The Mouse Gets Mobile.

Disney CEO Bob Iger’s strategic vision for The Walt Disney Company includes a specific nod to the current technological times we’re in right now. By setting a vision for “fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology” within the Company, Iger hopes that Disney can ride the wave of the effects that today’s tech brings in spreading and keep their stories accessible to all.

Last Friday, Disney held its first technology-centered media event that was very similar to an Apple Keynote. Iger played Steve Jobs and lead the presentation that revealed at how Disney and each of their segments are readying their surfboards for that wave. Iger opened with sharing a story of his good friend Steve Jobs and a conversation they had about putting Disney films and shows on the then new iPod Video. That conversation ultimately turned into reality with Disney’s content available in the iTunes Store, but little did they know that it would forever change the industry.

Iger then proceeded to invite executives from each of their business segments to show off how each of them are creating mobile versions of their current products and services to serve the increasing desire to connect whenever and wherever. The offerings that were announced included:

• Disney Infinity Mobile v. 2.0, the mobile app version of the hit platform game rebuilt for faster gameplay and better graphics (launching this holiday season)

• ESPN’s new mobile-optimized website will feature more focused content and personalization options, plus new SportsCenter app (launching this holiday season)

• Maker Studios unveils new easy-to-use web system that allows their video creators to create mobile apps to host their content

• Additionally, Disney/ABC TV reported that viewing on their Watch ABC family of apps has risen 29% in the previous year.

• Disney also announced a new initiative called Imagicademy, that will serve as the filler of “a gap in the mobile marketplace when it comes to learning.” (More details to come in the near future)

And all this was promised to be just the beginning. “In the last four or five years — I think about it as the digital-mobile era — we’ve seen breathtaking changes to just about every corner of our business,” Iger said. Expect that next four or five years to be a time that the Mouse becomes fully mobile in ways that will be magical as much as the Company is itself.

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What do you think of Disney’s shift to focusing on mobile content? Would you use your electronic devices a lot more now? Comment and share your thoughts in the comments!