{"id":10081,"date":"2015-12-27T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-27T17:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/kid-tablets-grow-up-as-competition-increases\/"},"modified":"2015-12-27T09:00:52","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T17:00:52","slug":"kid-tablets-grow-up-as-competition-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/kid-tablets-grow-up-as-competition-increases\/","title":{"rendered":"Kid tablets ‘grow up’ as competition increases"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2014 Kiddie tablets have grown up.<\/p>\n

Tablets designed just for kids are getting more sophisticated as they face increased competition from regular tablets. The new products also have better screens, speedier chips and fashionably slim bodies. They let older children do more, yet hold their hands until they\u2019re ready for unsupervised access.<\/p>\n

Although many of the tablets were originally conceived as educational toys for kids as old as middle schoolers, they\u2019ve been more popular with younger children. Older kids have been apt to reject them in favor of their parents\u2019 tablet or smartphone.<\/p>\n

That shift has prompted companies to focus more on preschoolers and kindergarteners, as they create super-durable products that can withstand repeated abuse and develop games and apps that teach reading and math.<\/p>\n

But now, some of those companies are looking to take back some of the sales to older kids that they\u2019ve lost over the years, offering premium products \u2014 most with price tags of over $100 \u2014 that look and perform less like toys and more like the ones adults use.<\/p>\n

LeapFrog, maker of the toy-like LeapPad, released its first Android tablet this year. And Kurio is branching out to Windows 10 and includes a full version of Microsoft Office in a new tablet-laptop combination.<\/p>\n

The use of Android and Windows software, in place of the more basic, custom-made systems used in toy tablets, allows for more sophisticated apps and games and a range of content from standard app stores.<\/p>\n

Monica Brown, LeapFrog\u2019s vice president for product marketing, said the company aimed to \u201ccreate something that was kind of sleek and more tech forward for kids who were looking for something that felt like their parents\u2019 tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n

But parents still want educational content and safety features that come with a tablet designed purely for kids. LeapFrog\u2019s Epic, along with the other new tablets for kids, are attempts to bridge that gap.<\/p>\n

The Epic looks like a regular Android tablet, but comes with a removable bright-green bumper. It is much faster than a LeapPad and can run versions of popular Android games such as \u201cFruit Ninja\u201d and \u201cDoodle Jump.\u201d There\u2019s access to the Internet, but it\u2019s limited to about 10,000 kid-safe websites (though parents can add others). Parents can also limit and track how much time a child spends watching videos, playing games or reading.<\/p>\n

Lynn Schofield Clark, a professor of media studies at the University of Denver, said kids tablets are a tough sell these days.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are always aspirational in their ages, and they\u2019re always interested in what older kids are doing,\u201d Clark said, pointing to the fascination that many preteens have with smartphones as a prime example.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, most parents won\u2019t spend money on kids-only gadgets unless they believe they offer significant educational benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re just looking for something to entertain their kid, then why wouldn\u2019t they just hand over their smartphone?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Kurio aims to answer that question with the Smart, a device that let kids do things they previously might have needed their parents\u2019 laptop for, such as typing up and saving their homework online or playing video on their TV through an HDMI cable. The Smart is a Windows 10 laptop with a detachable screen and comes with a free year of Microsoft Office.<\/p>\n

Eric Levin, Kurio\u2019s strategic director, said kids using children\u2019s tablets are getting younger, as older kids gravitate toward adult products. Four years ago, he said, most Kurio users ranged from ages 6 to 12. Now, half of them are 3 to 5.<\/p>\n

Although older kids may be ready for adult tablets, the shift has left those 8 to 12 without age-appropriate devices, Levin says. The Smart tries to fix that.<\/p>\n

Other makers of kids tablets have also gone high-end this year. Fuhu bills the Nabi Elev-8 as a premium, 8-inch tablet. But the company ran into financial problems early in the holiday season, and its products have been tough to find.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, adult tablets remain popular with kids.<\/p>\n

Amazon touts its Fire tablet as something the entire family can use, eliminating the need to buy something just for the kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I appreciate that might have led other companies to adjust their products, we\u2019re upping our game based on what customers want in the best kid experience,\u201d said Aaron Bromberg, senior manager of product management for Amazon Devices.<\/p>\n

The tablet\u2019s FreeTime app lets parents set up profiles for each kid, with access to only the content they approve. It also lets parents limit the amount of time spent on different kinds of content such as videos or apps. For an additional fee, Amazon\u2019s FreeTime Unlimited service offers more than 10,000 books, apps, games and videos geared toward kids ages 3 to 10.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Amazon is selling a kids\u2019 edition tablet for $100. It\u2019s essentially Amazon\u2019s bare-bones $50 Fire tablet packaged with a colorful protective bumper and a year\u2019s subscription to FreeTime Unlimited.<\/p>\n

It also comes with a two-year guarantee: If your kid breaks it, Amazon will replace it.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Bree Fowler at https:\/\/twitter.com\/APBreeFowler. Her work can be found at http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/author\/bree-fowler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Kiddie tablets have grown up. Tablets designed just for kids are getting more sophisticated as they face increased competition from regular tablets. The new products<\/a> also have better screens, speedier chips and fashionably slim bodies. They let older children do more, yet hold their hands until they\u2019re ready for unsupervised access. Although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":10082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10081"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}