Archive for September 8th, 2009

Top 5 iPhone Apps for Pre-Schoolers

Believe it or not there are apps designed specifically for the under five’s in your life!  I couldn’t believe it when I first saw them because I thought who would let a little child anywhere near their iPhone?  But, surprised as I was apparently there are plenty of people who do this and when I decided to test the apps appeal to the little ones I was blown away at how quickly they grasped the functions and were happily engaged in a game.

The five apps that appealed most to the under fives, and were also approved of by the parents, were these:

1.Preschool Adventure, which offers six different educational games, keeping young minds active and engaged.  This is a great way to help your kids learn colours, numbers, and shapes, as well as body parts and animals.  You can then practice when you are out and about in the open air so that they get a good mix of education and fun at all times.

2.Preschool Music is a similar game focussing on music, giving a few different games for children to begin learning about rhythm, timing and different sounds.  Great fun, simple and a rather irritating set of parrots, but the kids love them!

3.Math Magic is a great way to get your kids starting to enjoy Math.It might seem a strange concept to many, but personally I love Math and am passionate about helping children to learn not to be afraid of this subject.  The whole set-up feels more like a game for the children than anything else, so their attention is focussed on moving on a stage in the game instead of feeling like they got something wrong.  This is one of the apps I love for children, but the children really seem to enjoy the motivating, encouraging way that the concept of Math is taught.

4.Wheels on the Bus for the iPhone is great fun and combines music with actions and different languages.  This is a lovely idea and great for getting them interested in other cultures and you’ll probably be asked some interesting questions by the kids about why the sounds made by wipers are different in different countries!

5.Finally, Sightwords is one of those apps that is really impressive and allows your child to progress at a pace suitable for them.  There are over 300 flash cards for the children to work through, and they can move backwards and forwards through different words and even touch the screen to hear the word if they are not sure.  This is a great way of supplementing reading time with your child and will help them move on quickly with their reading and talking skills.

I hope you find these suggestions useful and that your children also enjoy these very cheap apps.  I would never recommend leaving your child alone with your iPhone, but they are a good way of keeping them entertained for a short while and a great addition to the learning suites available for you and your child.

Smartphone Ratings – Best Smart Phones Reviews

There is now such a choice of smartphones available that you may be wondering which one to choose.  The right phone will be different for each individual, so we have reviewed a few of the more popular phones and given a brief overview of three smartphones for your information.  Hopefully these ratings will help you make the choice to suit your needs.

BlackBerry Storm – touchscreen phone, maps and GPS, tethered modem, social networking facility, long lasting battery giving 6 hours talk time and 15 days standby, 3.2Mp camera, media player, video recording, wireless e-mail, expandable memory through microSD card, 1GB on board memory and 128MB flash memory, Bluetooth connectivity, apps available for download.  Size H 112.5mm x W 62.2mm x D 13.95mm, Weight 155 grams.

Apple iPhone 3G S – touchscreen phone, maps and GPS, internet tethering, superfast application launch, 3Mp auto-focus camera, video recording, voice control, media player, wireless e-mail, mobile web, digital compass, cut, copy and paste, app store with huge array of apps, Bluetooth connectivity, up to 32GB flash memory, battery life up to 5 hours talk time and 300 hours (twelve and a half days) standby.  Size H 115.5mm x W 62.1mm X D 12.3 mm, Weight 135 grams.

Nokia N97 – touchscreen phone with slide out keyboard, up to 32GB internal memory plus up to 16GB microSD card, media player, maps and compass, 5Mp auto-focus camera with flash, video recording, Bluetooth connectivity, apps available from Ovi store, battery life up to 9.5 hours talk time (max) and 430 hours (17.9 days) standby.  Size H 117.2mm x W 55.3mm x D 18.25mm (max), Weight 150 grams.

Of course there are plenty of other smartphones available on the market, however the ratings of these three mean that they are probably our favourites.  Whichever you choose you are sure to have a great phone that will help you stay connected whenever you are on the move, but take the time to choose the right phone for you.

Review of Top 3 Smart Phones

Smart phones are now the must have gadget for every business person and tech savvy consumer wanting to stay in touch when out and about on the move, but if you haven’t invested in one yet and you’re not sure where to start to begin the processing of choosing which is right for you then this review is here to help you.

We have selected the smart phones that, in our opinion, are the top three of those available at the moment and reviewed the available information about them and their apps to help you make your choice.  Of course, everyone is individual so what might be perfect for one person isn’t going to be quite right for someone else, so don’t worry about the order of these three reviews.  It’s all about what is right for you and the way you would like to use your smart phone.

The Apple iPhone 3GS is one of the most popular smart phones for a reason.  It is easy to use, has a multitude of functions, an amazing array of downloads available, which is still growing, and is outstandingly quick to launch the required apps.  This phone has all the usual features you would expect of a mobile phone these days, i.e. the ability to make calls, text, send and receive MMS, take photographs and shoot video.

However, on top of these basic functions you have internet tethering allowing you to surf the web from just about anywhere, multi-touch interface, visual voicemail, message threads for SMS and MMS, voice control, the ability to cut, copy and paste, maps and GPS, and a whole array of apps available for download allowing you to do just about anything from your phone.This phone is great for the business user or the average consumer who likes to stay in touch.

The Nokia N97, the latest offering from the largest phone marker in the world, is a great option especially if you don’t like the virtual keyboard of the Apple.  The keys are better spaced on the QWERTY keyboard that is revealed when the screen is swivelled upwards, making it very easy to e-mail and message quickly.

Anyone who has ever owned a Nokia cannot fail to have noticed how easy the menus are to navigate around.  There is something about the way a Nokia is put together that always feels right and their competitors never seem to beat this.The touch-screen display is simple to use and easily customisable.The 32GB memory (the same as the Apple) can be extended through the use of SD cards, allowing you to access thousands of hours of music, video, photographs or films, and the camera is an impressive 5Mp with flash.

What lets down the Nokia is the available apps for download, which are limited and not that easy to download!  However, if you wish to use Skype to make free internet calls then the Nokia is for you (as long as your network allows Skype traffic over 3G).  I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this smart phone for business users, but for those who make a lot of long distance calls and like the availability of the additional function s on this phone then it is certainly a pretty good bet.

The BlackBerry Storm is a great touch-screen phone which some may think is the traditional domain of business users, however don’t dismiss it if you are just an interested consumer rather than a business user.  The features of this phone include the usual mobile phone array along with maps and GPS, e-mail and document download, internet browsing, tethered modem, social networking ability and of course their own range of apps.  The apps are easy to download, simple to access and there are a good range, which is growing steadily.  The BlackBerry is an excellent alternative to the Apple and more suitable for the business user than the Nokia.

Any of these phones will make a good bet, however I suggest you have a look at the features that are most important to you before you decide which way to go.