Barbie(R) Revolutionizes the Way Girls Play.Groundbreaking Barbie Girls[TM] Platform Provides Hybrid Play Experience With Fashion, Music and Online Virtual World NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Today, Mattel unveiled the next generation of fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls designed to be dressed and redressed to reflect fashion trends or occasionally fantasy play. The dolls are typically plastic or vinyl, and are manufactured both as toys and as collectibles. They are enjoyed by many age groups. play with Barbie Girls[TM], an unparalleled, hybrid play experience that blends fashion, music and an online virtual world. Representing the true evolution of what today's girl loves and opening the door to how tomorrow's girl will play, Barbie Girls[TM] fuses the best of virtual and real life for a fresh, new experience. At launch this week, Barbie Girls[TM] first comes to life via www.BarbieGirls.com(SM), the first global, virtual online world designed exclusively for girls. At BarbieGirls.com(SM) girls can create their own virtual character, design their own "room," shop at the mall, play games, hang out and chat live with other girls. In July, Barbie Girls[TM] will take shape in the real world with a sleek, handheld, 4 1/2-inch portable device that serves as a music player and fashion statement-in-one, while also unlocking new content within BarbieGirls.com(SM). "The Barbie Girls[TM] experience is like no other because girls are in control at every level," said Chuck Scothon, general manager and senior vice president, Girls, Mattel Brands. "We set out to create a platform that is truly revolutionary to transform how girls interact with music, fashion and the online world. Barbie Girls[TM] is the result of listening to what girls want, researching how they play and fusing it with the right technology to deliver a completely new experience." Safe Online World Connects Girls with Customized Fashion and Fun Globally launching today, BarbieGirls.com(SM) is the first global virtual world of its kind designed exclusively for girls and packed with "virtually" everything a girl could want. When a girl registers on the site, she can create a personalized virtual character, design her own room, shop with B Bucks (virtual money) that she earns, play games, watch videos and have real-time chats with other girls. Girls can create their own, highly-personalized virtual characters by choosing from 2.64 quadrillion One thousand times one trillion, which is 1, followed by 15 zeros, or 10 to the 15th power. See space/time. character combinations of fashions and accessories, as well as stylish faces, expressions and hairstyles. Personalization also extends to each girl's "room" where more than 4.6 quintillion One thousand times one quadrillion, which is 1, followed by 18 zeros, or 10 to the 18th power. See space/time. quintillion - 10^30 in Europe (this is called a nonillion in the United States and Canada). combinations of room colors, floors, backgrounds and furniture are offered to suit girls' varied design styles. Customization is limitless and profiles can be changed at every log-in. Girls can then chat live with other registered girls on the site. BarbieGirls.com(SM) is designed to be a safe place for girls to play and interact online. The site features a three-pronged safety approach that includes: * Sophisticated word filters to keep chat secure, prevent the exchange of personal information (e.g. phone numbers, names, etc.) and block inappropriate, hurtful or offensive language. * Easy-to-use safety features that give a girl the ability to lock or open her room to other characters, the ability to block users and prevent them from contacting her on the site, and the ability to report other users for inappropriate behavior. * Robust moderation tools that provide BarbieGirls.com(SM) administrators with the ability to monitor chat that occurs in the environment, track and monitor reported users and ban users who attempt objectionable behavior. Chatting in the Barbie Girls[TM] environment is designed to be fun and safe with two levels of chat based on the relationship between users: * "B Chat[TM]" is the most common yet most restricted type of chat, and it may be conducted in a girl's room and in the public zones of the BarbieGirls.com(SM) world. With B Chat[TM] girls can only use words approved and compiled in the BarbieGirls.com(SM) database, which precludes the disclosure of personal information (e.g. real names, locations, numbers and spelled-out numbers will be blocked). The filters also prevent otherwise acceptable words that may be combined in inappropriate sequences from the site. * "Secret B Chat[TM]" is a private chat that only occurs in a girl's room and is only available to "best friends" - girls who both have a Barbie Girl[TM] device and who have physically connected their devices into one another's computer docking station (1) A cradle for a portable device that serves to charge the unit and connect it to other sources or destinations. For example, an iPod docking station charges the iPod and connects it to a computer, speakers or TV set. . This allows girls to chat at a more personal level but still blocks inappropriate, obscene or threatening language. BarbieGirls.com(SM) also gives girls a personal email device - "My Mail" - where they can send and receive messages of up to 500 characters with "friends" and "best friends" using the same levels of security and safety for chat. Girls can