LeapFrog announced on Monday the latest iteration of its kid-friendly learning tablet, the LeapPad Ultra. The device will be released on July 17 in the US, Canada and the UK and will retail at $150.
The new LeapPad boasts several improvements over its predecessors, such as Wi-Fi, augmented parental controls, proprietary children's apps and games that feature characters from Disney-Pixar films. A kid-safe browser has also been added and Wi-Fi allows parents to sync new content directly to their child's tablet.
"LeapPad Ultra has been designed to offer a safe and age-appropriate experience vetted by LeapFrog's in-house learning experts," said John Barbour, chief executive officer at LeapFrog. "Children can explore and play on their own while parents feel confident that their children are learning and engaging in a kid-safe environment with games, activities, videos and more designed just for them."
While the LeapPad Ultra is in many ways superior to the company's previous offerings, it will still be instantly familiar to anyone who has used a LeapFrog device in the past. The overall rugged look is still there, and like the LeapReader, it comes with a stylus.
Also like previous LeapPads, the Ultra's primary value proposition is its proprietary content, which the company says helps many students absorb concepts that might be more difficult to understand in a traditional classroom environment.
"Every child learns at a different pace which is why it is so important for children to receive personalized instruction in addition to what they receive in the classroom," said Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos, leader of LeapFrog's Learning Team. "Whether they are immersed in peer-to-peer play or exploring a create-your-own-adventure app, our content delivers life-changing learning experiences to support future academic and life success."
The LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra has a 7-inch display and a resolution of 1,024 x 600. It features both front and rear cameras and 8GB of internal storage space. The company bills the device as "the ultimate kids learning tablet," although Engadget, which scored an early hands-on, reports that the sentiment might be a little biased.
