News Corp’s Amplify intros education tablet

This is reportedly the first tablet specifically designed for teaching and learning; it comes with pre-loaded educational content and allows parents and teachers to monitor the progress of pupils

Ivan Zhekov, Published 03/08/2013

The education unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, Amplify, has announced a new Android-based tablet PC, which is reportedly specifically designed for teaching and learning. According to a report from the New York Times, the mobile device will be officially unveiled at The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals that will take place between March 8 -17 in Austin, TX, USA.

Joel Klein, Amplify’s CEO was quoted as saying: "We want to transform the way teachers teach and students learn," … "Technology has revolutionized the world, but not the classroom. Our hope is that this tablet will help change that."

The device comes with pre-installed Amplify education software, educational games and apps including Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Encyclopedia Britannica, Project Noah and more. Furthermore, the system allows teachers (and parents) to monitor the progress of pupils and their activities during school.

Amplify’s rugged tablet for K-12 schoolchildren runs on an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system and offers a 10-inch touchscreen display, 5MP inbuilt camera, Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and up to 8.5 hours of battery life.

Schools will apparently be able to choose between a standard package (Wi-Fi tablet for $299 + $99/year subscription) or a Plus package that includes a 4G LTE-enabled slate PC that complemented by a $179/per year subscription. Check out the demo video below for more information.