The Rubik's Cube is one of those timeless classic toys that we all played with as kids. In this episode of Gear Daddy, Daddy Troy reviews the Rubik's Cube for the digital era. The Rubik's Touch Cube is an electronic version of the educational toy that uses touch sensor technology to move squares around. Children will love it, and dads and moms will too. In fact, we're wondering if Daddy Troy's kids will be able to pry it away from him. DadLabs. Ep. 581 is brought to you by BabyBjorn.

Daddy Troy: Welcome back to DadLabs, I'm Daddy Troy. And I'm at the Time to Play Holiday Showcase in New York City. And I'm with Eric Levin of Technosource and today we're going to show you the next generation of Rubik's Cube.

Daddy Troy: I was in high school in the 80's and Rubik's Cube was all the thing. I had competitions with my kids. I even did a mathematical study of the group theory of Rubik's Cube. I'm so excited to see the next generation. Tell us about it.

Eric: Absolutely. Well, this is the first fully electronic Rubik's Cube. We're been working on it for over 4 years to get the engineering right. We worked with Professor Rubik himself to make sure that is was absolutely authentic. And what's so cool about this is basically the Rubik's cube you know and love, mixed almost with an iPhone. Now instead of turning it like you used to, you just slide your finger across the top and it gets you that same reaction.

Daddy Troy: So the whites right here. Do I have to have it upright if I turn?

Eric: Only the top face at any time is activated. That way you don't make wrong moves.

Daddy Troy: Right. Good. So I see white right there. If I turn this over like this and go like that, you'll notice the white came up right there.

Eric: Exactly right. So what it allows you to do and what I think is so cool about it is yeah, you play it the same way. But because of the way your interface with it changes, you have to rethink the way that you move it and solve it. So it takes something you know so well and makes you really interact with it in a different way.

Daddy Troy: I know as a kid, and an adult as well, with a Rubik's cube, it's so much about muscle memory. I can still feel it from when I was a kid. And so this is an interesting brain conundrum of sorts to take a known problem but change the physical process by which you solve it. That's really gotta be good for kid's brain development.

Eric: Absolutely. When you see people going though it, who know how to solve well for the first time and you see how they have to adjust their thinking and they way they manipulate it, it really is a puzzle all over again. Even though it's one you know so well. What's cool about this though, if you get stuck, this cube can give you a hint to the next best move. You go ahead and click on the question mark and you'll see that it's making a move. So if I repeat that move, now I've made the next most logical move. And I can do that all the way through to learn how to do it or just when I'm stuck. One of the things that happens when you solve a Rubik's Cube, every once in a while, you're so close to solving it, you made that one wrong move and it messes the whole thing up. You can undo your last move.

Daddy Troy: And as a kid, when I did Rubik's Cubes, I remember the really really hard, the end, I learned it from a book or a friend showing me the tricks. Whereas this, the Cube can kind of teach you and if you're a kid working alone or if you just want to learn to do it, it's really actually a teaching tool. That's really fun. How about batteries? Are they going to suck the batteries down?

Eric: This has a rechargeable battery built in, so it comes with this base stand, and you put it down in the stand, it recharges it but it also puts on a light show so it's kind of like geek night light. Really cool disco ball. And a great desk accessory for dads too.

Daddy Troy: Thanks so much. Really cool product. Can't wait to get my hands on one. We'll talk to you next time.