Rubik's Cube Gets a $299 Update, Complete With IPS Screens and Its Own Apps (arstechnica.com) 48
The Rubik's Cube has been reimagined as a $299 tech gadget featuring 24 mini IPS screens, a gyroscope, accelerometer, speakers, and Bluetooth connectivity. Called the WOWCube, it runs its own "CubiOS" system, supports downloadable games and apps, and can transform into everything from a mini arcade to a virtual aquarium. Ars Technica reports: Rather than a solid-colored sticker, each of the toy's 24 squares is a 240x240 IPS display. The cube itself is composed of eight "cubicle modules," as Cubios, the company behind the toy, calls them. Each module includes three of those IPS screens and a dedicated SoC. [A Cubios support page has additional details.] Each of the 24 displays can be set to show a solid color for solving a simpler, but still captivating, Rubik's puzzle. Alternatively, the screens can be twisted and turned to play dozens of different games, including Block Buster, Space Invaders, and Jewel Hunter.
Also part of the toy is a gyroscope, 6-axis accelerometer, and eight speakers. Cubios claims the integrated battery can last for up to seven hours before needing a recharge. In order to add games or other apps to the WOWCube, you must download the WOWCube Connect iOS or Android app, pair the toy with your phone over Bluetooth, and then use the mobile app to download games onto the WOWCube. Currently, the WOWCube's online app store lists 47 games; some cost money to download, and some aren't available yet. The WOWCube runs its own operating system, dubbed CubiOS, and Cubios (the company) offers a free DevKit. WOWCube attempts to bring additional functionality to Rubik's cubes with, as of this writing, nine additional apps, including a timer and apps that make the toy look like an aquarium or snow globe, for instance.
Also part of the toy is a gyroscope, 6-axis accelerometer, and eight speakers. Cubios claims the integrated battery can last for up to seven hours before needing a recharge. In order to add games or other apps to the WOWCube, you must download the WOWCube Connect iOS or Android app, pair the toy with your phone over Bluetooth, and then use the mobile app to download games onto the WOWCube. Currently, the WOWCube's online app store lists 47 games; some cost money to download, and some aren't available yet. The WOWCube runs its own operating system, dubbed CubiOS, and Cubios (the company) offers a free DevKit. WOWCube attempts to bring additional functionality to Rubik's cubes with, as of this writing, nine additional apps, including a timer and apps that make the toy look like an aquarium or snow globe, for instance.
Great. Another App-dependent widget. (Score:4, Insightful)
Future e-waste. I don't have to be a helicopter pilot to know seeing one stuck in a tree isn't normal.
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Yup. They're probably aiming at the xmas market, sell a few thousand, offer support for 6 months then disappear, cash in bank. Cube goes into cupboard, comes out 5-10 years later and goes into recycle.
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You nailed it - a 2 year old can pick up a rubics cube and play with it, even if they don't get the point of it. This has both reduced the number of cubes and increased the level of knowledge required just to play with it.
This feels like a conversation between marketing execs and the engineering staff of "What can we do to bring additional value to the Rubic's (tm) brand of revolving cubes?" (and it probably should have stayed in the conversation phase)
$300 USD are you f-ing kidding me, more
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can hardly wait for the 9 squares version!!
Only thing missing is surveillance... oh, wait, the App. Never mind.
Pure capitalism in action.
Hooray for pre-garbage. Growth at all costs!!
(readers have been a little dense lately, so
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Actual feature: it's got a reset button for dimwits with lots of money who are too stupid to learn how to solve one.
Re: Great. Another App-dependent widget. (Score:2)
I doubt they are making any money at 300 a pop. This shit has been in r&d for at least 5 years. Massive investment upfront, and the construction of the this is not trivial.
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If they weren't going to make money on it they wouldn't have bothered, they're not a charity. You can guarantee the construction is the shittiest they can get away with made in the lowest quality chinese factory and it will probably fail after a year or too anyway if used a lot.
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If they weren't going to make money on it they wouldn't have bothered, they're not a charity.
That logic does not follow. Have you never heard of a product failing to make a profit?
