Fisher-Price unveils Kid-Tough camera and music player

We know more than a few preschoolers who seem more adept at technology than their still-trying-to-figure-out-the-VCR parents, but if for no other reason than the flashy colors, we think more than a few kids might dig Fisher-Price's new Kid-Tough digital camera and "FP3" player. Both devices are about as simple as they come, and feature certain kid friendly enhancements such as dual viewfinders on the camera and volume limited headphones so kids don't get that "iPod ear" too early. The camera shoots VGA stills and includes 8MB of included memory for 60 shots, and an SD card slot to add more. There's also a 1.3-inch color LCD for previewing photos, and a USB cable for offloading pics. The "FP3" player sounds a bit more fishy, since there's no mention of codec support beyond the kid-safe content at Fisher-Price's new Song & Story Online Store. We'll hope for at least MP3 support so your kids can start sticking it to the man, and luckily there is an SD card slot for cheap memory expansion. Both the camera and the music player will sell for $69, and will be available in June and July respectively.

[Via Boing Boing]

[koffeekan @ May 4th 2006 6:16AM]

man, how spoiled are kids today. when i was a kid we played with duplos, and we LIKED it (i'm 19 :p)

[DeaDGoD @ May 4th 2006 7:05AM]

Holy christ! Next thing you know, they'll have FPAs for the "real 'junior exec'"... I remember playing with army men and legos as a kid... What happened to those? Are they too low tech to survive in the world today?

[anon @ May 4th 2006 7:26AM]

You (#1 & #2) people sound old. When you two were playing with Army men and Duplos (whatever the hell those are) someone old afart was saying, "Kids a re spoiled these days. When I was young we played with lead figurines and asbestos." And some old fart before that was saying, "When I was young we played with saber-tooth tiger teeth and sticks."

I think $69 for the cameras are a great deal for my niece and nephew. i was surely be being a pink and blue one as soon as they become available.

[DeaDGoD @ May 4th 2006 7:31AM]

I'm 20 and the son of a hippie, you should be amazed that I played with army men

[anon @ May 4th 2006 8:03AM]

"I'm 20 and the son of a hippie, you should be amazed that I played with army men"

Not erally, now that they have a "don't ask don't tell" policy. :-)

[Leo @ May 4th 2006 8:04AM]

Except as the owner of 3 different VGA cameras (A Kodak MC3 back in the day, a cheap webcam/digicam with built in memory and my phone) I can vouch that any VGA camera isn't high enough quality to be worth using. They just don't take decent pictures!

Leo

[easter @ May 4th 2006 8:47AM]

I think the selling point here is that these are sturdy enough to be use by kids plus its attractive to them with all the brilliant colors. These cameras should pass the test when your kids drop them on a wooden or cement floor.

[Jake @ May 4th 2006 10:19AM]

I'm old enough to have played with Duplos and Legos as well. The earliest tech I remember was my original Game Boy. For those of you who aren't that educated in the subject of the mid-80's, a duplo is a giant, kid-friendly Lego. This is great, this generations kids are so wired on their tech, that we are starting them early and often on digital cameras and FP(MP)3 players as opposed to simple toys.

[lemonnfresh @ May 4th 2006 11:57AM]

I'm down with the ruggedized camera for my little guy and nieces & nephews. I always wanted to take pictures w/ mom's camera back in the day, but was rarely allowed to due to film processing costs.
Worst case the little ones can look at their pics on the camera via the lcd. If the pics are decent, which some may be, off to walmart they go for cheap processing.
Maybe not worth $69, but at $39 or $29 and I'll be grabbing one for the kid.

[designerdad @ May 4th 2006 12:23PM]

My son will be 3 in a few months and in the meantime he is often listening to a CD walkman that he cherishes, his PIXTER that he navigates with a surprizing proficiency, and dabbling in computers with the old MAC IIsi that I have determined he can use until it dies.

spoiled? no. his spartan collection of toys deliberatley consist of often simple wooden designs.

privleged to have the opportunity to become familiar with the tools and devices in his future?

that is certainly my intent.

Handicapped because he and his dad are left handed?

That damn pixter stylus tether certianly makes us think so.

[iPod Hater @ May 4th 2006 12:26PM]

iPod ear?

As mentioned in a previous post for a previous topic...
is this Engadget or iGadget?

