Pez to Dispense Music instead of Sweets

Elteto writes "News.com has a story on Lincoln West Studios entering a licensing agreement with Pez Candy to manufacture MP3 players based on the popular candy dispenser format. As the devices will be compatible with the line of detachable heads, including the latest Star Wars character heads, this new product could be a hit with both the candy an the gadget crowds. I bet the idea also ignites creativity in many who wonder how they could insert the guts of small MP3 players such as the iPod Shuffle into various objects. The designer of the Pez MP3 player says his inspiration was the Altoid tin can."

I wonder...

[bigtallmofo]

How long until someone creates a line of Pez-MP3 players using unlicensed characters playing unlicensed music?

Two copyright violations for the price of one!

And with the RIAA

[dolo666]

... it will be double the fun, legally, targeted against 12yr old children, for half price!

Re:I wonder...

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Actually, I would bet two different IP violations as well. I think character designs fall under trademarks too.

Let me get this straight

[Rolling_Go]

You'll have to pay more for licensing and brand name recognition for your audio player that probably won't even have the same amount of functionality as a regular one, just so you can put little interchangable heads on it? Can't you just do this now anyway? It's called Elmer's Glue-all.

Re:Let me get this straight

[Monkeman]

You'll have to pay more for... brand name recognition Just like the iPod!

Re:Let me get this straight

[cfalcon]

Well, the iPod offers more than just that. Their UI is excellent, for instance, and they have a smooth interface with iTunes. I wouldn't call it money for brand recognition only.

That said, my dollars went to iRiver. Better screen, battery, and supports OGGs. Also mounts as a hard drive under Linux, no fuss. And records hours of conversations, which I use sometimes to tape my D&D sessions (hush, I know I'm a nerd).

Re:Let me get this straight

[wootest]

Also mounts as a hard drive under Linux, no fuss. Doesn't the iPod support the standard USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, respectively?

Re:Let me get this straight

[cfalcon]

I had heard that it did not!

I could easily be misinformed, however. This was at the word of a friend, who could be wrong for whatever reason.

Re:Let me get this straight

[wootest]

Makes sense. Now that I think about it, the Windows iPod installer reformats your iPod drive to FAT32 for you, so that might have taken some figuring out, unless you were to get an HP iPod which are FAT32 out of the box.

Re:Let me get this straight

[kantai]

A little bit. It does mount as a hard drive under linux. But, it's a little tricky formatting it to FAT32 ( the windows installer does this for you... ). And after that it's relatively simple to sync to. (gtkPod works great and supposedly rythmbox syncs with it as well...)

Re:Let me get this straight

[iminplaya]

Yes it does. The PITA is that it is NOT compatable with USB 1.1. So if you don't have USB 2.0, you have to go buy a card. Upgrade madness, gotta love it!

Re:Let me get this straight

[wootest]

Oh - that makes sense.

Re:Let me get this straight

[WAG24601G]

yes, but now it's trendy and bears the hip jargony name iCandy!... oh boy, that was bad.

Yes...

[dolo666]

... but why can't it dispense Pez too? Wait for the Slashdot hacks article on that one, I suppose... expect the Tron Guy to come up with something!

Re:Yes...

[ZephyrXero]

More importantly, can it play Ogg Vorbis??? ;)

Re:Yes...

[OneDollarWilliam]

Yes the PEZ player will play OGG files, which for my $129 is a great reason to get it above and beyond the fact that it's got that kitchy flavor the kids kill for.

Re:Yes...

[Anonymous Coward]

expect the Tron Guy to come up with something!

I just hope it doesn't involve Spandex.

Re:Yes...

[SA Stevens]

I am thinking, instead, of making a series of Pez dispensers that look like the common MP3 players.

I've often wanted to do something similar with the 'cellphone' look (i.e. not _come up_ with a dispenser, just start regularly wearing one of the kid's gum/candy containers on my belt that looks like the cellphone that tools wear on their belt to look cool these days).

Candy Violation

[Anonymous Coward]

So can I share some Pez with a friend, or is it DRM'd?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Candy Violation

[LordEd]

You may share the candy, but only one of you can use each piece at any given time.

But...

[blau]

Does it have a built-in stopwatch?

Re:But...

[Lisandro]

Damn you. That joke will stick, and you know it!

Re:But...

[PedanticSpellingTrol]

I can assure you this is not the new "Old Korean People".

Re:But...

[Cplus]

I for one wasn't feeling the "Old Korean People" line of jokery.

Re:But...

[Lisandro]

Heh, but imagine a Beowulf cluster of those! All your base would belong to us!

(Ok, someone shoot me please.)

Re:But...