Re: Great. Another App-dependent widget. (Score:2)
Just count. Few k units at 300 is a million at best, before cost of the manufacturing. Net profit is maybe 100 per and I'm being generous. The r&d here few mil min.
Re: Great. Another App-dependent widget. (Score:2)
I hope you get modded up. Said it better thany snide ass did.
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Many years ago someone contacted me about developing something like this, but with a gambling aspect. The idea was that you bought it, and if you could solve it you won a cash prize. It wasn't quite like a Rubik's cube, it worked a little differently, but looked similar.
I told them it was impossible to secure it against being hacked, and given that money was involved that was inevitable.
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It's so easy to get tempted into feature bloat these days. You need a microcontroller for some simple set of features, like doing PWM control on a fan and handling a rotary switch, so you get something like a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 that's the size of a thumbnail and costs like $10, but then all of the sudden you have way more processing, memory capacity, pins, etc than you need, and oh hey, you now have USB, Bluetooth, and WiFi, and surely you should at least do SOMETHING with them, right? But the hey,
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Yeah, I wouldn't want one of these if it were free.
This will flop.
Enshittification galore (Score:2)
No new, just fuck up old.
Re: Enshittification galore (Score:2)
That wowcube had been spamming me on LinkedIn years ago, untill I blocked them. Too painful to watch people waste time and money on such a stupid idea.
I can't believe these guys still have not ran out of money.
A better toy for kids than a cell phone (Score:2)
This toy must be way better than parking a kid with a mobile phone, right?
And I imagine this toy can actually train your spatial thinking (based the parts of the video I viewed from the site), in some ways perhaps better than a Rubic's cube (and certainly more captivating), even if it has fewer movable parts.
So overall, seems like potentially a very good toy. Btw, it is not quite as fresh product as I thought, although I had not heard of it before, as the Youtube video linked from the page is three years ol
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This toy must be way better than parking a kid with a mobile phone, right?
For $300? If you're the type that can throw $300 at a toy like this for a kid that is probably going to get bored with it quickly, then hopefully you can also pay the $5 per game or whatever is getting charged for the DLC to keep them interested in it beyond the half-hour they'll spend on the game.... Also I'm not sure that this is somehow better than a phone if you've bought logic/educational games on the phone, other than feeling better about the form factor since each game is going to be 'rotate the cube
Re: A better toy for kids than a cell phone (Score:2)
My favorite toy as a kid was a sketch pad and some pencils.
Getting engrossed into something that you have to physically do yourself and have to mentally concentrate on is both fun and good for you.
A smartphone game just flashes and beeps at you when you tap it. and you can sit back and barely work a neuron in order to get your next endorphin hit.
Needless Overenginneering (Score:3)
By converting a tactile, "simple" gadget into a needless, connected, screen-loaded gimmick you take way all the fun of the original toy. The whole point of a Rubik's Cube was that it had simple mechanics but offered unlimited fun. It trained your special thinking, memory and forward planning. You could also take it everywhere with you and even the speedcubing cubes are super cheap these days. It was also the ultimate fidget spinner of the 90s for those with hyperactivity disorders.
They'll be very disappointed when they realise this digital crap won't sell in more 10 copies.
Btw, my 3x3 PB a couple years ago was 19.46.
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The whole point of a Rubik's Cube was that it had simple mechanics but offered unlimited fun.
And runs antithetical to the modern business plan. What it needs to be is an expensive cost up front subsequently locked down and subscription based for maximum revenue extraction. Those scammers bought something they think they own for a few dollars and that’s it, no more money spent! They can even sell it taking away valuable sales, we should sue them for lost revenue! Ridiculous!
Subscription (Score:1)
The least the EU can do is make the company pay for recycling it, including taking the money from the CEO if (when) the company goes bust.
Is this socialism? Then a big F to capitalism.
I bet they will use the word "innovation" in their marketing material. It seems every time that word is used, we are in for some crap nobody's asking for.