~iPod hater

[Will @ May 4th 2006 2:38PM]

And when I was a child I played with the Game Boy Camera which even had a much lower resolution and could only produce grayscale photos. ;-)
But though these pictures (which could be printed to stamps btw) were of utterly bad quality it was fun to make them. But technology has developed and I think that today 70$ for VGA-quality are a bit overpriced. It should have at least 1MP.

[iPod case @ May 8th 2006 4:14PM]

My kids are 3 & 4(almost 5) They have the leappad leapster that their uncle bought them that they fight over quite a bit but already the screen or software is wonky. When you touch the pad everything is shifted 5 - 10 pixels so they pretty much get frustrated with it after awhile with certain activities on it.

The key is how rugged is? I THOUGHT the leapster was super rugged but it has succombed. My kids LOVE our digital camera that I VERY occasionally let them use while I'm supervising. I've had my eye out for something affordable for kids but I'm not dishing out over 30 bucks...I found some low end digital mini cameras on overstock for under $30 that I'll probably get.

[old school @ Sep 28th 2006 1:25PM]

I generally prefer the toys that were around when I was a kid. My 3 year old plays with my old tinker toys, wooden puzzles, etc. I'm not a big fan of all the cheap plastic junk that's out there today. This camera, however is great for my son. He sees us taking pictures and wants to do the same. When I was a child I used an old Kodak, without film, and used my imagination. I think this is a great alternative. The picture quality is really unimportant to us, but the fact that he can use the camera, and see the pictures he takes is. I agree that the price tag is over the top. It should be priced around $30, but I'm willing to plunk down for this one.

By the way, some of the technology offered today is fantastic for kids imagination and learning. Nothing beats books, but some websites like http://www.headsprout.com are a great reading tool for children.

[Microwiz @ Oct 28th 2006 5:28PM]

I'm just DYING to see someone get their hands on that FP3 player, tear it apart, and figure out the specs for the codec. I'd use one after that :)

From what I've seen it's possible to rip and encode CDs into the FP3 player's format using the software that comes with it. That would be interesting to hack on too...

[KenSpi @ Nov 30th 2006 12:24AM]

OMG how young are these kids that think the original Game Boy is old school?! "The earliest tech I remember was my original Game Boy" Dude... TRS-80... 4K of RAM. All ASCII. Load from cassette tape. Game cartridge, my butt! Byatch, please!

It sure would be nice if some of these companies would take note of the increase of Macs in homes. Hello? Fisher Price? Not everyone uses a P.C.! Some parents shield their kids from bad TV. Others from bad music. We choose to keep them away from bad tech. I'll consider their products when they come back from the dark side. My kids will not be assimilated.

[momof2 @ Jan 7th 2007 1:35AM]

I never post comments on forums, but I couldn't pass this up. 1st of all, my kids 3&41/2) got the cameras for Christmas & love them. They always want to take pitures & I don't want to risk them breaking our good camera. We've bought disposables for special occasions & then have to pay to develop alot of bad pictures. The kids love seeing the pictures they take which aren't bad quality considering they are from A TOY! Also - look around at all the toys your kids don't care about & consider how much $ was spent on those. - AND Game Boys being old!! You are way to young to know about old school technology!! Seriously!! My 1st was the Atari 2600 - then Coleco vision with it's amazing state of the art graphics (at the time)- then the Apple IIC & a VCR.

[stacie @ Sep 18th 2007 10:48AM]

I am looking to get the fisher price kid tough fp3 player and the kid tough digital camera for my son. I would have to agree, I do not know one kid that didn't want to take pictures when they were growing up, and to pay for developing of ANY pictures they take is ridiculous! And to buy a digital camera that would get broken if thrown, not good either! So I think that this is a great solution, I think the $69 price tag is steep but well worth it if your child is getting to use there creative side, learn, and experience with this, and who knows, might even get some early photographers out of this!!!!!!

[lee Faulkner @ Apr 25th 2008 12:38PM]

HI

I gave my older Canon G2 camera to my 4 year old. He *Loves* it and takes great shots on auto.

My neighbors were so impressed they got 2 off eBay ($50 each) for their 2 kids (5 and 7 ) for xmas.

These things are built like tanks and the kids instinctively know real gear when they see it and treat them very well. They strap the wrist strap to themselves and have al ball!

On this basis I just ran a "photography day" at the local nursery school for 25 3/4 year olds using all 3 of the G2 cameras. Every child took some great shots .... and no one dropped a camera once!

I say just get a second hand 2-3 megapixel secondhand real camera!

Lee