LEGO launched its Mindstorms range 15 years ago.

Today, LEGO unveils at CES in Las Vegas the new evolution of this programmable-intelligent-robot toy: Mindstorms EV3.

On the menu, a faster Arm9 processor, 16 MB of onboard flash memory, 64 MB of RAM memory, an SD expansion slot, a Linux OS, USB 2.0, 4 input ports and 4 output ports allowing 'interconnection of several "intelligent" EV3 bricks between them, a speaker, Bluetooth 2.1, 3 interactive servo-motors, two sensory sensors, an IR sensor, an improved color sensor (detection of 6 colors and the absence of color) and programming possible directly on the screen of the "intelligent" EV3 brick. Everything will be compatible with iOS and Android.

Backward compatibility with LEGO Mindstorms NXT products is assured and the kit will come with 594 LEGO Technic pieces. The instructions supplied with the set will allow you to create 17 different robots.

The programming software will be MAC and PC compatible. The programming interface will be drag-and-drop "and based on icons.

The retail price announced by LEGO is $ 349 and € 349 (obviously ...) with availability scheduled for the second half of 2013.

You can discover all the elements of the range and some application examples on this flickr gallery.

The actors of The Hobbit trilogy recently had the opportunity to discover their characters in minifig version (see this article).

And Adam Brown, aka Ori the younger brother of Nori and Dori, went even further by offering himself the set which contains the minifigure of his character for Christmas as he proves in the photo and mentions it on his twitter account: "@BrownAds All I want for Christmas is ... #TheHobbit #Ori #Lego"

Ptéra got down to modifying the Lord of the Rings LEGO set 9474 The Battle Of Helm's Deep to make it more "presentable". And it's mission accomplished with this homogeneous diorama that would almost make you want to replay the scene from the film.

Disregard questions of scale and you will appreciate the work done by this MOCeur to flesh out the original set.

Other views and some close-ups are available on Ptéra's flickr gallery. You can also compliment the MOCeur or make him your remarks on the dedicated topic to this achievement of the Brickpirate forum.

This is the creative and inventive photo of the day.

Luis Baixinho found an original use for the LEGO ice cube mold.

And that changes us a bit from the eternal Instagram clichés that abound on flickr ...

If you still hesitate to buy the set 75014 Battle of Hoth sold for € 49.99 on the LEGO Shop, you can wait a bit and take the opportunity to instead purchase this 3in1 Super Pack which will contain the following three sets in a single box: 75014 Battle of Hoth, 75003 A-Wing Starfighter et 75000 Clone Troopers vs. Droideka Battle Pack.

No pricing or availability information at this time. Please note, these Super Packs are sometimes difficult to find in stores, they are generally reserved for a single brand by reference, for example Toys R Us, La Grande Récré or even Auchan.