[PedanticSpellingTrol]

1)Shoot Lisandro

2)Shoot Rick Berman out of a canon (pun intended)

3)Profit!!

warning

[LiquidCoooled]

small MP3 players such as the iPod Shuffle into various objects

Goatse for the modern age?

Re:warning

[afstanton]

Frightening way to dispense candy...or listen to music...

As long as they keep making the candy!

[tquinlan]

...mmm... Pez... must have the Pez... almost like BRAINS... mmm... Pez... must have Pez! ;)

Re:As long as they keep making the candy!

[markhb]

MP3's. Cherry-flavored MP3's. No question about it.

nice idea but....

[Anonymous Luddite]

This would be really cool until my SO's toddler latched on to it. She just loves PEZ. Might end up in the outside, maybe the basement. Or maybe, she'd just hammer on it till 'candy' came out.

I think it's cool, but I I'll pass....

Re:nice idea but....

[ZephyrXero]

WARNING! Pez Mp3 player is not recomended for use by children under the age of 10...

Re:nice idea but....

[Anonymous Luddite]

>> WARNING! Pez Mp3 player is not recomended for use by children under the age of 10...

Yeah, A lot of things aren't recommended for children under 10. It seems to be their job to find and (if possible) destroy such things. IMHO, buying an MP3 player that looks like candy is just begging for it.

Re:nice idea but....

[pipingguy]

With devices becoming smaller and smaller, let's hope that the fart smeller crowd doesn't swallow all our high-priced toys.

I speak from experience as a dad - it's a good thing that kids are small and easy to pick up; otherwise they'd choke on things they find on the floor or tables.

Note to Creator: please make children smaller. Compare the size of what went in to the size of what eventually comes out.

Let me be the first to say...

[Comatose51]

SWEET!

Altoid tins are fun

[jcuervo]

They make good, cute little cases, when you insulate them -- they conduct.

Re:Altoid tins are fun

[iminplaya]

And you can put your weed [jt.org] in there!

Re:Altoid tins are fun

[Rebar]

Or you can just use the case as both a ground and somthing to solder to. Here's [wagoo.com] a picture of an audio amplifier for boosting weak headphone output to listenable levels for speakers. It sounds better with a couple altoids in it (not really, but maybe we can sell that to the audiophile community?)

It's one of a kind, that's for sure.

Here's the PezMP3 site

[objekt]

http://www.pezmp3.com/ [pezmp3.com]

Here's Google's cache of the PezMP3 site

[objekt]

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:lYzQjHN7eo8J: www.pezmp3.com/+&hl=en [64.233.167.104]

What Music Format Will It Play?

[MixmastaKooz]

I believe it's called: C6H12O6 A little soft on the bass, but the highs are very sweet!

Well, at least is satifies point #2.

[SuperKendall]

If any player ever had all the goodies [microsoft.com], this is it!

Flamebait?

[SuperKendall]

Looks like a certain list writer reads slashdot!

Now how can you be against an MP3 player with a removable head?

Re:Well, at least is satifies point #2.

[peasleer]

How was parent flamebait? Mod +1 funny!

In case the moderators just didn't get the joke: Microsoft released a list of things to look for when buying an MP3 player. It was on slashdot yesterday. Number 2 was "Make sure you're getting all the goodies."

PEZ? Goodies? Come on, mods.

Specs

[dannytaggart]

From the blog [pezmp3.com] of the guy who designed it:

# The first version will be 512mb.
# There will be six buttons along one of the skinny sides.
# There will be an LCD screen.
# The head will be removeable and compatible with existing PEZ heads.
# The first production run will be small and made in the USA.
# The first production run will be early summer.
# Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, USB 2.0, mounts as flash drive.
# No voice record, no FM tuner, no Bluetooth, no Janus (Napster to Go.)
# Will be sold direct to consumer from this website (may go into retail channels later.)

Re:Specs

[thundercatslair]

# No voice record, no FM tuner, no Bluetooth, no Janus (Napster to Go.)

When Janus is released what mp3 players will support it? Can an iPod play janus files? Or is mircosoft planning on releasing their own MP3 player?

Janus-compatible players

[dannytaggart]

I haven't looked into Janus much, but this ZDNet [com.com] article mentions that Dell, Creative, and Rio will be offering mp3 players supporting Janus. Some players that support it:

Creative Zen Portable Media Center
iRiver PMC-120
Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox (4GB)
iRiver H10 (5GB)
iRiver H320 (20GB)

Re:Specs

[Jeff DeMaagd]

A small production run and made in the USA sound like it could be expensive, unless they decide to make little to no money, or even take a small loss on the first run. That would help get them "out there" generating a buzz before they ramp up production from China for wider production.

Re:Specs

[OneDollarWilliam]

The planned price point will be $129 for the 512 mb. So it will be comparable to other players of that size other than the iPod Shuffle.

