Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular: LEGO Booth

Posted by Justin D Williams

Otakus & Geeks took a trip to Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular to see the latest tech and toys. I stopped by LEGOS to see what new products are on the way. Checkout the video and details on the products below. 

announced that LEGO® BOOST, a supercharged building and coding set that helps children bring their LEGO creations to life by adding movement, sound and personality, is now available for purchase at major retailers and online in the U.S. LEGO BOOST combines the endless play opportunities of a traditional LEGO set with a limitless variety of movement and sound capabilities made possible through an easy-to-use, app-based coding environment. First unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2017, LEGO BOOST is available at most major retailers of LEGO products across the country for the suggested retail price of $159.99 (USD).
“For generations, children have been imagining a world where their LEGO creations come to life; now through simple coding language and LEGO BOOST they can add movement and personality to their entire LEGO collection,” said Simon Kent, design lead for LEGO Group. “Any brick, any set, any idea can and will come alive when children pair LEGO BOOST with their endless imaginations.”
Designed for children ages 7 and older, LEGO BOOST introduces children to coding through a free downloadable app that contains the guidance, building instructions and simple coding commands to bring five diverse LEGO creations to life: Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (M.T.R.4), and the Autobuilder. Much like building with LEGO bricks, children build behaviors and actions by linking digital coding blocks in an easy-to-understand horizontal layout within the app. LEGO BOOST also lets children record voice effects for their creations, adding personality without requiring spelling and typing. The LEGO BOOST app includes more than 60 activities designed to inspire additional building, coding and play.
Once children have become familiar with building and coding the LEGO BOOST hero models, they can add movement to any LEGO creation through the app’s “creative canvas” feature that includes basic building instructions for two simple base models, which children can use to customize their own LEGO creations: a walking base for making animals like a dragon or a pony and a driving base for building vehicles like a dune buggy or rover.
LEGO® BOOST Includes:
• 3 BOOST Bricks:
o Move Hub with built-in tilt sensor
o Combination color & distance sensor
o Interactive motor
• 843 LEGO elements
• Playmat, calibrated to the app, designed to facilitate mini challenges to practice simple coding trials
• Free, downloadable app is iOS and Android tablet compatible