disney

Disney and Softbank have geen making phones for kids in Japan for some time, with the handsets becoming increasingly adult-like in both function and appearance. Its latest mobile handset also seems to be aimed at this ambiguous market in Japan, but the theme clearly belongs to the Magic Kingdom: Princesses.

The "Cinderella" line is being produced in a partnership with Sharp, using the Disney Mobility service offered by Softank, according to Akihabara News. The DM002SH has a 2.6-inch display, a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD card slot, 50MB of built-in memory, and the 1Seg TV tuner used in … Read more

With a space as bustling as the MP3 player market, one is bound to come across a smattering of kitschy devices. On first blush, you might be tempted to cast off Iriver's Mickey Mouse-shaped Mplayer as one of these tawdry examples of gadgetry--we certainly were. But the Disney-themed music player is surprisingly endearing in person: unique, tiny, and cute as a button. It sounds good, too, yet there's no screen, the design is not terribly durable, and at $69.99 for 1GB of built-in flash memory, the Mplayer is priced a bit higher than competitors from Creative and … Read more

Bot-fans are anticipating the debut of Disney's "Wall-E" toys at the next Maker Faire, but you can get a jump on at least one gadget related to the latest Pixar epic right now.

An animated MP3 player that takes the form of the robot--whose name stands for "Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class"--is available for order from the Sharper Image. (Maybe it hasn't gotten much notice because of the chain's uncertain future.)

It's not the $190 "Ultimate Wall-E" full robot, but the 8-inch-tall "iDance Wall-E" does claim … Read more

Disney appears to have a penchant for making music gadgets out of its characters' heads, and certainly its most famous franchise won't be left out of the party.

Iriver's Mickey-themed "MPlayer," which Craver Jasmine France spotted back in January, has made good on its promise to finally arrive on the U.S. market. We can't help but feel a bit slighted, however, after having seen the MP3 player roll its merry way across countries in Asia while taking on all forms, occasionally getting blinged and even picking up a disease or two along the way.… Read more

Stitch seemed relatively harmless when he debuted with Lilo way back in 2002, but things have changed since then--and he looks downright creepy now, at least in the form of Disney's new CD player and radio.

It doesn't help that it's made only of his head, which must bear the teeth of his trademark ginormous mouth to insert the disc. What kid would want to do that? It's probably just as well that this is destined for Japan, where children have been raised to be comfortable with mechanical beings practically from birth.

We know about the whole obsession with kawaii (translation: cute) in Japan, but how much Mickey can any culture stand? Already they've gotten silver, gold, and even Swarovski-diseased 1GB "Mplayers," and now Disney and Iriver Japan are introducing "Season 2" of the eared one in even more colors, patterns, and designs, according to Dvice. Between this and High School Musical, we may need a set of blinders as well as earplugs.

BURLINGAME, Calif.--Here's a figure you want to remember: 80 percent retention rate.

Approximately 80 percent of people who watched videos on the Web site of broadcaster ABC (through the company's player) could remember the sponsor/advertiser of the program, said Brad Davis, senior vice president of online media sales and marketing for the Walt Disney Internet Group, during a presentation at the Digital Living Room conference taking place here. The study was commissioned by Walt Disney Internet Group and ABC. (Walt Disney is the parent company of ABC.)

As a result of the recall issue, the cost … Read more

AOL buys social network Bebo for $850 million http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9893014-36.html

MPAA boss: Net neutrality would cramp our P2P snooping plans http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080313-mpaa-boss-net-neutrality-would-cramp-our-p2p-snooping-plans.html http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/ 2008/03/mpaa-clarifies.html

Report: Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360 http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9893090-7.html

Blu-ray players: Mighty pricey http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9893149-7.html http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/03/12/ lack-of-competition-sends-blu-ray-player-prices-upward/

David in Vegas: Sony (and Movie Theater owners who charge me $6 for rubbery popcorn in a theater where you can’t (send in an … Read more

Walt Disney is eyeing acquisitions, but AOL is not one of them, according to the Associated Press.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, speaking at a media conference on Wednesday, said the company is interested in purchasing other companies, but not Time Warner's AOL.

Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes has said his company would consider selling off or spinning out AOL.

Regarding reports that Yahoo is looking to partner with another company to thwart a takeover bid from Microsoft, Iger said: "We watch these things from afar."