The Well Connected Mom » moms

Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Loves in Your Life

Lori Cunningham — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:37:04 +0000

by Lori Cunningham

office.microsoft.com clipart

It’s hard to believe that Valentine’s Day is already coming up again…didn’t we just celebrate Christmas???

I love Valentine’s, it’s a great reminder to show those you love a little extra lovn’ that day. I especially like all of the parties my kids have in their classrooms – everything is red and pink and it’s a great excuse to get into their classrooms and see them having fun.

If you’re looking for something a little different this year to give your sweethearts, the Well Connected Mom has a number of different gadgets and accessories that are sure to be appreciated…

Sony Bloggie

Now this is a fun camera. The Sony Bloggie is lightweight, the size of a smartphone, and takes both video and still pictures. I’ve never understood the popularity of the Flip, other than the fact the pictures were easy to upload, because it did not take still shots. I’ve always liked the Sanyo Xacti because of it’s dual camera/video camera, but they’re not being made anymore after Panasonic bought Sanyo.

Fortunately, The Bloggie takes pictures…and good ones too with its 8MP camera. The video is 1080p and is of very high quality. Want to get your holiday videos up in a flash? The Bloggie features a Live Video feature where the videos are uploaded to the Interet via Qik so others can join in on the fun of the moment. The Sony Bloggie is also Wi-Fi enabled for easy uploads and ive streaming as well as contains a flip-out USB plug for uploading and or charging The Bloggie sells for $199. Looking for a great camera extension accessory? See this blog article on the XShot and how it works with the Sony Bloggie.

SmarTouch Gloves

I love these warm SmarTouch gloves. They allow you to still use your touchscreens while you wear them due to the special touchpads woven into the fingers of the gloves. Have you ever tried to operate your iPad or smartphone with normal gloves on? Nothing happens. Not so with the SmarTouch gloves. They also have a rubberized webbing across the palms so they can better grip onto your smartphone. At CES, I saw a new pair that are lined with a stuffed animal type fleece. Boy are they toasty! Even though I live in Southern California, I find I wear my SmarTouch Gloves often in the morning while dropping my kids off to school. I absolutely love these gloves and can’t recommend them highly enough. They also come in leather. SmarTouch gloves are available in men and women sizes. Although there are no children sizes, there is an XS/S size that might fit older children. SmarTouch gloves run from $13 up to $35 depending upon the fabric.

AFTERSHOKZ Headphones

AFTERSHOKZ is a new headphone set I discovered at CES. What I like about these headphones is that they DON’T cover your ears! Intriguing, huh? They claim that there is “Nothing In, On, or Covering Your Ears,” and they’re right. Interestingly enough, the headphones are placed on the top of your cheekbones, just outside your ear. Why is this cool you ask? Well, for one, the music is not as damaging to your ear canal. Secondly, it allows you to hear more of what it going around you — the phone ringing, your son screaming in pain after your other child bopped him, or allowing you to hear cars and impending traffic during your jogging or cycling routine.

AFTERSHOKZ is based on bone conduction which means sound waves are converted to vibrations and transmitted to the inner ear, bypassing the eardrums. This is how you can actually hear your own voice. AFTERSHOKZ uses pretty fascinating technology to produce a great sound. I know, I’ve tried it.* You can buy AFTERSHOKZ at Barnes and Noble for $56.90.

Newer Technology Power 2U AC/USB Wall Outlet

Any sweetheart would love this gift. OK, it’s a little unusual for a Valentine’s gift, but I think everyone will agree it’s super handy. Do you remember that handy AC phone adapter plug you got with your phone? Don’t you wish you had more of them? One for your bedroom, one for your bathroom one for your kids’ rooms, one for your kitchen, one for your family room, one for your mudroom, etc. But what if you already have lamps, appliances, electric toothbrushes, etc. already using the plugs? This is where the Power 2U AC/USB wall outlet comes in handy. Now you can use your plugs as normal for other things AND plug in two mobile devices to charge them, such as your smartphone, tablet, etc…anything that uses USB technology to charge. I installed one* in my mud room so now I can charge my phone with a USB cord only – no AC adapter needed. I love it. Just think of where your sweethearts could use this gadget? Ideally, you can find a place where everyone can use it because it has two USB outlets. Think “gift for hubby with benefit for you!” Fortunately, Newer Technology just lowered the suggested retail price by 25%, which means that you can find the USB wall plug for as low as $22.99 if you look in the right places. Right now, you can buy it for $27.88 from Amazon.com.

