Every ’90s kid remembers the Furby. A pop culture craze, you could feed Furby, pet him, name him, talk to him and collect as many different Furbies as possible. Now, almost 15 years from its original release, Furby is coming back, revamped for the 21st century.

Toy company Hasbro first launched the Furby in 1998, and it became an instant hit. Upon its release, the Furby created a holiday frenzy, selling for $35. Now, Hasbro’s new Furby has “a mind of its own.” These furbies have been created for a whole new generation, featuring advanced, modern technology.

The 21st century Furby has LCD eyes, which allow it to express emotion through animations. If a child tickles the Furby, hearts may appear in its eyes. Exclamation points might flash if it is excited. Hasbro has also developed sound recognition technology and touch sensors to allow the Furby to experience stimuli from children and the environment.

Furbies’ personalities are created by the way they are treated and by the experiences they have. If the Furby is treated nicely, it will become friendly as a result. If the Furby is handled harshly, then the owner might have a gremlin situation on his or her hands.

Like the 1998 Furbies, the new Furby can be taught to speak English. At first, the new Furbies will only speak Furbish; however, the more a child plays with the Furby, the more English it will learn and be able to speak. The Hasbro website now features an English to Furbish dictionary to help owners better understand their Furbies.

Another aspect included in the upgraded Furby technology is Furby to Furby recognition. If two toys are placed next to one another, they will interact.

Not only has Hasbro updated the technology of the Furby toy, but they have also added another element to the experience that appeals to the mobile, high-tech generation. Hasbro is introducing a free Furby app, available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. This same app will eventually be made for Android devices as well.

With this app, Furby owners will be able to feed their Furby and access the Furbish-English dictionary. Hasbro has also initiated an effort to create Furby’s involvement in social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The new Furby is currently available in teal, purple, white, tangerine, yellow and black. Four additional colors will be released later this year. The selling price for the Furby is $59.99, $25 more than the price of the original Furby from 1998.

The Furby can be purchased at retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys ‘R’ Us; however, both of these stores restrict online orders to only one of the same colored Furby per customer. The 2012 Furby has already been placed on hot lists for toys of this holiday season, including Toys ‘R’ Us’ annual Holiday Hot Toy List.

Will our beloved ’90s Furby be successful in reinventing itself for the new generation of kids? Furby would say “wah!” in Furbish, meaning “yeah!” in English, but it looks like we’ll have to wait and see.