About fifteen years ago, Furby toys were such a big hit with kids and even adults. The then high-tech toy allowed people to communicate with it and slowly teach it to “talk” back. The Furby can also detect another Furby and they will communicate with it each other.
Hasbro, the makers of the original Furby, now thinks a new generation of kids is ready for another Furby invasion. The company has announced that it will start selling the Furby on September 2012.
The new Furby will come with very definite upgrades and improvements. For example, instead of actual eyeballs, Furby 2.0 will now have backlit LCD eyes, and as with almost any item or product these days, it will have additional integration with the iPad through an iOS app.
The Furby has also vastly improved its innards. It now has a number of touch sensors inside. The standard microphone is still there for listening to speech or music. In the new Furby, when the toy hears music, it will start dancing. There are also some mechanical parts that will move on the toy like the beak, the eyelids, ears and some bending parts in the body. Users can also choose among different personalities, and the Furby can detect the user’s mood based on the tone of their voice.
The iOS app employs high frequency audio to communicate with the Furby. When the iPad is placed in front of the Furby and an object is swiped towards the robot, it will interact with the swiped object.
The new Furby will retail for $60.