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Now you know when your phone is watching you.
Those who grew up with Fisher-Price toys (which is to say, pretty much all of us) will no doubt recall their lovable toy, the Chatter Telephone. It was a colorful rotary phone on wheels that you could drag around with you as the face on the front bobbed its eyes in a manner that was only slightly unsettling. You could also use the rotor to to produce ringing sounds, great for annoying your parents and siblings. Of course, it wasn’t a real phone; any calls we made were strictly in the realm of our imaginations. But I guess someone at Fisher-Price had a little too much time on their hands, because they decided to go ahead and make it a real phone.
Fisher-Price has announced the Bluetooth Chatter Telephone, a 21st century revamp of the toy that can actually be used as a functional phone. Or rather, it can be used as a peripheral to a smartphone. The Chatter Telephone’s rotary can be used to dial numbers to make and receive calls on the handset, while the plastic wheels still serve as a means to ferry it around, though the wheels also come with a lock button to keep it from rolling off the table. Additionally, they’ve given the toy the gift of speech; Chatter will greet you warmly when you turn it on, announce the numbers as you dial them, and bid you a fond farewell when you turn it off.
The Fisher-Price phone is now a real phone for adults because we're all broken inside https://t.co/Gml2NpDtrb
— CNET (@CNET) October 20, 2021
The Chatter Telephone features a rechargeable battery with a microUSB plug, earmarked for about 9 hours of use between charges. The device will cost $60 and will be available for order at Best Buy. No release date yet, but presumably it’ll be available in time for the holidays. It might make a fun desk toy for folks who want to get reacquainted with their inner child.
