UPDATE: As of June 13, 2008, Kidzui is now FREE.

As a parent I was happy to read about this new browser for kids called KidZui. Although my kid is still too little to browse the Internet or even use the computer, it’s good to know that there’s technology or programs such as this that makes browsing the Internet safe for kids.

So what is KidZui? KidZui is basically a browser based on Internet Explorer (if you use Windows) and Safari (if you use a Mac) that “whitelists” websites, photos and videos that are suitable for children. 200 teachers and parents across the US were hired to scan the world wide web to look for appropriate content that would be included in the whitelist. As of now, KidZui has 500,000 whitelisted websites, pictures and videos. All content gathered by KidZui are manually reviewed by humans before they get included in the whitelist to make sure nothing inappropriate gets thru.

Screenshots:

Start Page

Create Zui Page

Login Page

Main Page

YouTube Video

From the images above, you can see that the user interface looks really cool and colorful which is very attractive and interesting for kids. KidZui also has the element of a social network because it lets the user add other KidZui users as friends. Friends are displayed on the right side of the panel. Other options include changing the backgrounds and selecting from several preset ones. Another thing, parents can login online and check what their kids view or do online on KidZui via a control panel where you can also customize and choose what videos, photos and websites appear on your child’s favorites.

You can download and try out KidZui FREE for 30 days. After that you can continue using it for a monthly fee of $9.95. But if you register now, you can get KidZui for the inaugural price of only $4.95 per month or $49.95 per year. If you ask me, it’s a small price to pay for your kids safety.

For parents, would you let your kids use KidZui? If given the chance what other features or options would you add to KidZui? To those who are not yet parents, you can also share your opinion or thoughts regarding this topic.

via TechCrunch

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Btw, congratulations to Automattic’s Toni Schneider for winning Best Startup CEO and WordPress as the Most likely to succeed in the recent 2007 Crunchies!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page. Stay safe and have a nice day!