The new Iron Man helmet is too cool: It opens and closes slowly, just like in the movie, lights up, and JARVIS talks to you.

Not bad, for $35. There's also a redesigned Replusor glove that does the whole "yeoooowwwBOOOSHH" sound effect when you fire it at tanks, pets or small children, and Arc Lights in the Mark IV or Mark VI variants.

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

There's a badass scene in the Clone Wars cartoon where General Grievous cuts down six Jedi, by himself, using some insane spinning saber techniques. This twirling dual-bladed Grievous lightsaber will let you do that to your friends.

In other toy lightsaber news, with the next releases, the blades will actually screw off, meaning when you're not deflecting Nerf darts, you can hang the lightsaber on your belt. Screwing the blade on does kind of kill the magic though—at least Luke coulda used the Force to do it.

STAR WARS GENERAL GRIEVOUS LIGHTSABER
(Approximate Retail Price: $34.99; Ages: 6 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
JEDI warriors have long recognized the prowess of GENERAL GRIEVOUS as a highly skilled, elusive and often multiple-LIGHTSABER-wielding adversary. Now, kids can engage in LIGHTSABER battles just like this powerful cyborg with the new STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS GENERAL GRIEVOUS LIGHTSABER. Battle with the power of GENERAL GRIEVOUS by spinning the two LIGHTSABERS simultaneously in one hand, take out the spinner and connect the two LIGHTSABERS for double-bladed LIGHTSABER action, or use the two separately to ward off an opponent. Both LIGHTSABERS include electronic lights and battle sounds!

STAR WARS LIGHTSABERS?(Approximate Retail Price: $9.99 to $19.99 to $34.00 up to $119.99; Available: August 1, 2010)
2010 is the year of the LIGHTSABER! Hasbro is offering its widest range ever of
STAR WARS LIGHTSABERS – the quintessential battle weapon for JEDI and SITH across the galaxy. From the BASIC and ELECTRONIC LIGHTSABERS, to the all-new spinning GENERAL GRIEVOUS LIGHTSABER, to the line of authentic high-end replica FORCE FX LIGHTSABERS, Hasbro offers STAR WARS fans of all ages a variety of ways to engage with the noble weapon of the JEDI. The new ELECTRONIC LIGHTSABERS even offer a DVD featuring the greatest lightsaber battles ever, including epic duels from the animated television series and the live action battles between the most famous JEDI and SITH. (Each sold separately.)

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

We saw impressive renders of Notion Ink's Adam last week, along with some speculation, but today we're getting what's probably the best look yet at this ambitious play into the tablet space.

The following specs, to be unveiled officially at MWC, are listed as "final" by the folks at Notion Ink. Take some of it with a grain of salt, as they are grossly incorrect about items like accelerometer and touchscreen (chart provided by Notion Ink):

The Technoholik video, filmed this weekend before the big reveal at MWC, follows here:

What you see in the video is essentially the final build. The camera position could move, and there was a screen cover removed because it was loose during the demo, but in the end this is the 1080p tablet Notion Ink will put up against the iPad (and the multitude of other tablets that arrive this year and beyond). Looks pretty sharp, especially in sunlight, although the trackpad location will definitely take some getting used to. [ADAM on Flickr, Technoholik]

If there's one thing the seamstress community needs, it's a sewing machine that turns into a lamp.

Unfortunately, the bad news is such a device still doesn't exist (I think?), but the good news is there's a concept floating around the Internet that purports to do illuminating tasks that are currently beyond the sewing machine industry understanding (or, in this case, desire).

The concept, called SEW, arrives by way of Baita Design. Let no seamstress live in the dark ever again. Thanks? [Baita Design via Design Blog]

This two-foot tall AT-AT Walker is very possibly the most ridiculous boys' dollhouse ever constructed. It is goddamn enormous. It holds over 20 figures; Luke Skywalker even dangles between its legs. You have to see this thing up close:

It's the largest toy AT-AT Hasbro's ever produced, and amazingly, it's only $100.

STAR WARS AT-AT
(Approximate Retail Value: $99,99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: August 1, 2010)
In space, size does matter, and Hasbro certainly kept that in mind when creating its all-new, highly detailed STAR WARS AT-AT. The AT-AT (All Terrain Armored Transport) played a significant role in the Empire's military assault in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and it will play an equally important role in every fan's toy collection this year! Measuring more than 24 inches tall, nearly 28 inches long, and 12 inches wide, this colossal vehicle holds up to 20 STAR WARS figures – 6 of which can fit in its head alone! – and includes so many play and electronic features true to its on-screen counterpart that it's hard to believe! From the zip-line in its body and articulated legs for superb poseability, to its LED lights and authentic movie sounds and phrases, this is the must-have addition for STAR WARS fans of all ages. Includes a 3 ¾ inch AT-AT driver action figure and a pop-out speeder bike.

