KIANEWS 
CES or the International Consumer Electronics Show is the premium event of the technology sector. It will take place between January 9 and 12, 2024 at the usual location, the Las Vegas Convention Center, where HMD Global, or HMD America, will now also be present. This year, the Finnish company that operates Nokia-branded devices rented a booth in Murano 3201A, which is the location of the meeting. Last year, HMD struck a similar deal and unveiled several US-based devices.
HMD Barbie Phone is now available in the Philippines
04. 09. 2024 Wednesday / By: Robert Denes / Reviews / Exact time: BST / Print this page
What do we make of the HMD Barbie phone? It has long been promised that this little flip device will finally be released to the public at the end of August 2024. This pink technology comes from a company that has pledged to do everything it can to tackle the problems of smartphone and social media addiction, courtesy of the ongoing Better Phone Project.
Yes, HMD is pushing the Barbie phone with the "more beach, less browsing" strapline, and maybe a few millennials will slip one into their weekend bag as a quick, quasi-ironic digital detox. Perhaps if the phone had been hacked at the same time as Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie, there might have been more of an uproar among the chattering classes, but the brief but vivid connection between the Barbie brand, empowerment, and smashing the patriarchy has faded a bit.
What they certainly don't need is the anxiety and angst served up by modern social media, so HMD rejects all cleverness. Instead, the Barbie Phone offers calling, texting and a very basic 0.3 megapixel camera.
This provides "authentic Y2K-style images," which can be a hard sell to those immersed in a world of fast, endless filters and AI editing. The flip form has an internal and external screen and is pocket-sized and compact when closed. The onboard mp3 player and FM radio are much more of a selling point, especially when paired with an additional MicroSD card to increase storage from a 1990s-style 64mb to a rather more modern 32GB.
HMD has gone all out in terms of branding and features that allude to the dazzling doll and its famous posse. For example, turn on the phone and say "Hi Barbie" and you'll also see a (mildly creepy) missed call notification from Ken. The packaging shows a solid bullseye to the target group, with a clutch of stickers, a beaded phone strap with charms and interchangeable covers, all in a presentation box. There's also a mirrored bezel (the closest thing to a selfie camera), and the screen has a custom user interface with Barbie icons and apps, custom alarms and ringtones. Oh, and the charging cable is pink.
The HMD Barbie Phone is now officially available for purchase in the Philippines for PHP 7,799 (GBP 105, EUR 124, USD 138 and INR 11,600). In summary, this is a basic flip phone with a Barbie theme that boasts a charming Pinky design to suit girly fans. The phone also comes with Barbie-based software tweaks.
The device is equipped with a UNISOC T107 chip, 64MB of RAM, 128MB of expandable storage space (up to 32GB) and a replaceable 1,450mAh battery. There is a single VGA (0.3MP) camera on the back of the device, which doubles as a selfie camera due to its placement on the cover screen. In terms of connectivity, it is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, a headphone jack and a USB-C port.