Want, now.

My pals at Mimobot partnered with the good guys at Infectious to come up with a plan to find the next design for a mimobot. Grand prize winner gets $1,000. This should be fun!

In addition to being a time for Hallmark’s profits to spike, Valentine’s Day is time for the lovelorn to come together and make magic. In the romantic tradition of the holiday, Meletta, a designer MIMOBOT fashioned by our friends at Tokidoki is quite the smitten kitten — or smitten girl with a monkey on her head as it were. The new and improved mimobot goes by the appropriate name of Pink Meletta, and makes for the perfect token of affection for that special tech geek in your life.

The Gift: It’s our Space-Race-On-Acid prize pack. If you missed Wayne Coyne and co. and their homemade holiday Martian movie, you have the chance to win one DVD copy of the Flaming Lips’ Christmas on Mars, bundled with a score/soundtrack CD and as a bonus, and we’ll throw in a Mimobot Cosmobot 2GB designer flash drive preloaded with the new MimoZine.

The Rules: Give us your best title and logline (that’s the part of the movie pitch where you go, it’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua meets Blade Runner) in the COMMENTS section. Only one entry per reader. Duplicate entries will be discarded.

The Deadline: The contest runs now through midnight on 12/7.

Sign up for the Mimoco newsletter here and for more information about the Flaming Lips here.

It may take a whole village to raise a child, but it took an entire community of creative minds to put together the precious new MIMOBOT bundles of joy. The VDC MIMOBOT Series offers Mimoco’s first fan-designed versions of their flagship character-driven USB drives. The collection is the result of the Vimobot Design Contest and was chosen by whittling down a field of hundreds of artistic submissions on over-sized blank Vimobot vinyl toys to a scant final count of six winners. The new drive designs range in style from the semi-abstract to characters that more closely resemble the traditional MIMOBOT fare. To get your hands on these truly unique file ferrying friends, head on over to the Mimoco website and pick one up as they debut today.

Our fine friends at Mimoco never seem to run out of ways to make flash drives fun. While there are already seemingly countless members of the Mimobot army, what’s the harm in introducing one more? So without further ado we bring you the updated version of rayd8gig. The ever-so popular core 2 mimobot model has received a super-limited edition makeover, displaying an inverse color variant from that of the original. With only 200 of these glow in the dark babies being unleashed on the public, collectors best get their move on before they’re all gone.

BIG changes are afoot at Mimoco.Their impossibly adorable, data hungry Mimobot creations just got a little data hungrier for your precious filing. Everyone’s favorite portable USB buddies are now available in 8GB incarnations. That’s twice the size as previously available! Whether you trust Boba Fett or prefer rayD8 to ferry around your files, you’ll be delighted by the sheer amount of info these drives can digest depending on what you want to feed it. The new Mimobots up the input ante by boasting the ability to stuff their faces with nearly 20,000 photos, 2,000 songs, or 2,500 minutes of video. All you have to do is find one you want to make your own.

It was a tough decision, but after sifting through all of the sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, and generally well-written entries, we have decided on our tokidoki mimobot winners. First, a few gems from contestants that didn’t make the final cut, but still kicked some serious flash drive tail:

“For ease, we’ll name them 1, 2, and 3. Now, 2 is stuck in a predicament. He has to choose between two sets of friends. One represents the good friend, yet is carrying a pineapple grenade. This can best be compared to your best friend who has recently started with a substance abuse problem and is trying to get you to join him.” (We’ve all been there, Dumplins!)

“The pirate captain was known as USB-lackbeard” (Witty, Adam, witty)

“ketchup on noodles
why Japan oh goodness why
must you ruin food”

(Gillian’s got a grudge, and we like it.)

Coming in first for sheer effort: Timothy Nakayama; Second place: Emi, for the best all-around haiku’s; and second second place (yes, we can): Kary, for making us laugh in the shortest amount of sentences.


Winners, send your addresses to feedback@joshspear.com and we’ll hook you up with some tokidoki love. Thanks for participating, everyone — and thanks for making it happen, Mimoco!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, and not only are we guzzling margaritas faster than Mexico smashed that French army, we are also gearing up to judge the entries of the Tokidoki Mimobot contest. If you’ve yet try your hand at winning some of Mimoco’s finest flash drives, now is the time to read up and get busy. A word of warning: If your short story, poem, etc. happens to closely mirror any of the themes present in the previous entries, you may be disqualified, so put some emphasis on keeping it fresh. Another word of warning: There’s a chance we may be terribly hungover and/or still drunk by the time we choose our champs this evening, so, y’know … no big words, please.

Do you like Mimobots? How about Tokidoki? How about winning free goods from Tokidoki, Mimoco, and JoshSpear.com? Thought so. All you need to do is submit a story in the comment section of our Tokidoki Mimobot Contest post telling us what you think these little buggers are up to together. A monkey boy, a pirate, and an Italian chef — they look like trouble to us. Haikus, stories, lyrics, epic poems — all accepted entries. We’re choosing winners on May 5. Go, go, go!

