Concord-based Isabella Products, maker of the VizitMe wireless digital photo frame, and Boston-based publishing powerhouse Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have partnered in launching the worlds first wireless children’s tablet — the Fable. This is the second partnership in the past week announced between two Boston-based companies – both of which are in the mobile space, one of Boston’s sweet spots.
Isabella Products’ founder named the company after his daughter, now in kindergarten, and the Fable is genesis of his experiences with her growing up from the onset in a digital world. Having to always keep content-centric devices like iPad and iPod on a bit of lock-down, the Fable is built especially for young children (think durability, simplicity, privacy).
The touch-screen tablet will run a customized version of the Android operating system, and according to Isabella will be available in mid 2011 at a price point between $149 and $179. It will allow children to read, draw, game and share content over mobile data networks.
Houghton Mifflin is the Fable’s anchor content partner, and will allow the device to come pre-loaded from its large collection of famous children’s content. Parents and kids can then purchase additional content right from the device or online from $0.99 to $3.99 in addition to the Fable’s monthly subscription fee. Isabella Products will be announcing more content partners soon, and noted to BostInno that the many publishing resources here in New England will be critical to its success. The revenue share between Isabella Products and publishers is being determined on a per-publisher basis.
The Fable will be the second product in Isabella Products’ portfolio after their Vizit frame. And while still in design phase, Isabella told BostInno that the Fable will replicate much of the Vizit in terms of hardware, software and interface. For example, the content placed on the Fable will be managed through a content management portal also used by the Vizit, whereby parents are offered full control over the device and its connectivity.
Founder Matthew Growney offered, “Isabella is creating another truly innovative experience intended this time for our littlest and youngest digital consumers. At a time when mobile broadband has become a staple of family communications, we believe Fable will not only allow children to enjoy world-class literary content, but also give them a safe and secure place to create their own content (art, drawings, photos) and share with family, friends, and even classmates.”
Follow Isabella Products on Twitter and Facebook for more Fable updates.
