DreamWorks is set to launch its own Android tablet for kids called the Dreamtab. It will be partnering up with the Nabi 2 Disney tablet creator, Fuhu, to create the specialized 8-inch tablets. Reports from the New York Times suggest the device will hit store shelves at the sub $300 price point.
The Dreamtab will come along with exclusive content based on DreamWorks characters, that will be updated and refreshed on a regular basis. Unlike the long (and unfortunately growing) list of poor movie to app adaptations developed by third party companies, the DreamWorks Dreamtab content will be produced in-house.
For example, Nancy Bernstein (a DreamWorks animation producer) will be producing several "character moments" which will come in the way of various on-tablet events and short movies. In one, Shrek and friends act out a skit showing the child how to turn off the tablet with respect to parental timing locks.
There will also be a drawing tutorial app for kids, with instruction from DreamWorks animators. Reports say the DreamTab will boast a similar technology and stylus DreamWorks animators use, although we are still waiting for confirmation on what exactly that means. We could also see DreamWorks try its hand with a toy figurine/game tie-in product line similar to Disney Infinity and Skylanders, a growing market the company is yet to capitalize on.
The device can be set to something called parent mode, at which time it is capable of roughly the "same computing power as an iPad," according to Fuhu and DreamWorks.
Dreamtab is scheduled for this spring along with a host of add-on accessories like headphones and cases. Reports also say DreamWorks could have a 12-inch version in development as well.