We got a quick look Disney's little Netpal Eee PC rebadge, and found our not-too-high expectations slightly exceeded by the fairly slick skin Disney has slapped on top of XP. The Netpal platform is really Disney's primary contribution here, since the computer underneath is vanilla Eee PC other than the fairly stylish "boy" and "girl" skinning job. The shell, however, is a locked down environment that allows parents to white list web sites and email addresses for kids to access, along with a list of allowable apps -- kids aren't restricted to just Disney's set of experiences, little Bobby can master PowerPoint in between play dates if his parents don't mind. Standard netbook sluggishness is of course a drawback, but the extensive parental controls, kid-friendly interface and $350 retail price are all good omens for rising above the general shoddiness and usual misnomer of "kid tech." Video is after the break.

Just look into those cute, bubbly eyes and tell us that you'd still rather keep your plain-jane tower if offered this instead. We know, you can't. While we've seen a number of Wall-E mods over the months, we've never seen anything close to this in terms of sheer incredibleness. So far as we can tell, this robotic PC even opens up his own optical drive, and he can also send out love letters to one "Eeeevvvaaaaa" without human intervention. A thing of beauty, no?

[Thanks, Doug]

Somehow or another, Lilo was completely left out of this arrangement, but as you can tell, there's no room beside Stitch anyway. Disney's latest 20-inch LCD TV has been decidedly commandeered by one of its (er, only?) most popular blue alien characters, and if you can look past that gaping mouth up top, you'll notice a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, HDMI and VGA inputs, a built-in TV tuner, dual five watt speakers and a bundled remote. Oddly, we're told that this royalty-laced set will be priced at an amazing ¥100,000 ($1,015), so you best be sure 1) your kid is a true, hardcore fan and 2) money ain't a thang.


[Via CNET]

Man, it's amazing the difference a single letter makes. Take the Framee-L, for example -- a stately, classically styled digital photo frame that would do practically any coffee table proud. Now have a gander at the almost frightening Framee-M (above). iriver has evidently coerced Disney to afford it the luxury of producing this here digiframe, which -- sad to say -- looks downright shoddy from here. The unit will be made available in both Mickey and Minnie flavors, with each housing 1GB of internal storage space, a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, SDHC expansion slot, a built-in clock and a multimedia player for good measure. It's taking Japan by storm as we speak for ¥9,999 ($111).

[Via DAPReview, thanks Michael]

Here in the US of A, we dedicate today to shoving copious quantities of food down our throats, meeting / greeting long lost family members and -- most importantly -- counting our blessings. Here around the Engadget table, we've found five "gadgets" (we're being gracious here) that we're absolutely grateful to not own. In fact, we're thankful that we don't even have to look at these if we don't want to. 'Course, we're betting that you're curious enough to give up that right to ignore in order to see just how pathetic these crapgadgets really are, but we'd recommend waiting at least an hour after your last gluttonous indulgence before clicking the links below. Obviously, we cannot be held responsible for any upchucking.

Read - Scale mouse
Read - Dual holster windshield mouse
Read - Disney's Pixie Hollow Clickables
Read - Monkey USB hand warmer
Read - Red Piggy mouse

It's 2008 and we've finally achieved the ultimate goal of modern robotics. No, not singularity... better: a cross-promotional marketing deal between the world's leading robots. Meet the Wall-E edition of iRobot's Roomba 530. The special edition Roomba is just like the original 530 only with the addition of that magnificent sticker for a extra ¥5,000 (about $50) premium. 400 units of the limited run vacuumbots are scheduled to go on sale in Japan for ¥,84,500 (tax inclusive) starting November 20th. Tsk tsk, what's Eve going to say?

It's true -- we're suckers for anything that simultaneously satisfies our lust for robotics and brings back childhood memories of passing the day with Disney films. To that end, we couldn't resist the opportunity to swoon over WowWee's latest stroke of brilliance, the $39.99 FlyTech Tinker Bell. Entirely more rad than that soulless Bladestar, this here fairy promises to posses that same spirited sassiness as the Disney character, and the flower wand remote control really caps things off. She can buzz around and delight guests for 4-minutes on an 18-minute charge, and her "crash-resistant materials prevent her from getting into mischief." Oh wait, it's appropriate for Earthlings ages 6 years and up? Huzzah!

