NEW YORK (Reuters) - Young girls waiting to grow into full-time
fashionistas will get a chance to experiment with couture as designer
Donna Karan and cosmetics chain Sephora open shop in the virtual
play-dress world of Stardoll.
Donna Karan's DKNY label and
Sephora, both owned by French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, will
begin on Wednesday to offer virtual clothing and makeup to Stardoll
members in specially designated online stores.
Stardoll's rapidly
growing Web site has a large audience of teen girls who create Internet
personas of themselves and spend hours dressing them up in fantasy
costumes and socializing.
For Stardoll, however, the entry of two global brands could mark the
start of a new advertising business on the site, which has grown to 6
million unique monthly visitors since being created in 2004. Until now,
members could choose from eight fictional clothing labels created by
the company's in-house designers.
Stardoll is also in talks with advertisers beyond the fashion and
cosmetics industries who are also keen on reaching a concentrated
audience of preteen and teenage girls.
"Our business model is
selling virtual items for real money ... we have 26 different exchange
rates," Miksche said. But if the site's virtual stores take off,
creating links to real clothing purchases may not be far behind, he
said.
While DKNY fashions are pricier in real life, dressing up
an Internet alter-ego also costs real money. Members pay $1 in U.S.
currency for 10 "star dollars" to spend on the site, and a virtual DKNY
outfit of cargo pants, sequined tank top and pair of booties would cost
31 star dollars.
Stardoll is backed by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
Optimal Group - which began as a developer of retail self-checkout
systems and in 2004 sold that operation to enter online payment
processing, a businesses it is now considering selling - said Thursday
it will pay US$55 million in cash for WowWee, with the other $10
million in shares.
Optimal Group, headquartered in Montreal and listed on the U.S. Nasdaq
market, said WowWee had 2006 revenue of US$117 million, down from $131
million in 2005, with $5 million in earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization, down from $27.5 million.
Its products include Robosapien, Roboraptor, Roboreptile, Robopet
and Robopanda, as well as a recently introduced the radio-controlled
Flytech Dragonfly.
Optimal Group said WowWee's management will remain in place.
WowWee, with 65 per cent of its sales in North America, "has
demonstrated the ability to be at the forefront of consumer trends with
emphasis placed on evolving consumer preferences for technology-based
electronic products," Optimal Group stated.
The company also disclosed that it "has from time to time received
expressions of interest from certain third parties interested in
acquiring the payments business and has allowed limited investigation
and review to be conducted."
The payments business stopped processing transactions from the
United States after the U.S. Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
was passed last Oct. 13. Optimal Group has "streamlined" the business
and "has provided an initial response to a voluntary request for
information" from the U.S. Attorney's office in New York.
The Founders Fund
and Accel Partners have created a $10 million fund for Facebook
applications called FBFund, Mark Zuckerberg just announced at the
TechCrunch40 conference in San Francisco. The funding will be given out
in grants of $25,000 to $250,000.
Rather than equity, the two firms will have a right of first refusal
if the companies end up surviving long enough to raise a venture round.
Facebook is not putting up any of the cash, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg and
Vice President of Product Marketing and Operations Chamath Palihapitiya
will be evaluating applicants, along with Peter Thiel of the Founders
Fund and Jim Breyer of Accel, and investors Rajeev Motwani, Josh
Kopelman, and Reid Hoffman.
This new fund is going to be put a crimp in the plans of other funds that have similar ambitions, as they will be competing with a Facebook-approved investment vehicle.
Any application developer can apply by emailing
platform@facebook.com, with anything from an idea or an
already-launched application.
The idea, said Zuckerberg, is for developers to be able to see if
their ideas pass muster with the members of the “great distribution
vehicle” of Facebook. That is, instead of passing muster with the
inhabitants of the conference rooms on Sand Hill Road.
Teen-oriented virtual world Zwinky
has expanded its e-commerce operations so that members can use
real-world cash to pay for virtual goods. Starting Monday, credit cards
and PayPal accounts can be used to purchase the in-game "ZBucks"
currency, which members could heretofore only earn by visiting certain
in-world locations and winning games. The cash will then go on new
"ZCard" shopping cards which members will be able to use at the
in-world retail hub, the--wait for it--Zwinchester Mall, which contains
stores like the Z-Loft trendy furniture outlet and "Like Dat," a
boutique branded with the identity of the rapper 50 Cent.
