PicsArt and OLPC Help Kids Around the World Find Their Inner Artist

New partnership will deliver robust photo editing capabilities for one laptop per child’s XO tablet users.

Mountain View, CA (PRWEB) August 20, 2013

PicsArt, Inc., the world’s premier, full-featured mobile photo editor, will be working with One Laptop per Child (OLPC) to bring mobile art to children around the world through OLPC’s newly released XO Learning System. OLPC will pre-install the photo-editing app on its XO Tablet developed through a strategic partnership with Vivitar under exclusive license from OLPC. The XO Tablet offers children across the globe access to easy-to-use PicsArt tools such as drawing, color-splash, smart blur and layering for photography capturing, and editing.

PicsArt’s selection as one of the only photo-editing tools for OLPC’s XO Tablet represents a milestone in the app’s growth as one of the world’s most innovative photo editing applications. These tools will not only teach children about the different forms of art through photography, they will also provide them with the opportunity to unleash their creativity by turning their photos into works of art.

“One of PicsArt’s primary goals is to educate people that everyone has the ability to become an artist. This is why we couldn’t be more pleased to team up with an organization like OLPC, which is always making huge strides in educating children through technology on a global scale,” said Artavazd Mehrabyan, PicsArt’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “PicsArt’s easy-to-use photo-editing features combined with OLPC’s XO Tablet will give children the fun tools they need to express their creativity.”

In addition to providing children with a number of photography options, PicsArt’s one-of-a-kind drawing tool will give OLPC kids the ability to express their creativity through their own illustrations. PicsArt’s advanced, yet easy-to-use drawing features will allow children with an appetite to sketch to practice their hobby without ever needing art supplies or leaving their XO Tablet.

“Our XO Learning System was created to direct a child’s passion, creativity and energy to help them work toward their dreams. OLPC is dedicated to offering a variety of top apps that promote inspired education on our XO Tablet, making PicsArt a perfect fit for our mission,” said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of One Laptop Per Child.

The family-friendly XO Tablet from OLPC is the first and only tablet designed to help kids explore their dreams and spark their imaginations. The only multilingual (English/Spanish) and Google-Certified tablet for kids, the XO Tablet is available now at Walmart stores,http://www.walmart.com and other U.S. retailers through OLPC’s strategic partner Vivitar, a Sakar company. For more information, visit http://www.xotablet.com.

PicsArt features a full art studio in a mobile photo app, making professional-caliber tools easily accessible to the average consumer, allowing them to tap their inner artist and have fun creating their own masterpieces. PicsArt’s clean, simple and user-friendly design empowers consumers to create unique images in real-time, save them wherever they like or share them on nearly every social media platform.

To learn more, please visit picsart.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PicsArtPhotoStudio or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PicsArtStudio.

About XO Tablet, XO Learning and One Laptop per Child Association
The XO Tablet has been fully designed and developed by OLPCA to harness the power of a connected touchscreen device to create new ways for children to learn. Its launch also marks the global debut of the XO Learning System, designed as a child-centric interface to empower kids to build, learn and dream as part of OLPCA’s mission. OLPCA was launched in 2005 at the MIT Media Lab as a project to provide a modern education to every child around the world through access to laptops and connected devices. The organization has since distributed 2.5 million of its specially designed XO laptops to children in 60 countries, and the XO Tablet extends that experience into a modern tablet form factor.

About PicsArt
A division of SocialIn based in Mountain View, CA, PicsArt is a team of passionate developers who shared a sheer frustration that no free photo app seemed to have a robust feature set. When PicsArt launched in November 2011, there were many great one- or two-tool apps, but there wasn’t a single free app putting everything a photographer could ever want in one place. PicsArt remedied this problem. A bootstrapped startup driven to profitability by its fiercely loyal community, today, PicsArt dominates the Android market for photography. PicsArt consistently ranks in the top 50 free apps from Google’s Play store, and with more than 68 million installs and growing at more than 4.5 million installs per month; PicsArt’s development has only just begun.

