The Sprout Channel Cubby was a tablet launched in 2014, as a joint venture between Sprout, Big Tent Entertainment, eMatic, StyleWorks Creative, and Walmart. It was exclusive to Walmart stores for US$99.[1]
Description
The tablet came with episodes and songs from Sprout shows (including LazyTown, The Chica Show, and Astroblast!) and blocks (including The Good Night Show), as well as printables and apps, including the Crayola original Color, Draw, and Sing, as well as Sprout iPhone apps such as Good Night Star, Dress Chica, Chica's Adventure, Games and Videos, Send to Sprout, and cubby original apps such as an app based on The Sunny Side Up Show's Sproutlet Weather Report. Also featured were eBooks based on the Chica Show episodes "All of a Kind Chica" and "Captain Chica Redcomb." The tablet had the same safe play environment the channel had, and could go with kids anywhere.
History
Kids want the same mobile devices their parents have, and so, after a trademark was filed on January 31st, 2014, Sprout, Big Tent, eMatic, StyleWorks Creative, and Walmart developed a children's tablet loaded with content from the Sprout Channel. StyleWorks Creative started by creating a landing screen to give eMatic a clear graphic direction. The next step was the tablet naming process. All Sprout employees took part in a naming contest, which yielded over 250 names. The top 25 were tested with the Sprout audience, and based on their feedback, they generated even more names and logo treatments. The final three were designed and presented to Walmart.
After the name Sprout Cubby was approved, StyleWorks produced the opening and closing animations along with a landing page concept featuring all of the channel's characters ā no easy task, considering each character is featured in a different style.
In 2015, an image of the cubby was used on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Does it still exist?
The Sprout Channel Cubby was discontinued in either late 2015 or 2016, when Sprout rebranded, and Universal Kids no longer has a support team in place to offer technical assistance with the device.[2] It is unknown if anyone still has the tablet or if it still works. Although the tablet was discontinued, its website remained up for some time until 2023.
Reception
The Sprout Channel Cubby tablet was negatively received. It had its own laundry list of [reliability issues], the most common being its delicate LCD panel. To give people an idea on how easily broken the Cubby is, one parent claimed that their daughter trashed the LCD screen within a day of use, not to mention that disassembling the Cubby would reveal that the [internals look jerry-rigged] compared to those of the Amazon Fire which while still regarded as cheap garbage, is more solidly constructed. You'd think that the company behind the device would take durability very much into account considering the Cubby's intended audience, but somehow they skimped on that and decided to pass off a shoddily-built device as something children would be able to play with reliably.
Notes
- The tablet was originally going to have a Chica-shaped holder.
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