By Jamie Wiersma

I admit it, I am one of the hold outs. I have a pay-as-you-go phone that really can’t do much more than make phone calls and text. And texting is NOT fun when you have to use the number keys!

I Resisted Getting a Smartphone for So Long for a Few Reasons:

1. First of all, I liked the cost of the pay-as-you go which for me, is very minimal because I don’t care to talk on the phone much.
2. I also don’t like being with people who are consumed by their phones to the point that they are being rude to the people that they are with. I didn’t want to become one of those people.

But, when I got the opportunity to try out HTC’s One S Smartphone for a month, I decided to give it a try. I was warned that I probably wouldn’t want to go back to my old phone and they were right – I’m hooked!

The HTC One S is a fantastic phone! Our family recently invested in a tablet and after getting accustomed to using it consistently during the day for little things like email, Facebook, Pinterest, and my Bible and book reading,  my husband decided that he wanted to take it to work with him. I felt lost!  We joked that we would need to get another tablet for the family. But, when I started using the HTC One S, I realized that it could do all the things that my tablet could do AND, I could easily take it with me and use it on the go.

Features that are Worth Talking About:

3. If you are using it as your MP3 player, you can’t beat the sound quality with Beats Audio technology. Even when you are just using the speaker, the sound is great!

Additional Pros:

1. Touch screen really responds well.

2. Loaded with a ton of useful apps like Flashlight, Navigation, Google Play, and Weather.

3. Very user friendly.

4. Great design – it is more durable than stainless steel and super thin.

Cons:

1. I’m not sold on the set up of the actual phone app. It is very sensitive and it is very easy to accidentally touch on a contact and call them. I worry about little fingers that might hit on the phone and call people without me knowing it.

2. Be careful when you first set up your phone that you know what you are syncing. I accidentally told the phone to sync all my Facebook friends to my phone book and now have all my friends who have their phone number posted on Facebook in my contacts whether or not I want it in there. So far, I have not figured out how to remove the ones that I don’t want there.

3. The battery life – I guess that’s just something to get used to! I hear that most smartphones have a short battery life.

From a Mom’s Perspective:

As a new smartphone user, I caught myself almost venturing into the world of rudeness and literally had to turn myself away from my phone and not get caught up in playing games while hanging out with my family. I’ve heard of some families who insist that everyone leave their phones at the door when they all get together and I’m thinking this might be a great thing to implement in my family.  Learn more about mobile etiquette and teens and cellphone manners in our previous posts.

That being said, there have been a ton of times this month when it’s been fantastic to have the capabilities of a smartphone while out and about. From sitting in a busy parking lot and being able to call the restaurant and find out what the wait is, to recording a TV show via my phone, and pulling up coupons that I had forgotten to print (and now don’t have to print), having a smartphone definitely has its advantages. As far as the cost of plans, I’ve found that you need to shop around. There are plans out there that are affordable if you do your research. There are plenty of plans out there for any kind of user.

If you are looking for a phone that can serve multiple purposes, the HTC One S is the perfect phone for you! I am using it as an e-Reader, tablet, camera, GPS, MP3 player and my computer away from home. It is priced at $199 (suggested retail $599) with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile. Check out the features on the T-Mobile website for all the details of the phone. There are too many to write about. This phone is full of bells and whistles! Looking at the reviews, most people agree that this is a phone worth the investment.

* I was loaned the HTC One S smartphone in exchange for my honest opinions and review.

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By Jamie Wiersma

Our family recently downloaded Oceanhouse Media’s omBook “Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping” by Eileen Christelow on our iPad2 (available for most devices). Mama takes her five little monkeys shopping the day before school. While they are in the store the monkeys keep wandering off. Will Mama ever have all of her monkeys together again?  If you are familiar with the Five Little Monkeys series, you already know that these are great books. But, the digital version is even more enjoyable for little kids because it is very interactive through fun monkey noises and words that zoom up and are spoken when pictures are touched.

There are three ways that this omBook can be read – Read to Me (listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read), Read it Myself (read the book in its traditional form), and Auto Play (plays like a movie, automatically reading and turning pages.) The “Read to Me” version is great for my 5-year old.  He is able to follow along as the words are highlighted while the story is being read.

