Sphero

Star Wars and Sphero were a match made in heaven. The company had spent a few years in relative startup obscurity when Disney came along with the design for a new droid. The resulting BB-8 remote cont

Over the past few years, Disney’s accelerator classes have been transitioning away from what was once a roughly standard early-stage growth framework. Rather than the “adopt-a-company” models pr

Hardware startup Misty Robotics has a daunting task ahead of it. The Boulder-based company is working on a robot aimed at mainstream consumers for employment in the home and office. But Misty certainl

Sphero continues its partnership with Disney today, with the launch of a new toy based on the Marvel superhero Spider-Man. But where BB-8 and Lightning McQueen could move around the room, Spider-Man i

While Sphero has released a whole lineup of robotic, Internet-connected toys, it remains best-known for its BB-8 droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Today it’s launching its next Disney ti

Sphero’s BB-8 was the most memorable bit of merchandizing among last year’s epic Force Awakens merchandising bonanza. It was the perfect piece of synergy – leveraging the hardware startup’s c

Sphero’s BB-8 was arguably the most compelling bit of merchandising, which is, naturally, saying a lot. The latest Star Wars film was, as anticipated, a merch juggernaut, but there was no better bit

The Walt Disney Co. is kicking off the third session of its corporate accelerator this week, and revealed 9 new companies admitted to the program. A full list follows at the end of this post. The comp

Apple this summer is expanding its lineup of Apple Camp sessions to include a new course that teaches children the basics of coding. Aimed at children ages 8 through 12, the new 3-day session will us

“The next big thing will start out looking like a toy.” At least according to A16Z partner Chris Dixon. He used the phrase to explain why incumbents often confuse new, disruptive threats to their

“We’re giving every Star Wars fan the power of the Force,” said Sphero CEO Paul Berberian. He stopped by the TechCrunch stage at the Consumer Electronics Show today to show off the c

This week, rumors swirled about the new Apple TV, Google changed its logo, Chrome killed Flash ads, and BB-8 scared our office dog. These are the stories to catch you up on this week's tech news.

Usually, when you fall in love with some cool gadget depicted on-screen in the latest science fiction blockbuster, the best you can hope for is that maybe, <em>maybe</em> some gifted entrepreneur will

As anticipation continues to rise for the new Star Wars film to open at the end of this year, a hardware startup central to the making of one of the characters has raised a new round of funding. Sph

Word around the outer rim is Ortobix, the company behind the Sphero robotic ball, helped create the rolltastic BB-8 Droid from the upcoming Star Wars movie. And ever since BB-8 rolled across the stage

Today, Orbotix (the makers behind Sphero) is introducing its second robot alongside the circular Sphero to go faster and jump higher. Folks, meet the Ollie by Sphero. Originally called the 2B, the Oll

Orbotix, the company that makes fast-moving, robotic toys that you control with smartphone apps, has raised another $20 million in funding, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed with a reliable source.

Sphero, as the name implies, was a robotic sphere. Now <a href="https://beta.techcrunch.com/tag/Orbotix">Orbotix</a>, the makers of this beloved ball, have decided to elongate the it into a tube (a cy

Amazon made waves with its Amazon Air drone delivery concept, and a video of a recent test flight really brought that concept to life. Now robotics startup and iPhone-enabled toy maker Sphero has a co

Sometimes it's summer, and instead of real news like the introduction of a new and improved Sphero robotic ball, we hear a lot of news <em>prediction</em>. Will Elon Musk's high-speed train idea,