At Toy Fair this past February, one of the Hasbro offerings that I really liked was an odd and appealing new line called Room Tech Beingz. Hybrids of toys and appliances, the Mood Lamp and Alarm Clock not only perform their eponymous functions, they also communicate with each other. As in, when the Alarm Clock goes off in the morning and wakes you with music, it tells the Mood Lamp to go on too and give you a wake-up light show. The Lamp also can light up randomly or when touched, or pulse along to music, play their own steel-drum-sounding tunes.
Hasbro send us a Mood Lamp ($39.99, ages 8 and up) to try, and I wasted no time in irritating my coworkers by playing with it.
The Lamp's "head" can stay centered or tilt in 4 directions: front, back, left, and right. Each position provokes different functions. When it's centered or tilted to the left, the top responds to touches with light and musical tones, or pulses to music if left alone. The forward tilt--"Groovy Mood"--responds to a several-second touch by playing a soothing melody. A backward tilt causes 6 different light shows, which you can loop. And...
By tilting its head to the right, you can pick which color the Mood Lamp glows from underneath its mushroom-like head--red, amber, or green. If you hold your hand on top for a few seconds, it'll go into a light-changing mode among the three colors.
Though the word "tween" appears throughout the Beingz literature, I think these little guys are fun for anyone who likes whimsical design. As in, me. They're available now through Hasbro's site.
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September 12, 2008 10:51 AM
Reminds me of the dancing mushrooms in the old (1940's) Movie Fantasia. (I think Fantasia was the first full length animation movie.)
November 9, 2008 8:54 PM
does it play your iPod or what????
email me back and tell me
Thank You
January 19, 2009 5:06 PM
Have been looking at different stores for the room tech lamp and clock/radio in the Toronto area. Seen them in Magenta but looking for yellowish/green for both items. Would appreciate any advise
January 22, 2009 5:12 AM
You can connect your iPod to the Room Tech clock.
I bought the room tech lamp (green) and the clock (red) in Toys'R'us.
The lamp is a little bit noisy and I had problems with the radio that I solved with an extra antenna....
But I don't regret to have them. I like them very much.
March 11, 2009 8:15 PM
I have the alarm clock in green. I found it at Target (not sure if you have those there). You can connect an MP3 player to the alarm clock.