Karotz Internet Bunny

I couldn’t resist this one. Karotz is a plastic bunny gadget that you can place anywhere in your home. The company that makes the bunny, Violet, claims that Karotz is the world’s first intelligent Internet companion. Can a tablet do that? I have never thought of my tablet as a companion. Karotz can assist you in all sorts of ways. It can surf the internet for you, play your favorite music, check the weather, news, sports, etc, play webradio stations, update or check your social networks, even provide video surveillance of the room it’s sitting in and when it detects movement…from you phone! Karotz can even record your audio message and post to Facebook or Twitter for you! Now that’s something!

But there’s more, you can even control it remotely from your smartphone to take pictures, play music, or send a message. The Karotz bunny sounds pretty cool huh? One is being sent to us to review, so I’ll let you know if Karotz can deliver all it says it can. I know my daughter can’t WAIT for Karotz to arrive, she has a home all planned for him…in her room! Karotz sells for $129.

Some fun different Valentines gifts, huh? There are SOOOOO many gadgets out there…and new ones hit the market everyday. The WellConnectedMom.com will continue to attend tech and video game tradeshows to keep you apprised of what’s out there and how it is relevant to your family. Curious is there’s a certain gadget out there to help you with something? Let us know and we’ll keep our eyes posted for you.

Have a wonderful Valentines with your sweethearts!

* I was provided with all of these items in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I have tried all of the products so far except for Karotz, which is forthcoming , and because of my very favorable opinion of these products, I have decided to include them in our Valentines Gift Guide.

Click on pen to

Leave Your Camera At Home – You Don’t Need It Anymore

Lori Cunningham — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:52:23 +0000

by Lori Cunningham

I have reviewed a lot of Android phones but I have finally found the Android phone for me — the new HTC Amaze. Each Android phone has a bit of it’s own personality, but when you boil it down, they are pretty similar to one another. The same is true with the Amaze…with one exception…this phone takes the BEST pictures I have ever seen on a phone. Truly, there is no comparison – the pictures come out sharper, clearer, and with more contrast than any other phone I’ve tested.

The video comes out great too. We just recently moved. We went back to the old house to give the new owner their keys and I decided to take the kids up to their old rooms to say “goodbye.” I had no worries that I didn’t have my camera because I knew the pictures and video I captured of the kids that day would turn out great…and they did. I also took many pictures whiles at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) using the Amaze. I took my camera with me, just in case, but found I didn’t need it, the Amaze did great.

Camera Scenes

I didn’t read this on T-Mobile’s site until I began writing this article, but T-mobile says that the Amaze “offers our latest most advanced camera of any smartphone.” I believe it. The Amaze is the first smartphone I’ve used that offers manual ISO and white balance adjustments. The Amaze also has some great options to choose from when shooting a picture:

SmartShot – capture an array of shots combined to create the best photo of everyone smiling – LOVE THIS!
SweepShot – capture landscapes by holding camera steady and rotating to capture panoramic scenes
ClearShot HDR – capture objects in bright settings so that your photos don’t result in high light contrast
BurstShot – capture multiple shots in a quick burst so that you don’t miss the perfect photo – when I think back to how many pictures I missed because my camera didn’t have this feature!
Night – capture photos at night so that your pictures appear crisp in low light
Macro – capture objects up close so that you can capture each minute detail of the object
Portrait – capture an individual so that the subject is sharp and in focus and the background is blurry
Manual – enables you to change advanced settings

Here are some photos I took of my dog, Bear. Bear is not one to sit still – he’s a mover. The BurstShot feature worked great. I just selected the BurstShot scene and took one shot of Bear. The other shots (there are two more I didn’t post) were taken automatically. The BurstShot is great for sports scenes, your child’s first bike ride, or even when your kids are posing for a pic but one of them never seems to smile at the right time…that’s my son!

