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Apple executives may not lose too much sleep over this latest threat to their current iPod-led market dominance, but Disney is hopeful of carving out their own particular kid-shaped niche.

The new players, dubbed Disney Mix Sticks, will be aimed squarely at children and feature 128MB of storage for MP3 files, reports Reuters.

Interestingly,

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the storage will be available via a memory card, with 1GB cards also being sold.

Available in the US to start with - priced at $49.99 (approximately £28) - the devices should be on Disney's online store in mid-October, whether it is the Forever Princess or Sassy Pixie versions that take your fancy.

It is not Disney's first foray into the magical world of high-tech, as last year it shipped its first desktop PC - Disney launches its first computer for kids - with the Mickey Mouse ears being a bit of a give away.

More seriously, it was the competitiveness of the MP3 player market, and its resultant declining margins, that saw the recent exit of Rio, the company that started it all - MP3 player pioneer Rio goes into liquidation. In with the new and out with the old, it seems.

Other new entrants to the market have included the Dell DJ Ditty, the Sony Bean and, of course, the new iPod nano. All within the last month or so.