Apps pair up with traditional toys

— -- Will adding a mobile app to a traditional toy make it cool enough to appeal to young techies? Toy makers at Toy Fair hope so. At the annual trade show earlier this month, toy companies tried to win over retailers — and ultimately kids — with app-based toys that pair traditional toys with tech favorites like iPhones and iPads.

Some examples:

— With the help of a gaming app, Hasbro turns the iPad into a spinner for the "Game of Life" board game. When the virtual spinner puts you in jail or sends you to college, the iPad connects to a site that plays humorous clips depicting how your new life might look. The Game of Life: zAPPed Edition for iPad costs about $25. Other app-based games in the works include Battleship zAPPed for the iPad and Monopoly zAPPed for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

www.hasbro.com

— Don't worry, mom. It's OK for Junior to run his Hot Wheels Apptivity car across your iPad screen. With the help of a racing app, these specially designed Hot Wheels cars interact with a virtual track on the screen, and more important, don't leave behind tire marks or scratches. Available in May, a pair of Mattel's Hot Wheels Apptivity vehicles will cost about $20.

www.mattel.com

— A gaming app turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a display for a LAZER TAG Blaster game. The phone, which fits in a secure slot on the toy gun, keeps track of your virtual hits and remaining firepower and lets you view your target before pulling the trigger. Available in August, the LAZER TAG Blaster from Hasbro costs about $40. A set with two blaster guns is $70.

www.fisher-price.com

Here are some of the other innovative tech items we saw:

Lace up your photos

The New York Knicks' newest star may not have his own pair of sneakers (yet), but that doesn't mean you can't sport Jeremy Lin's image — or any other image you desire — on a pair of shoes. With LaceTek Digital Laces, you can show off your pictures on what is essentially a digital photo frame that attaches to your shoe laces. Priced at about $50, the package includes two display frames as well as picture software and a USB cable for downloading images. Controls on each frame let you display a favorite picture or an ongoing slideshow.

www.lacetek.com

DVR toughens up for tots

Fisher-Price takes aim at kids' appetite for on-the-go entertainment with the Kid-Tough Portable DVR. The gadget, which connects to your TV and set-top box via a docking device, can be set to record your child's favorite TV shows up to 24 hours in advance. Designed for tough handling by tots as young as 3, the handheld DVR has a 3.5-inch touch screen, a micro SD card slot, built-in stereo speakers and a rechargeable battery. The DVR will go on sale in May for about $150.

www.fisher-price.com

Laser lets you color at night

Lights out? You can keep your creative juices flowing with a Dual-Action Magic Lightwand. Part of Techno Source's Glow Crazy Distance Doodler kit, the wand uses laser light technology to let kids draw in the dark on special "cling" canvasses more than 10 feet away. The laser light also can be adjusted to design up-close images with stencils or create silhouettes. Don't like what you see? Flick on the lights and the design will fade away, leaving you a blank canvas. The kit includes a wand, canvasses and stencil sheets. Designed for children six and up, it costs about $32.

www.technosourcehk.com

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