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

Sexting may seem like a relatively recent phenomenon, but in truth it's as old as mankind itself. Here's a walk back through the illustrious history of the SMS booty call:

Marilyn Monroe to JFK
Pierre Curie to Marie Curie
Elizabeth Bennet to Mr. Darcy
Anon. to the Marquis de Sade
Romeo to Juliet
Guinevere to Lancelot
Marc Antony to Cleopatra
Adam to Eve

Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.

What a complete, utter surprise this is: On Valentine's Day, a holiday associated closely with gift-giving and things that are red, white and pink, we receive word that Pentax is going to sell a pink version of their K-x DSLR.

The pink version joins the current color lineup, which consists of red, white, navy blue and black. To go pink, you'll need to pony up about $770 and import it from China (for now). [Engadget]

Wireless power? Nothing new. It's been around for at least 100 years, although only recently has it reached the point where a completely wireless future was believed possible. Now, an update of sorts from MIT WiTricity means it's even closer.

Previously, an MIT WiTricity team, led by physicist Marin Soljacic, powered a 60-watt light bulb from across the room using a magnetic coil. That was 2007.

Today, that MIT team has shown it is possible to power two devices, wirelessly, when the are placed on either side of a single 1-sq. meter coil. The effective distance from coil to device was anywhere between 1.6 to 2.7 meters. Cooler still, the researchers discovered that by using two devices the power transfer was 10% more effective than using just one. Additionally, the researchers' models suggest that the efficiency would increase even more should they try and introduce more devices into the mix. The New Scientist article detailing the technology says this occurs because "more of the broadcasting coil's field falls on receptive receivers."

The end game is a wall or ceiling-mounted coil that would wirelessly power an entire room of gadgets. One remaining issue is distance: When the devices are moved outside the 1-2 meter range, the signal deteriorates rapidly, as would be expected. Fortunately for wireless power buffs, MIT is working on a specialized antenna to counter the weakening signal.

Note: Image is Intel's similar wireless tech. [New Scientist]

Buried at the bottom of Samsung's MWC press kit was mention of an I8520 "Halo" projector phone. Sporting Android 2.1, a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED screen, and 720p video (to name a few), the phone will be officially revealed tomorrow.

The phone will also support an eight megapixel camera, with flash; DivX/Xvid playback; Bluetooth 2.1; 802.11b/g/n WiFi; GPS; and 16GB storage.

There's a "Specialized Projector UI" feature in there too, hinting at the projector functionality to come. The European release date period is Q3 2010, with no word on a U.S. release date at this time. [Samsung via Engadget]

Would a drive shaft work in a bicycle? Possibly, and here's a BMX bike concept that takes the design and runs with it, sans hubs!

The hubless wheels are a cool touch, I'll admit, but I have my doubts about whether the tiny driveshaft will replace today's venerable chain configuration.

Whatever the case may be, you're going to have a hard time convincing me the BMX riders of the future will be using this design to shred the pipe at the Mountain Dew extreme to the MAXX 2020 X-Games. [Falling Pixel via Design Blog]

If anyone deserves a Lego version of himself, it's John Lasseter. Pixar's visionary creative head was in New York today to promote Toy Story 3 and its merchandise when he was honored with this bricktastic commemorative bust. Plus: new toys!

Also on-hand: Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, Pixar staple voice actor John Ratzenberger, and a whole mess of new toys:

June 18th. Can. Not. Wait.

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

Fresh from the Mobile World Congress, here's the latest on Sony Ericsson's brand new Vivaz Pro, including white hot rear shots!

The phone is an update on the Vivaz line, adding a QWERTY slide-out keypad, 720p video recording, and a 720Mhz processor. The 3.2-inch screen has touch, and the aforementioned video-capable cam boasts 8.2 megapixels.

SE says the phone, even with the keyboard, is "ultra-thin," with dimensions that are "almost" as thin as the original Vivaz handset. SE claims there's only 2mm's difference between the two.

Release date is a tentative Q2 2010. [SEMCBlog, Infosynch World]

Full release below:

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro, announced today, adds a QWERTY keyboard to the touch screen offering, delivering a user experience optimised for messaging and entertainment. The full QWERTY keyboard allows consumers to communicate quickly and efficiently via email, SMS or social networking updates.