For an idea of the exchange rate, 5,000 "ZBucks" will cost you $19.99.
Real-to-virtual economies are not uncommon in virtual worlds like Eve Online and Second Life.
But Zwinky, which is owned by InterActiveCorp (IAC) and has a head
count of more than 9 million members (that's accounts, not active
users) who have already assembled more than 10 million virtual outfits
through trips to the in-world mall, has not actually created a currency
exchange--it does not appear that there are any plans to allow members
to switch ZBucks back into real dollars. In that respect it's more like
the Disney-owned kiddie space Club Penguin, but considering Zwinky's older youth demographic, it'll more likely be the teens than the parents who are doing the buying.
I'm guessing that reactions to the "ZCard" will either go in one of
two directions--it'll ultimately be held up as a smart strategy to help
young people learn about being economical, or as yet another factor in
the material corruption of digital-age youth. Which one, I'm still not
sure.
I'm not sure, but I think I went on date with a 12-year-old last night. We met at Club Penguin, a social networking site for preteens. I was a blue penguin, new to town. She was pink, and carrying a surfboard.
Pink: "hello"
Me: "hello"
Pink: "boy or girl?"
Me: "boy"
Pink: "im a girl"
Me: "kewl"
Pink: [sends a heart emoticon]
Me: "want to sled race?"
Pink: "yer funny"
Flipper-in-flipper,
we waddled through the forest, stopped at the disco, and then played a
little Find Four, the Club Penguin version of Connect Four. When Pink
sent a message, "brb," I slipped away to the mountain for some sled
racing. Man's gotta be free!
Creating a penguin is simple, though the entire sign-up process
emphasizes safety in such a way that a curious adult can't help feeling
like a predator. The site asks you to "Respect Other Penguins" and
"Never Reveal Your Personal Information," and there is a button that
parents can click on for reassurance that Club Penguin is nothing like
MySpace. Establishing a sheltered haven in the Internet maelstrom is
Club Penguin's selling point. The site offers "Ultimate Safe Chat," in
which a penguin can use only preselected words, and "Standard Safe
Chat," in which you can type any word, but all the words are screened
by a filter. For example, it's very difficult to communicate a number
in Club Penguin, which means no ages, no phone calls, no street
addresses, no interstate rendezvous at Burger King. (I've seen penguins
get around this by misspelling numbers, e.g., "Im tweleve.") There are
also moderators present in the penguin world, their presence noted by a
big gold shield in the corner of the screen. Finally, in an Orwellian
touch, penguins are encouraged to report other penguins who misbehave.
So, there I was: old enough to remember Voltron,
beer in hand, sitting with my laptop, surrounded by (presumed)
preteens. Club Penguin plopped me in the town center. Forty or so birds
were milling about. Some were dancing, others throwing snowballs. As I
gazed upon this scene, I remembered something that I had once read: If
your body could stay the same as it was at 12, you would live for
hundreds of years. But what about your mind? What if it stayed locked
at 12? Club Penguin offers that deeply trippy experience.
The
first thing you notice is that everyone is really dressed up. When you
click on another penguin, their "Player Card" appears. This shows all
of the pins, hats, props, and accessories that the penguin has acquired
by completing various missions and shopping at various stores. The net
result is that a lot of penguins end up looking like Elton John. (As
Emily Yoffe points out, you must have a paid subscription to Club Penguin to properly outfit your penguin.) Many
initial penguin-to-penguin comments are sartorial in nature, such as
"Where did you get that hat?" or "Nice outfit." A common opener,
though, is the one that the pink penguin directed my way: "boy or
girl?" An enterprising penguin tried this variation: "All girls in the
room come to me!" The emphatic "WHO WANTS TO BE A COUPLE?" is also
popular.
On occasion, couplehood is
rejected, and one penguin will shout "STOP FOLLOWING ME!" or the more
drastic "I WILL REPORT YOU!!!" (All of the penguin comments appear as
nearby text boxes, like a comic book.) If couplehood is established,
penguins will "friend" each other. Next, two or three heart emoticons
may be exchanged, and one penguin may invite the other back to their
igloo. That's not what it sounds like. Going to someone's igloo usually
means admiring how they've decorated it with three flatscreen TVs, an
aquarium, and a drum set. You might do a little dancing to the booming
rock soundtrack (penguins can acquire special dance moves) and then go
your separate ways. After all, there are constant parties to attend.
