 "From Appstar to Classpad: Tablets for kids and where to buy them")
Tablets and computers are so much a part of our day to day lives, that many children learn to navigate touchscreen phones, computers and tablets even before they begin to read. (Remember this video of the baby who is frustrated with the magazine that won’t do anything when she touches it?)
The babies of today who star in our YouTube videos and feature on our Facebook feeds truly are the digital generation, and their involvement with technology is only going to deepen as they grow older and devices and networks become more complex and advanced.
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Representational image: Reuters[/caption]
In other words, no, you can’t keep the kids away from the computer. Lets face it. The tablet is the new TV.
Which is probably why a number of companies are releasing tablets aimed at young children. Most of these have interactive, educational programmes and apps, and can be pretty powerful and hardy so they can be good buys. It will also help if your child is particularly destructive and you want to keep them away from your own devices (yeah good luck with that).
With that in mind, we take a look at some of the children’s tablets that are available in India. The only thing to keep in mind is that almost all of these cost about as much as a regular Android based tablet, so you may want to just buy a ‘cheap’ tablet and preload it with kids apps rather than go for a specialised kids device.
* The latest entrant to India’s ‘kids’ tablet market is the Binatone appstar, which is an Android based device aimed at children aged four and above.
The tablet comes with preloaded games, educational apps, art studios, e-books, audio-books, music player and camera with video recorder. It has a 7-inch capacitative touch screen and comes with a special cover that protects it from physical damage when dropped from table height. The tablet has Wi-Fi connectivity and a battery back of up of 4 hours.
The device is available for Rs 9,999. ( Read more )
* The LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer is also a popular children’s device available on most online websites.
This is a 5 inch device which comes preloaded with a Music App, Art Studio App, Pet Writing App and Story Studio App. You can also Tilt and Shake for Motion-based Play (think Temple Run type games). In addition to this, the device has both front and back cameras, a video recorders, and 4GB Memory.
It costs Rs 10,999 on Flipkart .
* The Swipe Junior tablet is also an Android based tablet which runs on version 4.1 (Jelly Bean).
Features include a 7 inch LED backlight touchscreen display with a 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, built-in Wi-Fi access, 3G dongle via USB and a 2MP rear camera and a 0.3MP front camera. The tablet allows parents to block games while keeping educational apps active. Another unique feature of the device is Usage Track Report which gives charts and information about the usage pattern on a minute-to-minute basis.
The device costs Rs 5,999 on Homeshop 18
* The Classpadis also aimed at children, albeit older ones and is being positioned as a learning aide for both students and teachers in secondary level schooling. This device runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and comes in both a 7-inch and 8-inch variant. Other features include preloaded educational apps by way oflearning modules, tests, ebooks, and some games. It has 8GB memory (expandable to 32 GB via micro SD card), a USB part and 0.2 MP front facing camera.
It is available for Rs 8,500 (7 inch) and Rs 12,000 (8 inch)