Investor Program

BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in consumer home robotics products, today announced that Alison Dean, iRobot’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the company’s achievements and financial outlook on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 6:30 a.m. ETat the NASDAQ 35th Investor Program being held in London.

iRobot logo

The presentation will be accessible live on iRobot’s investor relations website at http://investor.irobot.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=193096&p=irol-EventDetails&EventId=5242247 and for 90 days thereafter.

About iRobot Corp.
iRobot designs and builds robots that empower people to do more. The company’s home robots help people find smarter ways to clean and accomplish more in their daily lives. iRobot’s portfolio of solutions features proprietary technologies for the connected home and advanced concepts in navigation, mobility and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.

iRobot Acquires Japanese Distribution Business from Sales on Demand Corporation

BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a
leader in consumer home robotics products, today announced that it has signed
a definitive agreement to acquire the iRobot-related distribution business of
privately-held Sales On Demand Corporation (SODC) based in Tokyo, Japan. The
acquisition is expected to close in April 2017.

The acquisition will better enable iRobot to maintain its leadership position
and accelerate the growth of its business in Japan through direct control of
pre- and post-sales market activities including sales, marketing, branding,
channel relationships and customer service.

SODC has been iRobot’s exclusive distribution partner in Japan since 2004 and
is well respected by top channel partners. The SODC team has been instrumental
in establishing iRobot as the leading consumer robotics brand among Japanese
consumers and maintaining significant market share in an increasingly
competitive region.

Japan is a key strategic country for iRobot, given its status as the largest
consumer robotics market outside of North America. iRobot will appoint a new
president & general manager for Japan who will report directly to iRobot’s COO
Christian Cerda, and assume day-to-day operational responsibility for all
market activities in Japan.

„Forward integration in Japan is a strategic step for iRobot as a leading
global consumer technology company. The Japanese distribution model served us
well in establishing our initial presence and brand in the region, catapulting
iRobot to the market leading position. As the dynamics of the robotic floor
care segment evolve in Japan, we believe iRobot itself is better positioned to
drive increased adoption and continue market leadership in that region. We are
honored to have the SODC distribution team join the iRobot family as we take
the next step on our journey,“ said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot.

iRobot will acquire the business for a cash amount equal to the book value of
the acquired assets at close, primarily inventory, estimated to be between
$14M-$16M, subject to exchange rates in effect on the date of acquisition. The
acquisition is expected to contribute incremental revenue of approximately
$20-25 million in 2017 and to expand gross margin despite the required
one-time, inventory fair value accounting adjustment. On a GAAP basis, iRobot
expects the acquisition to be between $0.25-0.35 dilutive in 2017, subject to
final purchase price accounting adjustments, one time charges and acquisition
costs. The acquisition will result in incremental revenue, gross margin and
profit in 2018 and beyond. We will provide more information on the acquisition
impact on our financials in conjunction with our earnings call in February.

About iRobot Corp.
iRobot designs and builds robots that empower people to do more. The company’s
home robots help people find smarter ways to clean and accomplish more in
their daily lives. iRobot’s portfolio of solutions features proprietary
technologies for the connected home and advanced concepts in navigation,
mobility and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot,
please visit www.irobot.com.