Source: CNN.com

The patent-pending design tightly secures your smartphone while still providing access to the touchscreen or keyboard. With the touch of a finger, you can text, talk or e-mail, while exercising, shopping and more.  With an easy strap-on design, texthookTM quickly fastens to the handlebar of your stroller, exercise equipment, shopping cart or bicycle.

Lightweight and durable, the texthookTM can remain strapped to one handlebar or can be attached and removed repeatedly throughout your busy day.  Inserting and removing your smartphone is effortless with one simple sliding motion. The cradle rotates 180° so you can view your phone from any angle.

Source:  thetexthook.com

By Zara Rabinowicz

Baby monitors used to be fairly basic devices. They’d transmit noises from a transmitter to the receiver and you’d be able to tell whether your precious was cooing or crying. Welcome to the next evolution of the baby monitor, where your receiver can be any web connected device, including your iPod, iPad, eBook or computer. The Withings Smart Baby Monitor features a 3MP camera which transmits to any connected device, allowing parents to remotely check in on their progeny. They can access both video and audio data, as well as use the inbuilt microphone in the monitor to soothe their child remotely.

The Smart Baby Monitor is more than just a camera though, as the device includes a whole bunch of extra features. Infrared LEDs give you access to night vision, and you can also check the temperature and humidity of the room to make sure that your baby is comfortable. You can also select music to play through the monitor (lullabies etc), and stream playlists to the Smart Monitor from anywhere in the world.

You can even go one step further, and set up personalized alarms that alert you when there is unusual behaviour relating to their movements or temperature, based on certain parameters. The monitor is cubed shape, and you simply open it to use the functionality and snap it shut to turn it off.

The Withings Smart Baby Monitor will be available from Withings in March 2011.

Source: chipchick.com

What could possibly come out of a partnership with Crayola—a favorite brand from many children’s childhoods—and Griffin—a technology accessory creator? A way to change the way children draw and learn. Through their partnership, these two companies have created Crayola ColorStudio HD. “Crayola ColorStudio HD is an entirely new digital play experience, coupling a multi-activity drawing application for iPad (Crayola ColorStudio HD App) with a custom-built digital stylus, called Crayola iMarker,” says the press release. In many ways, it’s both good, bad, and interesting for children of today if you ask me.

For one, since the pen is digital and only works on the iPad, parents can rest easy knowing their children aren’t going to be drawing all over the walls and carpet. Furthermore, no more trips to the store to spend more money on crayons and markers every month. However, by the same token, an iPad is pretty expensive. This package will also cost an extra $29.99 for the pen, app, and content such as user manuals.

Regardless, this seems like pretty fun and kid friendly technology, and I can see parents purchasing something like this to help amuse their children.

 Source: appletell.com

Rotenberg says PBS commissioned research with children and the media and found handheld and touch screen devices offer kids extraordinary potential for learning. The most important thing is what applications they put on that technology.

The first thing you want to do is look for apps that offer education and entertainment, Rotenberg says. Then consider your child’s interests and choose apps that are geared towards things they love. That makes the children more likely to be interested and learn. Rotenberg also says to look for apps that are geared toward the right age and developmental stage for the child. Not all 4-year-olds are at the same stage. What is your child ready to learn?

In the end, Rotenberg says, the device isn’t as important as the content that’s on it. She advises giving your child a healthy media diet. There will be many opportunities for them to just have fun, but you should also give them opportunities to learn, grow, explore and be creative.

Source: ksl.com

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s not easy to write about a $50 device that can easily be replaced, and improved, by a $0.99 iPhone app, but I’ll try. The Onaroo is pegged as a PBA or ‘personal baby assistant’ and is essentially designed to serve as a data gathering PDA for households with a new arrival. It makes tracking info like nursing and sleep schedules, bottles, pumping, diapers, medicine, temperature, and growth slightly easier than with a coiled notebook and pen. But it’s clear advantage is its ability to display graphs of that data over time which is handy for doctor visits, or freaking out those overly paranoid parents.

The Onaroo syncs to your PC via a USB cable, and an included app will automatically upload the data to the PBA Online website (for free) which provides even more options for charting your child’s progress. The PBA itself also doubles as a reminder with timers and alarms that can be set to vibrate if you don’t want to interrupt a nap, and don’t mind going about your daily business with it clipped to your belt. But like I already said, even with the free online services it’s hard to justify the $49.95 for the Onaroo PBA. So here’s to hoping the company has a cheaper app alternative already in development.