About Vivitar
Vivitar is a leading provider of photographic, audio and optic devices and related accessories with a rich 75-year heritage of technology innovation and affordability dating back to 1938. Building off the success of its legendary Series-1 lenses and flashes, the company has steadily expanded its product portfolio to include cameras, camcorders, accessories and now tablets tailored to the needs of today’s families. Vivitar is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, with additional offices across the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada and Hong Kong, and global retail distribution spanning more than 100,000 locations in both mass market and specialty channels. For more information, visit http://www.vivitar.com.

Media Contacts

Susan Frechette
PAN Communications for PicsArt
617-502-4300
picsart(at)pancomm(dot)com
Twitter: @picsartstudio

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/8/prweb11039914.htm

 

Family Oriented XO Tablet Debuts at Walmart for $149

Captura de pantalla 2013-07-14 a las 20.32.06The new family-friendly XO Tablet debuts July 16 on Walmart.com and will be in Walmart stores on August 1, and will provide kids with a fun and exciting new way to build, learn and dream at their own pace via a powerful Android tablet packed with free educational games, apps, videos, e-books and more. The flexible tablet also grows with the family offering up to three separate user accounts plus full-fledged Android tablet functionality with parental-controlled access to conventional Android apps and the Google Play store.

“The XO Tablet is the first and only tablet designed specifically to help kids explore their dreams and spark their imaginations,” said Jeff Saka, president of Vivitar. “Not only does it combine active learning with fun, imaginative play, but parents can also feel confident in giving the durable and secure XO Tablet to children of any ageand they can even use it themselves.”

The only multilingual (English/Spanish) and Google-Certified tablet for kids on the market, the XO Tablet and on-board XO Learning System were designed and developed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC) to harness the power of a touchscreen device to create new ways for children to learn. The tablet’s child-friendly interface, cover and packaging were developed by legendary designer Yves Behar and his team at the Fuse Project. Priced affordably at just $149.99 MSRP, the XO Tablet from Vivitar features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 dpi hi-resolution screen and a 1.64GHz dual-core processor running the latest Android Jelly Bean OS with nearly 8 hours of battery life to deliver a high-performance user experience at an exceptional value. The tablet will also be available in Canada and Europe in the French and Italian languages later this year.

“Touchscreens are intuitive for children, making the XO Tablet an optimal platform for educational interaction and creativity and ideal for our US retail debut with Vivitar,” noted Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO, OLPC. “With the XO Learning System at the center of this tablet, OLPC along with our content partners, are able to offer curated, state-of-the-art learning technology to kids and their families across the country.”

XO Learning System content has been curated and selected for age-appropriateness and learning value by OLPC in collaboration with Common Sense Media, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents and teachers make informed decisions about media. Additional OLPC partners include Oxford University Press, Discovery Kids Puterbugs, TED, Story Emporium, MyCityWay, Pipo Ceibal, Little Pim, WeWantToKnow-DragonBox+, JokerWare, Zeptolab, Brain POP, Kids Yoga Journey, Bankeroo, Sesame Street and others.

Dreams Dashboard and On-Board Apps Provide World-Class Educational Curriculum

The XO’s unique Dreams interface lets kids explore more than 100 free pre-loaded apps, games, books and other content over a $250 value based on subject areas, interests and skill level. Children can choose their own learning adventure depending on what they want to be today, or when they grow up. Options like “I want to be an…” XO Artist, Engineer, Chef, Mathematician, Musician, Teacher, Traveler and more give kids a wide array of activities to choose from with content created by world-class partners.

XO Journal, Parental Controls Provide Insight and Security

The XO Tablet is designed to help parents become actively involved in their child’s tablet use and learning progress. With support for up to three user accounts, parents can set specific permissions for each user to control access to apps, the Internet, games and Google Play. These password-protected privileges can be adjusted anytime as the child matures to offer wider access and more capabilities.

With the innovative XO Journal tool, parents can gain unique insight into how each child is using the device, how much time they spend on each app, and where their interests and strengths lie. Parents can even view each child’s learning progress and how their performance compares to other children of their age.

Each XO Tablet features both a front- and rear- facing camera and comes with a protective bumper case and charger. The The XO Tablet is available now on Walmart.com and is coming soon to other other U.S. Retailers, including Walmart stores. For more information, visit www.xotablet.com or the xo-learning.org blog