HiTechMommy

Happy 4th!

Jack and I marched in our local parade yesterday as part of The Westchester Mom's Club.  I was a proud mama!  Happy 4th to you and yours.

-Cat

Game On

I'm not afraid to say that video games are OK to bring on your summer vacation!  The fact is that games come in handy keeping the kids, or Mom and Dad,  entertained when there's down time or when travel is involved.  In fact, in a recent survey from the video game retailer, Game Crazy, found that 96% of kids who own video consoles or hand held game systems will bring it with them on vacation this year. So go with it!

In my opinion a great device to bring along is the the Nintendo DS Lite.  In case you've never heard of it, it's a very popular handheld gaming system that's great for family travel and kids of all ages.  Its cool factor starts with the different color selections, I'm rocking' the pink and Jack has blue,  a really long battery life of up to 19 hours, wi-fi capability so you can play against others anywhere in the world or in the back seat,  is backwards compatible so you can  play old Game Boy games on it and has a rad selection of games. I highly recommend getting one.

So what games should you bring?  Ubisoft has just come out with The Imagine series, designed specifically for girls, which really lets young ladies express creativity and imagination by letting them explore their favorite hobbies in virtual worlds.   Games in this series include titles like, My Fashion Studio, which  is great for the trendy tween demographic, Imagine Fashion Designer for those who are into fashion trends, Fashion Dogz, for the pet lover allowing you to dress your puppies up in more than 400 fashionable items, and Imagine Babyz, where young mommy types can take complete care for a virtual baby.

And for the rocker in the family, Guitar Hero on Tour brings the amazingly popular fun to the DS!  It was voted one of the most “wanted” game this summer and with a ton of Gibson guitars choices, five different venues and six characters to choose from it really lets you rock out anytime, anywhere. It comes with a guitar pick-stylus and lets fan shred along to so many of their favorite tunes. Also, there’s a lot of great interactive features like challenging friends to Guitar Duel or use of the touch screen to autograph a fan’s shirt in the middle of a set.Ahhhh yeah!

The Nintendo Wii, as you know, is a HOT item and is pretty easy to pack up and travel with. So pack it in because when it rains outside or you all feel like ditching the night time plan, plug it in and let the games begin! The gameWii Play is great title for vaca’s because the whole family can join in and play any of the 9 different quick games. From air hockey and table tennis to billiards and fishing, every game features  multi-player mode so players can compete head to head to see who’s best. The best part, It comes with aWii remote w hich is a great deal because when you buy the Wii it only comes with one remote!

What are you taking on your vacation?

Dads and Grads

Yo, Dad's and Grads, you're up! Here's what I'm thinking you may like!

Sony iPhone Speaker Dock/Clock Radio
If the Dad or grad has and iPhone then this is a great idea for them . This is the first and only iPhone-compatible speaker system/clock radio.  Sony has done a great job with the design of this baby and the sound is pretty boomin'. You've also got a remote, a nice display, 5 programmable radio station buttons and a big snoooooze bar.  You can connect your iPhone and iPod to the clock radio or any other digital music player (like a Walkman) to access all of your music.  And it's affordable too – only $100 for this gift.

Skype

Next, a great (and free) gift for grads that want to stay in touch and stay connected to family and friends, no matter how near or far they may be.  It's a free download called Skype that allows you to make and receive free voice and high quality video calls to other Skype users (meaning you can hear and see them.)    The best part is that it's so clear it's like they are sitting right next to you, so your gift can be spending time with someone who is far away . With Skype you can also call landlines and cell phones for pennies on the dollar as well as establish a phone number in your area code to receive calls!

Indiana Jones Remastered DVDs

And what Dad isn't an Indy Fan? The new movie has mine talking all about the earlier movies so I recently scored him the new special edition Indiana Jones DVDs– Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and Last Crusade through the 3 disc set.  These are great gifts for Dad that are even a treat for the whole family. These DVDs have been restored and remastered and now include a special introduction by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.  You can either buy your Dad's favorite one or all three of them together in the box set.

And believe it or not, with all the excitement over the new movie, sales of Indiana Jones merchandise have risen more than 100% in the last month on eBay alone!  Fedoras and Bull whips are hot sellers and there's really some amazing price points I'm seeing.

Fujifilm Finepix Z100
One more gift idea for the Dad or  Grad is the new Finepix Z100fd camera from Fujifilm. it looks pretty cool and is loaded with a number of  features that I've never seen on a camera before.  Check it out, you can see actual picture examples of what the different shooting modes are for, not just the little drawing of the person running or the moon shinning.   Another rad feature is a slide show mode that actually plays a nice little tune for ya while you're showing off the pix.  Want more?  It has a 5X optical zoom lens, face detection technology and an "auction" mode that makes posting your goods online super easy and fancy.  They come in 4 great colors and are priced under $200.   What are you getting your Dad or Grad?

Wynter + Jack = Love

Please take a look at this amazing entry my friend posted after spending the day with my son.   

-Cat

Natali DelConte From CNET TV's "Loaded" Is Rad

I'm in NYC and Natali and I got a chance to kick it yesterday.  We shot a spot for her show then later went to the diggnation meetup then went to the Matadayo meetup and then ended the night at dinner with THE force, Brook Hammerling of Brew Media Relatons.  These women are so savvy in the tech space that I feel proud to be their friend.   Thanks for a great night girls! 

-Cat

Mother's Day!

It's almost Mother's day and I'm seeing some heavy movement over on eBay in some of the following categories.  It's pretty exciting and should give you some good ideas as to what to get mom on May 11th .

