This week’s SmartDevice roundup features a toy that teaches kids how to code, a machine that turns water into wine, and a cone that knows when to play the right tunes.

Play-i

As technology gets more advanced, we’re looking at a future with a huge demand for coders.  If you’re a parent, you probably want to get your kid interested in computers, programming and coding as early as possible, but how do you get your toddler interested in something so complex?

Play-i introduced Bo and Yana, robots that can entertain your kid for hours. But in order to make one of these robots perform the desired actions, your youngster has to figure out how to “program” the robots’ actions.  Play-i describes Bo as the adventurer, and Yana as a storyteller.

Though a bit gender biased, since Bo is obviously a boy’s name and goes on different adventures, and Yana is a girl’s name and is chatterbox, it’s quite interesting how the two toys teach kids programming.  The toys wirelessly connect to a mobile device which is used to make them perform different actions.  While performing certain actions, the toys may suddenly stop, and it’s the kid’s task to figure out what went wrong and determine out a way to make it play again, by just using the app.

The first batch of pre-orders have already sold out, so if you want to get your hands on them before Christmas 2014, you can pre-order the device here.

The Miracle Machine

I’m sure many of you have heard of the tale about Jesus turning water into wine for a wedding celebration, but many people doubt that it ever happened.  But what if technology can help you turn water into wine?  Would you believe it?

image via The Miracle Machine

The Miracle Machine promises to turn water into wine, but you need to add some ingredients to make this biblical tale a modern reality.  Launching on Kickstarter soon, the Miracle Machine has a fermentation chamber, which is responsible for turning the recipe into wine.

There’s an accompanying app that tells you which ingredients to add at what quantity, and has several recipes for  different types of wine. The Miracle Machine also monitors the progress of fermentation, alerting you when your wine is ready.  You can create a bottle of wine every week as it only takes days, not months or years, to ferment your own wine using The Miracle Machine.

Cone

Created by Aether, the Cone is a wireless speaker that learns about your music preferences the more you use it.  It plays music from streaming service, Internet radio stations, podcasts, and is compatible with AirPlay so you can stream music from your own library.  It has a built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery that last up to eight hours of playback.

image via Aether

To turn on the device and start playing music, just turn the dial which is actually the circumference of the speaker itself.  If you want to pause the music, just push the button at the center of the speaker.  It even supports voice commands so you can ask it to play your favorite tunes – just hold down the center button and speak your command.  If you don’t like the current song, just turn the dial until you get to one you like.

Cone takes note of the time of day you listen to music, and what tunes you prefer.  The more you use it, the more it gets to know you.  It learns patterns which it uses to recommend songs, or to play your favorite song at just the right moment.

Cone will cost $399 when it launches in Summer 2014.