Cheap Chips Boost Toy Tech Appeal

— -- In this week's "Cybershake," we note how cheap computer chips are turning simple toys more techie. Plus, we take a look at a home video game that isn't designed for the typical couch potato player.

For better or worse, kids' tastes for toys are changing. They want more sophisticated products at a younger age. Toy marketers call this trend age compression.

Techno toys, or products that combine play with microchip technology, are one answer. Tim Hall, founder and chief executive officer of Marietta, Ga.-based Prime Entertainment, is targeting "tweens" -- kids from 8 to 14 years old.

"They are not interested in traditional toys. They are a little bit too old for a Barbie doll or toy car," says Hall. "The lines for toys are blurring, and when you turn 7 or 8 or 9, you're into technology, you want a mobile phone, you want to instant message with your friends."

The Digital Blue Movie Creator is an example of the new wave. Priced at $99, this toy is a camcorder designed for a kid. "It works just like a regular video camera would." says Hall. The hand-held product comes with computer software that combines animation and sound effects to the video a child captures with the camera.

Hall says the Movie Maker is easy to use. A child "goes outside and maybe takes a video of her house or street, gets on a bicycle, rides with it, comes back inside and loads the software up and starts editing a movie."

Another Prime Entertainment product is a pair of binoculars with a camera built in. "So if you are looking down a field 1,000 yards away [you] see a binocular view, but whenever you want you, can just snap a picture," says Hall. "Then you connect it to your computer and download the images."

Plunging prices for microchip technology make this possible, even though most techno toys are more expensive than traditional brands. "If you look at the adult consumer electronics market you are seeing the prices of cameras coming down, almost by $100 a year," says Hall.