"Girl Tech" Toys - The Gadgets for Girls Revolution

Though girls' toys have always been lucrative for toy manufacturers (think of Barbie, Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears and more recently Bratz), the technology-based toy market has always been much more focused on boys. While, certainly, many girls enjoy them, video gaming systems and other such recreational technologies include war games, flight simulators and fantasy role-playing games whose rhythm and graphics are meant to call To the male population. Lara Croft does not wear tiny shorts for the benefit of her fans.

This Christmas, a company called "Radica Games" is promoting a line of technology-based toys designed exclusively for girls they call "Girl Tech". These gadgets for girls include items such as the "Password Journal", a kind of high-tech newspaper for modern girls. It uses voice recognition software to prevent unauthorized people (such as siblings and parents) from reading the owner's deepest thoughts and includes features like an invisible ink pen for even greater security, Calendar to organize social life and an alarm to tell the owner if someone is trying to get into the newspaper. However, it may be a better product in theory than in practice: many online reviews of this product do not recommend it due to technical problems, most quoting the voice recognition software as the problem.

Another "Girl Tech" item that is ready to be very popular this Christmas is the "Girl Tech Digi Makeover". It has an integrated digital camera and can be connected to the television of the owner. The point is to take a picture of someone and then use the camera to try different hairstyles, haircuts and makeup to see how they look. It announces more than 50 hairstyles and colors, as well as a range of makeup that makes for an almost endless combination of new looks. Unlike the newspaper, this article has received very positive reviews from consumers on different websites and is presented as one of the unavoidable elements for Christmas 2007.

"Girl Tech" features many other items, as well, from a digital video log that can be hooked to the computer for customizing entries, to a virtual pet called "Password Puppy". The target age range for the toy line "Girl Tech" begins at the age of 8 and is appropriate during the pre-adolescent years. Radica suggests that older people may also enjoy them, but older teenagers would probably be more interested in more sophisticated technological gifts, such as the latest mobile phone or digital camera. Toys "Girl Tech", however, are a great way to show young girls that technology is not just for boys.

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