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Kidzui Puts Kids in Control of a New Internet

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 April 2008, 12:00 CDT

For parents with young children, the Internet can be a wonderful thing. It can also be a quagmire of inappropriate content and risk.

While filtering software and blocks can help put limits on kids' online exploration, the results can be far too limiting or even negligible. Through a unique pre-screened approach, Kidzui aims to offer kids age-appropriate content and parents peace of mind.

Designed for kids age 3-12, Kidzui is a subscription-based, kid-centric browser that serves to provide a surfing freedom within a world that's designed specifically for their point of view.

Over the past two years, Kidzui creators employed the help of more than 200 parents and teachers to manually filter and review the Web, and rank their "thumbs up" content by age. The result is a community of more than 500,000 accessible sites, videos and images in which kids can freely click and browse based on the age parameters established by their parents. Research is ongoing to keep content fresh and engaging.

Focusing on the positive experience the Internet has to offer, Kidzui effectively creates an entirely new Internet for kids rather than trying to keep them away from inappropriate and potentially dangerous content. The result is a subset that is continually expanding rather than reducing.

Capitalizing on the popularity of such interactive and virtual worlds as Webkinz, Kidzui invites children to create their own "Zui," a customized avatar to represent their

presence within the Kidzui world. Kids can play games, share videos and make friends with other Zuis. They can customize the look of their browser, mark their favorites and rate content. Instant messaging, however, is not a feature.

Parents have several password-protected options of control, including those that disable keystrokes for launching other programs, or to even quit the browser at all. Parents can, however, customize their kids' access to the Web by allowing in their own approved content such as family blogs, e-mail programs or school sites. Through regular e-mails and online reports, parents can stay on top of each of their kid's activities and preferences, such as learning which photos or sites their kids tag as "cool" (or "gross" or "lame" for that matter).

Available on both Mac and PC platforms, Kidzui costs $9.95/month or $99.95/year. The company is currently running a 30-day free trial and a subscription rate of $4.95/month. Each subscription is good for up to 10 unique users.

For more information visit www.kidzui.com

Source: The Sun (Lowell, Massachusetts)

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