In a bold move designed to offset competition from Amazon, retailer Toys "R" Us is planning to release its own $149.99 Android-based tablet this holiday season.
Tabeo, as its known, will hit stores on Oct. 21, but will begin shipping Oct. 1. The Wayne, N.J.-based retailer started taking pre-orders for the item on its website Monday morning. The 7-inch tablet, created by Chouette Publishing, allows "full Internet experience with Flash support" according to TRU. It also boasts 4 GB of storage, expandable via a SDHC slot to 32 GB. The kid-centered tablet will also come preloaded with more than 50 books, games and educational apps including Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, AlphaTots and Putt Putt Zoo.
With Tabeo, Toys "R" Us hopes to offer parents a special reason to come to its stores this holiday season as kids at younger ages crave tablet devices. "It is our strategic position to offer products that you can't find anywhere [else] or be compared on price," Troy Peterson, a vice president at Toys "R" Us, told The Wall Street Journal. Tabeo would also in theory at least guard against showrooming, the practice of visiting a retail store to scope out items to buy online from other retailers, like Amazon.