A tablet for all of the family, at the same time

With a 24-inch full HD display, the nabi Big Tab HD is not only bigger than the average Android tablet, it's bigger than most desktop computer monitors.

However, all of that screen real estate, plus the fact that it can respond to 15 simultaneous touches, means that a group can sit around it and use it together rather than taking it in turns.

Fuhu, the company behind it, has been building up a good reputation for developing child-focused tablets that offer interactive education as well as Candy Crush Saga. It claims that the idea behind this uber tablet is to promote increased social interaction and socialized learning.

Therefore, as well as working like a stock Android tablet (when not in child mode), it has a host of integrated family and child-friendly features too.

For example, it can be used to play classic two-player board games such as Chess and Hangman or as a huge, interactive storybook.

It can also help children with their homework or their school curriculum thanks to the Wings Learning System which offers over 17,000 lessons in math, reading and writing for students in grades 1-6.

There are also a number of parental controls such as being able to set a chores list that needs to be completed before tablet time begins, and of course how often kids get to use it without direct supervision can also be controlled directly, or indirectly via a smartphone app.

When the kids are in bed, the tablet can be switched over to a normal Android tablet and parents can access any of the 1 million+ apps on Google Play.

'We are so pleased to introduce the nabi Big Tab line of products and are excited about the implications as a new category of family tablets. We were simply amazed at how Big Tab's larger format transformed our interactions with our children, family gatherings and made the tablet experience easier for seniors,' said Jim Mitchell, Fuhu CEO.

A host of computer makers have attempted to offer families something similar in recent years. At the start of 2013 it looked as if the tabletop PC was going to be one of the year's top trends. An all-in-one PC with a 20-to-24-inch flatscreen monitor that could be laid flat on the table and used as a tablet seemed like a great idea. However, the devices, built by Sony, Lenovo and HP, among others, have remained niche products.

This could be because each of the computers were running Windows 8 and its associated apps rather than offering consumers the popular range of apps in the Android and iOS universes.

Therefore by using an Android approach and by overlaying a special child-friendly and control-restricting operating system, Fuhu could be on to something. And at $549 for the 24-inch model and $449 for a smaller, 20-inch version, both launching this fall, they're both cheaper than a 32GB iPad Air.