UPDATE: 'Despicable Me' app will decipher the minions
Posted Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 3:54 PM Central
Last updated Monday, July 12, 2010 at 3:22 PM Central
by John Couture
It seems that I've been the one living in a cave recently. This weekend, Universal will release the highly anticipated and super-hyped animated film Despicable Me. At the same time, Best Buy is debuting a new smart phone app that it is dubbing the "Best Buy Movie Mode" app.
The general gist of the app is that you fire it up when the movie starts and it automatically silences your phone, but it will vibrate when it's time to follow on with the events on the screen. The first test of the technology will happen with the minions from Despicable Me.
During the end credits, the minions will apparently converse in their native gibberish that will leave the uninitiated left scratching their heads. But, for those in the know, the Movie Mode app will translate what the minions are saying and display their speech on your phone's screen. While the app will only work during the closing credits in theaters, it will also allegedly translate the minion-speak throughout the movie on the eventual Blu-ray disc.
This brings up an interesting discussion. Is this simply just a gimmick or an interesting first foray into a worthwhile technology? The use of cell phones in movies theaters is generally thought of to be gauche in most circles, but will this app help to marry movies with smart phones?
Personally, I'm anxious to see how it works and I'll chime back in after our screening on Saturday morning. While, I'm hoping for the best, I have a feeling that this could be a major tech FAIL. What do you say about it? Is this the latest great technological advance or simply another waste of time and energy that will only distract those audience members around you further?
Below, you can catch the ad that Best Buy is currently running in support of the app. It is available on iPhones and Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones. Best Buy hopes to use this app for future releases should the "Minionator" take off.
Despicable Me hits theaters this Friday.
UPDATE: It appears that the little app isn't working as planned with all the various devices. In particular, in our screening it seemed that the iPhones weren't working (including mine...boo!), while the other approved devices functioned correctly.
This is the greatest risk of new technology like this, the potential for failure. I know I was personally disappointed as I was hoping to impress a certain someone with my technology prowess. Oh well, talk about your epic FAILs!
What about you? Were you able to get the app to work, and if so on what devices?