LeapPad Explorer

According to LeapFrog, the LeapPad incorporates the following:

• Breadth of Learning: Includes the largest-ever learning library at launch with 100+ learning games, videos, e-Books, flash cards, and more, featuring kid’s favorite characters; also compatible with the entire existing Leapster Explorer library
• Education: Curriculum covers everything from spelling, phonics skills and mathematics to creativity, science, music, and geography; complete with a stylus that allows kids to practice writing
• Creativity: First kids tablet to include a built-in camera, video recorder, microphone, and animation studio
• Personalization: Automatically adjusts experiences according to child’s individual level, so kids learn at their own pace
• Engagement: Tilt-sensor for gaming and 5″ color touch screen create an interactive experience putting kids in the middle of the action
• Durability: LeapPad Explorer is designed for little hands and can withstand roughhousing, despite it’s slim build and sleek lines

As with all LeapFrog devices, the LeapPad is geared toward learning through interaction. Animated games and stories make learning fun, while the camera and video recording features encourage creativity. Additionally, this device is connected to the LeapFrog Learning Path, allowing parents to monitor progress and to identify where their children need help.

The new LeapPad will be available in summer 2011 for an MSRP of $99.99. Additional game cartridges will sell for an MSRP of $24.99 with downloadable applications and games at MSRP $7.50.

“We asked parents what they look for in online experiences for their children,” said Craig Hendrickson, senior vice president and chief product officer, “and parents said safety, fun, and education. In response, we are excited to launch LeapWorld, an online space that not only addresses these three criteria, but also sets a new standard for the innovative, personalized play that is possible only in the combined online and offline experiences LeapFrog offers.”

Using their Leapster2 hand held devices, children can earn tokens that they can use to create a character and build their own home online in LeapWorld. Then, as they explore the world and customize their space, children can play games that emphasize math, reading and science as well as social and life skills. The games automatically adapt to challenge children according to their individual skill levels.

The free Learning Path software allows parents to monitor progress and see what their children are learning both on the Leapster2 and in LeapWorld. Even more parent-friendly is the fact that LeapWorld and it’s web-based games and activities are available at no cost to Leapster2 owners.

LeapFrog Enterprises announced its Leapster Explorer Learning Experience device. Designed for kids ages four to nine, it features a high-resolution touch screen display, downloadable applications, a click-in camera accessory, and 3D graphics.

The Leapster Explorer is the most powerful gameplay device the company has offered to date. When the device launches in July it will offer 12 cartridge games and 18 Leapster Learning Apps; by the end of this year, LeapFrog said it will offer more than 40 total.

The games offer a variety of learning experiences; Disney-Pixar Toy Story 3 helps literacy skill-building, Wolverine and the X-Men helps children practice phonics, and Disney Fairies and The Penguins of Madagascar help build mathematics skills.

The Leapster Explorer can be connected to LeapWorld, LeapFrog’s online learning playground only accessible through the LeapFrog Connect Application. Parents will be able to use the LeapFrog Learning Path, where they can see what their children are learning.

The Leapster supports downloadable Leaplet Learning Apps, e-books, and video playback. Children can even create and take care of their own personal pet.

Availability
The LeapFrog Explorer Learning Experience will be available on July 15 from major retailers for MSRP $69.99 in green or pink. Cartridge games are $24.99; a two-pack of Leaplet Learning App download cards are MSRP $14.99.

Leapster Explorer Webpage

LeapFrog has not officially announced the product, but company investors got the scoop from CEO Jeffrey Katz who confirmed that the Explorer will be on market shelves “around the first of July.”

The design of the camera is true to LeapFrog’s standards, it looks almost exactly like their Leapster2 portable gaming machine. The exterior is textured a bit, so it feels good in the in hand, and is grippy too, so it’s less likely to slip out of a child’s grasp. To get started parents will need to add the batteries, but after that, kids are good on their own.

The camera features four buttons, all of which our test kids figured out either on their own, or with a little coaching. But largely kids were able to operate the camera independently, which is nice.

When taking shots kids can either use the display, or the viewfinder. The camera is fixed focus, the manual recommends trying to take pictures at a distance of 5 feet. Of course this is virtually impossible to manage with kids. The screen displays the number of shots remaining and the battery status, so kids get an honest replica of what an adult camera feels like, which is a nice touch. There’s also a flash, with indicator, that can be turned to auto or off. This sounds like a small thing, but the last several cameras we’ve seen have offered no such controls.

Another great thing which can be turned off are most of the sound effects. While it’s fun that the camera encourages kids with statements like “Great Shot,” when your child runs around the house and rattles off 100 in a row, it gets a little old. We did notice though that the muting isn’t remembered after you turn the camera off and back on.

