Save the Date: 2014 International CES

Tuesday, January 7 – Friday, January 10

Welcome to Kids @ Play, the best place on earth to get smart — fast — on how technology is shaping how today’s kids learn and play.

Here are the headlines.

• Tablets for Kids. One year ago you saw some of the very first contenders unveiled, right here last year. This year they’re in stores, and they come with names that could have come from a Star Wars script. There’s the Meep, Nabi, MG, Vinci, Kurio, Fable, Lexipad to name a few; and each is eager to grab even a tiny fraction of the iPad’s huge success.  This battle is for keeps. Toy, media and hardware companies all know that a child’s tablet is just a $150 or so down-payment on a future in content sales; a fact that other big players like Microsoft (Surface), Google (Nexus) and Amazon (Kindle) also understand. The takeaway? 2013 will be key in the tablet wars.

• Is it a Video Game or an App? This new tablet surge is bad news for the video game industry but Nintendo says “we’re not dead yet.” Just as Microsoft’s Kinect opened new play pipelines two years ago, the Wii U taps the potential of two-screen co-op play, backed by an impressive lineup of games. Our 2013 KAPi Award jurors were impressed by the potential in 2013 for whole-body TV which was featured by Microsoft’s Kinect.

•  The long awaited “pedagogical renaissance” is here! What’s that, you ask? It means adept digital tutors for the masses, and it could have significant cultural implications as the current generation of children begins to tap it’s potential. This is hardly a new idea. BF Skinner claimed his Teaching Machine could teach every child in 1958; and Patrick Suppes, a Stanford philosopher, predicted in 1966, ”In a few more years, millions of schoolchildren will have access to what Philip of Macedon’s son Alexander enjoyed as a royal prerogative: the personal services of a tutor as well informed and as responsive as Aristotle.” What’s different now? YouTube EDU, iTunes U, TED talks, Google, the Khan academy, running in your pocket on $100 devices. And, for the first time, I can find you hundreds of quality one-dollar Android or Apple apps that can guide a child through the rudiments of just about any new concept. Today, we’re fortunate to be able to explore this concept with one of the legends, Nolen Bushnell.

•  A quick glance into my Android 4.0 powered, gorilla glass multi-touch crystal ball tells me that we’re due for an incredible morning.  I’d like to especially thank my friend and colleague Robin Raskin for believing that kids are the time at CES. Without her support, Kids at Play, and the KAPi prize wouldn’t exist. Finally, let’s remember throughout the day why we’re doing this… it’s all about the kids.

Sincerely,

Warren Buckleitner
KAPi Coordinator

Watch videos from 2012  year’s conference videos

Check out  2012  KAPi awards  KAPi Awards winners

 To check out our  sponsors sponsor’s product launches

Celebrate our 2013 KAPi winners

Visit  FashionWare (http://fashionwareshow.com)

And to let us know how we can best work together next year, as the world of Kids@Play continues to evolve. We look forward to your ideas, your input and your presence in our community over the coming months. 

For more info about the 2014 exhibit or conference, contact lindan@dcdmc.com