Disney, in partnership with Asus, is set down to start off a novel netbook called Disney Netpal that desire be targeted at kids ages six to 12 and desire approach’s with features such as parental controls and a customized Disney consumer interface.
“This is not a plaything,” says Thompson Richmond, executive of consumer electronics for Disney Consumer Products. “It’s a genuine result with features that you can place safely into the hands of kids.”
It fair happens to approach’s in pink, with lacey curlicues and a large Disney logo correct in the middle.
The $350 netbook desire be at in August. Here’s a rapid hands on with the Netpal and its latchkey features.
Design
The Disney netbooks are rebranded Asus Eee PCs so if you are well-known with the Asus look and plan , there’s a faculty of deja vu with the Disney Netpal.
The Netpal desire be at in two colors: “blue for boys and pink for girls.” The pink is a Pepto-Bismol pink and has floral patterns on the netbook protect, while the depressed is more muted.
The keyboard is built to be “spill-proof,” says Richmond, and the corners of the netbook possess been reinforced to insure it doesn’t break easily.
The netbook has a 8.9-inch show, Wi-Fi connectivity and comes with the choice of a 160 GB rigid push or a 16 GB hard conditions drive.
In terms of tools unaccompanied, there’s small to differentiate the mechanism from its peers. In that regard Dell ’s latest netbook targeted at kids, which has a rubber-like instance and an anti-microbial keyboard, surpasses the Netpal.
Consumer Interface
Where Disney hopes to record above rivals like Dell is in the consumer knowledge. Like most netbooks, the Netpal runs Windows XP Dwelling-place, but it offers two modes on start up: a criterion desktop, which turns it into a run-of-the-mill netbook , and a Disney desktop choice, which is where all the activity is.
The Disney desktop way allows multiple profiles to be created and the profiles can be customized with icons from the Disney steady such as Mickey Mouse or Snow White.
In the Disney desktop way, the netbook includes programs such as Disney Pix, a software use that lets users customize photos; Receiver Disney, which endlessly belts outside music from Taylor Fleet and Jonas Brothers; games; and a customized Disney browser.
There are also Disney desktop themes, with selection that ranges from Cars to Hannah Montana.
Parental Controls
Parental controls are the netbook ’s cornerstone for Disney. Since the Netpal is for children, the parental controls are a ought to and Disney’s netbook integrates the software admirably into the device.
For case in point, in the Disney desktop way with parental controls operation, all emails sent and received near the kid require to be approved near the father. The customized browser also creates a listing of restricted and approved sites.
“We wanted to make a consumer interface that’s merriment, simple and unharmed to employ,” says Richmond.
Overall
Mature users are mixed up between netbooks and notebooks and discontent with these pint-sized machines runs tall, according to a NPD examine. Execution and comfort of employ of the keyboard stay behind latchkey issues.
But Disney seems to possess its goal audience neatly carved outside. The netbook desire retail at Amazon.com and Toys’R’Us.
If you can obtain over the incessant Disney branding and the weighty gender stereotyping, the Netpal has some kid-friendly features that fair strength build this a fine netbook for microscopic tots.
Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
