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A GARRULOUS doll with an Australian accent has become a big hit with
thousands of young Koreans. The doll contains a speech chip programmed to utter
demands like `Feed me!’ `Wash me!’ and `Play with me!’ at appropriate times of
the day.

The chip was designed in Melbourne by Semiconductor Technologies Australia
(STA). Last year, as the Korean market for the dolls took off—about 100
000 were sold in the first two months alone—STA exported around
$500 000 worth of the chips to Korea.

The speech chips are the first fruit of a remarkable venture that began…