LeapPad

LeapPad is a range of tablet computers developed for children. Various models of the LeapPad have been developed since 1999.

The device, resembling a talking book, took 3 years to develop and was introduced to the market in 1999. In 2001 (sales $160 million) and 2002 it was the best-selling toy in specialty stores. Sales in 2003 reached $680 million and were only eclipsed by sales of the book and cartridge add-ons. Leap Start is in red, Leap 1 is in orange, Leap 2 is in blue, and Leap 3 is in green.

LeapPad was developed by a team from Explore Technologies, Inc. acquired by Leapfrog in July 1998. It uses the same patented "NearTouch" technology developed for the Explore Technologies Odyssey Atlasphere. Investigation and development was started in December 1997.

Various models of the LeapPad were developed between its launch in 1999 to 2016:

The LeapPad's popularity helped spawn other LeapPad branded devices that are incompatible with the mainstream LeapPad series of players. These devices were meant for younger audiences who are not ready for the mainstream LeapPad's titles.

The LeapPad is a computer with electrographic sensor. The sensor works as a capacitor and measures the amount of current flowing through corner electrodes into a plate beneath the table top, and uses that information to triangulate the location of the stylus on the table top. The LeapPad is covered by U.S. patents 5686705 and 5877458.

The popularity of the LeapPad spawned a few competitions, most notably with Mattel who launched the Fisher-Price PowerTouch Learning System in 2003, and later with the Power Touch Baby. The PowerTouch learning system was far more advanced than the LeapPad in many ways, requiring no stylus to operate as it uses a touch-sensitive area, and even the ability to detect page changes automatically via a set of infrared sensors on the top of the device(which also imposed a limitation on how many pages a book for the system can offer). However, despite the improvements and backing from popular brands like Nelvana and Scholastic, the PowerTouch did not catch on with the public as widely as the LeapPad did although it does have its share of followers.

The LeapPad also faced competition from publisher Publications International Inc, whose specialty included electronic children books with sound modules. The ActivePoint and Magic Wand titles operated on a similar principle to the LeapPad. However the system faced limitations in that the book itself is bound to the reader and stylus and thus cannot be interchanged. Publications International later introduced the Story Reader and My First Story Reader system, which is more limited in function in that it will only read the story as the user turns the page, and features less interactive features: The Story Reader completely lacks any interactive functions, while the My First Story Reader only has simple quizzes answered through the use of three buttons at the bottom of the device. However, due to the lower cost of the system, Publications International's offering remained competitive with the LeapPad.

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