Bandai Namco have just announced what is possibly the cutest netbook in the history of the world. The limited edition Miffy netbook has been designed especially for children, as a way to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Miffy cartoon character.
The Miffy netbook has a list of specifications that are good if not great, and a look that is so sickly sweet it may just melt in your mouth. It features a 10.1 inch display, with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and GMA 3150 graphics. While the Intel Atom N450 processor is not going to set your hard drive on fire, it should be more than enough for its intended demographic.
The Miffy is also fairly well connected to the rest of the world, with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, two USB ports, a card reader, Ethernet LAN, and standard audio jacks included. The weight is certainly on the light side at only 1.1 kilograms, but the 3 cell battery runs at a disappointing average of only 2.6 hours. All of these features may be fairly standard and unexciting, although a lot of young girls around the world are sure to disagree.
The Miffy netbook is aimed squarely at the young ones, and the team at Bandai realise this potential through the inclusion of a number of Miffy themed applications. While the included software does help to make the theme of this netbook make a bit more sense, only you will know if your little girl would be just as happy with some Miffy stickers and some free games off the web. This netbook is made especially for young children, and young girls at that, which gives it an extremely limited market.
The micro market for the Miffy netbook may help to explain its limited release and very high price point of $900-$1000, which is ridiculous when you realise the limited technology that you are getting for your money. This may be missing the point somewhat however, as the Miffy seems unashamedly extravagant in a cutesy kind of way. The Bandai Miffy will be available in both Windows XP and Windows 7 configurations, and can be pre-ordered right now.
Specifications
Intel Atom N450
160GB HDD
GMA 3150 graphics
10.1 inch display
1024 x 600 resolution
0.3 MP webcam
2 x USB
802.11 b/g/n WiFi
Ethernet LAN
card reader
Windows XP or Windows 7
