Tablets are officially too cool for school. LeapFrog, which specializes in electronics that help kids learn, announced today that it will open preorders for the LeapPad, a tablet for kids, on June 29. Priced at $99.99, the kid’s tablet promises to offer a number of learning activities for kids ages 4 and up, complete with an app store that will allow the lil’ rascals to download new programs for $7.50 (or more).
The tablet has a 5-inch resistive touchscreen with a stylus, which displays at a low resolution of 480×272. Most newer smartphones, for comparison have 4.3-inch screens with resolutions around 960×540. The tablet also comes with a built-in VGA camera (less than 1MP, but equal to a Nintendo 3DS), an accelerometer, and a game cartridge slot so it can play LeapFrog’s catalog of handheld children’s games.
Do your kids need a tablet? Probably not. Most adults don’t actually own one yet and, iPad aside, it is unknown how much lasting power they will have. Still, they are cool and kids want to play with what’s cool. With some Kindergarten classrooms beginning to incorporate iPads into the school curriculum, LeapFrog may be onto something here. Time will tell.
To order your own LeapPad and win your child’s affection for the day (or until they see a friend with a real tablet), head on over to LeapFrog’s website.
