Orbotix was at CES showing prototypes of their robotic ball that is controllable through your iPhone or iPod Touch. The product is called Sphero and is still about 6 months away from market. The baseball-sized device connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth with a free downloadable app. On the CES show floor they had an area set up to test out the early models.
Orbotix sees Sphero as a development platform and expects that 3rd party developers will be able to create interesting new games and apps around the system. The company is working on an API to open up to developers for both iPhone and iOS. Developers could come up with games for use with one or more Spheros. Examples include soccer, bowling, or a king of the hill game. The Sphero controls took some getting used to, and also includes a short "boost" mode that gives an extra burst of speed (at the expense of controllability).
Sphero is expected to hit the market in late 2011 for a price under $100. A few free games are likely to be available for the device at launch, while 3rd party game pricing will depend on those developers.
Wednesday September 2, 2026 12:35 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has added a new "iPhone Handoff" feature to iOS 27 that will allow you to switch between two iPhones while using the same phone number on each device.
This functionality was briefly mentioned during the WWDC 2026 keynote in June, on a slide that listed hundreds of new features coming in iOS 27 and corresponding software updates, but Apple never shared any further details at the time.
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Thursday September 3, 2026 3:41 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Less than a week before Apple debuts new iPhone 18 Pro models, research firm TrendForce has estimated the prices of the devices based on the latest hardware cost environment.
TrendForce's price estimates compared to last year's models look like this:
Model
Starting Price
Model
Starting Price
Change
iPhone 17 Pro
$1,099
iPhone 18 Pro
$...
Thursday September 3, 2026 7:33 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Ahead of Apple's event on Wednesday, September 9, where it is expected to unveil its first-ever foldable iPhone, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today outlined the device's estimated price range, features, and some other key details.
In the U.S., TrendForce estimated that the foldable iPhone will have a starting price of $2,099 to $2,299 and said the highest-end configurations could...
