Metis Learning Launches Eddy Tablet for Kids in Partnership With Intel

California-based chip-maker Intel and Metis Learning Tuesday launched a tablet for children aged 2-10. Priced at Rs. 9,999, the tablet will have launch discounts and offers worth Rs. 4,500 for a limited time. The tablet is exclusively available at Amazon.in for a month, before being made available via offline retail stores.

"The technology landscape is changing in India. Tablets can be used as a learning tool. The kids tablet Eddy, combines an ideal balance of performance and battery life coupled with strong learning content to provide an innovative and exciting solution for kids," Sandeep Arora, Intel South Asia director, marketing, said.

Bharat Gulia, co-founder of Metis Learning Solutions, told IANS the company has done a pilot project for the tablet with 500 children.

"We have spent 2 to 3 years creating this and building solution. It is very important to give kids something that is engaging. These years of their lives are the best potential years," he said.

The Eddy tablet is powered by an Intel Atom Z2520 SoC (2 cores, 4 threads, 1.2GHz, 1MB cache), and runs Android 4.2.2 with an Athena OS skin designed with children's learning in mind, and built-in parental control features. It comes with a scratch-proof and impact resistant 7-inch IPS display with a UV-ray protective layer to make it safer for kids' eyes. The tablet has 16GB of built-in storage that can be expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB).

It comes preloaded with over 160 learning apps selected by educators and experts to accelerate a child's social, emotional and cognitive development.

Studies indicate that children in India spend an average of two hours daily watching television and are now increasingly spending a lot of time playing games on parent's smartphones1. With parents having increasing concerns about the content on TV/ smartphones being violent and having poor educational value, Eddy provides a responsible and safe technology alternative for introducing kids to the digital age. It is targeted at children aged 2-10, because these are the most critical learning years for a child which impact future success.

On the sideline of this announcement, Mr. Sandeep Arora, Director, Marketing and Market Development, Intel South Asia said, "Today we live in an era where children are exposed to technology from their early years through the inevitable presence of multiple screens in their lives. When used efficiently and effectively technology truly be a wonderful part of a child's life. The Eddy powered by the Intel Atom processor combines an ideal balance of performance and battery life coupled with strong learning content to provide an innovative and exciting solution for kids."

Mr. Bharat Gulia and Ms Chanpreet Arora, Co-founders of Metis Learning Solutions added, "As parents, we wanted to develop a product that can leverage the tremendous power of technology to help children learn better. Eddy achieves this and also provides a responsible solution which parents can trust."

"We are happy to be the partner of choice for Intel & Metis and offer our customers the opportunity to be the first to purchase the Eddy tablet. We are witnessing a significant demand for children's products on Amazon.in and we see this as a great opportunity to offer customers across India the ease, convenience & joy of shopping for a great product that promises to make learning fun for kids," said Samir Kumar, Director Category Management, Amazon India.

The size of the tablet market in India is 4 million and of that 10 percent is the children's tablet market. "We are trying to tie-up with schools and pre-schools for this tablet. Especially pre-schools are showing a lot of interest," Gulia said.

Metis Learning Solutions in January launched the rugged Eddy tablet, once again running on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and featuring a 7-inch display.