Crowdsourcing for the

next Barbie

A slump in Barbie sales has prompted Mattel to partner with the website Quirky to identify the next big toy. Using Quirky’s online platform, members of the public will be invited to submit their ideas for new toys and games and those who deliver a hit idea will share in the royalties. Mattel’s COO was quoted as saying the approach “marks a new era for Mattel,” but others were less impressed. “Mattel's problem here, [Barbie] is a toy from what the 1950s,” said Yahoo columnist Rick Newman. “I mean look around at what kids are doing these days and everything is on a tablet … Everything about Barbie just seems very dated and I don't know if opening this up to outside ideas is going to change anything.”

A prize for Pulitzer

A few days before journalism honored its best work last week with Pulitzer prizes, Target's Lilly Pulitzer collection of splashy, Palm Beach-inspired dresses and swimwear debuted and sold out within hours. The rollout, a testament to the Pulitzer brand’s popularity, nevertheless left a bad taste with Target customers who had hoped to buy the designer ware at bargain prices. Almost as quickly as they sold out, the high-demand items began showing up on eBay at steeply marked up prices.

In a twist over a fifth-string quarterback

Not one to let a golden-andlightly-salted opportunity pass by, Philly Pretzel Factory launched a new pretzel in the shape of newlysigned Eagles backup Tim Tebow in his well-known prayerful pose. A factory worker said the Tebow pretzels take about three times longer to twist than a traditional pretzel but they’re an early hit, selling for $1 apiece. They also may soon become collector’s items depending on how long Mr. Tebow stays on the Philadelphia roster.

Putting an added emphasis on ‘security’

Medicare is finally going to stop printing people’s Social Security numbers on their benefits card, an overdue step included in a bill signed last week by President Barack Obama that changes the way physicians are paid for treating Medicare patients. The federal government has long forbidden private insurers to use Social Security numbers on their Medicare benefits cards out of identity theft concerns, and the New York Times reported federal auditors had been recommending that Medicare do the same for more than 10 years.

Google unveils wireless phone service

Google’s highly-anticipated wireless phone service is here, but only for a select few for now. Called Fi, Google is offering the no-annual-contract service for $20 a month for unlimited talk plus $10 per gigabyte of data used. One big catch: Fi can only be used on a Google Nexus 6 phone, which the Google store is selling for $649. It will, however, ship the phone for free. FOR MORE BUSINESS COVERAGE AND BREAKING UPDATES, VISIT POST-GAZETTE.COM