Coming in October 2013 to your Toy R Us store, the second edition of the Tabeo e2 (spelled all lower case, as “tabeo e2, ” $150, www.tabeo.com) with a faster processor, twice the internal memory, HDMI out, and a larger clearer 8 inch screen.
WHAT IT MEANS: Last year’s tabeo did not compare well to the other Android tablets, when comparing such things as screen quality and app selection. Toys R Us clearly wants (and needs) to be a player in the digital content business, using this better tablet as the Trojan Horse – a way to get an app/music/book/movie store into your child’s playroom. There is no mention of compatibility to Google Play or other mainstream app stores. In addition to the Android-based tablet, TRU is releasing a line of new Tabeo-branded peripherals (a kareoke machine, headphones and bluetooth speakers) pictured below. Images supplied by Toys R Us PR.
Here are the facts at a glance; the full text of the press release is below.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi plus a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor, based around Android Jelly Bean 4.2
Two cameras, front and back
Microphone and stereo speakers
Accelerometers for motion sensing
Rechargeable batteries (“5 hours”)
Three colors (blue, pink or silver)
Larger screen (8 inches vs. 7 inches)
High-impact screen protection.
Available exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at tabeo.com beginning in October for $149.99.
Micro USB cable and one specially designed charging pin to charge from a computer or wall outlet.
8GB of onboard storage (2x more than last year), expandable to 64GB through a micro SDHC slot.
Mini HDMI port, for watching movies on a TV. This requires a special HDMI cable.
“Improved parental controls” to manage apps, set time and date limits for specific app use and filture up to 27 content categories.
Installed apps include Need for Speed Most Wanted, Bejeweled 2, The Game of Life, Temple Run 2 and Fruit Ninja, Little Pim and interactive books from iStoryBooks, Operation Math and Crayola DigiTools Effects, Cartoon Network, WWE, Paper Camera, My Little Pony and Kidobi. In addition, A Toys“R”Us App Guide for Differently-Abled Kids includes 25 free apps have been selected with the help of Wynsum Arts (www.wynsumarts.com). These include Swapsies – Occupations, PicSay – Photo Editor, Learning Letters for Kids and Cookie Dunk Jump.
Accessories include headphones, an iHome docking station, various cases, a car adapter, an adjustable headset and The Singing Machine, an app that provides access to parent-approved songs and lyrics that comes bundled with a wired microphone, two microphone jacks and speakers, echo and balance control and Bluetooth streaming.
Tabeo e2 Silver
THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE WAS RELEASED FROM TOYS “R” US (TEXT UNALTERED).
TOYS“R”US® ANNOUNCES tabeo™ e2 – THE NEXT GENERATION OF ITS HIT TABLET JUST FOR KIDS
Design is Bigger, Better and Faster, Featuring 30 Preloaded Apps, Enhanced Parental Controls and More
tabeo™ e2, Plus Ecosystem of Branded Accessories, Available in Toys“R”Us Stores and Online at tabeo.com in October
WAYNE, NJ (September 10, 2013) – Toys“R”Us® today announced that next month it will debut tabeo™ e2, the next generation of its popular Wi-Fi Android™ tablet for kids that launched during the 2012 holiday season. Designed by the kids authority, the upgraded, 8-inch, multi-touch screen tablet is bigger, better and faster than the original tabeo and still provides content kids love and safety features parents desire. tabeoe2 offers access to thousands of free apps in the tabeo App store and comes preloaded with dozens of premium apps carefully selected to entertain and educate children ages 6 to 11. Featuring enhanced technology, such as the Android Jelly Bean 4.2 operating system, Bluetooth™ and a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor for faster performance, tabeoe2 also includes improved parental controls and high-impact screen protection. tabeoe2 will be available in three colors exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at tabeo.com beginning in October for $149.99.
