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Texas Instruments Le Livre Magique

Date of introduction:  1986 Display technology:  n.a.
New price:   Display size:  
Size:  10.0" x 14.3" x  1.6" 
 254 x 362 x 41 mm3		    
Weight:  36.5 ounces, 1034 grams Serial No:  
Batteries:  2*D cells Date of manufacture:  wk 29 year 1988
AC-Adapter:   Origin of manufacture:  USA
Precision:   Integrated circuits:  CD8012, CD2802, CD62171
Memories:      
Program steps:   Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

Nothing else than a Touch & Tell with French voices stored in the Speech-ROM.

The Le Livre Magique was introduced already in 1981 on the French market. The pictured toy was manufactured in 1988 and sports a slightly smaller Texas Instruments logo. 

LeLivreMagique_PCB.jpg (158764 Byte)Dismantling this Le Livre Magique manufactured in July 1988 by Texas Instruments in the United States reveals a small surprise: It includes now the Speech-ROM on the main printed circuit board (PCB) while the first version of the Le Livre Magique makes use of a small module to store the French voice.

The design is centered around three Integrated Circuits:

• CD8012: 4-bit TMS1100 microcontroller with 2k Bytes ROM and 128*4 Bits RAM
• TMC0280/CD2802: TMS5110A VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor)
• TMC0350/CD62171: VSM (Voice Synthesis Memory) with 128k Bits capacity

The next evolution steps are the more advanced Le Super Livre Magique and the La Lecture Magique introducing two position sensitive keyboards in a foldable housing to accept small booklets.

Texas Instruments stopped the development of this educational line in 1993 with the cute Le Petit Ours Magique.


If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, January 30, 2005. No reprints without written permission.