Disney and manufacturer Digital Blue have teamed up to deliver the DisneyPix line of children friendly digital cameras. We were all children at some point so I don't need to explain Disney's credentials, but Digital Blue is a slightly less well-known company - they specialise in “educational entertainment technology” for kids and tweens (under 12s), so this should be a nice partnership.
Obviously, with cameras designed for children specification isn't the important thing - in fact they are very low - so no 10 mega-pixel cameras here! Instead low-price and design is the key, with various Disney themed designs such as Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Little Mermaid and “High School Musical” being available (I haven't a clue what this is, am I old now?). As well as this, simplicity is fairly important too, as making the cameras ultra-easy will let them “unleash the power of their imagination” (press releases are great…)
Anyway, there are three types of DisneyPix - the Micro, the Click and the Max. There are two other related releases too, the Disney Princess Digital Movie Maker and the Brag Book photo album keychain.
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DisneyPix Micro
This is a tiny camera, measuring just 6.5 x 10 x 2.5 inches. The specification is similarly tiny with a storage capacity of 24 pictures and a sub-MP resolution of 352 x 288. On a more positive note, it only uses a single AAA battery, costs $19.99 [£10] and comes with DisneyPix software (they all do) which is software for adding Disney characters and frames to photos - you can teach them more in Photoshop when they are older.
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DisneyPix Click
We are starting to move towards our idea of cameras here with the Click, offering a 1inch LCD, 2x digital zoom and Flash. Unfortunately it is still sub-MP with VGA resolution of 640x480 and 200 photos. The best part though is that it comes with two detachable front covers. RRP $49.99 [£26].
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DisneyPix Max
The cameras move into the land of mega-pixels with the 3MP Max - this must be what reporting on digital cameras in the 90s was like. The Max also offers 4xs digital zoom, a 1.5 inch LCD, SD card capability and 2 AA power. Unfortunately now that the spec has become more normal so has the price, $79.99 [£45]. This is a decidedly unparent friendly price, once you acknowledge that the camera will quickly end up in the bath, toilet or garden, or in someone's mouth or food, or thrown on the floor - no indication was made of the camera's toughness but I'd expect it to be high.
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Disney Princess Digital Movie Maker
This is weird looking device is a digital camcorder for girls to “star in their own Disney Princess movie” but I'm sure boys can too if they are so inclined. The camcorder comes with 32mb of memory, microphone, 640x480 resolution and a special video based version of the Disney software. This specification is pretty up to date and costs $79.99 [£45].
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Disney Keychain Digital Brag Book
The final release is a tiny device on a keychain for displaying photos, although it has a tiny 1.1 LCD screen and space for 50 photos. This takes “photos on the go” to new levels but unfortunately still needs a computer as it is USB based - $19.99 [£10].
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