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02/16/2010 01:04 PM

Major Toy Fair's Products Make Fantasies Come True

By: Adam Balkin

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The latest gadgets at the annual International Toy Fair at the Javits Center make many childhood wishes come true. NY1's Technology reporter Adam Balkin filed the following report.

The neat thing about the annual International Toy Fair at the Javits Center, aside from the experience of being surrounded by every toy imaginable, is that all these produce seem to fulfill every possible wish.

Major Toy Fair's Products Make Fantasies Come True
Tone-deaf and rhythm-impaired people who still dream of being a musician can still perform on the Beamz Interactive laser instrument, which costs about $200. Users produce sound by placing their hands in front of a laser beam.

"There are six lasers. Within that, you can play multiple instruments," says Cody Myer of Beamz Interactive. "You can have guitar on one, bass on the other, vocals on one and create your own band. It's PC-based, powered by USB."

Those who have dreamed of solving the Rubik's Cube without utilizing the sticker-swapping cheat can fall for the Rubik's Slide, which will be out this fall for about $20.

"You start with a scrambled puzzle of lights, you press a button to see the solution and then once you let go of that button, you know the solution," says Eric Levin of TechnoSource. "You then twist, turn and slide the item in order to move the lights around until you solve the puzzle. Unlike the regular Rubik's Cube, which is pass/fail, hard to solve and not many people do it, everybody's going to be able to solve this. Everybody's going to be able to get to a certain level and then you're just trying to get beyond that and see how good you can get."

Parents who wish to get their children a pet that does not need to be taken out for a walk every few hours can select the Xachi Pet. These brightly-colored electronic critters, which are due out by the winter holidays for between $30 to $40, can be controlled via an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Major Toy Fair's Products Make Fantasies Come True
"You actually play games, you interact with the pet, you feed the pet, you keep it alive," says Marc Devidts of Taptic Toys. "We have a 'Space Invaders'-type game where you shoot a target on the [facial] screen [of the toy]. We have a dancing game where you play music on your actual device and then [it makes] the toy dance. He's got moving legs."

Finally, a new robotic monkey can allow the child who begs his or her parents for a pet monkey to not be disappointed.

"This cheeky monkey [is] a 21st century puppet. I've got a little remote control I've got in my pocket and I've got 16 different actions I can get him to do," says Jim Wyatt of MechRC.

Everyone who wants an electronic monkey on the shoulder can get one this summer for $20.