Source: ohgizmo.com

The iStory books encourage kids to have fun and spend time reading with each interactive page they turn.  Kids can listen to stories being read or choose to read the stories themselves.  They can then tap objects on the page to discover the many interactive features “hidden” throughout each book.  According to Isabelle Duston, founder of Apps of All Nations:

Our team of writers, artists and programmers have done a phenomenal job of creating a series of iStories that will make children anxious to read and we hope parents will appreciate how their amazing iPads can be used to help educate and entertain their children.

Bobo –  Bobo the baby elephant is growing up!  During his adventure, he faces challenges and learns that growing up is sometimes scary but also exciting.

Hopus – Help Hopus, the magical white rabbit, discover the “unfamiliar and exciting” world of life outside the magician’s hat.

Dog Detectives –  Explore the wildlife and culture of the Australian Outback with the Dog Detectives and help them solve the mystery of the missing didgeridoo.

To the Rescue – Learn about friendship and kindness with Chico and his new friend the mermaid.  You’ll explore the underwater world of the ocean, play with crabs, go swimming and discover all the interactive objects in the story.

Philippe’s Wish – Join Philippe in his balloon adventure to the stars.  Kids have fun as they guide Philippe’s balloon across the sky, connect dot-to-dot stars and capture a star.

Each of these apps is available in the App Store for $3.99, so why not take some time out of your busy schedule to read with your kids.  We’re sure it’s a memory both of you will cherish for a lifetime.

Source: brandsonly.nl

If you’ve got an 8-12 year-old child in your family then you’ve probably thought about whether to provide them with a cell phone, and what cell phone to choose. 

If you decide to go ahead then you’ve got a neat option available. The cell phone service is designed to be easy to use and manage for parents as well as their children. It’s advertised not only as a cell phone, but also as a way of teaching your children to manage money. 

We’ll go over these cell phones for kids, but let’s pause just a second and check whether they provide . . .

Good Coverage with Sprint Network

The service uses the Sprint PCS network, so coverage is pretty good. In particular, the map shows good coverage in population centers and along highways (which are also population centers.) You need to check first, of course.
With that out of the way, let’s move on to how you manage how your kids use the phone. The scenario is that you give them an allowance in what’s called a “Kajeet wallet” of, let’s say, $20, and they can use that either for making calls or downloading ringtones or games. Your children then have to learn to balance those different desires within their allowance. As a parent you decide to fund their wallet. You can exempt certain calls (such as calls to you) from their wallet. These calls then get charged to you. 

Safety and Parental Controls

Basic Safety

Here’s some basic safety information about Kajeet. They, of course, comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). In addition, your child 

• Can always call 911 even if the Kajeet account has no money or if the number has been deactivated.
• Will NOT be able to call 900 and 976 telephone numbers, since they are blocked,
• Will only be able to download ringtones that have been “content approved”.

The above safety features all work automatically. In addition there are parental controls to customize the phone for your child 

Parental Controls

Kajeet’s parental controls include 

• Time Management – You can set the days and times of the day when the phone can be used, but don’t worry, they can always call you.
• Contact Management – You can set who can be called and who can call them.
• Feature Management – You can choose which features are activated on the phone. For example, you can disable downloading ringtones or games and gradually lift these restrictions later.  
• Kajeet Wallets – You can create “wallets”, one for your child and one for you. You transfer money from your wallet to your child’s wallet. Then you can decide what gets charged to his wallet and what gets charged to yours.

 All these features are free. There is one additional safety feature 

GPS Locator

All Kajeet phones are GPS-capable. This allows you to locate your child’s phone wherever it, and presumably, your child is. You can either check their location via a web site or set up the phone to send you alerts at particular times so you know whether she’s where she’s supposed to be. For example, if she’s supposed to be at soccer practice by 4pm, you can have the phone send you an alert every weekday at 4pm to check if she’s there. 

The GPS Locator service usually costs $9.99 per month however you can get the Kajeet Samsung M300 Kids Safety Pack which includes a year’s free GPS service. So you can can see if you find the service useful. 

Now that you know it’s safe, you can check out the . . .  

Rates

The prepaid cost is ten cents per minute for calls and 10 cents per text message, however they do offer a couple of no-contract plans and a prepaid plan. 