Features

4G
4.3: HD touch screen
960 x 540 qHD resolution
1 GB RAM
8 MP rear facing camera
Look at this great close-up of these wires - you can see the dust really well.
2 MP front facing camera
Dual LED camera flash
Backlit camera sensor – takes better pictures with low light
1080p HD camcorder
Easily synch w/Microsoft Outlook
MicroSD card slot
Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 chipset processor – the best you can get in a smartphone for graphics, gaming, video, etc.
Uses Gingerbread Android operating system
USB Tethering – allows you to hook up to your netbook/laptop so share your Internet access (without additional costs)

Pros:

Takes great pictures
Pictures in low light come out surprisingly well
Hard button on side of phone for camera and video
Nice size screen
Case is mostly metal – nice looking, not cheap
Can run multiple programs at once with no issues
Programs and menu items move fast thanks to the Snapdragon S3 chipset processor (learn more about Qualcomm processors at My Bountiful Days at BlogHer Days 3 & 4).

Cons:

No tripod mount connector
Battery doesn’t last long enough – though it could be due to the many pictures I take!
Slightly heavy
Charger cord is not a traditional mini USB, so it doesn’t work with all mini USB connectors for charging/data transfer

I just love green hills! This is what winter looks like in So. California!

A Mom’s Perspective

If you’re looking for a new phone, I cannot recommend the HTC Amaze enough. Seriously, I love this phone due to it’s camera and video capabilities. The Amaze is the model all future phones should be based on. And I’m not alone. I went through pages and pages of positive reviews on T-Mobile’s website for the HTC Amaze.

As moms, we treasure up moments in our hearts. More than anyone else, we see moments we’d like to capture and remember. Having a camera smartphone that can take great photos close at hand is a dream come true. With these photos, you can feel comfortable enlarging them for portraits or scrapbook projects and know they will keep their resolution.

Do you think you’d feel comfortable enough leaving your camera behind with a phone like the Amaze?

* I was loaned the HTC Amaze smartphone in exchange for my honest opinions and review. As it has now become one of my favorite devices, my request to keep the phone was granted.

Click on pen to

Puzzled Over the Mystery

jwiersma — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:18:29 +0000

By Jamie Wiersma

Our family tried out “Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident” without knowing anything about what we were getting into. After doing a little research, I found out that “Mystery Case Files” are quite popular with PC gamers and that this is the first of the “Mystery Case Files” for Wii. I hope that they make more of these – it is a great adventure!

“I Spy” Game

The game is broken up into two different segments. There is the “Multi-player” mode that is basically an “I Spy” game. You enter a room that is filled with objects. You need to find all the listed objects as quickly as you can – attempting to find more than the person/people that you are playing against. As long as you read the words to them, even kids as young as my almost 5 year old can easily play this mode. It WOULD be hard for a child that is unable to read to be able to play by himself.

The Adventure

The other segment is the “Adventure” mode. This is the mode that really gets to the heart of things. There is one main player that controls the remote. At certain times throughout the game, additional players can join in and help. The basic premise of the adventure mode is a mystery that you need to solve. As you navigate the twists and turns, you will come upon some “I Spy” rooms (once you find all the hidden objects you will earn objects that will help you as you continue in your journey), pick up clues that will help you solve things and you will run across challenging puzzles that will allow you to move forward in the adventure once you solve them. We found that working as a family was extremely helpful. Different people saw things in different ways and through the help of everyone, we were able to solve all of the puzzles.
This is a game that takes many, many hours. We spent about 2 weeks tackling the game, playing a couple of hours most evenings. The game is VERY addicting. We would look at the clock, say “Ok, once we solve this puzzle, we’ll be done for the night.” But, after we solved the puzzle, something new opened up , we would get excited and want to keep playing. We also found that if you get super stuck, you can Google “Malgrave Incident Cheats” and there is a website where people ask questions and other people give helps. I don’t think we would have finished the game without the website! While the first time through will definitely be the most challenging, because this game is filled with so many elements, you can easily enjoy the game time and time again.

As a side note, as you move forward in “Adventure” mode, you open up additional rooms in the “Multi-player” mode. This is great – when we first started playing, I was worried that the “I Spy” portion would get boring because you would know where everything is. Once we solved the mystery, there were a ton more options as far as the rooms that you could find objects in. If you like brain-teasers, puzzles, mind games and mysteries, this challenge is for you. Big Fish Games hit a home run. I hope they do it again for Wii. Our family is now a big fan! Have fun and good luck!

Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident is available for the Wii. It is available through Amazon.com for $28.99 and is eligible for free super saver shipping.

* I was given a copy of Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Click on pen to