change the look of their mailbox with different skins and personalize incoming email alerts with fun ringtones and cool music. There are many ways for girls to play in the BarbieGirls.com(SM) world, including shopping at the mall, watching entertainment clips and more. Girls can earn B Bucks[TM] and shop at the B Chic Boutique[TM], B Stylin' Shop[TM], B Charmed Accessories[TM] and Furni Fever[TM] stores, or meet up with friends at the B Cafe[TM]. Other fun destinations include Club "B"eauty, B Cinemas[TM], B Posh Pets[TM] and the B Park[TM]. More Than Meets the Eye More Than Meets the Eye was the three-part series premiere for the 1984 cartoon The Transformers. The three-part pilot was originally known simply as The Transformers - Portable Music Device & New Form of "Fashion Doll" in One This July, Mattel will launch the second phase of Barbie Girls[TM] - the Barbie Girl[TM] device - a techy tech·y adj. Variant of tetchy. Adj. 1. techy - easily irritated or annoyed; "an incorrigibly fractious young man"; "not the least nettlesome of his countrymen" , doll-inspired MP3 player A digital music player that supports the MP3 format, which was the audio format that started a revolution in online music downloads and distribution. All portable music players, the iPod being the most popular, support MP3 along with one or more other audio formats. with a range of customizable fashions and accessories, delivering the next generation of fashion doll play. The Barbie Girl[TM] device gives girls an innovative way to experience music and fashion in a new medium, while also acting as a "key" to unlock additional new pets, games, hangout spots, fashions, furniture and more on BarbieGirls.com(SM). "Girls today move seamlessly from screens - computers, television and video games See video game console. - to real-life group and individual play, and then back again at any given moment," Scothon said. "Barbie Girls merges these different parts of a girl's world together for the first time, giving girls everywhere a hybrid play experience in both real and virtual worlds." Tech Specs, Pricing and Availability The Barbie Girl[TM] device has 512 MB of on-board memory to hold up to 120 MP3 or 240 WMA-file songs, and it has an expandable miniSD slot that holds a memory card up to 2 GB (sold separately). It can play any non-DRM-encrypted MP3 or WMA files, comes with Windows[R] Media Player 11 and has a built-in rechargeable lithium polymer A rechargeable battery technology introduced in the late 1990s that stores less energy per pound than lithium ion, but is more flexible. Lithium polymer uses a gelatinous electrolyte rather than liquid. battery that charges via the USB port A USB socket on a computer or peripheral device into which a USB cable is plugged. See USB. . Recommended system requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer system. These pre-requisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule. include: broadband Internet See broadband. connection; Windows XP The previous client version of Windows. XP was a major upgrade to the client version of Windows 2000 with numerous changes to the user interface. XP improved support for gaming, digital photography, instant messaging, wireless networking and sharing connections to the Internet. or Windows Vista The current version of Windows for the desktop. It was released in late 2006 for businesses and early 2007 for consumers. Vista adds numerous features, including improved security and advanced multimedia capabilities. [TM]; DirectX 9.0 or above; Pentium[R] III 800 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. or above (or equivalent processor); 512 MB RAM; 200 MB free hard drive space; Internet Explorer 6.0 or later with SP1 and Macromedia Flash Plug In; CD-ROM drive and a USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. 2.0 Port The Barbie Girl[TM] device will be available in July 2007 for an average retail price of $59.99 at major retailers across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. . A belt clip, adjustable-sized earbuds and durable storage case are included with the Barbie Girl[TM] device. Accessory Packs are sold separately for $9.99 and include various fashions, accessories and pets, as well as additional, exclusive content that comes to life online. This fall, Barbie Girls[TM] will reach girls on four continents and more than a dozen countries, launching in five additional languages around the world, including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. About Mattel Mattel, Inc., (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :MAT) (www.mattel.com) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products, including Barbie[R], the most popular fashion doll ever introduced. The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Hot Wheels[R], Matchbox[R], American Girl[R], Radica:[R] and Tyco[R] R/C R/C Radio Control R/C Reinforced Concrete R/C Rate of Climb , as well as Fisher-Price[R] brands (www.fisher-price.com), including Little People[R], Rescue Heroes[R], Power Wheels[R] and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs more than the 30,000 people in 43 countries and sells products in more than 150 nations throughout the world. Mattel's vision is to be the world's premier toy brands -- today and tomorrow. MATTEL, BARBIE and associated trademarks and trade dress are owned by Mattel, Inc. (c) 2007 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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