Bridget Carey says she's "broken inside from working at home way too long" (we hear that), but a recent addition to her home office has her newly perked up: an adult version of Fisher-Price's Chatter Telephone, the pull toy for toddlers you may remember from your childhood. Writing for CNET, Carey notes that "the maniacs at Mattel" (parent company of Fisher-Price) have created a working, rechargeable incarnation of the kids classic, complete with speakerphone capability, rubber wheels that lock so the phone won't roll off your desk, and that famous colorful rotary wheel, with a voice announcing every number you dial.
Gizmodo notes that Bluetooth is used to connect the Chatter phone, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, to your actual Android or iPhone, so when calls come in on your real phone, you can simply pick up the toy's large red handset and start speaking, just like the old days. You can also slam the handset down to hang up on annoying people, which might prove more cathartic than gently pressing a button on your smartphone. The new Chatter Telephone offers nine hours of talk time on one charge, with 72 hours of standby, and charges via a Micro USB port.
One big difference between this version of Chatter and the regular toy is the price: You can find the child's version for about $10, while the grown-up model will run you $60, available for preorder through Best Buy (at press time, they'd run out of their current batch). The adult version also comes sans pull string. The numbers didn't seem to deter Brett Molina, who tried out the phone, noting for USA Today that he found the experience "fun," with audio that could use just a bit of improvement. Molina also sees its potential when speaking with aggravating contacts: "How can you get mad on a phone call when you're calling through a toy?" (More Fisher-Price stories.)
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