Children’s tablets ‘grow up’

Associated Press

NEW YORK

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 also have better screens, speedier chips and fashionably slim bodies. They let older children do more, yet hold their hands until they’re ready for unsupervised access.

Although many of the tablets were originally conceived as educational toys for kids as old as middle-schoolers, they’ve been more popular with younger children. Older kids have been apt to reject them in favor of their parents’ tablet or smartphone.

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.

But now, some of those companies are looking to take back some of the sales to older kids that they’ve lost over the years, offering premium products – most with price tags of over $100 – that look and perform less like toys and more like the ones adults use.

LeapFrog, maker of the toylike 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.

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.

Monica Brown, LeapFrog’s vice president for product marketing, said the company aimed to “create something that was kind of sleek and more tech forward for kids who were looking for something that felt like their parents’ tablet.”

But parents still want educational content and safety features that come with a tablet designed purely for kids.