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Original url: http://www.nydailynews.com |
Published: Feb. 27, 2005 New York Daily News |
BY TRACY CONNOR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER The toymaker Hasbro is bringing good vibrations into the bathroom - with a singing toothbrush. The battery-operated gizmo is equipped with a teeny microchip that plays a song from the likes of Hilary Duff as soon as brushing begins. It's not like the musical toothbrushes of yesteryear that piped tunes out of a chunky handle. The new Tooth Tunes brush transmits sound waves through the bristles into the tooth and jawbone, directly to the inner ear. "If you thought you had a song stuck in your head before, now you really will," Hasbro president Brian Goldner told the Daily News. If you turn on the toothbrush outside the mouth, all you hear is a faint hum. But once it's pressed against the tooth, it's supposed to sound almost like a radio. It sounds freaky, but the company said children won't be wigged out by the sensation. "It's just kinda fun," Goldner said. Each song will play for two minutes, exactly the length of time that dentists recommend people spend brushing their teeth. "That's a great idea," said Brooklyn Heights dentist Dr. Philip Klein. "Two minutes to a child is an absolute eternity. So anything that motivates a child to keep brushing is a good thing. And I think a lot of adults would like them." There will only be one song in each brush, which will retail for under $10 when it hits store shelves this September. The company has snapped up the rights to a remake of "Do You Believe in Magic?" by Disney duo Alyson and AJ, and is also looking to sign deals with Duff, Will Smith and other pop stars. The technology behind Tooth Tunes is not new. Hasbro patented the so-called dental mandibular sound transducer six years ago and has been trying to find some way to make money off it ever since. Five years ago, it launched the Sound Bites lollipop, which played a song when sucked, but it never took off, possibly because of the $10 price tag. The toothbrush, which is Hasbro's first entry into the lucrative dental- care market, is a safer bet. |
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