"We've been working on this exciting new technology that really provides the physical world and the application and the tablet world," said Jeff Jones, vice president and general manager of digital games for the European division of Disney. "They have a capacitive fingerprint, so that when put on the tablet, it is recognized that the toy is, where is located and in what direction it is pointing in."

Children drive the cars around the virtual world of Radiator Springs pressing the two front windows with thumb and finger to complete the driving circuit. They can explore, go through movie characters of cars to talk and get assignments and take part in races. Buying more toy cars in the world opens up new areas, while additional levels also will be announced in the coming months, bought by the father through Apple's implementation of the system of payments.

Jones said that Disney plans to use the technology to other products Appmates and applications in the future. "The first product launch is with cars, but this could work with a wide range of our characters and stories," he says.

Appmates' October launch is for North America and the UK, with other European countries to follow once the app has been fully localised.

Andrew Woolnough, creative director of Disney's European children, outdoor and consumer electronics division, says the application is deliberately more open than a normal game. "It's an open, more like a virtual world in a linear track," he says. "Children can explore this world and then make decisions about what to do. It is also more like a traditional toy play mat that respect."

Disney is not the only company exploring this kind of peripherals. In early 2011, Griffin Technology released Crayola ColorStudio HD, iPad free drawing for children with his own pen £ 24.99 as an accessory. As with the application of Appmates Cars, ColorStudio HD could be used without having to buy the peripheral, if the parents objected to the costs.

Disney cars are likely to sell well this Christmas, think of all the parents have hanging around iPhone-Apple stores. Having a physical product of a famous film franchise in the real world stores Disney also gives an advantage in a time of discovery in the App Store is a problem for many developers, and even the big brands.

The potential downside? Cars are necessarily small, and from parents that enables them to stay in the house of a friend lost in the depths of a box of toys thrown out of a car window by a mischievous child. Although it could be said of many toys, app-related or not.

Appmates is Disney's latest initiative applications, following the publication of a series of games, applications and other applications books for children. Not all brands based on their either. IOS original Game Where is my water? headed the list of the App Store worldwide.

"We have a split strategy," says Jones. "We are working with these great characters and franchises that we have, but we are also looking for apps and games to be a source of new franchises that can work across Disney. There is a two-way path from digital games to the rest of the business."