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Amplify: Tablet problems to be corrected with next devices [News & Record, Greensboro, N.C. :: ]
[January 22, 2014]

Amplify: Tablet problems to be corrected with next devices [News & Record, Greensboro, N.C. :: ]


(News & Record (Greensboro, NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 22--GREENSBORO -- Feedback from schools and districts using Amplify tablet computers, including Guilford County Schools, should be reflected in the company's next generation device, according to a letter from CEO Joel Klein.



In the letter, sent Tuesday to Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green, Klein said the new devices will "reflect many improvements, including a faster processor, more memory, wireless display capabilities, enhanced network connectivity capabilities, and a new more rugged design." Those changes "will speak directly to the unique opportunities and challenges of the PACE initiative at GCS," Klein wrote.

Amplify, a Brooklyn-based vendor, won't release the specific details about the device until March. District officials have said the new device, unlike the old one, will not be built by Asus, the Taiwan-based manufacturer.


In GCS, the experience with the tablets has been marked with problems including faulty chargers, broken screens and defective accessories. Those problems, particularly a partially melted charger, prompted Green to suspend the use of the devices on Oct. 4.

District officials have since shipped back the more than 15,000 tablets leased from Amplify.

The tablets were part of a personalized learning initiative in district middle schools, an effort funded with a $30 million federal Race to the Top grant.

Guilford officials expect to receive a new fleet of devices from Amplify and begin using them again in the middle schools this fall.

?Contact Marquita Brown at (336) 373-7002, and follow @mbrownk12 on Twitter.

___ (c)2014 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.) Visit the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.) at www.news-record.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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