LeapFrong Leapster Explorer "iPad Competitor" Coming on June 7?

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You know what’s happening on June 7, right folks? WWDC 2010 kicks off which means that Steve Jobs will be announcing the iPhone 4 on the same day with Apple possible selling it on that very first weekend. In other words that’s the worst day to announce your new product unless you happen to be Apple. LeapFrog, however, seems not to agree with us, but then again, they make products for children.

The company already has up a nice teaser campaign which seems to indicate that a new tablet is coming on June 7, 2010. Well, in all seriousness, it’s not a tablet but a “new Learning Experience” that will let you play games, download apps and read book. LeapFrog is using some cute kids to advertise its unnamed product, which, by the way, doesn’t make it in the video at all, and the company seems pretty confident in its new device:

There’s like a billion things you can do with this! Play games, read books, download apps, make your own animation.

This isn’t really the iPad killer you expect as it will not be really made for grownups like you and me. It’s going to be probably pitched to parents and teachers and kids will surely want to have it once they see their friends playing with one.

The device is apparently called the Leapster Explorer and it’s a touschreen computer, otherwise known as a tablet, that can also be used as an eBook reader and a gaming platform.

The Leapster Explorer will be powered by an ARM processor and it will use Linux to bring the LeapWorld and Learning Path monitoring system to life. While the official announcement of the Explorer will be made on June 7, the device will be available in stores only later, around the first of July.

Those of you that want to pre-order this device for your creative children can already do that. It costs just $69.99 to purchase a device that will probably get your kids hooked to computers and all sorts of gadgets, and it’s not likely they’re going to give them all up very soon. Boy, we didn’t have any computers when we were growing up and we turned out just fine, didn’t we?