Apple’s iPad may be the tablet of choice for many parents and children, but soon it could face a serious challenge from the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids.

Unveiled this week, it’s an Android tablet designed for use by children, complete with its own app store and preloaded apps for kids.

Samsung is also installing software on the tablet to provide parental controls, including a time management option that’ll require a password to be entered to use the device outside your set hours.

Samsung will be selling a separate ‘Kids Case’ to protect the device, and it’ll come with its own stylus (or “C Pen”) for drawing and writing applications.

The Galaxy Tab 3 Kids will go on sale in South Korea first this September, but Samsung is planning to sell it elsewhere in the world after that – although the company hasn’t confirmed a UK launch date yet.

Will it be a hit? That’ll partly depend on its price, and also on the apps available for it. We’ve noticed an upswing in the number of good children’s apps coming out for Android devices – here’s all the ones we’ve written about – but iPad is still the first port of call for most kids’ developers.

We also wonder how many parents are looking to buy a tablet specifically for their children. In our experience, it’s more common for parents to buy a new tablet for themselves and either share that with their kids, or pass on an older device.

Still, the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids is worth watching when it comes out: if it catches on, there may be even more Android children’s apps coming out, which would be good news for parents with other Android tablets too.