Barbie Cellphone Reveal: A Imaginative and prescient in Pink, Full With Mirror and Malibu Snake

There are few locations you possibly can go to escape from the web as of late. Even in the true world the boundaries are blurred. However have you learnt 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 on the market 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 major options, whereas offering many Easter eggs and touches that can delight Barbie followers.

We have had a six-month look ahead to the revealing of the Barbie Cellphone. At Europe’s main cellular 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introduced it was teaming up with Mattel (whose job is toys) to make a themed system that will delight new and outdated Barbie followers alike. As of proper now, the Barbie Cellphone is on the market for preorder within the UK for £99, and might be heading to the US later this fall, because of slight variations within the band necessities and working system. When it launches in October, HMD expects it to price $129.

Solely now, because the cellphone goes on sale, can we glimpse the design of the system, 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 underneath the hood.

The flip design of the Barbie Cellphone is barely however one of many nostalgic touches more likely to please older homeowners of the system. HMD, which additionally makes Nokia telephones, is bringing again replaceable covers you could swap out to provide the cellphone a very totally different look (one in all which is predicated 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 novel design — and never simply by slapping a case on it.

And the personalization choices do not cease there. The Barbie Cellphone comes with a beaded strap and a number of cellphone charms that may be swapped out and in, in addition to ornamental stickers you possibly can add. All of the equipment are impressed by iconic Barbie seems, starting from curler skates to sun shades.

It was necessary to indicate individuals, says Lars Silberbauer, HMD’s CMO, that “a model collaboration is not only about slapping a sticker on the entrance or again of the cellphone. It is actually about stepping into particulars, get into the storyline and do one thing that’s clearly Barbie, however by no means seen earlier than.”

That is why while you begin up the Barbie Cellphone for the primary time, it’ll 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 mainly meant to be Barbie’s cellphone,” says Silberbauer. The lore runs deep via 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 often means it is simply recyclable. HMD wished to take this a step additional, by creating packaging you would possibly truly wish to preserve and reuse at house — so the Barbie Cellphone’s field doubles as a jewellery field, the place you possibly can preserve spare equipment or use for different knickknacks. Designing the field “was an enormous venture by itself,” says Silberbauer. “It did not really feel proper to have small packaging and that you would throw away.”

As interesting to the attention because the Barbie Cellphone may be, I can not assist however surprise if HMD has a greater sense than me of precisely who will purchase the system. Because the world’s dominant function phone-maker, it is lengthy been an advocate of easier telephones for adults, nevertheless it’s additionally all in favour of tapping instantly into the youthful market. 

Simply final month, the corporate launched the Higher Cellphone venture — a collaboration with mother and father to create a more healthy, extra age-appropriate cellphone for kids and teenagers. As a function cellphone with no entry to social media, the Barbie Cellphone would make an excellent first cellphone for kids, however I am curious whether or not HMD expects it to attraction to individuals throughout generations.

“I am fortunate to have a spotlight group of two ladies 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 major system. To assist with this, the cellphone will function digital wellbeing ideas, together with self-care reminders.

Whereas Barbie herself has nothing to show, the Barbie Cellphone is one other matter fully. If it succeeds, Silberbauer hints that Ken would possibly sooner or later get his personal cellphone too. “We would have one thing up our sleeves,” he says.