“From the day tabeo arrived in Toys“R”Us stores nearly one year ago, we were incredibly pleased by the response from our customers who were excited to bring home a sophisticated, yet affordable, kid-safe tablet for the whole family to enjoy,” said Richard Barry, Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer, Toys“R”Us, Inc. “We are committed to continually evolving our products, and over the past year have spent considerable time talking to parents and children to help us enhance their tabeo experience. The result is tabeo e2, which features a bigger screen, better resolution and faster performance, plus quality, kid-friendly content and flexible controls to keep kids safe online. We are delighted to deliver this new and improved tablet to our valued customers just in time for the upcoming holiday season.”
A Bigger, Better and Faster Tablet Experience for Kids
Designed to provide users with an even more compelling tablet experience, tabeo e2 has been engineered specifically for kids of the digital generation. The larger 8-inch multi-touch screen displays more than 16 million colors with an advanced 1024 x 768 pixel screen resolution. That, combined with a faster dual-core 1.0 GHz processor and quad-core graphics processing unit (GPU), lets users switch between browsing the Internet, watching movies and playing games with ease, speed and clarity. tabeo e2 is also Bluetooth enabled, allowing it to work with all Bluetooth wireless speakers and accessories.
tabeoe2will be available in a blue, pink or clear protective case that has been custom-made to shield the tablet when dropped from low heights or when bumped into other objects. While maintaining the device’s sleek profile, this removable hard case with rubberized siding frames the front and back of the tablet, guarding the four corners surrounding the display. Every tabeo e2 also comes complete with one micro USB cable and one specially designed charging pin to ensure easy connection to a computer or wall outlet for charging.
Additionally, storage space has doubled to 8GB on tabeo e2, providing families with ample space to store the thousands of free apps available through the tabeo App Store. Also available through the app store, parents can easily load must-have programs, including the Toys“R”Us Movies app where thousands of family-friendly movies and TV shows are available for streaming and download directly on tabeo e2. For users looking to store even more content, including photos, videos, movies and more, the tablet’s memory is expandable up to 64GB through a micro SDHC slot. Families can also enjoy content that’s been downloaded on their device right on their home TVs by using the mini HDMI™ output on tabeo e2.
Advanced Safety Features
To help keep kids safe online, Toys“R”Us has developed an upgraded suite of customizable parental controls especially for tabeo e2. New application management tools allow adults to see when new apps are installed, block unwanted apps from running until approved and set time and date limits for specific app use.
Additionally, parents can limit children’s time online and take advantage of the unique filtering system to block up to 27 content categories and specific sites deemed inappropriate by the device administrator.
Kid-Friendly, Premium Content
Designed to engage, entertain, educate and excite kids, tabeo e2 offers an entire suite of content right out of the box. With an assortment of 30 pre-installed apps, kids can immediately begin to use the device for gaming, entertaining, learning and more. Each premium app included on tabeo e2 provides users with high-end content and was carefully selected by the tabeo team to ensure that it is kid-friendly, safe and fun, including:
Games: More than 10 games, including Need for Speed™ Most Wanted, Bejeweled® 2, The Game of Life™, Temple Run 2 and Fruit Ninja, tabeo e2 provides users guaranteed fun with these and more of today’s most popular titles.
Education and Creativity: From language learning with Little Pim® and interactive books from IStoryBooks, to learning basic math through a global adventure with Operation Math™ and expressing creativity through Crayola DigiTools™Effects, parents will find several apps to educate children in the areas of math, science and more.
Entertainment: Families looking for fun content that will allow kids to enjoy immersive experiences with their favorite brands and characters on tabeo e2 can find an app for just that, including, Cartoon Network™, WWE, Paper Camera, My Little Pony® and Kidobi®, among others.
Special Needs: Parents looking for popular, kid-favorite apps that can help children with special needs learn and develop specific skills need look no further than the Toys“R”Us App Guide for Differently-Abled Kids. Using the skills criteria featured in the company’s annual Toys“R”Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids, 25 free apps have been selected with the help of Wynsum Arts, a social enterprise dedicated to making app discovery and mobile technology accessible to children of all abilities. This quick reference tool includes apps such as Swapsies – Occupations, PicSay – Photo Editor, Learning Letters for Kids and Cookie Dunk Jump, among many others, that are available for download in the tabeo App Store.
