disney

Leapfrog in New York is showing off a few new products, one of which is the Zippity--pretty much a takeoff on the Wii Fit, but for the under-5 crowd. The Zippity was actually co-developed by Leapfrog and Disney and builds on the two companies' existing relationship.

Leapfrog describes the Zippity as a "high-energy learning system" and calls it "the first interactive TV-based gaming system for preschoolers that combines full body movement, music, education, and fun." Leapfrog's trying to move beyond the handheld educational gaming/reading market and Disney is trying to expand its presence in … Read more

Despite being a lot of fun, Guitar Hero is likely causing a generation of kids to not learn to play real instruments. I completely suck at playing the real guitar (I am a drummer and I practiced endlessly as a tween/teen) but the game makes you feel like you know what you are doing though you clearly cannot apply your game skills to the real world guitar.

With my limited guitar abilities (Black Flag, Black Sabbath and the Misfits) I found that Guitar Hero actually made my playing worse.

Fortunately, we'll soon have Disney Star Guitarist, which trains … Read more

Disney is fighting a piracy war over its acclaimed film Wall-E against a company that its venture capital arm invested in, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The infringing company, 56.com, a Chinese video sharing site that's similar to YouTube, hosted several full-length bootlegs of Wall-E that were freely available on the company's site. The bootlegs were added by users of the site months ago, but only recently have they been fully removed from its pages.

Piracy in China is nothing new, but the fact that 56.com featured Disney movies on its site … Read more

Verizon Wireless and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are teaming up to create a new mobile application to help families plan their trips and get the most out of their Disney vacations.

With more than 90 percent of its guests walking through the gates with mobile phones, Disney Parks and Resorts executives see cell phones as a perfect way to connect with their customers.

On Wednesday, Disney will announce it has entered into an exclusive multi-year agreement with Verizon Wireless. The two companies will develop an application, which will be hosted by Verizon. Also as part of the deal, Verizon … Read more

Add movies from Disney and Jaman.com to the growing list of downloadable content you can view on TiVo DVRs.

Disney movies will be available on TiVo starting next week. Rentals will be $2.99 each, and include titles ranging from animated classics (Dumbo) to modern favorites (Pirates of the Caribbean). The content will be provided via CinemaNow. See that site's TiVo FAQ for more details.

Movies from Jaman.com should be available this week. The $1.99 rentals include international selections, independent and art cinema, and anime titles.

The Disney/CinemaNow and Jaman selections will be presented in … Read more

A group of the biggest Hollywood studios said Wednesday that they will invest more than $1 billion to upgrade 20,000 North American movie theaters to digital projector systems.

According to Reuters, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Lions Gate Entertainment have reached a pact with investors, including Blackstone Group and JPMorgan Chase. The work would begin in 2009 and could take as much as 3 and 1/2 years to complete.

For some time, the studios have wanted to embark on the upgrade project, Reuters wrote, but have been unable to nail down the financing. But … Read more

Rana Sobhany of Medialets joins the show today for a riveting discussion of Sarah Palin centerfolds, Disney attack dogs, push up jocks and why women love Shia LeBeouf. Also, the death knells of Muxtape give way to a new music site, the future of IP addresses and, of course, your weekend box office. And yes, Sen. McCain apologized for missing the show yesterday, he was in a serious make-up session before the big debate. Wouldn't want to look too much like Emperor Palpatine, now would we?

Dan the Mantern here. My favorite story of the day, besides Justin's report on his first ever hockey game last night, concerns a mysterious package of hot dogs. Apparently, a package wrapped in duct tape was located outside Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Police evacuated the stadium and, even after discovering the innocuous contents of the package, decided to detonate those red hots. A mist of charred beef smell immediately shrouded the city. Really? You're gonna waste a bomb on a pack of hot dogs? Couldn't they have just called in champion hot dog eater Takeru Kobayashi, he can swallow like 20 dogs every ten seconds. Even better, they could have airlifted a local Boy Scout troop to the scene for a good ol' fashioned weenie roast.

The introduction of the G1 phone (the HTC Dream) is very nearly overshadowed by the marketing decision to destroy perfect innocent words in the commercials for it. But we do eventually get around to discussing the features, the delay of Windows Mobile 7, electric cars from Chrysler (for real!), and SanDisk takes a beating.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Live blog: First Google Android phone is unveiled http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10048519-94.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10048538-94.html http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/20080923/googles-g1-first-impressions/ http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/23/t-mobile-g1-site-goes-live-for-real-first-ad-appears/

Each Android phone will … Read more

Universal Pictures and Walt Disney are close to finalizing a deal that would all but guarantee the digitizing of the nation's movie theaters, sources told CNET News.

Universal and Disney have agreed in principle to join a consortium of theater chains and motion picture studios that will finance the cost of modernizing movie houses, the sources said.

The sources were commenting on news of the deal, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

For years, the high costs of outfitting theaters with digital projectors, servers, and other technology stymied modernization efforts. It was always believed that it would take … Read more