Disney Digital Books interact with young readers

Posted in ebooks by Conner Flynn on October 1st, 2009

Disney Digital Books interact with young readersIf you want to instill a love of reading in your child early on, this may be a good way to do so. Disney’s new range of eBooks will feature a “Disney-level experience” according to the company. These eBooks feature a “look and listen” section for beginners, where the book will be read aloud by voice actors to a soundtrack and each word will be highlighted as it is being spoken.

That should learn them kids. If your child wants to read alone and finds a word he or she doesn’t recognize, they just click on it and a voice will read it to them. It’s a great visual way for kids to learn.

Disney Netpal available for pre-order

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on August 11th, 2009

Disney Netpal available for pre-orderWell Disney fans, you’ve waited patiently and now you shall be rewarded. Not with a Mickey Mouse branded gadget, but with the ability to pre-order the “Magic Blue” and “Princess Pink” Netpal netbooks. You’ve been waiting for two months after all.

The netbook features a wacky paintjob, custom XP themes, shell control for parents and for all we know Tinkerbell will fly out and sprinkle fairy dust on the keyboard. Both versions are available to order now for $350 and they ship this week.

Netflix to stream new ABC shows

Posted in Netflix by Shane McGlaun on August 3rd, 2009

netflix-logo-sbI tried Netflix once for movie rentals but I was never able to get the films I wanted to see the day they came out so I went back to using my local movie store. When Netflix started its streaming service, I thought it was interesting and I am waiting for it to get more offerings before I think about using it again.

Netflix has announced that it will be streaming new ABC shows including popular programs like Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Legend of the Seeker. Netflix is now offering the first four seasons of Lost in its streaming catalog and the other shows will start streaming in September.

Disney to sell movies on MicroSD cards

Posted in News by Conner Flynn on July 22nd, 2009

Disney to sell movies on MicroSD cardsForget DVDs, forget Blu-Ray. Disney and Panasonic see the future and that future is movies on flash cards. That’s right, those same tiny memory cards that you buy for your digital camera/MP3 player will soon be available with films pre-loaded on.

Disney and Panasonic are starting things off by packaging pre-recorded microSD cards together with DVDs holding the same movie content. That way users can easily watch their favorite DVDs on portable players.

Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on June 16th, 2009

Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kidsDisney gadgets always tend to be more about branding than giving you a decent gadget, but we know that some of you will still want to check out the love child of ASUS and Disney. A Disney branded Netpal netbook for kids, available in “Princess Pink” or “Magic Blue” colors. (the latter even has tiny Mickey Mouse icons).

Each netbook features a kid-friendly Disney interface and built-in parental controls, as well as some customizable themes based on Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Wall-E, and other Disney stuff they need to pimp out.

ABC coming to Hulu?

Posted in Television by Conner Flynn on March 29th, 2009

ABC coming to Hulu?Looks like we may soon be getting another network’s content on Hulu sometime very soon. Supposedly Disney is discussing the possibility of sharing their ABC TV shows on the website. Some other Disney-owned shows might make it over as well. What this means is that you’ll be able to catch up on everything you missed on LOST and maybe also check out all your favorite High School Musical type programs. Yeah, sure you don’t watch them.

There’s no word on how close Disney and Hulu might be to making a deal, but the company is getting more interested, now that Hulu is more popular. If the deal goes through, Hulu would then have three of the four major networks on their web video service, which would be pretty awesome.

Stitch takes a bite out of an LCD Display

Posted in LCD by Conner Flynn on March 8th, 2009

Stitch takes a bite out of an LCD DisplayNothing too cutting edge here, but if you have an unhealthy love of Disney characters and already own the Stitch humidifier, you might consider this Stitch LCD Display.

It’s a 20-incher that features 1680 x 1050 pixels, HDMI, D4, and even a B-CAS card reader. While stitch may be taking a huge bite, he hasn’t taken a bite out of the price, which is around €800. The mouth even opens up and it features stitch’s body clinging to the rear.

Stitch USB Humidifer with bad breath

Posted in Disney by Conner Flynn on November 20th, 2008

Stitch USB Humidifer with bad breathThere must be something in the water over at Disney. Either that or they pass around a crack pipe at meetings, between counting Mickey money and eating bits of Walt Disney’s remaining refrigerated flesh.

First there was the Stitch CD player. Creepy, but harmless really. Now they’re pimping out this $118 USB humidifier that looks like it will kill you with Stitch breath. $118? Really? The Stitch USB Humidifier projects a fog into the air, whether you give him a breath mint or not. Not sure where you pour in the water. Probably his butt. This thing just looks hungry. Hungry enough to kill you.

Magic Message Mirror home security system

Posted in Security by Conner Flynn on September 20th, 2008

Magic Message Mirror home security systemThe Magic Message Mirror is for those who want to combine their love of Disney with home security. Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the safest one of all? You will be, of course. The portrait in the photo above is actually a home security device.

Just wire it into your existing home security system and it will appear to be an ordinary mirror until it’s triggered by someone walking in front of the beam. That’s when the scary apparition appear just like in the Snow White movie, yelling prerecorded phrases you’ve recorded. The mirror is actually a 30 inch LCD display with a CGI character known as “Basil of the Mirror”. I’m not sure it would scare a thief enough to leave and give up his life of crime. It would probably scare him for a few seconds until he realized what’s going on. Then they would likely steal the mirror, because it’s cool.

Knockoff Mickey Mouse mobile phone

Posted in Mobile Phones by Conner Flynn on September 15th, 2008

Knockoff Mickey mobile phoneThe LT2 Mickey Mouse phone is for beautiful little fairy princesses who have wished upon a star for their parents to search for Chinese knockoffs on the internet. At least it looks kinda nice. It has the whole Mickey theme happening, 2.0-inch 262k TFT touch screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot, FM radio and all the other basic functions, even a currency convertor for when your folks buy more junk, a to-do list, world clock, unit converter, health test, and calculator. The LT2 Mickey phone can be yours for $142.82.

Gamecube WALL-E case mod

Posted in Nintendo by Conner Flynn on July 8th, 2008

Gamecube WALL-E case mod
Wall-E is adorable. Your Gamecube console is gathering dust. That’s right. Combine the two for one of the cutest and most adorable mods mankind has ever seen. There’s not much info on this mod, but the modder did a great job.

Wall-E looks appropriately sad. Probably because everyone has moved on to the Wii. Which brings me to my next point. Wall-E needs an Eve and I think it would only be fair to make her from a Wii. Very nicely done. It could only be better if he crawled around.

Disney Innovention Dream Home is geek heaven

Posted in Home by Conner Flynn on June 19th, 2008

Disney Innovention Dream Home is geek heaven
The new Disney Innoventions Dream Home features tons of high-tech candy inside that would make any self-respecting geek wet his pants. The home is for show and to showcase everything within, offering you a hands-on experience with lots of awesome emerging technologies. Actors will be playing the fictional Elias family, equipped with RFID tags, so that when they enter a room, different lighting will be displayed, while soundtracks play.

It’s also got dozens of LCD picture frames networked, that will display different pictures based on who walks into the room. How about a magic mirror in the daughter’s room that puts virtual outfits on the user in real time? The younger son’s room has two projectors plus a bunch of automation to make the story of Peter Pan come alive (a canon even fires virtual projectiles at the wall). Sounds like you would never grow up living in that house.

Wall-E MP3 player from Sharper Image

Posted in Robots by Conner Flynn on May 1st, 2008

Wall-E MP3 player from Sharper Image
Behold robot fans. We told you about the ultimate Wall-E robot toy. Here’s an animated MP3 player in the form of Wall-E “Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class”. He’s available from the Sharper Image, but probably most people haven’t noticed due to the chain’s questionable futute.

The 8-inch-tall “iDance Wall-E” claims to talk and dance to the music and his eyes even light up. You can also plug in an iPod or other MP3 player. I suppose it’s the latest version of the “i-Dog,”, just much cooler, since it’s a robot. He only costs $24.95.

Ultimate WALL-E robot toy is good for geeks and kids alike

Posted in Robots by Shane McGlaun on April 30th, 2008

Ultimate WALL-E RobotThere are a few things that most of geekdom has in common, one is an insatiable lust for all things gadget and the other is an undeniable need to own anything robotic even when the robots gizmos are meant for kids. The latter affliction is easier (and less embarrassing) to indulge in if you have kids, which thankfully I do.

Not too long ago I spent some “testing” time with the UGOBE Pleo robot dinosaur and it was cool but I thought it would be cooler if a robot actually looked like a robot. Disney agreed and has announced a new Pleo-esq robot based on the WALL-E movie hitting the silver screen this summer. The toy is called Ultimate WALL-E and it will go on sale this fall for $189.99.

Mickey Mouse speaker is all ears

Posted in Speakers by Conner Flynn on March 23rd, 2008

Mickey Mouse speaker is all ears
If you love Mickey and want a pair of speakers to stick in your iRiver MP3 player, this might be for you. As you can see, he’s all ears as usual with his typical goofy grin. (What’s the deal with only having Mickey. What about Donald Duck? No one likes Donald?)

The stereo speaker measures 6.3 x 3.46 x 4.96 in, weighs about 21 oz, and connects to any music player using a 3,5mm stereo audio jack. Looks like it comes in silver only. You can get it from DealExtreme for $20.10.





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