If you've been tickled or otherwise delighted by the sheer cuteness of iriver's little Mplayer in its multi-colored, gold, or pink-bow variations, this one might send you through the roof. The company has introduced a new riff on its Disney-branded music machine, and it's dubbed the "Mplayer eyes." The device comes sporting ten LED "eyes" (naturally), 2GB of storage, and can be picked up for around $50 in light pink and baby blue. Of course, the player -- which was shown off at this year's IFA -- is only available in Korea right now, but with looks like these, we have a feeling you'll be importing. [Warning: read link is in Korean]

[Via Akihabara News]

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.

The oldest of the "three screens" -- television – is generally far from the wisest. Sure, an endless array of set-top boxes and AV components packed with processors have appeared in the last few decades to use its screen as a surrogate, and now a high-definition, display for video games, PC content, Web pages, multimedia, videoconferencing and other entertainment. But while much television programming -- especially news and sports programs – has become cluttered with contextual trivia and tickers, the core TV viewing experience has remained stubbornly passive. Now, though, with backers citing the need to reclaim appeal from PCs and cell phones -- especially among multitasking kids, teens and young adults -- the first screen is fighting back.

Correctly recognizing that upconverting DVDs posed a serious challenge to high-definition discs, the backers of HD-DVD focused on the mandatory Internet connectivity of its players and support of it in some of its late content (the movie 300 was one of the best showcases). In HD-DVD's defeat, the Blu-ray camp has picked up the cause via BD-Live, part of the Blu-ray 2.0 specification. A forthcoming title that will take advantage of the Internet connectivity is Disney's 50th anniversary platinum release of its classic Sleeping Beauty. And it is not your wicked stepmother's princess.

So it's a full $59 more than we were expecting, but with Wall-E's tremendous success at the box office, we have a feeling Disney can get away with it. The Ultimate Wall-E remote control robot is now up for pre-order, promising kids and adults-longing-to-be-kids alike hours upon hours of fun. For those who missed this creature frolicking on video, here are the highlights: he can chat with his owner, dance, play music, dazzle you with those eyes and even sense / avoid obstacles. Unfortunately, all $249 will buy you is a place in line, as this fellow isn't expect to ship until October 16th.

[Thanks, Toadlet]

The New York Times is reporting that Amazon is scrapping its Unbox service in favor of a new online TV and movie store called Amazon Video on Demand. Unlike iTunes and Unbox, Amazon's new digital store-front will stream any of 40,000 movies and television programs to customers. According to Bill Carr, Amazon's VP for digital media, "Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can't help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button." In this regard, the first 2 minutes of every video will begin to play when customers visit the video's product page. Movies can be purchased and downloaded to your hard drive or stored in an Amazon video library allowing you to stream the content to other (any?) Internet connected devices. Films and TV shows from "almost all the major studios and television networks" will be available for sale or rental in the US at undisclosed prices -- only Disney and its ABC subsidiary are holding out for uh, obvious reasons (Steve Jobs is Disney's largest individual shareholder).

[Thanks, setteB.IT]

From the same e-tailer that brought you the CECT Wrist comes a not-exactly-Disney-approved handset that looks strangely similar to that really famous rodent. Yes friends, the Mouse Phone makes exactly zero mention of Disney in the description (yet slaps a logo on the inside), undoubtedly plans on paying $0.00 in royalties and even tries to dodge that ever-vigilant legal team by slanting the eyes and throwing on a Mii-style schnoz. The flip-open mobile features GSM connectivity, a 1.3-inch 160 x 128 resolution display, FM tuner, a built-in multimedia player and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Oh, and a wickedly exotic lanyard, too. All that for just £115.74 ($229) -- get one while they're still on sale!

Guccidoll mobile

[Via Gizmodiva]

Alright, so maybe the recently announced Ultimate WALL-E robot doesn't actually get down and dirty on video, but he does maintain a pretty positive attitude after being poked, prodded and generally invaded for a full five minutes. The latest collaborative effort from Disney and Thinkway Toys was spotted recently at Maker Faire, and if you're interested to see what exactly $190 will net you later this summer, head on past the break and click play.