The other adjustment is resolution. There are three settings that let you control shot resolution. The highest setting is 1600×1280, though it goes down to 640×480 if you’re more concerned about the number of pictures the camera can hold. The camera saves it’s photos to 8MB of internal memory. There is a serious issue here though, the memory is RAM, which means that when the camera loses power, the photos are gone. So parents need to copy the pictures to a computer before changing batteries and before the batteries die. I’m not entirely sure why Sakar went this route, but it’s not kid friendly.

Aside form taking photos, kids can view their photos in slideshow mode on the camera’s screen. It’s also possible to delete photos in this mode to get rid of shots that kids don’t want.

Once the photos get transferred to the computer, kids can go to work with editing software that lets them do the basics like crop and resize. There’s also a bunch of overlays they can add and games to play. The software is pretty well done and could probably stand on its own as a first photo editor for kids. It’s definitely a highlight of this package.

In the end though, it’s all about photo quality. While most kid’s camera companies don’t want to hear this, our test kids always want to see their photos afterward. 9 times out of 10 they’re disappointed because kid’s cameras do such a bad job of taking even decent pictures.

In this case, there are two issues. First, there’s substantial shutter lag, so from the button press to the photo taking, there’s a delay, meaning you’ll get a lot of blurry pictures as kids move around in the time it takes for the photo to take. Here’s an example of what happens:

Of our test shots, 60-70% had the blur effect. In this shot it looks like the dog has a halo around her body. It’s not horrible here, but know that it happens more than half the time. The second common issue is poor low-light operations, as can be seen here:

You can see from the dog’s eyes that the flash was used, but the flash doesn’t have enough power to illuminate the target area, yielding a bad picture. This is a typical low-light shot.

That’s not to say it’s all bad. Outside with reasonable light, the camera is capable of decent shots. Not that you’d expect print-worthiness out of a 2.1 megapixel sensor, but kids can get pictures they’re proud of.

Bottom Line

With an MSRP of $49.99, we’re again stuck in a spot where we think a used digital camera comes out ahead of the kid’s version. This one may be more durable, but if you have kids that want decent photos, we haven’t seen a camera for kids yet that lives up to that expectation. In fact, one of our testers, a six year-old boy, took five shots then gave me the camera back saying, “I don’t want to use this camera – it takes blurry fuzzballs.”

The camera looks good, is easy to use and comes with a nice desktop software package, but falls short in photo quality. If you’re looking for something simple to get kids used to digital photography, this is probably a fine solution.

Rating – 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Zippity Box

Overview

With an MSRP of $79.99, the Zippity Learning System was designed as a full-body gaming system for preschoolers, incorporating the familiar characters from Disney.  Children stand on an interactive mat and are instructed to dance, jump and march by friends from Mickey Mouse Cluhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny, and Little Einsteins.  Some of the games also incorporate the “bopper,” a tummy-high joystick that users can move left, right, forward and back as they play.

Zippity Mat and Console

The designers of the system incorporated several forward-thinking features into the Zippity.  First, they used wireless technology, so while there is a small console that plugs into a television, there is no wire connecting to the mat which could trip up an excited small child.  Second, there are eight games pre-loaded on the unit, and, while they are very basic, each game has two levels of difficulty so there is enough variety to please most preschoolers.  Third, there are additional games that can be purchased and even stored in slots on the console.  Fourth the system ties into LeapFrog’s Learning Path, an online tool that parents can use to track a child’s learning on a variety of LeapFrog toys.

Zippity Console

Testing

I sat with several children in the targeted age range (3 to 5) while they played with the Zippity, and this is what I saw:

• The testers were very excited to see the colorful mat, familiar characters, and were intrigued by the bopper.
• The children needed assistance in getting through the start-up and beginning the games.
• The games themselves were fun and easy to follow.
• Some of the testers got bored with the simplicity of the included games after about 15 minutes, though we didn’t see that with the additional game packs.
• Kids loved the Disney characters and the fact that additional games packs feature the their favorites like Disney Princesses or Lightning McQueen for instance.

Upside

There are several positive features of the Zippity Learning System including:

• The system is very easy to set up and incorporates wireless technology.
• The mat is foldable, and the bopper can be detached for easy storage.
• The bopper is padded to reduce the risk of injury.
• There is storage for additional games built into the console.
• The characters featured are fun and familiar to children.
• The games encourage big muscle movement and cover memory skills, numbers, mathematics, shapes, letters, language skills, colors, music, art, culture, problem-solving skills, Spanish, and vocabulary.
• The Zippity links into the LeapFrog Learning Path.

