Disney, in partnership with Asus, is set to launch a new netbook called Disney Netpal that will be targeted at kids ages six to 12 and will come with features such as parental controls and a customized Disney user interface.
“This is not a toy,” says Thompson Richmond, director of consumer electronics for Disney Consumer Products. “It’s a real product with features that you can put safely into the hands of kids.”
Design & Features:
- It just happens to come in pink, with lacey curlicues and a big Disney logo right in the middle. The $350 netbook will be available in August.
- The Disney netbooks are rebranded Asus Eee PCs so if you are familiar with the Asus look and design, there’s a sense of deja vu with the Disney Netpal.
- The Netpal will be available in two colors: “blue for boys and pink for girls.” The pink is a Pepto-Bismol pink and has floral patterns on the netbook cover, while the blue is more muted.
- The keyboard is built to be “spill-proof,” says Richmond, and the corners of the netbook have been reinforced to ensure it doesn’t crack easily.
- The netbook has a 8.9-inch display
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Option of a 160 GB hard drive or a 16 GB solid state drive.
In terms of hardware alone, there’s little to distinguish the machine from its peers. In that respect Dell’s latest netbook targeted at kids, which has a rubber-like case and an anti-microbial keyboard, surpasses the Netpal.
Here is how Wired reviews the latest disney offering:
Where Disney hopes to score over rivals like Dell is in the user experience. Like most netbooks, the Netpal runs Windows XP Home, but it offers two modes on start up: a standard desktop, which turns it into a run-of-the-mill netbook, and a Disney desktop option, which is where all the action is.
The Disney desktop mode allows multiple profiles to be created and the profiles can be customized with icons from the Disney stable such as Mickey Mouse or Snow White.
In the Disney desktop mode, the netbook includes programs such as Disney Pix, a software application that lets users customize photos; Radio Disney, which endlessly belts out music from Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers; games; and a customized Disney browser.
There are also Disney desktop themes, with choice that ranges from Cars to Hannah Montana.
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