Subject:
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Lego Buys Interactive Toy Co. Zowie
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf
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Date:
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Fri, 7 Apr 2000 01:34:01 GMT
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Highlighted:
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(details)
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3440 times
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Some of you might find this of intrest...i found it in the Yahoo! news sections
from an article yesterday.
-Mike
Lego Buys Interactive Toy Co. Zowie
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Lego is acquiring interactive toymaker Zowie
Intertainment in a deal that will help Lego significantly increase its lineup of
high-tech toys.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Danish toy giant, which is best known for its colorful building blocks, has
been aggressively stepping up its technology-linked products in recent years and
this purchase
will help greatly expand its offerings.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Zowie is known for its three-dimensional playsets that
plug into a computer port. Kids manipulate the on-screen characters by moving
freestanding figures around the playsets.
Zowie's technology will begin appearing in Lego products in 2001. Zowie will
stop making its own branded toys.
Zowie will work closely in Silicon Valley with the brand and development
operation of Lego Mindstorms, high-tech Lego robots that can be manipulated
using microcomputers, light and touch sensors, an infrared transmitter and CD-
ROMs.
The very popular Mindstorms - which are a hit with children as well as adults -
helped boost Lego's profits last year. In 1998, the company lost money for the
first time since it was founded in the 1930s because of increasing competition
from electronic toys and computer games.
Zowie, founded in 1998, is majority-owned by billionaire Paul Allen's Vulcan
Ventures Inc. and is a spinoff of Mr. Allen's research think tank, Interval
Research Corp.
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