First if for the awesome geeky mom who's into gadgets!  Logitech’s Quickcam Pro 9000 is what I'm getting my mama. This is great for moms with kids away from college, or grandparents out of state , like mine!  A webcam is a perfect way to stay connected and look into the eyes of the little ones and really watch them grow.  I'm loving this device because it uses CarlZeiss optics so the picture is real nice and sharp and it also has a pretty neat auto focus system.

Next, here’s an idea for those Mom’s that really AREN’T tech savvy.  Mom’s that want to stay in touch with family, but don't have a computer or Internet connection should check out the  HP Printing mailbox with the Presto Service.  What it does is call out to Presto, and will deliver emails and photos to the box then print them out in easy to read sheets.  This really is perfect for any Mom, Grandma or any of those family members who aren't easily connected. And it’s really a gift that keeps giving all year!

Next is the Blackberry Pearl 8120 from T-Mobile, which is great for moms on the go.  You can do everything with this stylish phone - e-mail, take pictures, type messages, IM, shoot vidz and more.  New this year is for $10 a month, you can pair it with the T-Mobile Hotspot @ Home service, and make unlimited calls over Wi-Fi– so no more wasting cell phone minutes whenever you're in a wifi zone.

Now  here’s a great one for Mom, that’s affordable too.  This is the Nikon COOLPIX S210 – its super thin, and measures less than an inch thick. It comes in many different great looking colors like plum and cool blue.  Some great features though, it has 8 mega pixel resolution and vibration reduction technology to produce clearer images.  Really a great buy if mom is needed an upgrade.

Finally, a great accessory for mom is Sony’s new digital Photo Frame. I have the v900 and I'm very happy with it. It has some really great features like the super high contrast color screen and internal memory so you can load the frame up then put your card back into your cam.  I'm also really into the different slide show modes it has like thecalender and clock mode making it into more than just a photo viewer. It also comes in 3 different sizes, so there’s one for every type of budget. And if you want to add a personal touch, you can even get it custom engraved.

A Quick TODAY Show Hit

Last week I did a very fast hit on The TODAY Show.  It was about how to save 1/2 hour of time each day.  HERE is the video and below is what I wrote.
-Cat

SmartShopper - When I'm headed to the grocery store I usually have my 22 month old son with me.  He's a great kid but a balloon can only keep him occupied for so long.  These trips need to be as brief as possible and this gadget allows me to get in and out of the store in lightening speed. This device lives on my fridge and uses voice recognition software to keep track of what I tell it I'm running out of. When it's time to shop I go to the device, hit print and a list of my items, organized by isle/category comes right on out! 

SimulScribe - I get over 20 phone calls a day and over half go to voice mail.  Each one is about two minutes long and I really only need about 10 seconds worth of the information that's been said.  SimulScribe allows me to get that time back!  The service actually interprets the voicemail that was sent to you then sends you a text message or email with the contents of the message typed out.  A winner all day long in my book.



GrandCentral- I have four phone numbers!  Cell, home, office and Internet. When someone wants to reach me they have to call one after the other hoping for an answer.  This could end up costing you in the end because of the amount of time it took that person to track you down. With this service you get one number that will ring to all of your devices as well as all of your voicemail messages to one mailbox!



Jott- Because I have a million things running through my head at once I often have to leave myself a messages as reminders... with this system I have things may or may not actually get done.   With Jott I could have simply called my Jott number and voiced the message to the service and then have it emailed or texted to myself right that instant. More uses include calling in reminders that can be texted to me at a later date, call in and add things to a printable reminder list and more.

Party Time

My home girl Wynter and I sure had fun at the TechCrunch/PopSugar party, "Geek Goes Chic" last week!  I feel like it was a little slice of heaven served up just for us.  Geeks galore, new wares being shown and the occasional celeb sighting. Purrrrrrr.   A few things stuck in my head that I wanted to share.  First was the cool new site (still in Beta, but hey, so was gmail for like years) called .DocStoc that's like the youtube for .docs and other text documents.  Most of them are biz docs, but I love the voyeur aspect of this.  Next was this service/site, EtchStar,that you can have come to an event or you can send your gadgets to and they etch logos and images into your devices. Here's a cool pic of an iPhone with "PopSugar" on it. Virgin Charter was there showing off a new site for the ballers out there who know that flying on a private jet is the only way to roll.  This service allows you to pick up the deadhead end of a PJ's trip by allowing high-end jet owners bid for your needs. And lastly another amazing site still in beta, Mahalo, the human powered search engine that's rad.

Lisa Sugar is as sweet as her name and Wynter and I just LOVE her.

Got to kick it with the lovely Heather Dale of GeekSugar and we giggled a bit then chatted about doing some video together.

Yesss, this was one of the only shots the chick from Valleywag got before they were, umm, before they left,and although they've never heard of me and I forced them to take the pic, they do know I have something to do with the TODAY Show (heheh).

But hey, they do know which purse is mine!!

Mama had a good time!

Toddler Tech on TODAY

The toddler tech segment I did last week was one of the best spots yet. I think there was a good variety of toys, gadgets that help mom, potty training gear and just fun stuff in general.  You can WATCH THE VIDEO HERE, or CLICK HERE FOR THE WEB STORY.

 

-Cat

PS:  Like my shoes??

 

Toy Fair 2008 Video

This is a video that I shot for my eBay Gadget and Toy Director gig. It's of my take on the 2008 Toy Fair and there's some pretty good game play in there.  Enjoy.

BTW, that thing shoots out marshmallows!!!

-Cat Schwartz