Club
Penguin stands out from its peers because it's a social networking site
that girls seem to like. My limited experience confirms that. Remember
that girl who marched across the playground, grabbed a younger boy's
hand, and made him be her pet? In this virtual world, you can witness a
few hundred of them competing against each other. As I watched a
penguin walk up to five other penguins and send five heart emoticons in
the span of six minutes, I felt an inward, vestigial shudder of my
sixth-grade self. The Club Penguin blogs
tell stories of penguins who flew close to the sun: They acquired so
many friends that jealous players stole their passwords, then
misbehaved in such a way as to get the popular penguin banned from the
site.
Club Penguin may be heavily monitored, but, similar to
school, messing with the authority figures is part of the fun. Getting
banned is fairly easy. Just type a curse word, and you're out. This
self-destructive penguin managed to get banned in 30 seconds. Club Penguin regulars seem to enjoy their outlaw status, posting videos on YouTube of how they got the boot. Better yet are the tribute videos to banned penguins. This one uses the Puffy Combs ode to Biggie Smalls, "I'll Be Missing You," as a soundtrack.
The
Club Penguin phenomenon is propelled by more than just playground
romance and little acts of rebellion. The people who run the site
(which is based in British Columbia) are excellent hosts. They've
created a world of characters, including Rockhopper, a Jesus-like
figure who shows up every few months with new toys and special pins.
(It's a mark of distinction to have actually met Rockhopper.) They also
throw special parties and continually introduce new items and games. My
few weeks in Club Penguin are a mere blip compared to most penguins'
in-world time. After 30 days of good behavior, I could have become a
"Secret Agent" and gotten access to special room. The longer you play,
the further you get sucked in.
Eventually, all the aggressive
cuddling and the invitations to the disco got to me. When I wasn't sled
racing, I started hanging out on the iceberg, a spot in the middle of
the ocean that attracted loners. Penguins would show up, walk to the
edge, and then stare out at the water. Sometimes another penguin would
ask, "What's wrong?" but often it was quiet. I took to lobbing
snowballs in the same place over and over again. On one occasion, I
started typing lines from Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner—"Alone on a wide sea!"—and another penguin corrected my quote: "Alone on a wide, wide sea." I'm guessing she wasn't 12.
The
iceberg is the site of Club Penguin's most resilient urban legend: If
enough penguins gather on one side of the iceberg, it will tip. (Here's
a popular video
of an attempt.) The iceberg has never tipped, yet the idea will not
die. If you hang around for a bit, a penguin might show up and start
drilling, or a penguin would appear and shout, "TIP THE ICEBERG," and
start corralling everyone to one side. One tipping theory held that all
penguins on the iceberg had to be the same color, leading to some
incidents of colorism: "Get out of here blue!" A legend like this is a
sign of a healthy game. Players are so invested in trying to figure out
how the world works that they go beyond what the designers have
intended.
This summer, when Disney bought Club Penguin for $700
million, there was a lot of hand-wringing about the time our kids spend
online. In my few weeks there, Club Penguin surprised me in how well it
approximated a middle-school playground, with the daredevils, the
flirts, the boys obsessed with sports and games, the girls in a circle.
(A sign-off that I thought I would never see online: "gtg,
cheerleading.") My guess is that Club Penguin complements these kids'
real lives, and it's slightly hypocritical to tell them to turn off the
computer and go play kick the can. Looking around my workplace, I see a
lot of adults spending their entire day flirting/working/planning on
instant messaging. Welcome to the club, kids.
The first thing you notice is that everyone is really
dressed up. When you click on another penguin, their “Player Card”
appears. This shows all of the pins, hats, props, and accessories that
the penguin has acquired by completing various missions and shopping at
various stores. The net result is that a lot of penguins end up looking
like Elton John. (As Emily Yoffe points out, you must have a paid
subscription to Club Penguin to properly outfit your penguin.) Many
initial penguin-to-penguin comments are sartorial in nature, such as
“Where did you get that hat?” or “Nice outfit.” A common opener,
though, is the one that the pink penguin directed my way: “boy or girl?”…Going to someone’s igloo usually means admiring how they’ve
decorated it with three flatscreen TVs, an aquarium, and a drum set.
