New Barbie Girls sashay into view with MP3

by Justin Grant
News.Yahoo.com

On Thursday, Mattel unveiled Barbie Girls, a doll-shaped MP3 player that turns into a live character at BarbieGirls.com, a Web site where girls can interact with each other in a manner reminiscent of Second Life, the virtual world for adults.

The company hopes the new toy, which brings together Web surfing, shopping and music downloads, will cool demand for rival MGA Entertainment's sassy Bratz dolls -- a line of big-headed, skinny dolls with scant, trendy clothing.

The world's largest toy maker is also taking aim at Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) iPod music players and Ganz's Webkinz, furry animal toys that come alive online.

The official launch of BarbieGirls.com came a week after the company gave it a public test run.

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