Customer Service: To ensure that tabeoe2 owners receive dedicated, 24-hour tabeo customer service for any questions they might have, Toys“R”Us has included a preloaded customer service chat app on the device, which allows parents to quickly and easily chat with representatives directly on the tablet itself when connected to WiFi. A tabeo-specific customer service line is also available at 1-888-477-0888 to provide further assistance.
An Ecosystem of tabeo e2 Accessories
A suite of more than 15 tabeo-branded accessories will launch this fall to coincide with the debut of tabeoe2. Stylish cases, high-quality speakers, colorful headphones, cables, bumpers and more, will be available at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com. Following is a sampling of the accessories, which range in price from $9.99 to $69.99:
DJ Headphones
iHome Docking Station
Tablet Cases
Car Adapter
Adjustable Headset
In addition, kids can transform tabeo e2 into a full karaoke experience with tabeoke from The Singing Machine®. To get the party started, little singers can dock their tabeo e2 to the device to access preloaded and parent-approved songs and lyrics via the preloaded tabeoke app. Each tabeoke includes a wired microphone with two microphone jacks and speakers, echo and balance control as well as Bluetooth streaming.
Inside tabeo e2
Additional information about this kid-friendly tablet will be released on tabeo.com in the coming weeks, including a full list of preloaded apps, safety features and details.
Storage
Flash memory: 8 GB*
Expandable via micro SDHC slot up to 64 GB
Operating system
Android™ Jelly Bean 4.2
CPU
Dual-core 1.0 GHz
Quad-core GPU
RAM
1GB
Display
8” capacitive multi-touch screen 16 million colors
1024 x 768 pixels
Video playback
H.264 up to 1080p resolution – 30 fps
MPEG-4 – 30 fps
The device can play video files with the following extensions:
.avi, .mp4, mkv, .mov, and .flv
Audio Playback1
MP3, WAV, APE, OGG, FLAC
Photo viewer2
JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG
Computer interface
Micro USB
Audio jack 3.5mm
Micro SD slot (SDHC compatible) up to 64 GB
Mini HDMI
Communication protocols
WiFi
Bluetooth™
Miscellaneous
Dual-facing camera
Built-in speaker
Microphone
G-sensor
Power Source
5V 2A
Battery Life
5 hours of continuous video use
Dimensions & weight
202x160x10mm / 440gr
Compatibility
Microsoft® Windows® 7, Vista, XP, or higher and Windows Media Player 11
Mac OS. X with Transfer Files application (not included)
Linux with Android MTP tool (not included)
Computer interface
USB 2.0 interface
Package includes
tabeo™ e2, protective case, power supply, USB cable, start-up guide, warranty booklet
High-res images of tabeo e2 and the ecosystem of matching accessories are available at https://toysrus.sharefile.com/d/s8a9f655a6304b1d8.
About Toys“R”Us, Inc.
Toys“R”Us, Inc. is the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer, offering a differentiated shopping experience through its family of brands. Merchandise is sold in 877 Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and in more than 660 international stores and over 165 licensed stores in 35 countries and jurisdictions. In addition, it exclusively operates the legendary FAO Schwarz brand and sells extraordinary toys in the brand’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. With its strong portfolio of e-commerce sites including Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com and FAO.com, it provides shoppers with a broad online selection of distinctive toy and baby products. Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, Toys“R”Us, Inc. employs approximately 70,000 associates annually worldwide. The company is committed to serving its communities as a caring and reputable neighbor through programs dedicated to keeping kids safe and helping them in times of need. Additional information about Toys“R”Us, Inc. can be found on Toysrusinc.com. Follow Toys“R”Us, Babies“R”Us and FAO Schwarz on Facebook at Facebook.com/Toysrus, Facebook.com/Babiesrus and Facebook.com/FAO and on Twitter at Twitter.com/Toysrus and Twitter.com/Babiesrus.
*1GB= 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity is less.
1/ Certain bitrates, resolutions, and/or file variations may not be compatible.
2/ Certain resolutions and file sizes may not be compatible.