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back to article News Corp challenges iPad with $299 education tablet

News Corporation is getting into the fondleslab business via its educational arm, Amplify, with a cheap Android slab aimed at schools. "We want to transform the way teachers teach and students learn," said Amplify CEO Joel Klein in a statement. "Technology has revolutionized the world, but not the classroom. Our hope is that …

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  1. Don Jefe
    Meh

    Who?

    Who thinks this shit up? Will all the educational material deny evolution too? Maybe it'll have a little stock ticker as well.

    6 2
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Childcatcher

    we teach, you decide.. what to learn

    I can see it now. It'll power up with a Fox logo and the words 'fair and balanced teaching' .. Followed by a brief introduction to faith based science and a snap quiz on how to spot an illegal immigrant.

    18 3
    1. Rampant Spaniel
      Reply Icon

      Re: we teach, you decide.. what to learn

      This bothers me the most. Fox is not a news outlet, it is the media wing of the republican army. Msnbc is no better, they're virtually all biased to one extreme or another.

      Kids need to be given facts and taught and encouraged to draw their own conclusions. BS propaganda from either end of the political spectrum has no place in education outside of a study of Germany in the '40's.

      10 0
      1. Elmer Phud
        Reply Icon
        Alert

        Re: we teach, you decide.. what to learn

        ""We want to transform the way teachers teach and students learn,""

        Be afraid, be very afraid.

        8 0
      2. cortland
        Reply Icon
        Thumb Down

        Re: we teach, you decide.. what to learn

        Michigan will make them mandatory, then.

        0 0
  3. Mark 65

    Cost

    "At launch, the Wi-Fi tablet will cost $299, plus $99 a year for a minimum of two years for access to the tablet's contents."

    So it'll cost $497 then?

    13 1
    1. Shagbag
      Reply Icon

      No, it's free.

      You just have to sign up to a 2-year contract of 3 payments: 1 x $299 + 2 x $99. The device itself is free - just like in a smartphone contract.

      2 0
  4. Dana W
    FAIL

    So, a "cheap" Android Tablet that costs more than and iPad mini "including its subscribed content" ALSO more than a Nexus 7 and you pay yearly license for "special" content. Oh yeah, THAT will end well.

    17 2
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      It will

      sell like hot cakes.

      School's have a long and distinguished history of having their pants pulled down over IT.

      2 0
  5. Franklin
    FAIL

    How much extra do you have to pay to remove the automated phone tap built into the gizmo...you know, so that News Corp reporters have access in case you become newsworthy?

    4 1
    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Big Brother

      "How much extra do you have to pay to remove the automated phone tap built into the gizmo...you know, so that News Corp reporters have access in case you become newsworthy?"

      Now now, you know that was nothing to do with News Corp.

      "Excesses of subordinates...." "...I was not in full possession of the facts..." "....News of the World has been shut down..." "We are co-operating fully with the police investigation..." etc.

      The Boy Murdoch was never charged with anything. His reputation status remains "Teflon".

      I thought I'd just include a shot of Jimbo's dad as well.

      1 0
    2. Rampant Spaniel
      Reply Icon

      That might constitute unlocking your phone which is practically terrorism!!

      No doubt it will soon be cheaper, sponsored by ads and games from such outstanding organisations as the NRA. I can just imagine the 1st person shooter where you single handedly take on an entire fictional islamic army commanded by ohhhbammah then use bon jovi's sub to capture the enigma machine thereby winning the Korean war. All part of next weeks test.

      I can't see the otherlot being much better, it would probably be some hypermiling your prius simulator where you save bunnies for every mpg you get over a f150.

      2 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    Microsoft Android tax ..

    What's News Corporation position on the Microsoft Android tax ..

    0 0
  7. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    News Corp....

    I'd buy their newspapers, if there was a printer on the wall, and the output was on toilet paper....

    Is Rupert Murdock dead yet?

    I don't care, just curious.

    4 0
  8. Natalie Gritpants
    FAIL

    Stiff competetion

    They are up against educationcity.com which runs on all those computers that the schools already have and is probably very cheap for schools. Personal copies are about £30 per year or two so the educational license is going to be much less.

    2 0
  9. MrXavia
    FAIL

    $99 contract?

    Massive fail on the educational front...

    Schools would want to pay once for things, maybe a per seat license, but not $99 a tablet for 2 years....

    0 0
    1. Lamont Cranston
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      Re: $99 contract?

      Schools seem to love signing up to bullshit IT contracts. There are some signs that they might finally be waking up, but it'll be a long while before no-one thinks that forking out taxpayer money for old rope is a good idea.

      0 0
  10. plrndl
    Devil

    All Of Your Dollars Are Belong To Us

    Get 'em young, and tax then before the government does.

    1 0
  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Propoganda

    Maybe a Zionist propoganda to capture the hearts and minds of young kids, so they remain true to the cause and believe everything mentioned therein and by the right wing army?

    Scary.

    3 2
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Epaper subs

    Can anyone tell me whats the latest scenario on his Esubs for Murdoch Epapers ?

    Would make interesting reading. IS the project still ongoing?

    0 0
  13. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
    Joke

    I can't wait...

    ...to see that's on page 3 of each publication.

    Teacher: Now children, today's lesson is geography, who can tell me; are those Bulgarian fun bags or not?

    1 0

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  15. M Gale

    Meanwhile, in Tesco...

    Android based, though for some reason they put "Monarch OS" on the front page of the site. Looks suitable though, mostly because of the thick rubber casing. Bounce proof? Essential.

    0 0
  16. dssf

    As in the cartoon Gulliver's Travels, with that Lilliputian who murmured

    As in the cartoon Gulliver's Travels, with that Lilliputian who murmured

    "It'll nhevurh wwwerkkk, nhevhuuurrrr"

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/07/facebook_unicorn_helps_graph_search/

    Fb will let people build their news and edu-feeds and the kids will just use tablets subsided by mommy and daddy, another party, or some corporations that want to name the high school after their company name, supplying tablets freely or at half price, for the extra benefit of gaining access to student grades.

    Not a new model. I suspect it is done in Korea, where many big corps' names are on high schools and/or vocational schools they own or fund.

    1 0
  17. CmdrX3
    Childcatcher

    I have not the words

    It it wasn't so effing scary it would be funny

    1 0
  18. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    I never thought of it before but Murdoch is the *real* model for Ken Castle.

    He thinks it

    You obey.

    0 0
  19. Education Freak

    There is better.....

    Amplify looks expensive, there is a $99 yearly subscription fee ontop of the $299 as well as requiring 1000 unit purchase to get the $299 pricing and 2 year committment on the subscription. Educational Resources' LearnPad looks to be the best Classroom Tablet Solution to date and is $299 with no fees.

    0 0
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