Plush Pets That Parrot Your Speaking - NYTimes.com

Toys like Barbie, G.I. Joe and Lego have inspired apps, so it was probably a matter of time before an app inspired a physical toy.

Two of the popular Talking Friends apps from Outfit7 ? Talking Tom Cat and Talking Ben the Dog ? are now plush toys, and of course, they talk.

Squeeze the animal?s left paw and a hidden red light will glow through its fur, letting you know to talk. Whatever you say will be repeated in Tom?s helium squeak of a voice, or Ben?s basso profundo. When they speak, their mouths move along with the words.

Petting the animals on the head, tummy or left foot will elicit noises from the app, like Tom?s purring when his tummy is rubbed, or Ben growling when his foot is grabbed.

The foot-tall Tom or Ben will be available at major retailers, at a suggested price of $30. Both figures require three AAA batteries, which are replaceable through a screw-on hatch in the bottom.

While little children might find it amusing to have a fuzzy friend parrot repeat everything they say, the plush toys miss one of the more intriguing features from some of the Outfit7 apps. That is the ability to record a message for the character to speak later.

The delayed playback could serve a purpose. How much more likely is a child to wash up if asked by Tom or Ben rather than Mom or Dad? Outfit 7 said it might have some news along those lines in the future, but did not elaborate.

Source: http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/plush-pets-that-parrot-your-speaking/

Meteor Shower August 2012 jessie j jessie j Tyrann Mathieu kobe bryant David Boudia David Rakoff