There are few locations you’ll be able to go to flee from the web today. Even in the actual world the boundaries are blurred. However are you aware a spot free from the affect of social media? It is pink, it is plastic and it is all about dwelling within the second — it is Barbie Land.
Not a second too quickly, your new Barbie dream cellphone is accessible from Wednesday within the UK, and it could not be cuter or extra enjoyable if it tried. The “energy pink” flip cellphone takes issues again to fundamentals, with texting and calling as its most important options, whereas offering many Easter eggs and touches that may delight Barbie followers.
We have had a six-month look ahead to the revealing of the Barbie Telephone. At Europe’s main cell present MWC again in February, HMD (whose job is telephones) introduced it was teaming up with Mattel (whose job is toys) to make a themed machine that may delight new and outdated Barbie followers alike. As of proper now, the Barbie Telephone is accessible for preorder within the UK for £99, and might be heading to the US later this fall, as a result of slight variations within the band necessities and working system. When it launches in October, HMD expects it to value $129.
Barbie would by no means depart house with out her cellphone and mirror.
Solely now, because the cellphone goes on sale, can we glimpse the design of the machine, which comes with a mirror on the entrance of the flip cellphone, supplying you with one much less factor to hold in your purse while you depart the home. The cellphone is as pink on the within as it’s on the surface, with a pink detachable battery to be found below the hood.
The flip design of the Barbie Telephone is just however one of many nostalgic touches more likely to please older house owners of the machine. HMD, which additionally makes Nokia telephones, is bringing again replaceable covers that you would be able to swap out to provide the cellphone a very totally different look (considered one of which relies on the bestselling 1992 Barbie). It is a throwback to the fascia pattern that was well-liked in the course of the heyday of the Nokia 3210 and 3310, when everybody’s cellphone rocked a singular design — and never simply by slapping a case on it.
What’s within the field? Oh, simply all the greatest Barbie-themed equipment.
And the personalization choices do not cease there. The Barbie Telephone comes with a beaded strap and a number of cellphone charms that may be swapped out and in, in addition to ornamental stickers you’ll be able to add. All of the equipment are impressed by iconic Barbie seems to be, starting from curler skates to sun shades.
It was essential to point out folks, says Lars Silberbauer, HMD’s CMO, that “a model collaboration isn’t just about slapping a sticker on the entrance or again of the cellphone. It is actually about entering into particulars, get into the storyline and do one thing that’s clearly Barbie, however by no means seen earlier than.”
Because of this while you begin up the Barbie Telephone for the primary time, it should let you know, “Hello Barbie!” in addition to presenting you with a missed name from Ken. “Ken might be calling as a result of that is principally meant to be Barbie’s cellphone,” says Silberbauer. The lore runs deep by means of the cellphone’s software program, with a custom-designed Barbie digicam filter and a Malibu-themed model of basic Nokia recreation Snake.
Even the unboxing course of has been designed to be a enjoyable expertise. Sustainable packaging is an more and more widespread profit while you purchase a brand new cellphone, however that normally means it is simply recyclable. HMD wished to take this a step additional, by creating packaging you may really need to hold and reuse at house — so the Barbie Telephone’s field doubles as a jewellery field, the place you’ll be able to hold spare equipment or use for different knickknacks. Designing the field “was a large challenge by itself,” says Silberbauer. “It did not really feel proper to have small packaging and that you can throw away.”
The Barbie Telephone’s packaging doubles as a jewellery field.
As interesting to the attention because the Barbie Telephone is perhaps, I am unable to assist however surprise if HMD has a greater sense than me of precisely who will purchase the machine. Because the world’s dominant function phone-maker, it is lengthy been an advocate of easier telephones for adults, nevertheless it’s additionally serious about tapping immediately into the youthful market.
Simply final month, the corporate launched the Higher Telephone challenge — a collaboration with mother and father to create a more healthy, extra age-appropriate cellphone for youngsters and youths. As a function cellphone with no entry to social media, the Barbie Telephone would make a super first cellphone for youngsters, however I am curious whether or not HMD expects it to attraction to folks throughout generations.
No factor of the machine has escaped the pink.
“I am fortunate to have a spotlight group of two women my very own,” says Silberbauer of his younger daughters. “Bringing a Barbie cellphone to life has positively made me a hero of their eyes.” However, he provides, he expects it to be well-liked amongst many age teams, with adults having fun with the choice to have a enjoyable “detox cellphone” along with their most important machine. To assist with this, the cellphone will function digital wellbeing suggestions, together with self-care reminders.
Whereas Barbie herself has nothing to show, the Barbie Telephone is one other matter totally. If it succeeds, Silberbauer hints that Ken may in some unspecified time in the future get his personal cellphone too. “We would have one thing up our sleeves,” he says.
