The Future of Toddler Tablets: VINCI Tab Hands-On [CES 2012]
Towards the end of 2011 we previewed a few toddler tablets including the VINCI Tab. Here at CES 2012 VINCI stands out with their latest social learning. Not only have they added new applications to their learning curriculum but have a new more affordable tablet in the works.
Our last review had some great details on the overall specs and concept of what the VINCI Tab provides but now we have actual hands on video that really shows the backbone of what this product has to offer.
CURRENT
As most of us know the VINCI Tab comes with 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen display, 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, 512MB of RAM and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. One feature that is NOT included is WiFi but from the company standpoint, this is only to protect the children from what content they are viewing. In this context of a tablet and being a parent myself, I 100% agree with their decision.
FUTURE
The future of VINCI is sure to stay ahead of the competition. This year they have a new concept of helping children learn socially by adding their new line of social gaming for multiple children at once.
The simple idea is to connect multiple VINCI devices together on one network to allow each device to connect to the host device and provide access to the game which allows the game interaction.
One downfall at CES is poor WiFi and unfortunately we were hit with a clogged network and could not see the new social games (currently three offered by VINCI) working with multiple devices. Their new smaller device they will be offering is still in early pre-production and the unit you see in the video is just to demonstrate the social applications. We will be sure to get our hands on the actual devices and do a in-depth look at how the software works and interacts with children.
LOWER COST
As we stated in the video, the new VINCI device, right now known as the VINCI dBlock, is smaller but more affordable. I think this will be a huge impact on how many units ship in the upcoming months. The physical design will be almost exactly the same as in type of screen, number of ports, and processing power but will be half the size of the current. One other physical feature that has been modified in the design is the red handle that surrounds the device: the smaller unit that will be offered later this year will include the same red rubber-like safety feature but will have a bumper that is directly connected to the edge of the device and not a handle like the design of the current VINCI tab.
EDIT
As the current VINCI Tab does not have WiFi (stated in past press releases and in the current product specs), the new VINCI dBlock will include WiFi to allow for the social gaming connectivity. I stated I do like how they did not include this as a standard which is intended to protect what content is on the device but I do feel that VINCI will include a parental control option so parents can lock the device down. Having WiFi doesn’t necessarily mean the device will be connected to the internet either but we will have to wait and see how their final implementation of connectivity is integrated to each device.
Dr. Dan Yang stated that the larger 7 inch VINCI Tab will be able to connect with the new VINCI dBlock devices so I would suspect this will be an addition that will be added to update the current product line. We will keep a close eye on this as they release more information so please check back once we get our hands on actual production devices to test.
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OVERVIEW
Most of the VINCI’s complaints are price related. I feel the new smaller VINCI device with its under 200 dollar price range will not only increase the amount of units sold but will put a competitive edge on the toddler tablet market in general. I personally am very excited to get hands on with multiple devices to test out this new social way of learning.
Stay tuned for our next hands-on video once we receive test units of actual production hardware as we will cover the new specs and software and look into what third-parties are jumping on creating new social learning content.