Jonathan Takiff: What's hot from the Toy Fair

THE GIZMO:

Highlights of the American International Toy Fair.

Electronics have been wagging the tail in the toy industry for some time. But even this seasoned attendee at the American International Toy Fair this week in New York City was staggered by the "smarts" and improved educational value in the many microprocessor-based, and increasingly Internet-connected toys I encountered. Most of these tech toys won't be available before summer or fall, but they're worth waiting for.

GIANT LEAP FORWARD: So you want to buy your kids an electronics learning toy but don't have time to supervise them?

LeapFrog's got the solution - a reporting system built into its new, talking-pen-based Tag Reading System (ages 4 to 8, $49.99); its handheld, curriculum upgradable Didj Custom Gaming System (ages 6 to 10, $89.99); and the almost too cool for school Crammer Study and Sound System, an electronics flashcard tool for math, social studies and science that also doubles as an MP3 player (for third- to eighth-graders, $59.99).

Whenever the user connects one of these LeapFrog devices to the Internet, it delivers a report card to a personal LeapFrog Learning Path home page. Parents can look over a kid's shoulder (or log on later) to see what the kids have been up to and where they might need help.

The Learning Path even will e-mail you periodically with detailed information and suggestions to further your child's progress.

EXERCISE THOSE FINGERS: Tired of watching your kid sit on his duff, eating chips and playing video games? IToys' Me2 is one game device that will make the young'un work up a sweat.

Short for "My Electronic Double," the cell phone-sized Me2 device is powered by the "energy" stored up from a kid's physical exercise. Like a pedometer, only fancier, it features a Tri-Axis Sensor that records vertical, horizontal and diagonal movements when the person carrying the clip-on device is walking, biking, skateboarding - whatever.

Game play is available on its built-in color screen, but the real fun comes when the user returns home, connects the device via USB cable to a computer and www.me2universe. There, players lead a personalized avatar through a 3-D virtual world, meeting up and gaming with other online players.

All those points acquired from exercise make the avatar more powerful and allow the user to "buy" decorative and enabling items.

"Children are supposed to take 10,000 steps a day, but most only walk 4,000 to 5,000. This will motivate them to meet the requirement," said an iToys demonstrator.

MY FIRST EXERCISE MACHINE: Tykes as little as 12 months can make a positive exercise/video game connection with Fisher Price's Laugh and Learn Smart Bounce & Spin Pony ($69.95).

While looking like one of those ride-on, motorized horsies my mom would let me climb on outside the supermarket (if I was very, very good), this one is kid-powered and offers different rewards.

The pony is positioned in front of a television, with a separate piece of electronic hardware plugged into the TV set to communicate with the pony via wireless, infrared signals. The more the baby bounces up and down on the pony, the more sound effects, songs and animations come to life on the screen, teaching the baby letters, numbers, shapes, colors, opposites and more.

As the child grows older, more sophisticated material (for ages up to 36 months) can be presented. And the little one can also enjoy the pony's songs and sound effects when the TV is off.

Think Dance Dance Revolution without the TV screen and you're onto Wild Planet's Hyper Jump. Set up on the floor, the saucer-sized base unit with extending pods calls out commands and plays music to get you jumping on one of five spots - answering numeric questions, matching feet to colors, fulfilling move patterns and such. For ages 6 and up, $24.99.

GREEN WITH ENVY: While GM and Honda will collectively put just a few hundred hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road this year, Corgi International hopes to have thousands running around on driveways and sidewalks, educating drivers young and old to zero-emissions energy technology.

Billed as "the world's first eco-friendly radio controlled car," Corgi's H2Go ($129.95) runs on hydrogen processed from water by a companion fuel station. Solar-panel-powered, the station uses electrolysis to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Connect the little car to the station and when its see-through "tank" (a balloonlike bladder) inflates, it's time to go.

BRINGING OUT THE ARTIST: Get your young'uns on a creative track with the KidiArt Studio from VTech ($79.99), billed as a "junior Photoshop."

This artist table (and stool) setup offers a touch-sensitive drawing pad and a built-in, swivel-stand-mounted digital camera. Connected to a computer and computer screen, the table encourages kids (ages 4 and up) to capture images of family and friends and integrate them on the computer with their own art work, photo stamps and wacky effects forprints, stop-motion animations and custom e-cards.

Barbie hopes to bring out the fashion designer in your little one with Barbie iDesign Ultimate Stylist Game, played through a computer with a CD-ROM software, a USB-connected scanner and fashion cards to swipe through it.

The basic set ($29.99 and actually available now) features 50 cards storing hair styles, clothing, accessories and model options kids can use to create a look for a magazine cover or runway show, complete with customized music and lighting. Or play fashion games such as Style Challenge and Closet Cleanout. Fabulous!

MORE TECH DELIGHTS: Originally an entry in a Wharton Business School Plan competition, the plush smart-e-bear, smart-e-dog and smart-e-cat are billed as the first squeezable soft toys that are also tech-savvy.

Designed by Kids Preferred LLC and Intellitoys for pre-readers and early readers ages 3 to 6, the creatures ($70-$80) will come loaded with award-winning songs (by Trout Fishing in America, Twin Sisters and Red Grammer), plus interactive stories and educational games that are triggered by squeezing a paw.

And when the child craves more, pull out smart-e's hidden USB connector cable and load up additional content (99 cents and up) from the dedicated Web site.

TechnSource's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Tabletop Game ($29.99) won't pay off in bucks like the TV version, just with fun and knowledge.

Designed for four players ages 8-plus, the device is shaped like a chalkboard (but with an electronic display screen and lots of buttons) and features a wireless remote that resembles an eraser.

There are 13 school subjects with 2,500 questions to tackle, enhanced with music and sound effects from the TV show.

JUST PLAIN FUN: OK, so there's nothing educational about the Hot Wheels Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set ($49.99). I just loved watching this motorized race course machine send cars zooming around the track, up a tower, then flying off and down through a funnel and spinning tunnel, only to be blasted out onto the track circuit again - uh, most of the time.

It's based on the big stunt of the "Speed Racer" film, coming this summer. *

Send e-mail to takiffj@ phillynews.com.