In our last blog post, we reported back about Sifteo co-founder Dave Merrill’s contribution to a panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The panel was about games on emerging platforms and involved some very interesting, high-tech stuff, like gesture recognition, 3D graphics, and augmented reality. The panelists also covered ground like the history of video games and the changing nature of social gaming today.

While Sifteo loves to talk tech and gaming, we also like to cut loose and have a crazy good time. And since we were nominated for a Mashable award in the Best New Gadget category, we had a great reason to get our party on at MashBash.

First, we have to second the opinion of, well, everyone: the DJs were totally awesome. If you’re in the Bay, check out A Plus D—a.k.a. Adrian and Mysterious D—at Bootie the first chance you get. We’re not trying to give you a case of FOMO or anything, but dancing to their mashups was a seriously fun time.

We also hung out with some really nice people there…

…and felt lucky to be part of such a talented, high-spirited crowd.

To everyone who was able to be at MashBash this year—thanks for making our night!

14 of the Year’s Best Ideas in Interface Design

Sifteo was featured in Fast Company for great interface design!

“All of the designs profiled here share an ease of use–the hallmark of good UIs. But a new theme has surfaced: wondrous fun. From generative music and art apps to cubes that develop your spatial skills, many of these products combine the UIs more common to video games with mind-challenging play. Yep, some of this year’s best designs trick you into learning–lending credence to the value of gaming as an educational tool. ”

“These little [Sifteo] cubes turn 2-D gaming into 3-D motion-aware blocks that can be tilted, jostled, rotated, and clicked to play a variety of games–all in the service of intelligent play.”

Thanks Fast Company! See full article.

Over the last few weeks, Sifteo employees have begun to undertake their respective holiday shopping agendas. For most of us, this involves some or all of the following:

• waiting in line at Best Buy, Target, Toys R us, etc
• wandering haplessly between clothes racks in Macy’s
• mowing through an entire festive tin full of flavored popcorn (butter, caramel, cheese) while browsing Amazon, feverishly
• searching for our 5-year-old cousin, who is hiding in a clothes rack in Macy’s
• watching an accidental 7.34 hours of uninterrupted infomercials while taking notes and eating fudge with little marshmallows in it
• thumbing through periodicals in search of inspiration (i.e. coupons)

Obviously, it’s a highly effective process.

But there is one thing we’ve found useful this year, and that’s The Gift Guide. In fact, we’ve consulted a lot of them and noticed a pattern we think is pretty cool: Sifteo cubes have been included in a number of these guides, and we humbly agree that it’s a great suggestion. Here’s where you can find Sifteo cubes featured among other “it” gifts of 2011:

A Smart Gift for Tech-Minded Tykes

A Best New Gadget for 2011

A Splurge for Third Grade

“Wonder Cubes” for a Tech Geek

A Gift Idea for Teens

Interactive Games for 9+ Years



Happy hunting!

Sifteo is a finalist for “Best New Gadget” in the 5th annual Mashable Awards!!! We’re up against some tough competition. Sifteo founders David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi discuss the reasons you should vote for Sifteo.

Vote today (and every day for the next 10 days)!

Note the voting button in the right column >>>>