Gadgets of the year: touching deep
Gadgetry is synonymous with bells and whistles, but sometimes it’s the personal approach that stands out.
TOYS
Hush, honey! Don’t speak in front of the toys
What possible benefit is there to recording a child’s intimacies, storing them in the cloud and making them available to unidentified third parties?
Funky vehicles to build with the kids
A digger, a pick-up truck, a sports car and a beach buggy make up Dokter and Misses’ new range of self-assembly toy cars.
Rooting for realistic black dolls
Rooti dolls claim to be the first fashion dolls to speak languages from countries ranging from Ghana to Zimbabwe.
Money in the blank
Forget the metric system — vinyl always sounds cooler when it’s measured in inches.
No image available
Lonely Japanese give the nod to potted friend
The Pekoppa toy, which looks like a small plant just starting to sprout from a pot, flutters its two leaves when it senses someone is speaking nearby.
No image available
Fair trade in African ‘toys’ not child’s play
It’s not child’s play to showcase "toys" made by artists reflecting on a changing world in African countries.
No image available
Barbie versus Bratz in battle of the dolls
It is a classic tale of industrial espionage: top employees secretly speak to rival firms; computer files are destroyed; billions are at stake.