Re:Specs

[gad_zuki!]

# Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, USB 2.0, mounts as flash drive.

Gee, I'm not sure. No stopwatch?

Happy Birthday to You

[Doc Ruby]

He just doesn't realize that his inspiration was those diabolically annoying 1980s greeting cards with tinny, infinitely-repeating embedded greetings music. Curse you, PezSinger! Now every $25 object will be mewling 50 Cent music at us.

Minty MP3 Player

[Anonymous Coward]

Shame the makers of the minty mp3 player didn't patent it :]

Re:Minty MP3 Player

[ZephyrXero]

Patents! Gasp! ...you did NOT just use that word on Slashdot! lol...

*As a side note: Patents are fine for small independant inventors...it's just when corporations and whatnot get involved that it becomes inherently evil. ;)

Re:Minty MP3 Player

[linguae]

Shhhhh! Don't give them any ideas.

Right inspiration, wrong execution.

[Asprin]

What they should be doing is designing an MP3 player *insert* that's small enough to fit into the candy slot of existing dispensers. That way they could start selling dispensers again like ringtones or faceplates.

Candy as memory

[Anonymous Coward]

It would be cool if there were candy sized memory modules. You could plug 'em in and stuff to add more memory or swap out the contents.

A Pez dispenser is actually a little on the large size as far as MP3 players go.

Re:Candy as memory

[smoker2]

Or even, edible, candy sized memory modules, each containing 1 track.
then you could _eat_ Britney Spears !
Mmmm, britney .....

Real Inspiration

[Snap E Tom]

Maybe it was the USBPez [mousetoy.com] that really inspired him.

"trendy"

[Lord_Dweomer]

What I'm wondering is, in a market that is reaching the saturation point in terms of people owning at least one device capable of playing mp3s (ipod, cellphone, some other mp3 player), is there even a market for these little new gimmicky players? I mean, I guess if the price point is low enough it might make a good small gift or something. But I've always thought that once people start trying to sell a technology through branding instead of technology, that its a downhill road.

Re:"trendy"

[randallpowell]

Not all of us have an MP3 player. I can't find one that plays OGG Vorbis and I don't like the prices. They should be cheaper since they have been out for awhile. If the Pez MP3 player will be $129 and look like the American icon with exchangable heads, I'd get one.

Re:"trendy"

[N3WBI3]

check out the Neuros [neurosaudio.com]

Re:"trendy"

[rhizome]

Oh, don't be such a sourpuss. There's plenty of welcome room for music players as lifestyle accessories, as those who praise the iPod line while lamenting their prices attest. While it can be argued that people are closing themselves off on the street and in on the commuter train via the earphone barrier, history tells us that we've never needed a walkman in order to isolate ourselves among strangers. People in the US complain about the junky cellphones we have compared to people in Asia and Europe, and thi

Re:"trendy"

[OneDollarWilliam]

It's also important to point out that this isn't the PEZ corporation cashing in on digital music. This is just some guy who has been making mp3 players in his garage adapting them into something he thinks is pretty cool, and I have to agree. Also like randallpowell I don't have an mp3 player already, and want one that plays OGG. The gimmick of interchangeable PEZ heads is just a bonus.

Reminds me of college days

[Anonymous Coward]

One of my college buddies had an encounter with a couple of nice young men on bicycles wearing white shirts and ties. He suggested they could be replaced with a giant pez dispenser with an angel statue atop to dispense certain books. (I'm not sure how good it went over.)

How long

[wowbagger]

How long until somebody converts their iPod into a Pez dispenser? Or better still, a cell phone.

Just think - you could have:

• A cell phone that is a pistol.
• A pistol that is a ligher.
• A lighter that is a Pez dispenser.
• A Pez dispenser that is an MP3 player.
• An iPod that is a cell phone.

And thus the cycle is complete.

Just be careful when you hear your phone ring....

I'm Holding Out

[nutznboltz]

for an MP3 player the size of a peanut M&M.

Make sure you're getting all the goodies.

[amembleton]

Yes, but does it have a stopwatch?

Fallen rappers?

[RichardX]

Will you be able to listen to Eazy E on a fallen rapper Pez dispenser [centennialsociety.com]?

Re:Fallen rappers?

[ebrandsberg]

Now, I wonder if these mp3 players are also targeted to the 3-6 year old market they referenced when declining the idea.

STOLEN IDEA FROM HACKADAY!

[duguk]

"The designer of the Pez MP3 player says his inspiration was the Altoid tin can."

