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Barbie →
Toy typewriter with built-in encryption
Mehano
is a Slovenian (formerly: Yugoslavian) toy company that produces a
range of traditional and electronic toys. They are particularly known
for their range of model trains and other railroad equipment. The company was
established in 1952 as Mehanotehnika and changed its name in 1990.
The company also produced a range of electronic typewriters, some of which
had built-in cryptographic capabilities. These devices were also sold
by Mattel (US) as the Barbie Typewriter.
➤ More about Mehano
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The image on the right shows the Electronic 8000, which is one of
the first electronic toy typewriters that were built by Mehano in 1991.
This model does not have the built-in cryptographic features
that were present in some of the later models, such as the
E-115 (see below).
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The image on the right shows the original electronic typewriter
as it was produced by Mehano around 1998 [1]. As the device was initially
intended as a boys toy, it was given a rather square exterior and muted
colours.
This model already had the
cryptographic features.
The design was later chosen by Mattel for extension of their Barbie™
product line. The machine was rebranded and was given the typical bright
pink/purple Barbie colours. As the rebranded product was aimed at girls,
Mattel did not mention the crypto features in the manual.
➤ Check out the Barbie variant
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The E-116 model is nearly identical to the E-115 shown above,
and the bottom of the case
is marked E115/E116.
Although the battery compartment is
still present, it can no longer be used as its contacts are missing.
This means that this version can only be used with a power adapter.
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This variant was made between 1999 and 2003 as the lower case shell
has manufacturing marks of 2 March 1999, whilst the upper case shell
was made on 20 April 2003. The EM6605 custom chip
inside the machine
is dated January 1999, whilst the PCB itself is marked E115.G00 rev.B.
The image on the right shows the French version of the E-116, on which
the crypto features are not available, which may be due to the fierce
French import restrictions. At the time, even the simplest encryption
was strickly forbidden in France and you could even be sent to jail for it.
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- Georg Sommeregger, Image of original Mehano typewriter
Via Flickr, user dr. shordzi. Retrieved July 2015.
- Karsten Hansky, Photographs of Mehano E115/E116 model
Personal correspondence. June 2016.
- E-bay user 'piercecollection1', Photographs of Mehano Electronic 8000 typewriter
Via eBay. Retrieved June 2016.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Friday 03 July 2015. Last changed: Saturday, 24 February 2018 - 13:16 CET.
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![Example of a Mehano Electronic 8000 typewriter. Photograph via eBay user piercecollection1 [3].](img/e8000_large.jpg)
![Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2]](img/mehano_e116.jpg)
![Exterior. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_thumb.jpg "image # mehano_e116.jpg")
![Bottom of the case. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_bottom_thumb.jpg "image # mehano_e116_bottom.jpg")
![Battery compartment. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_batt_thumb.jpg "image # mehano_e116_batt.jpg")
![Printed Curcuit Board (PCB). Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_pcb_thumb.jpg "image # mehano_e116_pcb.jpg")
![Exterior. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_ex_thumb.jpg "image # mehano_e116_ex.jpg"){kind=small}
![Bottom of the case. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_bottom.jpg)
![Battery compartment. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_batt.jpg)
![Printed Curcuit Board (PCB). Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_pcb.jpg)
![Exterior. Photograph by Karsten Hansky [2].](img/mehano_e116_ex.jpg)