- Just posted VTech InnoPad Preview preview — http://goo.gl/z896o #
- Just posted VTech InnoPad Preview preview — http://goo.gl/z896o #
Featuring an original story and music with hot spots, this story by Sam Berman and Bonnie Bright consists of 17 pages full of hidden animations. The graphics and narration style is similar to The Living Books (the 1990s releases by Broderbund). In the story, Nate meets and tries to eat a never-ending noodle; an idea that will have instant appeal to any child who has ever tried a plate of spaghetti. The narration is presented in rhyme and the hot spots are comical, and, at times, rather unrelated to the story. It is not possible to touch individual words to hear them read out loud. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Shape Builder turns your iPod Touch or iPhone into a self-correcting set of 146 jigsaw puzzles.Now available in both English or Spanish and also for Android devices, the app makes it easy to drag-and-drop pieces into place to make common objects, like musical instruments, dishes, animals, and vehicles. Narration is provided by speech therapist Jill Dews. Content includes 30 Musical instruments with sound effects, 17 Fruits & Vegetables, 37 Animals with sounds, 26 Letters that are sounded out, 20 Numbers and others. Made by Darren Murtha and Chris Lott. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Turn your iPad screen into a musical busy box. There are two types of keyboards — one with eight large, colored keys. As a child explores, there are four roller balls that serve as controls to change the pitch or color of the keys. The colors and instrument sounds are spoken (e.g., xylophone, piano, drum set, and saxophone) and a Rainbow Ball changes the colors of the keys. A follow the bouncing ball (in this case floating little stars) mode leads children through simple nursery rhymes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
As with other Oceanhouse Media titles, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! is based on an existing print Dr. Seuss book. But, for the first time in Oceanhouse history, this title offers a new interactive feature, allowing you to “build” each page. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Convert your iPad into a four room playhouse where just about anything can be moved around and re-arranged. There are four rooms: a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. For example, to serve dinner in the kitchen, you open (or close) drawers by touching them where you find food and/or dishes. You can drag and drop items on the table, and move the five members of the family (depicted traditionally, all Caucasian) around the table. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
If you’ve played previous versions of Zelda, you’re in for few surprises in this 3D version, according to our well-Zeldafied testers, besides some nice 3D frosting and a few games that use the cameras. The game retains the analog control of the original version of the game via the Circle Pad, but players can also use motion controls by moving the Nintendo 3DS system to aim their slingshot or bow at an enemy with speed and accuracy. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This ebook consists of twenty eight watercolor screens set to classical music. The story, at a glance, is of Hildegard Rhineheffer, a hippo/waitress by day and a backup singer by night. In the story, opera star Frau Hoopenholler has fallen ill, Hildegard has her big break, but suddenly loses her voice. Your job is to help Hildegard overcome her stage fright by feeding her, helping her try on silly hats, or popping bubbles in her bath. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Girls, are you tired of coloring in princesses and puppies? Here’s a new twist: this app lets you color in three dimensional outlines of exotic girl characters that include angels, peasants, warriors or other “strong” characters. As you touch areas of each character, you fill it in with color. You can also add stickers, such as floating balloons. Hues and shading effects are automatically added to create a 3D appearance, and your model can be turned for a 360 degree view. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
- Just posted Five Great iPad Apps for Toddlers – NYTimes.com http://t.co/F7kQ5dQ #
E3: Wii U, PlayStation Vita and Kinect
Bustling with gamers and overly enthusiastic Italian TV crews, this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was a good one. Held each May in LA, the show has had both on and off years, and this year was definitely an “on.” Besides the crowds and a lot of buzz around new children’s Kinect titles (see Sesame Street: Ready, Set, Grover!) two important game platforms were announced. Wii U, which represents Nintendo’s step into both HD and the “social cloud” (thanks to a camera and Wi-Fi link between the controller and the console) and the technology-packed handheld called PlayStation Vita; Sony’s admission (finally) that the future really does lie in capacitive touch screens. My two favorite Vita titles to watch: Little Big Planet, and a collection of logic puzzles called Little Deviants.
NECC: A Race to the STEM Clouded Candy Bowl
White board-based instruction systems (with handheld polling devices), expensive, cloud-based curriculum with annual contracts, and some extremely interesting Android-based tablets were on display at this year’s highly swagged National Educational Computing Conference (NECC).
Fortunately for me, the show was in Philadelphia so I could drop down for a day to walk the floor, have dinner with my friends from Computer Explorers and stroll past the real, non-virtual Liberty Bell.
It is easy to become both excited and cynical when you attend two technology shows (E3 and NECC) in the same month. Both deal with “E’s” – Entertainment and Education. So which show had the learning innovation? E3, by leaps and bounds. Case in point, Nintendo’s Measure Up. At NECC, educators were lined up with coupon books, trading time for the candy and T-shirts being tossed out as a reward for sitting through a sales pitch for a $3000, soon-to-be obsolete interactive white board. How behavioral. Two highlights none-the-less: BrainPOPs new game section and the Toshiba Thrive tablet, the first generation, Google powered iPad competitors.
LittleClickers: Pasta
If you live in the US, you eat an average of 15 pounds of pasta every year. Macaroni really is as American as Yankee Doodle. Learn more on page 4.
Virtual Worlds Sliced ‘n Diced
Which virtual worlds are getting the most traffic, and why? Have a look at page 5 for a preview of a study just completed by the all knowing, all seeing Scott Traylor of 360 KID. This article is important for two reasons. Besides providing a global perspective on the virtual world space, it is written by our first Contributor, as part of my effort to expand the voices in Children’s Technology Review. If you’d like to write something and you can agree to our editorial guidelines, let me know.
Dust or Magic News
Save the date for Dust or Magic 11, to be held Nov. 6-8 in Lamberville New Jersey. On the agenda: Chip Donahue on “Erik Erikson in the Age of iPad.” If you missed AppCamp, the videos are now live. See http://bit.ly/mq9fww or http://dustormagic.wikispaces.com/AppCamp.