Coming: Portable karaoke
2008-06-20 10:02
Tokyo - Love to sing? A Japanese
toy maker will soon sell a portable, personal karaoke machine
so you can belt out your favourite tunes anywhere, and without
having to wait for the microphone.
The "Hi-kara" karaoke machine, by Takara Tomy, is a seven-centimetre cube which weighs less than a pound and works
like a real machine.
Once the singer selects a song, which can be downloaded off
the internet or from special music cartridges, the lyrics come
up on a display. The machine also has headphones and
speakers attached.
"Hi-kara" will go on sale in October for about $100, with
song cartridges costing about $40 each.
Shigekazu Mihashi, marketing director at Takara Tomy, told
Reuters the machine was aimed at youngsters who could not go
into karaoke booths or parlours, which often serve alcohol.
According to Japanese law, youngsters under 16 must leave
karaoke parlours by 18:00 while those aged under 18 can stay
only until 23:00.
"Girls who are middle-school age and under can't go to
karaoke parlours by themselves even if they wanted to sing, but
now they can try it at home with this new karaoke machine,"
Mihashi said.
Japan is the birthplace of the first karaoke machine and
the word is derived from the Japanese for "empty orchestra".
Karaoke singing is popular all over the world, and especially
in Asia where many families own personal karaoke machines and
"KTV" lounges abound.