Disney announces Appmates toys for iPad

PanARMENIAN.Net - Disney announced a new toy line that turns the iPad into an interactive playmate. The new toys, called Disney Appmates, interact directly with a free app for the iPad that brings them to life.

Mashable reports that the first toys in the Appmates series are from Pixar’s “Cars” movie. Each toy is representing a character from the popular film series which will be available in stores for about $20.

Each plastic car has specially designed capacitive sensors on the bottom. Once placed on the iPad, these sensors provide the app with information about what character the car represents and where it is on the screen. The app then adjusts itself to match the position of the car and to speak and interact with the character. The voices from Cars are a nice touch. Kids can freely explore the area around Radiator Springs and Route 66 during the day and at night.

Fundamentally, however, the coolest part of the toys is that they assimilate so well with how kids actually play.

The big question is: Won’t the toys break the screen? it would be difficult for the toys to inflict any substantial damage to the iPad’s glass. The sensors are designed not to scratch the surface and the toys are lightweight enough that excessive pounding shouldn’t inflict much damage.

The initial release of the Cars Appmates app will only work with the iPad 2, because of the processor and memory requirements for the app. Future releases, however, will work with the iPad 1 as well.