Furby
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- This article is about Furby, the plush toy. For the place in Sweden, see Furby, Sweden.
Furby.JPG
A Furby is an electronic soft-toy made by Tiger Electronics which went through a brief period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in 1998, selling for hundreds of dollars. The plural of Furby is Furbys.
The main hook was their apparent "intelligence" and learning ability as they developed their language skills. It was thought, falsely, that they repeated words said around them; this lead to several intelligence agencies banning them from their offices. They can also communicate with one another via an infrared port. Furbys start out speaking entirely in Furbish, a language with short words, simple syllables and few phonemes, but are programmed to speak less and less Furbish and more and more English the more they "grow". Simple electronically-powered motors close the Furby's eyes and lift it off the ground in a faux display of mobility.
In appearance, the furby is a cross between a mouse, a cat, and a bat or owl.
They are still popular with many hackers as they can be dissected and made to do interesting things.
In 1999 the Furby babies line was introduced. Furby babies are smaller than the original and can't move their feet, but switch to speaking English quicker. A new version of the Furby is due to be released in the fall of 2005. The new Furby will be larger than the original, and have the ability to converse in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Italian amongst other features.
External links
- Official site (http://www.furby.com/) (which will redirect to a page hosted by Hasbro)
- The "infamous" Furby Autopsy (http://www.phobe.com/furby/)
- Anatomy of a Furby (http://xenia.media.mit.edu/~kelly/Furby/anatomy.htm) dissection drawing (in an old medical style) by artist Kelly Heaton.
- CNN article about the upcoming Furby (http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/02/news/fortune500/hasbro_furby/index.htm?cnn=yes)ja:ファービー