Just like flagship phone Sony Ericsson Vivaz™, announced in January, Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro allows consumers to produce and broadcast their best experiences in HD video. The open platform also allows users to personalise their entertainment experience by downloading great applications through PlayNow™ and the Symbian Developer Community.

"Having announced Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ in January we are now adding a sister phone that includes a QWERTY keyboard along with the touch screen for a superior messaging and entertainment experience," said Daniel Sandblom Marketing Business Manager, Sony Ericsson. "Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro meets the increased consumer demand for QWERTY devices without compromising on any entertainment features."

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro features the new design philosophy 'human curvature', which will become a consistent feature of the Sony Ericsson portfolio going forward. Designed to mirror the shape of the human body, and at the same time delivering a precise and compelling way of interacting with the phone, Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro is instantly recognisable.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro
>> Full slide-out keyboard for faster typing
>> Stay in touch through email, Twitter™, Facebook™, blogging and chat
>> View everything on the 3.2" 16:9 wide touchscreen
>> Capture the action in HD resolution – upload to YouTube via Wi-Fi™
>> PlayNow – immediate online access to applications, games and music.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro supports UMTS HSPA 900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro will be available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Black and White.

Sony Ericsson is also unveiling the Hi-Fi Stereo Headset MH710. Enjoy best-in-class clear audio while on the move and handle music and calls with just one touch.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro

Camera
5.1 megapixel camera
4x digital zoom
Auto focus (photos)
Continuous auto focus (video)
Face detection (photos)
Geo tagging
Image stabiliser
Photo light
Send to web
Smile detection
Touch capture
Video light
Video recording (720p HD recording)

Music
Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Media player
Music player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™
TrackID™

Web
Bookmarks
Google™ search (from standby)
Web feeds
WebKit web browser

Voice
Speakerphone
Vibrating alert
Video calling (main camera)

Messaging
Conversations
Email
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Design
Auto rotate
Full slide-out keyboard
Picture wallpaper
Symbian OS™
Touchscreen

Entertainment
3D games
Facebook™ application
FM radio
Java
Twitter™ application
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Organiser
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document readers
Flight mode
Notes
Phone book

Location-based services
A-GPS
Google Maps™
Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation

Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified™ (photos and audio)
Micro USB connector
Modem
PictBridge printing
Synchronisation
TV out (VGA resolution)
USB mass storage
USB support
Wi-Fi™

Preloaded applications
Facebook™ – social networking
Google Maps™ – navigation
QuickOffice – Microsoft® Office viewer (trial version)
PDF Viewer (trial version)
Road Sync – synchronisation
SMS Preview – messaging app
Twitter – social networking
YouTube™ – video sharing
Wisepilot™ – navigation
World Mate – clock and weather app
Quadrapop
Rally Master Pro

Screen
>> 16:9 nHD touchscreen (TFT)
>> 16,777,216 colour
>> 3.2 inches
>> 360 x 640 pixels
>> Scratch-resistant

Accessories
In-Box:
>> Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro
>> Battery
>> stereo portable handsfree
>> 8 GB microSD™ card
>> micro USB cable for charging and file transfer

Optional:
>> Hi-Fi Wireless Headset with FM Radio MW600
>> Hi-Fi Stereo Headset MH710

Facts 1)2)
Size: 109 x 52 x 15 mm
Weight: 117 grams

Phone memory: Up to 75 MB
Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™, up to 16 GB

Memory card included: 8 GB microSD™ card

Operating system: Symbian™ S60 5th edition
Processor: 720 MHz

Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 12 hrs 30 min
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 430 hrs

Talk time UMTS: Up to 5 hrs 10 min
Standby time UMTS: Up to 440 hrs

Video call time: Up to 2 hrs 30 min

Availability and versions
Networks
UMTS HSPA 900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
Available in selected markets from Q2 2010

Colour
>> Black
>> White

Hmm. Maybe we should let the robot overlords take over a few things. Like solving our Rubik's Cubes using nothing but Lego. I'm cool with this, especially if they do it as fast as this robot, and with trance music.

The robo solver is run by Lego Mindstorm, just like the ARM-powered one we saw earlier this month, although this one makes that geezer look, well, like a geezer.

But what the heck is up with Rubik's Cube robots solving puzzles to catchy trance music? Both of the ones we've seen this month sounded straight out of some kind of MIT robot club/rave mashup. [Youtube - Thanks, Steve]

As long as humans have had genitals, we've found artificial ways to stimulate them. But it took the repressed Victorian era to create the vibrator, a device aimed at curing a disease that doesn't exist.

