It looks like a teddy bear. It feels like a teddy bear. But Wabi Buddy is no simple teddy bear.
Using the latest wireless technology, Wabi Buddy allows friends, parents and grandparents who are far from home to send a greeting in their own voice to a child through his or her bear.
"Grandma could call and send a lullaby every single night if she wanted to," said Mark Bradlee, the CEO and founder of Wabi Inc, which hopes to have the bears in stores by mid-year. "Or if Mom or Dad's working, they could call and tell their child good night."
Wabi was unveiled at this year's American International Toy Fair, where toys for both entertainment and instructional uses employ the latest technology.
To leave a message on Wabi, someone dials a designated number, types in a special code for their child's bear, then records a greeting and programs the time it should be delivered.
Children know there's a message waiting when they hear their bear giggle. To hear it played, they push the bear's belly button.
Unlike Bradlee's other creation -- the highly mechanical Teddy Ruxpin -- the Wabi bear delivers plenty of cuteness along with the technology in its plush 30cm body.
But parents should be forewarned that there will be a US$0.10-a-minute calling fee on top of the bear's US$49 cost.
Manufacturers hope such new products will help boost toy sales, which climbed 1.7 percent this year to US$25 billion, by another 6 percent this year.
At the Javits Convention Center, there was technology not only in plush animals, but in lots of items targeted at girls, everything from dancing dolls to light-up hair accents and anklets. It was also in a slew of Game Boy-like devices and in battling robots.
It was in an R2-D2 robot that can sing songs, sense obstacles, and carry a can of soda. The robot will sell for US$100 and be on the market in April just weeks before the release of the next Star Wars movie in May.
In particular, Vtech's showroom was a smorgasbord of electronic eye and ear candy.
Spokesman Jeff Jackson said new sensor-filled toys such as the Discovery Playground are designed to "empower newborns." Just a wiggle of a nearby toe brings the playground magically to life with calypso music and jungle sounds.
"This toy reacts to what a baby is actually capable of doing," Jackson said.
The playground will be available this fall for US$49.99.
Other new Vtech toys seemed to belong more in a briefcase than in a toy box.
For example, the company's new XL Series includes Palm Pilot-like handhelds that can play age-appropriate educational games or be connected to a computer to download information for school projects from the Internet.
"These are a bit like Game Boys, but are educational," Jackson said. "And they have touch screens just like a Palm Pilot."
For preschoolers, the company has pinned its hopes on Smarty's Workshop, featuring Smarty as an interactive friend who moves, talks, and even dances.
Most important, he teaches children to complete simple projects using play areas such as a screw-and-bolt station. Using recognition technology, Smarty senses what area of the workbench children are playing in and asks appropriate questions. Each right answer and each step taken -- such as hammering three times -- is recognized and recorded on an LCD screen.
The workshop will be available this fall for US$69.99.
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