Downside

Some things to consider before purchasing the Zippity are:

• The price — at $79.99 (plus additional software packs), this seems a high price to pay for a piece of technology that is designed to last for only a 3 years window for my child.
• Startup — there were a fair number of screens through which users needed to navigate before they could start playing.   I didn’t mind doing that during the initial setup, but it would take a while for a small child to learn to work through all of the screens unless they could read. As a result, the system requires a high level of parental interaction, which may or may not be an issue.

Of Note

It’s worth pointing out that the bopper on the first system I received from LeapFrog was extremely sensitive.  Children could not control the bopper and were quickly frustrated.  However, after contacting LeapFrog, they said this was not an issue that had been reported before, and they quickly sent me a new system to review.  The new bopper was MUCH better and proved to be a big hit with the testers.

In a Nutshell

The Zippity is a nice starter system for preschool children.  The cost gives me pause considering how long a child would use it, but all of the testers had fun with it and in the end the Zippity gets the kids moving while they learn. There’s a lot to like about that. Further the depth of content makes this fun for both boys and girls.

Editor’s Rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice

FlashQuiz provides two main ways to play:

• Flash Cards: Kids quiz themselves in math, science or social studies with nearly 1,000 flash cards based on text books commonly used in each grade. Using the multitouch interface, kids swipe through the stack as fast as they can, tapping each card to reveal the answer.
• Quizzes: Kids can select a quiz on the topic area they wish to study. Then, they’ll swipe through the answers until to find the right one. FlashQuiz tracks how kids do, so they can always try to beat their top scores.

There are three versions of the game, each runs $1.99:

FlashQuiz – Grades 3-4
Kids can test their knowledge with nearly 1,000 flash cards or compete to better their scores as they twist their minds around more than 1,500 quiz questions based on leading 3rd and 4th grade text books. Spans subjects including life cycles to states of matter; the Civil War to Reconstruction.

FlashQuiz – Grade 5
Kids can compete against family and friends, or play to better their scores as they twist their mind around more than 4,000 quiz questions based on leading 5th grade text books. Covers subjects from geometry to algebra; electric currents to vertebrates.

FlashQuiz – Grades 6-8
Kids can compete against family and friends, or play to better their scores as they twist their mind around more than 9,000 quiz questions based on leading middle school text books. Includes various topics from graphs to algebraic expressions; the American Revolution to Ancient Greece.

Tag Junior works just like its bigger brother, just with a more grabbable form factor and less accuracy required. The technology is the same concept though, books are designed for the reader with special ink that can be read by an optical sensor at the base of the Tag Junior. Depending on what part of the book gets tapped by the child, Tag Junior will respond accordingly. If the child places the reader on text for instance, Tag Junior will start reading that page. Placing the reader on animals and other objects on the page will yield different reactions that are contextual.

Out of the box, the reader comes with one cardboard book, If I Were. Without wasting much time, parents can add two AAA batteries and be off and running. There are several additional books out already and LeapFrog will be adding more. But each book’s audio has to be downloaded to Tag Junior before it will work. This process is accomplished through the LeapFrog Connect software, which is a great piece of software.

Download the Connect software and connect the Tag Junior via included USB cable to get started. Once a child’s profile is created the Junior can be associated to that profile and performance tracked and reported back to parents. This is also where parents will download additional books (up to 5 at a time) and device updates. The Junior also does something the bigger brother does not, it lets parents select their child’s name from a database of thousands. When the Junior powers on, it then greats your child by name, which is a nice touch and something they started with the Scout plush line.

In terms of usability, the chunky design is perfect for those in the target age range of 2-4. Even little guys can grip the reader and mash it on the pages with ease. There’s a lot going on too. Kids can tap on the words to hear the story, or sort of freestyle and hit objects on the page. The responses are fun and varried, sometimes kids will get a short tune, games, silly sounds or sound effects. There’s certainly enough there for kids in the 2-4 group, but we also found kids a little older having fun with the reader. This is also a great activity for an older brother or sister to work on with a youngster.

Once again LeapFrog has done a great job. Tag Junior is a well-made product that’s well worth the initial investment of $35. Additional books run about $10, but they’re hard cardboard and very durable. For the entertainment value kids will get out of the books when combined with the reader, the value works out to be pretty good. Parents will love being able to track learning progress via LeapFrog Connect too, the level of detail provided by LeapFrog is the best in the industry. Our only complaint is the limited memory capacity means that once you buy several books, you have to manage which audio files are on the reader. If only LeapFrog could add more memory or a memory card reader, we’d have very little to complain about. Even so, Tag Junior is a worthy buy, kids and parents will see plenty of value.

4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice

LeapFrog’s Text and Learn has three modes of play; letter mode, game mode and pretend Internet mode. In letter mode kids press a letter and it comes in the screen with a pronunciation and animation using a word that starts with that letter. Game mode offers two games for kids to choose from. The first has Scout the dog in the bubble bath. As bubbles with letters appear, kids have to pop them by pressing the letter on the keyboard. In the second game, lost puppy, kids use shape recognition to help Scout find his way home. In the pretend Internet mode, kids can see Scout’s schedule, listen to a song or pretend text with Scout.