Prepaid Plan

With the prepaid plan, airtime costs 10 cents per minute, but there is a daily access fee of 32 cents. You add money to the Kajeet wallet, and the costs are deducted from there. As one of the guest reviews notes, the access charges are not popular, and a reply suggests getting one of the no-contract plans below. 

No-Contract Plans

Basic Plan – $4.99 per month

This plan keeps the phone active for the month without daily access charges and adds 10 voice minutes to your balance. Additional minutes cost 10 cents each. Same with text messages. 

Standard Plan – $29.99 per month

This plan give 300 voice minutes per month.

Unlimited Messaging Plan 1 – $14.99 per month

This plan offers 60 voice minutes, but it’s special because it includes unlimited texting. This, of course, is going to be very popular. However, if you child is texting too much you might want to consider setting some limits. 

Unlimited Messaging Plan 2 – $19.99 per month

This plan offers 150 voice minutes along with unlimited texting. 

No Activation Fees

One great thing about Kajeet is that there are no activation fees, which is unusual in a full-featured provider. And since they are prepaid or no-contract plans, there are no termination fees either. 

Suspending Your Account

You can also suspend your account for a limited amount of time such as when you go on vacation. This is at their discretion, so you can probably only do this a couple of times a year.

Now we can get to the phones. There will probably be strong opinions about which handset to get in your family! And it’s likely that your child may know more about these phones than what I can cover, so this is just a quick overview. 

Phones

You have the choice of a good-looking assortment of phones. Many of them have cameras and music players. You have to make sure they will be used wisely. 

Samsung Seek $212.49

The Samsung Seek is the latest high-end phone offered by Kajeet. It has both QWERTY keyboard for texting and a touchscreen for doing other stuff like playing games. 

One thing new that it offers is access to sites like Facebook, which is interesting because you need to be 13 years old to sign up for Facebook. This may indicate that Kajeet is either moving to the higher-age bracket or is trying to hang onto its users as they grow past the “tween” years. As a parent you can probably decide whether to allow access to the internet, but I’ll try to confirm all the details. 

The phone lists at $249.99, but you can use this link to Save $37.50 on the Samsung Seek. 

LG Rumor 2 $169.99

This is another Qwerty keyboard slider phone. It’s screen is much smaller than the Seek, but it still has some nice features like a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, and “threaded texting” which formats text messages so it’s easy to keep track of individual conversations as the texts come in fast and furious. The phone lists at $199.99 but you can Save $30 on the LG Rumor 2 here. 

Sanyo 2700 $119.99

The Sanyo 2700 is the latest phone from Kajeet. It features a 1.3 megapixel camera, a music player, and a QWERTY keyboard for texting. It’s also got a fairly large screen which comes in handy for the “threaded texting” feature, so you can follow the conversation within the blizzard of texts that are sent and received (assuming you’ve activated this feature.) It comes in pink and blue(a little predictable there).The phone lists at $149.99, but you can Save $30 on the Kajeet Sanyo 2700 here. 

LG Rumor

The popular LG Rumor was Kajeet’s first QWERTY keyboard phone. It is now available as a recycled “green” phone. It lists at $129.99 but you can Save $30 on the Kajeet LG Rumor here. 

Samsung M320

This successor to the Samsung M300 is a basic flip-style camera phone with a VGA camera and Bluetooth. 

The M320 has a slightly more rectangular design, and the camera is less prominent – probably because it’s not such a big deal to have one. (Note that Kajeet’s parental controls allow you to control whether you allow picture messages or not.) 

Listed at $44.99. Save 15% by clicking on the picture above. 

Sanyo Katana II refurb

 This phone offers a basic VGA camera but with some color effects to make the pics a little more fun. It is available as a refurbished versions for $59.99 but you can Save 15% on the Kajeet Sanyo Katana II here.

The previous version, the Sanyo Katana I is also available refurbished and lists for $49.99. You can Save $7.49 on the Kajeet Sanyo Katana I here.

LG 225 and LG 125

This model is available as a refurbished phone for $29.99. Again, you can Save 15% on the Kajeet LG 225 here.

This is pretty cheap for a camera phone, but one word of caution. I had tested the Tracfone version of this phone, and it seemed a little slow when executing its functions. So it might not do such a good job with the games etc you get get with Kajeet. Presumably, the parental control and GPS locator will still work, but you should test all these out if you get this phone.

The LG 125 looks about the same but with no camera and lists at $24.99, their cheapest phone.

Samsung m300 Kids Safety Pack 89.99

If you prefer a red camera phone, you can get the Red Samsung SGH-M300 for about $49.99 or $29.99 refurbished, however it’s a better deal to get it with GPS service included for a year as part of a Kids Safety Pack for $89.99 (note: not always available).

Games and Ringtones

You can download as assortment of games and ringtones. They tell you how much it’s going to cost before you download it. Any download game or ringtone can be stored at their end in what’s called “The Vault”. So if your child is running out of storage on the phone, they can move some games or ringtones to “The Vault” and download them later without charge. As mentioned above, all ringtones are “content approved”.

Dudeworld

Dudeworld is an attempt to market these downloads, ringtones, etc. to the kids. The “Dudes” are a set of half-baby blob-like cartoon characters. Each character has their favorites activities, food and ringtones. For example, one character’s favorite “wallpaper” for his phone matches his skateboard.

This appeal to being cool by downloading the right ringtones, wallpapers etc., is not really in line with the rest of Kajeet’s message about teaching children how to manage their phones and money responsibly.

However, Dudeworld isn’t prominently featured on their website anymore, though the cute little munchkins that are on the site are, in fact, “Dudes”.

Google Maps

Google Maps is one useful standard “app” available for your Kajeet phone.

For compatible Kajeet phones, you can use Google Maps to find out where you need to go and how to get there.

Save 15%

The phones are available online at Amazon or Kajeet. You can Save 15% by ordering directly from Kajeet here.

Summary

All in all, Kajeet seems to be a pretty well thought-out service and worth considering for your 8-12 year-old children.

Source: best-prepaid-cell-phone-plans.com

by Kristy Korcz

The iPad may be the tablet of choice for celebribabies and everyday parents alike, but Barnes & Noble is trying to get in on some of the tablet action with its new Nookcolor. Coming with a nice 7-inch touchscreen, the Nookcolor is a fraction of the cost of a pricey iPad at $249, so it’s a great choice for budget-minded parents and still allows you and your little ones to read together, even letting them interact with the pictures on the screen — something you can’t get with a traditional paperback.
Alongside its new ereader, Barnes & Noble also launched Nook Kids yesterday, a virtual bookstore filled with children’s classics, new favorites, and picture books that will come to life with a touch of your hand. Find out why you (and your kids) will love this new feature when you read more.

Barnes & Noble has revamped a number of children’s titles with its patent-pending AliveTouch technology to add a layer of interactivity to your favorite picture books — touch the pictures on the screen and the book comes alive with quacking ducks, animated backgrounds, and lots more. Not only that, but your tots can choose to read by themselves, or have the Nookcolor read to them. Kinda like those Disney Take-Along sets from the ’80s, but of course, much more efficient. Top off the Nookcolor with a kid-friendly screen protector and you’re good to go!

Source: geeksugar.com

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Hey parents, here’s a way for you to monitor your kid’s mobile phone activity: “Parents can now use SafetyWeb to monitor their child’s mobile phone activity from anywhere by logging into SafetyWeb.com, or by using the SafetyWeb mobile application for iPhone and Android.”

Kids, you might want to be aware of this, too. It might save some, well, clumsy conversations later on at home. Just a heads-up from a guy who’s been there.

SafetyWeb is an example of Web-based parental control software, “especially meant for parents to monitor their kids and teens’ online and their mobile phone activities to protect them from cyberbullying, sexting, stalking and other dangers,” according to SafetyWeb officials.

Mobile Monitoring is included in every SafetyWeb subscription. What it does is show your child’s mobile phone calls and mobile text message activity. “It’s never been easier to know who is calling and texting your child, and whom your child is calling and texting,” say company officials, words sure to strike fear in the hearts of teens everywhere.

It gets better, parents: “You can also know what times your child is using their mobile phone to call and text their friends, and be alerted if they are using their phone at inappropriate or restricted time periods.”

SafetyWeb monitors mobile phones on all major wireless networks, including Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Sprint, and T Mobile. Simply log in to your SafetyWeb account and connect your child’s mobile phone details.

You can also perform a free search for a sample report to see what profiles your child has online.

Source: tmcnet.com