Differences Between e-Readers and Tablets

The CNET Community, in its Tablets Forum, offers a comparison between e-readers and tablets—information that you may find helpful this holiday season in choosing gifts. Advice is given in answer to a question from a parent of an eight-year-old who wants to know what is the best mobile device for her child. Answers include visiting an electronics store to have a salesperson demo different products, finding products that fit the interest and age level of the child, going with tablets because they have more functionality, and thinking about going to the library for traditional books if all that is needed is a book reader. Some CNET members suggest that if parents already have an iPhone, for example, that purchasing an iPad or iPod Touch is a good idea.

Parents should also keep in mind that schools are successfully putting digital devices to work in classrooms with younger children. Tablets have more flexibility for learning activities and, because they are dressed in a sturdy case, they usually can endure time in backpacks and accidental drops. Of course, checking with school personnel about devices that children can bring to school and use in the classroom is always wise advice.

Essential Apps for Kids and Teens

Did you or someone in your family get a new smartphone or tablet? For some guidance about some of the best apps for the iPad, iPhone, Android phone or tablet, or  Kindle Fire take a look at what Common Sense Media has listed in their new Essential Apps for Kids and Teens guides, broken down by age groups.

Getting Help Finding the Right Apps

A recent article in The New York Times has some good advice on finding the best apps for iOS and the Android platform. With over a million apps in the apps stores for each platform, we could all use a little help.

Wanderful Storybooks Make Appearance as Apps

I have been in the business of trying to connect parents with some the best technology resources for close to 30 years now and some of the VERY BEST products I have ever seen for young and emerging readers are making a comeback as interactive storybook apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPodTouch. Wanderful Books  recently launched on the iTunes store their Living Books series, which some parents might even remember from when they, or younger siblings, were children. Mercer Mayer’s “Little Monster at School," Marc Brown’s “Arthur’s Teacher Trouble," and Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare” are the first three titles and they are all truly great! The first time my 18 month-old son saw one of these titles, back in the good old days, for an hour all he could say, as he sat in my lap, was “more” and “again.”

Every storybook app features custom music, extended animation, and hundreds of interactive hot spots and antics, providing a deeper experience and more interactivity on one page than other story apps offer in total.  While fully interactive at the page level, each app also includes the classic “Read to Me” mode that lets young readers watch and listen to the story play automatically. Launching with English, Spanish, and French, future versions of the products will be available in Japanese, German, Italian, U.K. English, and Brazilian Portuguese. For toddlers to early readers, these may be the best $4.99 apps you will ever buy.

Amazing Apps for Little Ones

Jinny Gudmundsen, USA Today, recommends five super apps for children. One is free and all cost only a few dollars. There’s Painting with Time for the iPad “which lets kids explore how things change over time. With this app, which was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, kids select from tubes of paint that represent different intervals of time.” For example, if landscape is selected, the tubes represent the seasons. When children “paint” with their fingers, they can transform the scene into colors of the different seasons. Other of Gudmundsen’s favorites are the stories: Hogworld: Gnats Adventure for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire, where children engage in adventures through 3D visuals, sounds and interaction; Cinderella – Nosy Crow Animated Picture Book for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, in which the characters talk to the reader, and on the iPad2, the reader’s face shows up in all the mirrors; and Auryn – Van Gogh and the Sunflowers for the iPad, an eBook that brings Van Gogh’s life and painting to life through visuals and interaction. The app Out-A-Bout for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad uses parent-child interaction as it teaches early reading skills and encourages physical play. The app involves the reader in the story through photos and recordings. All of these apps would be wonderful for preschoolers through primary age kids.

Save Money with Free and Discounted iOS Apps

Looking for ways to save money on apps for an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad?  AppShopper is a free (with ads) app for all iOS (Apple) devices that keeps you up-to-date on the latest freebies and app sales. When you launch AppShopper, you receive a list of the most popular apps that have a price drop, have been updated, or are new to the iTunes App Store (many new apps are free to introduce them to the public). One really great feature is the Wish List. Specify apps you want to purchase in the future and AppShopper will notify you if there is a price drop or sale.

Kindle’s Fire: Kids Charge Up a Storm

Oops! It turns out that one of the things the new Kindle Fire Tablet didn’t learn from the Apple iPad is parental controls. While the iPad lets parents turn off or limit kid’s purchasing power from iTunes, it is almost ridiculously simple for kids to order from Amazon. That’s because once you register the device, it comes with your Amazon account information preloaded, along with "1-Click" ordering. That means anyone who is holding that device can place an order, whether it's their account or not. No prompts appear to confirm the purchase or ask for a password. So far, there have been various reports that even toddlers are able to able to make multiple purchases. Chat rooms are full of comments about a means to get around the glitch, but so far no luck. Amazon will probably make a software correction at some point, but until that happens, keep a lookout out for errant purchases.

iPad Tops the List of What Kids Want Most

Among kids age 6 to 12, the iPad is the most-wanted holiday gift for the second year in a row, according to Nielsen Co. And why not? Kids just get it. They are intuitive devices and no one is more intuitive than a kid. A popular YouTube video shows a toddler frustrated with a magazine because she can’t zoom in on the pictures. Of course the other side of the coin is that parents are using these devices as digital babysitters. A new book called “Goodnight iPad,”is a parody of the popular children’s book “Goodnight Moon,” and reminds parents to unplug by poking fun at how much time is spent in front of computer and television screens each day.

Into the Future....

Science fiction comes to life. Have you heard of augmented reality? That’s the software that lets you view computer images on top of what you are seeing in the real world. You could use an iPhone or iPad, for example, when you are looking at a place in a city and get information on places to tour as well.  The augmented reality software, Autonomy, has now added what’s called Aurasma, which lets you use hand gestures to use the virtual content. You don’t have to touch the screen. According to MIT Technology Review (9/15/11),“You reach out your hand and the content responds.” Can you imagine how schools or special needs kids might put this type of software to use?

Stars, Birds, Chords, Puzzles

Netted by the Webbies has announced its six favorite iPad apps, three of which may be useful in getting your kids interested in music and science.  Star Walk ($4.99) is called “awesome” and “fantastic”—a perfect way to learning about the night sky. It is available in English, Chinese, Russian and several other languages.  Karajan®Pro-Music & Ear Trainer ($9.99) helps train ears to ”recognize intervals, chords, scales, pitch, tempo (bmp) and key signatures with detailed statistics.” Audubon Guides – A Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Wildflowers, and Trees ($29.99) helps with identification and with keeping bird and nature lists.