Riiiiight, so he didn't get it from

http://www.hackaday.com/entry/6336767343487544/ [hackaday.com]
or
http://crap.mousetoy.com/pez.html [mousetoy.com]

"this "hack" is making the rounds, so i wanted to get it up here. with usb drives getting smaller and cheaper, there's pretty much no end to where you could potentially put them. in this example, a pez dispenser. i'm pretty sure companies like pez may even be offering up these of their own soon with content on the drives along with that sweet sweet candy. post up other weird things that can or have been used a usb drive..."

Dug

Idea?

[t_allardyce]

"I bet the idea also ignites creativity in many who wonder how they could insert the guts of small MP3 players such as the iPod Shuffle into various objects."

I bet that idea will be realised fully in the near future when the only way to transfer mp3's and other files around will be by inserting them into your anus and hoping RIAA customs control doesnt hear when it starts playing Bob Dylan out of your ass..

Re:Idea?

[multipartmixed]

> hoping RIAA customs control doesnt hear when it starts playing Bob Dylan out of your ass..

Just make sure the first few tracks on your playlist are country music; that shouldn't draw any undue attention. After all, *any* asshole can play country music.

Vendor lock in

[lezerno]

I never liked pez because I am forced to only use their candy. What if they go out of business, then I would be stuck with a dispenser that couldn't use other candy.

Re:Vendor lock in

[nunchux]

Make a mold of a piece of Pez candy. Boil sugar, corn syrup and the appropriate flavor. Pour concoxtion into mold. Let it set. Voila, you're never a slave to the Pez overlords again.

For that matter, why pay upwards $1 for a candy dispenser when you can go to Fryes, buy all the parts and assemble your own for 67 cents?

Re:Vendor lock in

[fyoder]

I never liked pez because I am forced to only use their candy. What if they go out of business, then I would be stuck with a dispenser that couldn't use other candy.

Or if they went of business and you lost the dispenser, you couldn't get an open source one for the candy because it is extremely patent encumbered. See wikipedia for a list of pez patents [wikipedia.org].

I suppose one could just eat any left over candy without using a dispenser, but with pez that seems somehow very wrong.

Hacking Pez Dispensers

[chiapetofborg]

In my Physics class we were required to make a robot (simple was okay, it was part of the electroincs portion). We hacked a pez dispenser. No, we didn't put an MP3 player, but we took one of those electronic pez dispensers, and added a faster dispensing mechanism and it became a pez gun that shot the pez all the way across the room and left welts in those it hit. Those pez were prolly traveling at about 150 ft/s.

Don't give candy to kids

[mpupu]

Just great. Now wait 'till the kids start eating the batteries...

Huh?

[gstoddart]

I bet the idea also ignites creativity in many who wonder how they could insert the guts of small MP3 players such as the iPod Shuffle into various objects.

Really, how many people were thinking this? I realize people like to do case mods and boot Linux on everything and all.

But are there a bunch of people out there looking for odd places to put their iPod shuffle?

Well, I bought a pez dispenser today

[objekt]

And took it to the Apple store. After that and checking online for examples of gutting a Shuffle, I've concluded that it can't fit inside a Pez dispenser. The Shuffle is the perfect height once you replace the cap with a Pez head, and it's more than thin enough depth-wise, but it's too darn wide. It wouldn't look right.

Sweet Sweden

[Mad Man]

I don't believe it.

93 comments, and nobody has said

"Pez to Dispense Music, Instead of Swedes [slashdot.org]."

Malfunction?

[ebvwfbw]

Just think of the ideas. Get a Pez dispenser with Janet Jackson's head and get a MP3 malfunction! Lots of funny material here...

Re:Great...

[Temkin]

Echo.... echo...

Hmmmm... Note to self... Use Preview, and don't stutter while typing... :P

Re:BUT THE BEST PART...!!!

[jbarket]

Both you and the grandparent poster are apparently idiots.

The PSP supports Memorystick DUO cards. It *comes with* a 32MB card to be used only for *storing saved games*.

For a little over $100 (and I've seen them as low as 70$ on zipzoomfly), you can get a 1GB DUO card that will... shockingly... hold 1GB.

Using pspvideo9, I was able to encode all of Napolean Dynamite in fairly good quality at right around 200mb. So, you're talking 4 full length movies in a 1GB card, or 1GB of mp3s.

As far as rebuying your D

Re:BUT THE BEST PART...!!!

[Nyder]

wah, wah, wah.

and if the psp came out able to play dvd's, you'd bitch about it being too big.

But since it's a consumers market, you get to show your opinion by not buying it. So go buy your nintendo DS, and bitch later about how all the games on the PSP look and play much better.

Personally, I like that the PSP takes memory sticks. I think it's a great idea. mainly since memory sticks can be used in a whole bunch of different stuff, unlike the DS game carts that are only usuable in the DS.

(if the DS h