News Corp. readies Amplify Tablet for schools
The company's tablet will come with a 10-inch display, run on Android, and be sold to schools educating children in grades K-12.
News Corp. might be known for its range of news outlets, but the company today has unveiled a tablet as well.
At the SXSWedu event in Austin, Texas, today, Amplify, the recently launched education arm of News Corp., unveiled a new tablet. Appropriately named the Amplify Tablet, the device will run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and come with a 10-inch display. The device, which is running on the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, is designed for children in grades kindergarten through 12 and comes bundled with all kinds of Amplify software designed to improve the learning experience.
According to The New York Times, Amplify started testing its tablet late last year. Today's introduction will officially kick off the wider sale of the device. The Amplify Tablet will start at $300 and come preloaded with training materials and customer care from former teachers.
Since not all students can afford Wi-Fi in the home, schools could purchase the Amplify Tablet Plus, which comes with 4G LTE connectivity. That option costs $349. Amplify is selling a two-year subscription to its materials for $99 per year for the cheaper model and $179 per year for the more expensive version.
Amplify was officially launched in July. At that time, News Corp said the division would deliver digital products and services to children in grades kindergarten through 12. More specifically, the division's charge is to analyze educational success through digital products and create new digital curricula for students.
In its announcement in July, Amplify confirmed that it was launching a tablet. The company didn't provide many details but said the device would run on AT&T's network.
Amplify is selling its tablet to customers starting now. Tablets purchased before June 30 will be ready for the 2013-2014 school year.