Connected cube
Do you have a Rubik's cube and can't figure it out? Try this one.
The Rubik's Cube has been with us for decades. It became popular in Slovenia sometime in the early 1980s and "made life miserable" for many people, because they did not and did not know how to assemble it, and those who did became highly sought after "teachers". The writer of these lines worked in the summer of 1981 as a high school student in a factory where I cleaned die castings. After a few days, the foreman saw me assembling a cube during lunch and when he saw that I knew how to assemble it, I was instantly promoted from a manual worker to a "teacher". The man also had a cube, but he didn't have one and couldn't put it together. For the next three weeks, my work was significantly easier and cleaner...
Now learning how to assemble a cube is significantly easier. For years, a whole series of "cooking recipes" can be found on the Internet in text-image, video, animation, and probably some other form. One would think that this is enough, but apparently it is not. Rubik's Connected Cube is now also available. Connected? Yes. The cube supports Bluetooth 4.1, through which you can connect to your phone and learn about the world of the Rubik's cube through the app. And what is (maybe) the function of Bluetooth in something like a cube? Does it assemble itself? No. Via wireless data transfer, information is exchanged between the phone and the cube about the position of the individual colored cubes, or how the cube is "mixed", and the application "calculates" the most optimal solution method from this data. It can help beginners with step-by-step style instructions, and more advanced users to solve faster, as it also includes a timer and more.
Since it is "plugged in", the cube must of course have a built-in battery, which is charged via the small connector in the middle of the yellow face, and one charge is supposedly enough for a week of assembly.
What about the price? For now, the cube is only available on the American Amazon, where you have to pay $59.95 (around €50), which is not a small amount, and you need to add to the price a calculated €26 shipping fee from the USA: On the website of the product, it is stated that it is also available on the German Amazon, but the link leads to a non-existent page. If you really really want the Rubik's Connected Cube, you'll have to order it from the US or wait a bit for them to sort this out with German Amazon or some other store.
Source: Rubiks
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