AN official Barbie flip telephone has been launched with not solely a daring design but in addition a daring outlook – there are not any social media apps.
The retro handset goes again to fundamentals with assist for calls and texts, in addition to a easy digital camera, in a bid to cater to the digital detox pattern.
It follows the success of the Barbie stay motion film starring Margot Robbie final 12 months, which earned a whopping £1.1billion / $1.4billion worldwide.
The official telephone performs a “Hello Barbie” voice greeting while you change it on, and also you’ll see a missed name notification from Ken as nicely.
HMD, which makes Nokia telephones, has partnered with Barbie proprietor Mattel on the machine to carry a burst of nostalgia to a busy smartphone scene dominated by flashy options.
“In our fast-paced digital world, it may typically really feel like the net buzz by no means stops,” defined Lars Silberbauer, World Chief Advertising and marketing Officer at Human Cellular Units (HMD).
“This telephone encourages you to ditch your smartphone in occasions while you simply need much less shopping and extra enjoyable, all with the assistance of a real cultural icon, Barbie.
“Barbie is as common as she’s ever been, and have telephones are persevering with to go from energy to energy – we’re bringing two good issues collectively.
“We can’t look forward to individuals to get their palms on the machine and take a vacation from their smartphone.”
The opposite quirky function on the Barbie telephone is the usage of replaceable covers.
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There’s the brightly colored swirls of the 1992’s iconic Completely Hair Barbie doll and a classic “capturing coronary heart” design.
Customers may customise their handset with a collection of sparkly gems and retro classic Barbiestickers to embellish it.
The Barbie telephone is classed as a “dumb telephone” as a result of its lack of sensible options and specialists imagine there may be nonetheless a marketplace for them.
CCS Perception estimates that over 400,000 can be bought within the UK alone this 12 months.
“The Barbie telephone faucets into the present digital detox pattern with a enjoyable design that might have broad enchantment,” stated knowledgeable Ben Wooden, from CCS Perception.
“I’d think about fairly a number of individuals can be tempted to purchase it as a little bit of enjoyable, however in actuality everyone seems to be so depending on their smartphones that something greater than the odd day of detox can be a stretch.
“HMD needs to be applauded for including a little bit of enjoyable to the standard ‘dumb telephone’. Everybody I’ve proven the telephone to loves the concept and the design. It’s a really eye-catching product that positively turns heads.”
The official Barbie telephone is now on sale for £99 at hmd.com.
All costs on this article had been right on the time of writing, however might have since modified.
At all times do your individual analysis earlier than making any buy.