Amazon, which already has some of the most parent-friendly options for its Fire tablets, added some more improvements on Thursday.
Why it matters: The moves come as Apple and Google are expected to invest more in this area.
Specifically, Amazon is improving its Web-based parent dashboard that provides insights on what your children are doing on their devices. With the update, parents will now be able to remotely change the parental controls on a kids' device.
The company also recently added discussion cards that provide possible conversation points related to the apps, books and videos kids are using.
Survey says: The company points to a recent survey of a thousand parents that found 72% want kids to have their own tablet or smartphones and three quarters don't want to hover. At the same time, parents want to know what their kids are up to and to set limits.
"We do view our role as helping parents really accomplish these goals," Amazon general manager Kurt Beidler told Axios. Beidler said Amazon's products aim to "create spaces where your kids can explore and learn independently."
The backstory: Amazon already lets parents set time limits for different types of content, whitelist specific apps or videos and create kids-only environments on a shared phone or tablet.
Apple, in particular, lacks such features while Google's Android relies on third party tools for such features. Earlier this year Apple added a new families page to its Web site and promised new features were coming, but declined to offer specifics. Axios also reported that additional parental controls would be coming as part of the next version of iOS even as other features get cut.
Clarification: An earlier versions of this story incorrectly said that the parent dashboard as a whole was new. What's new is the ability to remotely control settings.
🇰🇵 North Korea to stop nuclear testing — 🇨🇳 U.S. fears Chinese tech war will get worse — 💊 A glimmer of hope on opioids — 🇸🇾 3 years of Syria strikes
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has announced the country will stop conducting nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles starting April 21, and shut down a nuclear test site in the north side of the country, through a broadcast on the state news agency KCNA reports, and President Trump announced in a tweet, later adding quotes from the message.
The details: Kim Jong-un explained, “[t]he nuclear test site has done its job,” via a statement broadcasted by North Korea’s state media, per the New York Times. The statement added the country plans to “shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s northern side to guarantee transparency in suspending nuclear tests.”
What it means: This confirms North Korea is not only open to freezing nuclear weapons tests, as it has said before, but that it is planning on doing it. It leaves denuclearization on the table and will, in theory, prevent escalation and proliferation.
