Rubik's Cube Gets a $299 Update, Complete With IPS Screens and Its Own Apps (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0179734234
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/10/09/2216257/rubiks-cube-gets-a-299-update-complete-with-ips-screens-and-its-own-apps
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/10/rubiks-cube-reimagined-as-a-multi-game-multi-screened-gadget-for-299/
> 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 [2]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 [3]free DevKit . WOWCube attempts to bring additional functionality to Rubik's cubes with, as of this writing, nine [4]additional apps , including a timer and apps that make the toy look like an aquarium or snow globe, for instance.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/10/rubiks-cube-reimagined-as-a-multi-game-multi-screened-gadget-for-299/
[2] https://wowcube.com/support/
[3] https://wowcube.com/devkit/
[4] https://wowcube.com/store/category/apps
Enshittification galore (Score:2)
No new, just fuck up old.
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
Needless Overenginneering (Score:2)
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 disappoint
Great. Another App-dependent widget. (Score:3)
Future e-waste. I don't have to be a helicopter pilot to know seeing one stuck in a tree isn't normal.
Re: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:2)
What they could do to bring actual value to the brand is to make a speedcube. Their products are completely unusable for anyone who is interested in solving one fast. They have the name, but not the game.
Re: (Score:2)
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.