Asus to produce Disney netpal netbook – you know, for kids?

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Asus has teamed up with Disney to make netbook for children called the Netpal. The 8.9-inch machine is targeted at youngsters between 6 and 12 years old and is available from the end of July for $350 from Amazon and Toys R Us.

Like all sub-notebooks, the Netpal’s powered by an Atom processor but this time the Windows XP OS is child friendly and augmented by Disney themes with Mickey Mouse, Cars, Toy Story and WALL-E all featuring.

The Magic Desktop comes with a Disney browser, Disney e-mail and the widget for the Disney Radio station to stream music straight to the computer. There’s Wi-Fi but no 3G which probably is part of supporting the parental controls that also come fitted to make sure that your kids aren’t surfing sites they shouldn’t while away from home.

You get the option of either a 160GB HDD or a 16GB SSD and it’ll weigh a kilo or just over depending on which you opt for. Most importantly though, the Netpal is available in the floral patterned Princess Pink or the Mickey Mouse themed Magic Blue.

It all sounds slightly sickly sinister to me but try telling your children that.

(via USA Today)

Santok release USB charger for yo' dope wheels (that's car – in street slang)

Those clever little devils at Santok have been up to more cunning in-car japes – this week launching a nifty little in car charger with two 12 volts plugs and two USBs, interesting no?

The STK may look like the disembodied head of Johnny 5 (can a robot be disembodied? can it even have a head?) but it’s infinitely more uselful. The two 12 volts cigarettelighter-size sockets let you plug in your in-car goodies, your sat-nav and ipod dock, while also charging those USB gadgets that you normaly find tethered to your computer.

The STK has a jointed arm so you can wiggle it into whatever position most fits your wheels’ dash. You could also plug a USB splitter into one of the USB ports, giving you even more USB ports, and then plug another into that one, and another into that one, until your car starts to look like the Dolorian from Back To The Future and you start calling everyone Maaarty. That would be sweet.

Scalextric enters the world of social media

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Scalextric phoned me earlier. If you were a child of a certain part of the late 80s and early 90s, then you’ll immediately be envious. In actual fact, though, all that happened was that my inner eight-year-old immediately took the fore and started babbling excitedly. It was quite embarrassing. All they were trying to tell me is that Scalextric has entered the world of social media.

The company has launched a Facebook application, a YouTube channel and a blog. That wouldn’t normally be terribly exciting news, but the app and the channel seem pretty cool. The Facebook app lets you build a garage of cars that you can send to other people using the app. A few people will also win real-life Scalextric vouchers, so you can fill your real-life garage up with that instead.

The YouTube channel is also pretty awesome. There’s video of Jensen Button playing with the diminutive cars, but also guides on how to replace the contacts under the cars if they get worn, and footage of an attempt at the world record for biggest Scalextric track.

Lastly, the blog. It’s a little clunky, but there’s sections for news about the toys and space for news about motorsports. There’s also a ‘coming soon’ section for technical help on Scalextric builds, which I’m sure will come in handy.

The only thing missing in this list is a Twitter account. What’s that all about, Scalextric? I want to message @scalextric and not have some bloke from Warwickshire reply.

Blog, YouTube and Facebook App

Nissan develop Spidey-sense for cars. Cars will now sense danger so you don't have to.

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Yesterday Nissan previewed a clever new sensor technology that does more than just beep when you’re in imminent danger – it actually intervenes a little bit.

Sensors are put into the driver’s blind spots – typically to the immediate sides and just behind the driver’s seat – to detect if you’re getting dangerously close to any other vehicles. Presumably if the technology is adapted for white vans, this mean will mean that everywhere but straight-ahead will be covered in danger sensors…