Ah, Mimobots. Nerdy enough to help us appear left-brained, arty enough to help us appear right-brained, and tiny enough to keep our top secret files close to our hearts at all times.

If you’ve yet to experience the flashiness of one of these flash drives, today is your lucky day, as our good pals at Mimoco have graciously unloaded some of their new tokidoki ‘bots into our wide open arms. These latest tech wonders are smothered in the classically kawaii artistry of Italian designer Simone Legno (who we interviewed not too far back), and combine cute and creepy to create some of the most hyped Mimobots to date. We know you want some, so here are your choices for retrieval: A) Battle off hoards of rabid tokidoki fans/throw down some significant dollar; or B) Get arty/nerdy with us.

Game plan: Study up here. Consider what those little ‘bots are up to (Satan pasta and pineapple bombs, oh my!). Write us a little creative short story explaining your theory (or haiku, or song, or algorithm — we don’t care, whatever). Cut and paste to the comment section. Cross your fingers and wait.

May 5th we’ll announce our first and second place winners — who will receive flashy prizes on an only slightly descending scale — and publish their entries. Okay….GO!

While we know how much you love Mimobots, we wouldn't recommend buying them flowers or replacing your sweetheart with one this Valentine's Day. However, if you're on the market for the perfect gift to show your tech savvy significant other just how much you care, a new Mimobot may be just what cupid ordered. Luckily, our friends at Mimoco have a brand new line that's ripe for the giving. FriendsWithYou is the newest entry into the mimobot Artist Series '08 and contains six adorable characters, so you'll have plenty of options when it comes warming up the circuits of your lovin' spoonful's heart.

If you're still scrambling for that last minute gift for the techie in your life, HURRY UP! YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME! Okay, we didn't mean to yell, especially since we've got the perfect solution: MIMOBOTS! Of course, why didn't you think of it sooner? Now, we know it's going to be tough to choose the perfect Mimobot for your flash-needing family and friends as there is such a wide variety that it's nearly impossible to know which one they'll appreciate the most, but luckily you don't have to decide. The kind folks at Mimoco are removing the pressure from your decision making process by digitally offering gift cards. So make sure your loved ones don't forget to leave virtual milk and cookies on their desktop, because this year Santa is sliding down their internets chimney and leaving these babies under the e-tree.

Knock Knock Pack This! Pad: Read JS Review | Buy It ($6.99, shown as 1)
Spazzy packers like me need this to ensure that one end of the ocean is as comfortable as the next. Additionally, it keeps that nasty “Oh no, I feel like I forgot something super important” sensation pleasantly out of your gut.

Mimobot: Read JS Review | Buy It ($49.95 – $109.95, shown as 2)
There is no worse place to deal with computer problems than half way across the Atlantic, so we like to travel with our most important info safely backed up on a flash drive… and for some reason, having that flash drive in the form of a three-eyed teddy bear helps us feel even safer.

Comer-Calder Laptop Cases: Read JS Review | Buy It (2090 – 2240 pounds, shown as 7)
Speaking of computer problems, they’re a lot less likely to happen if you keep your baby safe and sound in one of Comer-Calder’s leather and carbon fiber computer cases. Elegant, buttery soft, and, okay, totally expensive, these cases will keep your laptop in pristine condition.

BOOQ Folee Bag: Read JS Review | Buy It ($199 – $204, shown as 4)
Mike Luce and readers alike swooned over this do-it-all briefcase. Easy access, portability, functionality, sleek lines – the Folee bag has it all.

WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie iPod Case: Read JS Review | Buy It ($175-$225, shown as 5)
Premium leather covers the hard shell interior of the WANT Essentials iPod case, keeping your music pumping, your electronics safe, and your vanity appeased.

FlyRight: Read JS Review | Buy It ($19.95, shown as 3)
This homeopathic remedy for jet lag works like a charm in the quest to take the edge off long hauls. A carefully concocted mix of herbs gives the solution its reportedly potent bite – but unlike everything else we swing back in hopes of smoother travels, this remedy leaves no hangover in its wake.

It’s been a year since Star Wars Series 1 was completed with the addition of an evolved R2D2, and we’ve just about ran out of the Force during our long wait for the rest of those extra-nerdy flash drives. Good news: the days of staging attacks on Darth Vader with old Barbie dolls are over, because the rest of the intergalactic posse is about to land. Star Wars Mimobot Series 2, which is expected to ship in late January, 2008, will introduce four new characters: Luke Sywalker, Princess Leah, Han Solo, and bounty hunter extraordinaire, Boba Fett. Like all the latest mimobots, Luke and his pals/lover will come preloaded with exclusive digital content ranging from wallpapers and screensavers to icons and avatars – and will play you a sweet little Star Wars diddy whenever you insert or eject them from your PC. Lock yours up with a pre-order from either mimobot or Star Wars Shop.