Sponge Bob Squarepants 3-Pack Odd Parents Disc
VideoNow Player
With the fourth quarter around the corner, Hasbro is
betting that fans of popular children’s properties like Sponge
Bob Squarepants and Rugrats will drive sales
of their new portable DVD system.
This month Hasbro’s Tiger Electronics is scheduled to
nationally debut VideoNow, the first-ever portable personal
video player. Retailing at $50, each player comes in either titanium or
cobalt, and VideoNow's 4”x 6” pocket size is expected to create a splash
during the Holiday season.
The VideoNow players feature a black and white LCD screen with 16 levels
of grayscale and an 80 x 80 pixel resolution. Audio is provided by a self-contained
speaker that delivers crisp sound, though the player also has an audio
jack for headphone or speaker use.
Each VideoNow player comes with a VideoNow samples disc featuring over
a half dozen excerpts from some of today’s popular shows. Additional software
titles—the first batch of titles numbers 24—and a full line of VideoNow
accessories including a handy carry case, snap-on lamp (for night viewing),
disc organizer, headphones and more are also available.
The VideoNow proprietary video discs—retailing at approximately $7.99
each and $14.99 for three-packs—will offer the hottest names in children’s
entertainment, including Sponge Bob Squarepants, Rugrats, Hillary
Duff, American Idol and more. Each VideoNow
disc plays a full episode—up to 30 minutes of programming on each disc.
Despite all the media hype (Tween queen Duff has been the public face
of the new system in Hasbro’s ads.), VideoNow still has some stiff competition.
Sony is developing a portable version of its popular
PlayStation system, the PlayStation Portable, that will
play video and music in addition to games.
Hasbro already faces an uphill battle from Nintendo in
the lucrative personal entertainment market. Nintendo's Game Boy
Advance SP also targets an audience of ages 4-14, with a similar
price tag. Four electronics companies have developed technologies that
use the Game Boy Advance SP system to play anything from cartoon shorts
to full-length blockbuster movies in 40-minute segments.