Things That Make this Digital Book Great:

• It incorporates early math by adding and subtracting the monkeys when they run off and then come back to Mama.
• The audio is great – the monkey noises and other surrounding sounds are very cute and add a lot to the story.
• The book encourages early reading through picture/word association. The words zoom up and are spoken when pictures are touched. Early readers can also follow along with the highlighted words while the book is being read.
• The pictures are bright and colorful.

 A Few Cons:

• It is not so great for my almost two-year old who likes to swipe at the iPad. His little fingers have figured out how to interrupt the story which then requires you to answer a prompt asking you if you want to continue or not. Then it starts that same page again. It’s probably an iPad thing, but it does get annoying. Especially on Auto Play it would be nice if the pages stayed locked.
• I think it could be even better if there was more touch interaction on the math side of things.

A Mom’s Perspective 

Overall, both my almost 2-year old and my 5-year old really enjoy “Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping.” The book is probably best suited for ages 3 – 6. I would definitely recommend the book to any parent that is looking for cute books to download for your child that also encourage additional learning skills in math and reading. The app is available at iTunes for $2.99. If you enjoy this book, Oceanhouse Media has a ton of other children’s digital books available such as Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears, more Five Little Monkey books as well as many others.

* I was given a code to download “Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping” for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

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By Jamie Wiersma

As a mom, I have been protective of my children’s ears. We have an older iPod that isn’t being used anymore and my 8-years old has expressed an interest in using it. However, I’ve always been worried that I would be unable to control the volume and that at times he may listen to music too loudly, potentially damaging his ear drums. When I read about Etymotic‘s Ety•kids³ Safe-Listening Headset + Earphones, I was immediately intrigued.

When we gave my son the headphones* to try out, he was VERY excited. The box comes with 3 different ACCU•Fit eartips and after we tried out the different sizes, we found one that fit him. He’s thrilled and we can relax, knowing that we are protecting his ears. The earphones are designed for ages 4+ and anyone overly sensitive to loud sound. It operates with most portable devices but is custom designed to work with the iPod, iPhone and iPad. What does that mean? The Ety•Kids³ (as opposed to the Ety•Kids5) includes a 3-button control headset that allows you to control the volume, play/pause, change tracks and has a close-proximity microphone . We found that this feature works great with newer generation of iPods but not on our ancient iPod (and I mean ancient!) If you choose to purchase the version with the headset, I recommend that you make sure that it is compatible with your devices. You can download the user manual to get a list of which generations it will be compatible with here.

Reasons Why I Like this Headset and Earphones:

• The earphones are designed to maintain safe levels for little ears even at a maximum volume.
• They fit multiple people when you change out the eartips – I can borrow them if I need to! There is also a CUSTOM•Fit option.
• The headset works great, especially if you want to make changes to your music and your iPod is in your pocket.

But, There is One Con:

My husband borrowed my son’s earphones  because the 2-year old broke his. He went for his run and got a little frustrated. He kept turning up the volume and couldn’t figure out why he was having a hard time hearing. While the earphones are designed to reduce outside noise, extreme noise (like traffic) can’t be completely tuned out. Because the earphones are designed not to exceed certain limits, he had a hard time hearing when running. So, for adult athletics, these earphones might not be the best.

Update!

When Etymotic read my review, they immediately contacted me with the hopes to send me eartips that would be a better fit for my husband and solve the issue of extreme noise penetrating the earphones. They sent us two additional tips – both of which were a little bit bigger and therefore did a better job sealing the ear. This fixed the problem! I really appreciated Etymotic’s customer service and willingness to help us find a solution.

In addition, since I initially wrote this review, I’ve used the earphones more extensively as well. I find that the tips work much better for me than the earphones that came with my iPod. They are more comfortable and they stay in better.

From a Mom’s Perspective:

From a mom’s perspective, the Ety•Kids³ Headset + earphones is the perfect solution if you want to make sure that your children’s ears are being protected. I feel very comfortable allowing my children to listen to music using these earphones. You can purchase them on amazon.com for $79 with free super saver shipping. If this is a little pricey for you, I recommend checking out the Ety•Kids5 earphones. This version does not include the headset but boasts all the same technology in the earphones. You can purchase these at amazon.com for $49. again with super saver shipping.

* I was given Ety•Kids³ Headset + Earphones for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

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