It's Valentine's Day weekend, a time where those without honeybears to take out to dinner are probably feeling a little lonely. And you know what happens when people get lonely: they go to town on themselves. According to Pamela Doan of Babeland, one of the biggest sex toy shops around, sales were up 22% overall last February, with Valentine's Day itself being the highest single retail sales day they ever had. In fact, they were so high that they accounted for 19% of Babeland's sales for the entire year. That's a lot of vibrators.

I talked about the earliest vibrators with Dr. Rachel Maines, author of The Technology of Orgasm, the definitive history of vibrators and the repressed era that spawned them. I had no problem talking to Dr. Maines about vibrators, but back in the 19th century, talking about masturbation was very taboo. So the first vibrators weren't marketed as such. Instead, they were sold as medical devices used to treat "hysteria," hysteria being something that ladies came down with when they hadn't gotten their rocks off in a while.

According to the 2nd century anatomist Galen, hysteria was caused by the retention of "female semen," which could get into the blood and corrupt it. So clearly, it had to be periodically let loose.

So doctors took to "curing" hysteric single women who didn't have a husband to cure them of their ailments the normal way. They would stimulate the vagina until "parosysm" (read: orgasm) was achieved. But their hands got tired so quickly, what with all the vigorous rubbing required. And so the vibrator came into existence.

Vibrators have been around longer than electricity has—the first model came out in 1734 and used a crank like some sort of hedonistic egg beater—but it took electricity to really bring them to the mainstream.

According to Dr. Maines, all vibrators are just inefficient motors. "All motors vibrate. If you make a motor that's especially sloppy, it'll vibrate more. That's the principle behind the vibrator: a very sloppy motor that's designed to vibrate." An efficient motor, such as the one that runs your fridge, would make for a seriously crappy vibrator. But the Manipulator, which was essentially an inefficient steam engine with a dildo attached to it, did the job swimmingly.

One of the first mechanical vibrators was the steam-powered Manipulator (pictured up top), invented by Dr. George Taylor in 1869. This monster machine hid its engine in another room with the apparatus sticking through the wall. Terrifying!

Today, vibrators have come a long way. First of all, they don't require an entire room to run properly. Secondly, they can be purchased for their intended use instead of pretending like they're curing whatever disease it is that makes women horny. Add onto that the advancements made in plastics and moulding makes them feel less like cold appliances. It's the golden age of vibrators, everyone!

To make you truly thankful for the era we live in, here's a selection of some of the weirdest and most uncomfortable-looking vibrators to ever see the light of day, with descriptions courtesy of Dr. Maines. The Manipulator is scary, sure. But then there's the Electro-Spatteur, which spiced up its vibrations with electric shocks. You can't make this stuff up.

For more information on the history of sex toys, be sure to check out The Technology of Orgasm by Dr. Rachel P. Maines and Passion and Power, a documentary on the subject.

If this Crowbot, which can attract and repel crows by playing different recordings, isn't quite weird enough for you, wait until you hear about Crowbot Jenny, the elusive superhero babe who uses it to command her crow army.

What do you get when the worlds of superheroes, manga, technology and crows collide? Crowbot Jenny and her Crowbot, a character and project conceived by Hiromi Ozaki to explore animals and our interactions with them.

To do so, Ozaki consulted two leading crow experts at the University of Cambridge and came up with the Crowbot, a device that can communicate with the birds via a variety of crow calls. That would be enough, you'd think, but Ozaki thought the Crowbot needed a shoulder to perch upon. Enter Crowbot Jenny, "a reclusive girl who prefers to spend time surrounded by technology and animals rather than with humans." Right.

When she's not off doing bizarro superhero stuff, Crowbot Jenny is helping out with bird-related research at University of Cambridge.

OK, so its not exactly a crow army she's dealing with quite yet. But it's nice to see some imagination going into this research and the technology that's behind it. [We Make Money Not Art via Bot Junkie]

Given the populist sentiment about the way it launched Buzz, by merging it with Gmail, resulting in a million-and-one privacy kerfluffles, Google's now thinking about going beyond the tweaks it made the other day by cutting the cord between Buzz and Gmail entirely. People might get to claim completely different usernames for Buzz too. A fresh start might be for the best, though the damage is already done. Update: Or maybe it's just getting a separate app. Hahaha. [Search Engine Land]

I use my private Gmail account to email my boyfriend and my mother. There's a BIG drop-off between them and my other "most frequent" contacts. You know who my third most frequent contact is. My abusive ex-husband.

