Portable karaoke machine for singing on the fly

Love to sing? A Japanese toy maker will soon sell a portable, personal karaoke machine so you can belt out your favorite tunes anywhere, and without having to wait for the microphone.

　　Love to sing? A Japanese toy maker will soon sell a portable, personal karaoke machine so you can belt out your favorite tunes anywhere, and without having to wait for the microphone.

　　The "Hi-kara" karaoke machine, by Takara Tomy, is a 7-cm 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 2.4-inch 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, said that the machine was aimed at youngsters who could not go into karaoke booths or parlours.

　　According to Japanese law, youngsters under 16 must leave karaoke parlours by 6 p.m. while those aged under 18 can stay only until 11 p.m.

　　"Girls who are middle-school age and under can't go to karaoke parlors 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. Karaoke singing is popular all over the world, and especially in Asia where many families own personal karaoke machines and "KTV" lounges abound.

　　(Agencies)

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