As I dropped my phone on the kitchen floor and watched it go flying across the floor, I sucked in my breath and thought "don't break now, don't break now, don't break now..." While I'm ready for an upgrade, I'm holding onto that upgrade like its pure gold... because I know that the NEW iPhone 5c/5s/6 will be releasing before we know it.
(and can you say FINGERPRINT SCANNER! Squee!)
In anticipation of the new iPhone, I checked out some of the hottest new cases of the moment... hey, just because I'm waiting on the phone, doesn't mean I have to wait on the case!
Today was the Mother's Day Tea in Zoe's class... can you say SOB?
The teacher tortured us by having all the 5 Year Olds sing a song called "Fingerprints." There was not a dry eye in the house.
This little video was made with the coolest new App called PTCH. It's an Instagram/Vine combo that allows you to make these fab little 60 second videos with your pictures and video clips. I have a feeling I'm going to become very addicted to this app. Kimberly Blane introduced it to me last week at Mom 2.0 - of course the "Go To Mom" would know all about the coolness!
She likes cake pops, Boo the Dog, Barbie, Disney "Tween"Comedies, knee socks, Top 40 Pop songs, sparkly shoes and dressing up. When you ask her to get dressed in the morning she actually sings while pulling clothes out of her closet, spinning around and looking at herself in the mirror.
She has a style all her own, one that I allow her to own (to a point) and encourage her to WERK IT.
She can also use an iPod/iPad like it's nobodies business.
Ladies and Gentleman, THIS is what the graduating classes of the 2020s look like.
Alexandra Rain teaches girls to be who they are! The Alexandra Rain App is the first in a series of digital books demonstrating the importance of character, strength, courage and love. She is a typical little girl who enjoys playing dress-up and has a fun fashion style. Most importantly, she focuses on her inner beauty and is always kind to others.
This adorable interactive book is perfect for the modern girls of today. It blends important life lessons with music and fashion. And the follow along "karakoe narration" helps young readers with word recognition, while the interactive pages keep little fingers busy. Zoe loved getting "Alex" dressed for the story, and of course, singing along to Alex's new song. But the best part? Alex thinks her mom "totally rocks."
I personally think this is an adorable app for the little fashionistas in your life. Additionally, it's now officially "Zoe Approved."
And to celebrate the launch of the app, I am helping to give away 1 of 10 purple sparkly Daisy Rock Guitars! Download the app today and enter to win one of these adorable guitars.
As part of my ongoing Sony Moms program, this month I had the opportunity to play around with the latest XPERIA Tablet S. Now I will preface this by saying I'm an Apple girl and have been for awhile. That being said, there was an Android-based "learning curve" for me when playing with this product. But it's just like anything new to you - at first it doesn't seem "right," but when you figure it out, you're golden.
So, what did I like about the XPERIA?
1) The "folded magazine" design. I can hold it quite well. That turned-over look gives you something to grip when holding the tablet.
2) That it's "splash proof." The main point of the tablet being resistant to splashes is so that you can use it in the kitchen for recipes, which makes perfect sense. But I also see it as kid proof. You never know what's headed your way with little fingers around... Apparently some of the tablet been having some issues surrounding this feature, but Sony did release this statement on the topic:
As we had announced previously, while all other functions of the device still work as intended, a limited number of our new Xperia Tablet S released in September 2012 may not meet our splash-proof specification. A free inspection program to correct the issue is now open and available to our customers. The program provides customers with an easy process to repair or replace their affected device, at no charge. More details and instructions on the program are available at http://esupport.sony.com/news/460/US/EN.
3) The Guest Mode - The Guest Mode allows you to share the Xperia Tablet S with friends and family with a different look and settings for each user. Additionally it has a restricted app access to areas you don't want anybody to see. This is perfect for sharing the device with your kids, as it allows you to have your apps and them not to have access to them. This is nice because I feel that I can hand over my tablet to the kids and not have to be worried they may come across my Stupid Zombies addiction.
*I had a chance to review this product as part of the #SonyMoms program. I did not receive compensation for the post nor did I get to keep the tablet.
I'm so excited for Nukotoys. I've never met a group that I have wanted to see succeed more than the amazing people behind this company. I'm in awe at how far the company has come in a year and I love that I was able to even play a small roll in it. As you may know, I was in NYC with them a few weeks ago helping them spread the word to bloggers about the games and every single person I spoke was amazed by what they are doing. The only "complaint" I heard was bloggers going home and their kids NOT being able to purchase more cards immediately. Well, now they are available to the world. And I couldn't be more excited about seeing them at my local Apple store the other day.
When I first posted about the games last year, the technology behind how the physical cards worked with the apps wasn't being disclosed. While Co-CEO Rodger Raderman still likes to refer to the technology simply as "magic," it's really a special ink in the card that conducts a charge when it comes in contact with the iPad’s touchscreen. Each “Nuko” (what they call the actual individual cards) has an invisible code printed using this ink. When pressed on the touchscreen of your iOS device (iPad or iPod touch), it reads the code and then activates the creatures on the card inside the game. Crazy cool, huh?
If you haven't had the chance to see the games in action yet, check out this video clip that tells you a little more about the games and why they are so, freaking, cool.
So look for the Monsterology and Animal Planet Wildlands cards the next time you are out shopping!
*Disclosure: I have done paid work for Nukotoys in the past year. But this post was written not out of any obligation, but just because I'm really excited for them.
Thursday, August 1, 2013 at 8:00AM 
