Puzzle in a phone

Here's another great free app that's been occupying Val to good result! It's a e-jigsaw puzzle so he uses his fingers to match up pieces to form shapes like a guitar, xylophone, raspberries, kiwi fruit, letters etc. It's good because he has not only learnt to observe and compare, he's picked up new words. Recommend this to another parent keen to add a free app onto their iPhone.

Tech Dino: This is why I think children's book apps rock

I went to the Book Fair at Suntec today and spotted a familiar book, "The Smelly Sprout" by Alan Plenderleith. You see, I've had the free version of this story book on my iPhone for about 5 months now. Val was not interested in it at all initially so i never bothered buying the full version. But last week, he began to become interested and has been asking to read the "Smeggy Spout" every night. Of course, my free app ends on a cliffhanger - cos you know, the smart people who developed this app weren't going to let you know the ending for free! But i kinda resisted buying the US0.99 app. Why? No reason. Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't an impulsive buy, cos they do add up!

Anyways, while strolling through the book fair aisles I spotted the physical book and was rather excited at the thought of buying the book. Then i saw the price tag: $9. Okay, 'nuff said. I downloaded the full app tonight, and we had great fun reading it, till the end. :-)

Disclaimer: Yes, I still do love the touch and smell of real books, in case you're wondering. I just think that book apps are cool too!

Tech dino LOVES this! Mobile Art Lab Combines iPhone and Children's Books

Mobile Art Lab Combines iPhone and Children's Books



It truly combines print (my first love) with the inevitable - interactive.digital.mobile stizzuf that's taking the world by storm. NICEEEEEEE.....
I like it so much! Trust a Jap company to be the brains behind it!

2 year old iphone addict: the tech dino mulls on the issue

Razor TV has two stories on the iphone craze, centred around a 2-year-old girl Inez who is apparently "addicted" to the phone. It's really exaggerated cos I don't see that she is an addict since she only spends an hour on it a day but okay our standards may differ.

Apart from the bad voice over (the reporter needs better voice training!), the stories do raise the issue of the extent to which parents should allow their kids access to the iPhone or any other kinds of tech gadgets. My cousin's kids were, for a while, hooked to the PSP - same difference. I think it's all about moderation, with everything we do. And realising that as parents, we have the moral responsibility to control what our children get to see, touch, hear, and say. The debate is not about the iPhone at all. It's about how much effort parents put in to communicate with their children, and whether we spend quality time with them, engaging them in their games. For me, the Ipod Touch or Iphone will always be a "good-to-have", but never a "must-have". More importantly, I crack my head each weekend to think of where to bring Val to instead of cracking my head over which new app to download. He asks for it occasionally, "Where's the ipooot?" (LOL) but is always easily distracted to do something else. And even when he plays on it, I am always watching over his shoulder, playing with him. That's the point of downloading those apps, and even wanting to develop my own kiddy apps for other children (that's a post for another day!).

Go the middle way, the tech dino says. While keeping up with techy stuff, make sure too that the kids sweat it out on the beach - I know of kids who think that sand is ickieee cos their parents say so! Help your kids get used to being in the sun. Too many children these days are kept away from the great outdoors. A few mossie bites are okay la! Slap on the bug repellent and traipse the trails. Catch some butterflies and tadpoles. If need be, bring the iphone to snap pix! Make a video of the trail. Even going to a playground beats being cooped up at home. Surf the net for great ideas from other parents. IMHO, if parents blame it all on the gadgets, it means they have been a bit lazy in trying to figure out what's exciting out there. We need to realise that gone are the days that staying at home means you're nurturing a bookworm. It means you could be bringing up a 宅男 or otaku!

More Apps for the Ipod TOUCH : tech dino speaks again

Okay Okay Anonymous. It's an ipod TOUCH. I forgot to mention that small detail since there is only one Ipod you can touch, no? ;-O told you i'm a tech dino... which is why I LOVE the Balloonimal App i got for free this week. The lite version only allows you to inflate, poke, and burst a balloon dino sculpture but it's good enough for Val. After demonstrating to him only once, he cottoned on and knew he had to shake at certain steps to create the sculpture, and to poke the virtual pump to blow up the dino. Very intuitive app. Nice.



Another free app is the ABC Song. The illustration is nothing to wow about, but Val being so aural-driven, loves listening to it. The letters are shown on the window, a, b,c, and so on, as the girl sings. When she ends, she waves goodbye and Val waves back. Cute.



Last but definitely not least, The Surprise, a wonderful textless picture book with some animation (the sheep zips to and from places on his scooter). It's a nice tale of a sheep that dyes his own fur red, shaves it, and then knits it into a sweater for his giraff friend. Very simple, very touching, and Val understood it in a flash. This one is a paid app at US$0.99. :-)

Okay, the tech dino is off to do some proper work now!

going App over the iPod: the tech dinosaur speaks

I know i know, I am a slow slow slow adopter of new technology. I was among the latest in the peers to get a pager, a computer, a mobile, and now of course, an iPod (the iPhone will have to wait till M1 starts selling them officially!).

This week, I finally laid my hands on one - shsssh! it was barter trade for freelance services rendered. So imagine my excitement when i received the pod encased in its plastic home and began downloading apps! I went for free apps first of course, and then asked a colleague (veteran iPod user and a mom with 2 kids) what kiddy apps to download. And voila! i am offically an ipod Mom who brings home, not delightful sweets or toys for the babe, but new apps on the pod.

It's interesting to compare what Val likes versus what my colleagues' kids prefer. Val is obviously more aural, more into action, sounds, and movement. He is impatient to let me read a flipbook but loves the Wheels on the Bus app. He loves to see the wheels rolling back and forth. More importantly, he loves that he can actually stop or move the bus with his tiny fingers! it's really amazing what those guys at Apple have done to create the ipod/iphone's incredibly intuitive user interface. I have used phones with touch functions, but it's my first time seeing the extent to which you can control things, and the ease with which Val picked it up. So it's pretty impressive for this tech dinosaur.



One of the top paid App is The Little Red Hen. I love the illustrations, but i love the CANTONESE voice over even more! Cracks me up everytime i listen to it. Val, of course, has no patience for it so i basically bought the app for myself. I do hope though that when he's older he might appreciate it. It's strange that for printed books, he has patience to wait for me to narrate yet for the ipod he somehow knows that it can do more and perhaps demands more?



Anyways, i foresee myself getting hooked, and joining the legions of ipod/iphone parents who have discovered the joys of having e-books on the go, to entertain their fussies whereever they are. So i'll be blogging more about the apps i find in future.

Nyt nyt!