I thought this could be good, until... (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who knows how to solve a cube, but isn't very fast, I thought this might be quite a good thing to buy. My assumption was that it might help me learn some algorithms for faster solving. That was until I figured out what was nagging me... 24 displays? But.. a cube has 54 faces, not 24? And then, clicking on the link, I saw it. It's a 2x2 cube, not a 3x3. Who would be "puzzled" by a 2x2 cube? Awful.
Come back when it's 3x3 and I'll buy one.
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Who would be "puzzled" by a 2x2 cube?
Me. Already bought 2x2 cubes for a very young kid who wanted one, and I have to read step-by-step instructions to solve it.
(I agree the product here is totally pointless.)
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As someone who knows how to solve a cube, but isn't very fast, I thought this might be quite a good thing to buy. My assumption was that it might help me learn some algorithms for faster solving. That was until I figured out what was nagging me... 24 displays? But.. a cube has 54 faces, not 24? And then, clicking on the link, I saw it. It's a 2x2 cube, not a 3x3. Who would be "puzzled" by a 2x2 cube? Awful.
Come back when it's 3x3 and I'll buy one.
A book / web site will give you likely better training on new algorithms than an overpriced, needlessly complex gadget (should they ever release a 3x3), and will be more cost-effective. In all, this is a product that won't have much of a market. ... but you'd think about spending hundreds of dollars to get a little better at cube solving? Why not take that money and do something really good with it, like give it to some charitable organization? Even if you just give it to your local elementary school sci
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In all, this is a product that won't have much of a market
I am sure it isnt going to sell a faction of what the original has over any span of its market offering. I would not be so quick to assume they wont still sell a lot of them.
Keep in mind the original was as far as mass market US in the US a 1980s today. I think it showed up a little earlier in the UK. This a gen-X nostalgia item. Older X'ers are hitting retirement age now. While it took them a little longer than the boomers many of them did alright economically.
The timing is spot on for remakes of the 19
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There are lots and lots of neat little things I'm sure you can do with the screens by adjusting them as you move the cube around.
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>I'm guessing that they are using the screens and
>some novel and clever way to make the puzzle
>more interesting and complex.
hmm.
high voltage electrodes and needles on recessed solenoids would go farther than screens for this.
!
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Re: I thought this could be good, until... (Score:2)
It will be 1k. Still want?
We can't leave any dumbass behind. (Score:2)
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You only need a 2x2 to solve a 3x3 because the center cubes don't move. You only have top CW/CCW, bottom CW/CCW, left CW/CCW and righ CW/CCW which are all the moves a 2x2 can do as well. You don't move the middle. (i.e., twisting the top two CW is the same as bottom CCW)
It has accelerometers and gyros so it can detect which is twisting and which is staying still and assuming that's the one you plan on turning
If you're learning basic technique, aka "the algorithms", it'll suffice. Once you get those down to
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> Come back when it's 3x3 and I'll buy one.
Yeah, but it will cost $1500.
WOW (Score:3)
Cute idea but (Score:3)
The price is ridiculous obviously. Statistically nobody who is not a totally mindless fan of anything that says Rubik on it is going to buy this. This is unfortunate to me only because I won't be finding them at yard sales here in the sticks. I can imagine some fun projects to do with these.
Looks harder to solve (Score:3)
How are we supposed to solve it if we can't remove and paste back the little stickers?
on the contrary (Score:2)
The app has a button to recolor all screens the right way. Solved in a millisecond.
2x2 really? (Score:2)
A camera on all sides (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: A camera on all sides (Score:2)
Don't give them ideas. They already burned a shitload of cash on this crap
Yes but can it (Score:2)
run the Rubik's cube for the Atari 2600 yo sou can play Rubik's cube while playing Rubik's cube?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
WOWCube... (Score:2)
More like the WTFCube.
Just a matter of time (Score:2)
It's just a matter of time before this company cloud controlled cube becomes a brick ... a $300 brick! Never, ever, purchase hardware that is tied to, and relies on, the company's cloud to operate.
Rubik's Magic is the perfect platform. (Score:2)
Not a Rubik's Cube (Score:2)
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