Which is why it's SO EXCITING, Google, that you AUTOMATICALLY allowed all my most frequent contacts access to my Reader, including all the comments I've made on Reader items, usually shared with my boyfriend, who I had NO REASON to hide my current location or workplace from, and never did.

My other most frequent contacts? Other friends of Flint's.

Oh, also, people who email my ANONYMOUS blog account, which gets forwarded to my personal account. They are frequent contacts as well. Most of them, they are nice people. Some of them are probably nice but a little unbalanced and scary. A minority of them - but the minority that emails me the most, thus becoming FREQUENT - are psychotic men who think I deserve to be raped because I keep a blog about how I do not deserve to be raped, and this apparently causes the Hulk rage.

I can't block these people, because I never made a Google profile or Buzz profile, due to privacy concerns (apparently and resoundingly founded!). Which doesn't matter anyway, because every time I do block them, they are following me again in an hour. I'm hoping that they, like me, do not realize and are not intentionally following me, but that's the optimistic half of the glass. My pessimistic half is of the abyss, and it is staring back at you with a redolent stink-eye.

Oh, yes, I suppose I could opt out of Buzz - which I did when it was introduced, though that apparently has no effect on whether or not I am now using Buzz - but as soon as I did that, all sorts of new people were following me on my Reader! People I couldn't block, because I am not on Buzz!

Fuck you, Google. My privacy concerns are not trite. They are linked to my actual physical safety, and I will now have to spend the next few days maintaining that safety by continually knocking down followers as they pop up. A few days is how long I expect it will take before you either knock this shit off, or I delete every Google account I have ever had and use Bing out of fucking spite.

Fuck you, Google. You have destroyed over ten years of my goodwill and adoration, just so you could try and out-MySpace MySpace.

Harriet Jacobs is the nom de plume of the author of Fugitivus. She's a mid-twenties white girl living in the Midwest, working at a non-profit that assists families and deals with a lot of racial politics. Harriet has had a fucked-up life, and Fugitivus
—fugitive—is her space to talk, where the fucked-up people who did the fucked-up things couldn't find her and be creepy.

Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.

At the TED Conference last year Bill Gates unleashed a swarm of mosquitoes to demonstrate a point about malaria. This year, he's taking on CO2 in a big way. And he brought fireflies.

The bugs were Gates' example of a living "energy miracle"—the kind we'll need to solve the enormous energy problems that face mankind. Some perspective, from his speech: even if we were to maximize energy efficiency and limit the impact of population size, we'd still be emitting 13 billion tons of carbon annually from energy production.

So what's his solution? First: excluding coal and natural gas altogether from our energy future. Instead, the focus needs to be on carbon capture, nuclear, wind, and solar power. In particular, Gates singled out depleted uranium supplies as having the potential to power the US for centuries. The technology is possible; it's just not being funded.

Despite advances in nuclear power—and particularly the regulation thereof—the idea of nuclear energy still makes Americans skittish. So if Gates is serious about wanting this to happen, he's going to have to do more than open up his wallet. He's going to have to change our perception entirely.

Gates has been posting his thoughts on his TED talk at The Gates Notes, so be sure to look for updates on more specifics around feasibility, implementation, and what insects he's got planned for TED 2011. [TED via CNN Tech]

Apps are here to to stay, so we might as well get our kids on board early. That's the thinking behind Wild Planet's Spy Video TRAKR, a video-enabled RC car that can be loaded up with free, kid-created programs.

Making its debut at this weekend's Toy Fair, the TRAKR sports a camera that beams video back to a small color LCD screen on the controller. That video, or still shots from it, can be saved to an SD card for later perusal.

But the real twenty-first century touch here is the TRAKR's ability to run kid- (or kid at heart-) programmed routines that will be available as free downloads from the Wild Planet website. Out of the box, the kit will include an app for using the TRAKR as a motion-sensing alarm system, sounding a warning to intruders with its built-in speaker, as well as one for recording night vision video.

The TRAKR will be available for $120, though you'll have to wait until October to link up with other app-writing spies (and to download the Girls Locker Room routine). [Wild Planet]

The XP1-Power is a little bulkier than your average USB cable, but it has good reason: it packs a back-up battery in-line. XMultiple have improved on their older version, now boasting 20 hours of extra juice and surge protection.

In addition to the surge protection, the XP1 is now compatible with several adapters that allow for the charging (and back-up juicing) of a variety of smartphones, MP3 players, GPS devices and the like. The adapters come at $4.99 a pop and the cable itself is $49.99. [XMultiple]