You might do a little dancing to the booming rock soundtrack (penguins
can acquire special dance moves) and then go your separate ways. After
all, there are constant parties to attend.…The iceberg is the site of Club Penguin’s most resilient urban
legend: If enough penguins gather on one side of the iceberg, it will
tip… The iceberg has never tipped, yet the idea will not die. If you
hang around for a bit, a penguin might show up and start drilling, or a
penguin would appear and shout, “TIP THE ICEBERG,” and start corralling
everyone to one side. One tipping theory held that all penguins on the
iceberg had to be the same color, leading to some incidents of
colorism: “Get out of here blue!” A legend like this is a sign of a
healthy game. Players are so invested in trying to figure out how the
world works that they go beyond what the designers have intended.
The Walt Disney Company said it would begin its own testing of toys featuring Disney characters, including random testing of products already on store shelves.
Disney’s plan represents a significant shift in the toy business.
Traditionally, these companies have licensed their characters to toy
companies, deposited their royalty checks and left quality control up
to the manufacturers. Indeed, the toymakers are usually held liable
legally for harm caused by the toys they make.
Separately, Toys “R” Us, the nation’s largest toy retailer, has notified manufacturers
that it, too, no longer feels that their tests are enough. Starting
this week, engineers hired by the company will regularly visit random
Toys “R” Us stores, fill their carts with branded toys and take them to
independent labs for testing.
Nickelodeon, which licenses popular characters like Dora the Explorer
and Diego to Mattel and other companies, decided to start its own
double-testing program in July in response to the recall of Thomas
& Friend toys made by the RC2 Corporation.
Disney’s tests will focus on about 2,000 toymakers and 65,000 products
each year. Disney’s Product Integrity Office, which oversees safety
programs throughout the company, including in its theme parks, is
deciding how often the tests will occur. Higher-selling products will
be pulled from shelves more frequently.
Disney has been considering surprise visits to vendors — and
subcontractors — in China, a step that Sesame Workshop has said that it
would take, according to a company spokeswoman. But such visits would
be difficult to time, Mr. Mooney of Disney said, adding that Disney did
not have contractual rights to make surprise inspections for quality
checks, a provision in the contract that Disney may want to renegotiate.
Toys and other children’s products like jewelry will be tested off the
shelves of all retailers that sell Disney toys — including Wal-Mart and KB Toys as well as stores in other parts of the world. The tests will start within next two weeks.
A spokesman for Disney said the company’s plan would cost a few million
dollars a year and that Disney might try to pass along the costs to
toymakers in contract negotiations.
Toys “R” Us has heard complaints from many customers about the recalls,
Mr. Storch said, and the store had started accepting returns with no
receipt, even if the toys were purchased at other stores. The company
began testing toys off the shelf to a lesser degree in January, testing
toys similar to ones that were recalled. But the new tests will be part
of a permanent program that looks for new problems as well as old ones,
Mr. Storch said.
Article Link (New York Times)
The nation’s largest toy makers have taken the unusual step of asking
the federal government to impose mandatory safety-testing standards for
all toys sold in the United States.
The proposal, which was approved by the board of the Toy Industry
Association at a private meeting last week, does not envision a broad
federal inspection program.
Instead, companies would be required to hire independent laboratories to check a certain portion of their toys, whether made in the United States or overseas. Leading toy
companies already do such testing, but industry officials acknowledge that it has not been enough.
To address these shortcomings, the proposal calls for uniform standards for frequency of testing, to determine at what point during production the tests would be conducted, and what specific hazards, whether lead paint or small parts, must be checked for.
The uniform standard would also establish global requirements for laboratories that do this testing.
Europeans already require that toys and certain other products undergo
such testing, and they affix a certification mark to products before
they are sold. The United States has no such premarket testing
requirement.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which would ultimately help enforce the mandate, has not yet taken a position on the proposal.
The Toy Industry Association has asked the American National Standards
Institute to help develop the new specifications. Lane Hallenbeck, the
standards institute executive leading the effort, said he hoped to have
a proposal ready by year’s end.
