Disney Movies on a Tiny Disney Screen
With the recent flurry of devices that play both digital music and movies, it only makes sense that content companies like Walt Disney get into the act, wrapping their branding, or in this case mouse ears, around the gadgets themselves.
The Disney Mix Max Personal Media Player is slightly larger than an iPod Nano and can play MP3 or WMA music files. But the hallmark of this player is the 2.2-inch screen, created especially to display TV-quality Disney videos and movies. The movies, including “High School Musical” and “Ella Enchanted,” are available on specially formatted memory chips that sell for $15 and slip into a side port that also accepts standard SD memory cards.
The device, which will be available next month for $100 at www.disneyshopping.com, is made for Disney by Memorex, and has 512 megabytes of internal memory and a battery that charges through your computer’s U.S.B. port. The navigation buttons form a familiar mousey outline. There is just one audio plug, which makes it hard to share a movie with a friend.
While the ability to play movies on little screens is not new, it has not been as frustration-free as popping in a tiny cartridge. What’s next, miniature popcorn?