Jeff Campbell
06-14-2010, 05:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/technology/14translate.html?partner=rss&emc=rss' target='_blank'>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/t...ner=rss&emc=rss</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Best Buy is giving away a cellphone application intended to get audiences to use their phones during movies. The free app, Best Buy Movie Mode, is being released in connection with Universal Pictures for the July 9 release of "Despicable Me," an animated 3-D movie in which an aspiring supervillain named Gru inherits three little girls."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1276516388.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>The little guys pictured above, from the movie <a href="http://www.despicable.me/" target="_blank">Despicable Me</a>, are called "Minionators,", basically henchmen for the "hero" of this animated film. They speak in gibberish so if you want to translate what they are saying, you pull out your iPhone and start the app from Best Buy to translate the gibberish into English. It also has tie-ins to Best Buy so it tells you were stores are located as well as where the movie is currently playing in your area. Lest you get upset that this will lead to a flurry of glowing iPhones that will interrupt your movie watching experience, the app is supposed to dim the screen and turn off the ringer, although it will allow normal phone functions to continue. This will only work when the film is displayed in "Movie Mode," so it won't be at every showing. I normally find glowing phones during movies a distraction and an annoyance, but since this is a kids movie, and there will be plenty of distractions throughout the movie anyway, I don't really have a problem with it. What are your thoughts?</p>