SANTA CLARA, Calif.(Matrix Semiconductor) -
Matrix Semiconductor today announced that Disney Consumer Products has chosen
Matrix to provide the technology that enables Disney to offer pre-recorded "Mix Clip" digital music content on its hot new MP3/ WMA player for kids 6-to-12 - without using a CD or requiring computer downloads.
Designed as an easy-to-use MP3/ WMA player for the "tween" age group, Disney's Mix Stick - like its grown-up cousin the iPod and other digital music players - can download music from the Internet or from CDs copied onto a computer. To attract young consumers (and their parents) who may not want to rip and burn digital music, Disney is concurrently releasing four new, CD-length "Mix Clip" albums pre-recorded on Matrix memory cards the size of a postage stamp. Mix Clips offer Mix Stick users convenient, plug and play capability: just load a Mix Clip and turn on the music.
"Kids covet the size and 'cool factor' of MP3 players that their older siblings and parents enjoy, but may not be ready for all the technical requirements that go along. Using Matrix's technology, we are finally able to offer the digital music kids want with the same convenience and at the same price they expect to pay for a CD," said Chris Heatherly, vice president of Global Disney Electronics. "The easy plug and play experience of Disney Mix Clips,- enabled by Matrix - means kids don't have to use a computer to access music, and can find digital music in the familiar surroundings of the retail aisle, where they purchase the vast majority of their tunes today."
The four initial Disney Mix Clips - available now in retail stores and priced the same as a CD - include "Radio Disney Ultimate Jams, Greatest Hits Volumes 1-6," featuring songs from Hillary Duff, James Brown, and Lou Bega, as well as songs from popular Disney Channel television shows, "That's So Raven: Songs Inspired By The Hit TV Series", "Disney Mania 3: Music Stars Sing Disney Their Way!" and "Disney Channel Hits, Take 1." All four releases are from Walt Disney Records.
"Among Disney's goals with the Mix Stick was to offer an option to downloading music with easy-to-use, plug-and-play memory cards full of pre-recorded music," said Dan Steere, VP sales and marketing for Matrix. "Matrix 3-D Memory is tailored especially for pre-recorded publishing of this type, offering a lower cost than Flash memory and the quick time to market that publishers require in today's competitive retail world."
Matrix 3-D Memory is the world's smallest one-gigabit silicon memory, at 31 square millimeters. Matrix is the only company that builds three-dimensional integrated circuits, producing cost-effective IC memory products by incorporating multiple layers of memory within a single piece of silicon. By using proven manufacturing techniques, Matrix derives lower cost and more components per wafer than any comparable memory product on the market. Matrix currently offers four memory capacities 16-, 32-, 64-, and 128-megabytes.
