Much of the formative assessment is done at the class level by the teachers. It is therefore very important to make sure that the teachers not only have access to these technologies but also are well trained on how to use them. On content delivery, it largely depends on what content and what the learning objectives are. If it simple numeracy, there are a number of games that can be selected. The same can be done for reading and writing. However, ability to customise and contextualise these games (and similar content) to make them relevant and authentic to the pupils will be vital.
proprietary suppliers are not making any comments on the list on what they are offering or is it a done deal?
They might be offering something close to what is offered here: http://www.teacher-laptop.co.za --James