We had several kids take a crack at the Text and Learn and most had fun just mashing the letters and watching the animations or listening to the music. It took a little more parental intervention to try to get the kids actually paying attention to the letters and sounds. The latter isn’t really a problem though, it’s nice to have an easy resource to just pick up and work with until your kids get tired and want to move on to something else.

One of the other highlights is the  fact that this is a QWERTY keyboard, just like a computer or smartphone. While it might be confusing for kids to see the letters in this order at first, the earlier they’re exposed to this the better as far as we’re concerned.

Text and Learn doesn’t leverage LeapFrog’s Connect service to track usage and learning, and is actually a bit limited in functionality, but for a suggested retail of $22, it’s hard to complain very much. We view it as an easy to pick up (and put down) device that helps kids with letters while starting them on a keyboard format that will continue to be around for a very long time. Plus it lets kids feel big, by being able to emulate Mom or Dad replying to emails.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Game Play

Getting started is very simple.  You choose the character (one of three cute characters) that you’d like to start the game with and you get brought up to speed with the storyline.  All the faeries in Faerie City are cursed by the evil villian, Quizara.  The gates of Faerie City are closed, but the brave Neopets have taken up the challenge to cure the faeries and get them to safety in Faerie Haven.  Once all the faeries are cured, the gates to the city will open and the Neopets can defeat the Question Curse at its source.

Your character starts in Faerie Haven, and at the beginning, it’s pretty empty, but you’ll find places where your befriended petpets will hang out and where you can place decorations that you collect.  This is also where the rescued faeries hang out until you’ve taken care of Quizara.  Once you’re ready to start, you just head through a magic portal and view the world map.  At the beginning, there’s only one place that you can explore – Meridell.  Once you’ve explored more, there are other areas available to you.  Each area consists of one or more sections that can be explored.

Once you’ve entered the area to explore, there are little containers, that look like acorns, that can be opened to find food items, magic items, or items to decorate Faerie Haven.  There are also other characters in the world that will take to you and some may have mini-quests for you – which usually consist of finding a particular item.  During your explorations, you will come upon “petpets”, who will want to play a game with you.  If you play with them, you’re then presented with one of the learning exercises.  If you complete it successfully, the petpet follows you back to Faerie Haven.   You will also encounter cursed faeries, and if you possess the right kind of magic, you can attempt to cure them.  You can use magic or an item to cure the faerie.  If you use magic, this is another type of learning exercise.  Complete it successfully, and you cast your magic on the faerie to cure it.   Once cured, the faeries hang out in Faerie Haven.

Exploring Neopia	Playing with a petpet
Game to save faerie	Success! Casting healing magic

The educational games within the game are easy to figure out how to accomplish and the first time you do a particular type, you get directions.  You can also use the left shoulder button to hear instructions again.  Most of the educational games involve picking the right word or letters to finish a sentence correctly.  Other games have you work on picking the subject in a given sentence.  They range from fill in the blank (like curing the faerie above) to moving your character to grab the right word, to a more active game where you cast a magic spell to hit the right word (see below).  Questions will adjust to your child’s success rate – if they answer all the questions easily, the questions will increase in difficulty more quickly.

Hit the right word with a magic spell

The controls are extremely easy to use.  Really, the only controls you need while exploring are the directional pad for movement, and the “A” button to interact with containers, other characters and with faeries.  The “B” button is used to access several screens like status (your character’s happiness level, magic level and experience leve), inventory, the area map, a list of badges and bitz, and a quest journal.

The Home button on the Didj gives you a menu to go back to Faerie Haven, view the world map, quit game, modify sound effects and music and change the inventory styles.

Customizations

During the game, you’ll encounter golden pedestals, which block access to a Secret Space.  In order to move these pedestals, you need to spend accumulated Bitz (using the Leapfrog Connect software).  Other customizations include inventory styles and menu styles which just modify the look and feel of the inventory screens and menus.

Customizations

Unlock Secret Spaces

Bottom Line

Neopets is a cute, entertaining, and not-at-all-intimidating game.  I hear that it’s actually the favorite game in the playgroup that my wife and son frequent.  The game is absolutely simple to get started with, with some in-game instruction filling in some of the finer details.  The learning content is perfectly set for the advertised age group (7-10 year olds) and the question difficulty adapts to your child’s success in completing the learning exercises.  Customizations are almost crucial to the game – you can’t get into those Secret Spaces without spending those Bitz and there are even virtual prizes that can be claimed if you set up an account on the neopets.com website.

4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice