Tabeo Tablet From Toys “R” Us Gives Parents A Lot Of Control

Toys “R” Us unveiled a new tablet device geared specifically towards kids today. It’s called the Tabeo, and comes with nearly 20 games, learning apps, storybooks, and other kid-friendly entertainment apps. There are 50 free apps pre-installed. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The device comes with safety features and parental controls, obviously. Kids can browse the Internet, but there is a full suite of customizable parent controls. Parents can set tailored levels of security for up to eight, so kids of different ages can all use it without too having more restrictions than parents deem appropriate.

The Tabeo has its own filter, which can be set to block 27 predetermined categories of content, and parents can choose additional sites to block as well. They can also select specific online content to unblock. Kids can actually send requests to their parents to unblock sites if they come across something they want to check out.

Parents, if they so choose, can even limit their child’s online time, by setting Tabeo to allow access only on certain days or during certain hours. If kids bypass the default browser, parents will get email alerts to notify them that their child may be browsing unfiltered content.

“Over the past year, we’ve spent considerable time talking to parents and children to determine what features and functions they really want in a kids’ tablet, resulting in tabeo,” said Troy Peterson, VP, Divisional Merchandise Manager at Toys “R” Us, U.S.

“We are proud that tabeo offers robust and flexible parental controls that can help protect children as they surf the Internet, and we are pleased to offer the tabeo App Store, which features only kid-safe content carefully curated by the Toys “R” Us team,” he added.

Here’s a look at the specs:

The tablet comes with a green bumper to protect it from drops, as well as a USB cable and USB power adaptor. Toys “R” Us is also launching a suite of accessories, including different colored bumpers, cases, docks, and cables.

The Tabeo will be released on October 21, and will sell for $149.99. It’s currently available for pre-order at Tabeo.com and ToysRUs.com.