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PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop for kids

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, PC / Laptop, Toys,

We’ve gotta hand it to PeeWee PC, as their Pivot Tablet Laptop looks exactly like something that would be a home run in the hands of a technology-curious child. Don’t go comparing this to the OLPC XO, though, because the Pivot Tablet starts at $599.99. What do you get for the cash? Let’s run down some of the specs. First of all, the Pivot Tablet Laptop if drop-resistant and spill-resistant, which immediately should give a bit of piece of mind to parents (like me) who know the horrors of kids + tech + juice. It also has a handle, making it easy for the children to tote the 3 pound device around. Getting into the nitty gritty, the Pivot Tablet Laptop sports a 10-inch touch-sensitive rotating display with stylus, 6-cell Li-ion battery, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 60GB hard drive. Not too shabby. You’ve also got two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi, and the whole thing ships with Windows XP Home, which is customized with a theme of your choice (things liek Disney, Sci-Fi, etc.). Being a device for kids, there is also a security suite that let’s you keep on eye on what the little one is up to while using the device as well.
You can pick one up starting today.
Read More | PeeWee Pivot Laptop product page
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SmackTalk! 1.1 for iPhone

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Entertainment, New Apps, $1.99,
Sometimes, it’s the simplest apps that turn out to be the best, and SmackTalk! for the iPhone proves that point. You see, all SmackTalk does it record your voice, and play it back to you at a faster speed. However, they also have animals whose heads move when it plays back your voice, so it appears that a hamster (or cat, or dog, etc.) is repeating back to you what you said. Kids love this, as I have witnessed first-hand. Check out the video above for a demo, and you’ll be wanting to grab SmackTalk for $1.99 from the App Store.
Read More | SmackTalk
HBO Offers Free Access to Obama’s Opening Ceremony

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Prime Time, Specials, ABC, Cable, HBO, Cable/Satellite, News,
UPDATE: You can find a list of performers for that HBO program here.
Although most of us are currently without tickets for Barack Obama‘s big day, those with cable or satellite service will have front row seats to the first major event of Inauguration Week.
On January 18, HBO will exclusively air the festivities from the Lincoln Memorial. The program is expected to be filled with A-list performers including a rumored appearance from Bruce Springsteen. Unlike the channel’s coverage back in 1993 (when Bill Clinton was welcomed into office), the 90-minute event will also be open to non-subscribers.
On Monday the 19th, the Disney Channel will be the sole broadcaster of “Kids’ Inaugural: We Are the Future.” The event honoring military families will be attended by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden. Then on Tuesday the 20th, ABC will have exclusive access to “The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration.” That is where the Obamas are expected to perform their first dance of the evening.
Read More | Variety
iKids Play - For Those Long Car Trips

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Games, $2.99,

You get to play with your iPhone or iPod touch apps all the time, so next time you go on an extended trip, instead of hearing “Are we there yet?” pass your brats the phone with one of the iKids Play titles installed. One of the applications has 5 activities that include a coloring book, stories, finger painting, reading/recording aloud and a hidden image game. The company claims that it promotes tactile, listening and motor skills, visual/spatial coordination and color recognition as will as reading. More books will be available later, and for the introductory price of $2.99 at the App Store, it is definitely worth the mini-cost.
iKids Play titles:
Read More | iKids Play Caterpillar's Dream
2008 Holiday Gift Guide: Playskool Kota the Triceratops - 50% off at Amazon

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Toys, Kids, Under $250,

Here’s one that the kids are sure to love - Kota the Triceratops is a rideable dinosaur. Did you catch that? A life-sized baby dinosaur to be exact, Kota is 40-inches long, and has a spring-loaded seat and handle. He also sports a smile on his face, which should mean that children won’t be scared of him. Kota has 11 sensores, so it reacts intelligently to sound as well as touch. He will react by turning his head, tail, horns, or even by roaring. You can also feed him some leaves, which will cause the dino to make a munching sound. The best part? Kota sells for $299 - but Amazon is currently selling him for just $150 - that is 50% off! Better hurry though, no telling how long that deal will last.
Read More | Kota the Triceratops 50% off
Holiday Gift Guide Flashback: True Christmas Spirit

Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, Features, Family, Kids,
Growing up the way I did - barely getting by, fully understanding what hard times meant, and dealing with some messed up family stuff - we never really made Christmas a big deal. At least, it never really was to me. For example, one year we couldn’t afford a Christmas tree (but when we did, we kept that thing for like a decade), my mom made us get some fallen twigs outside our apartment and she delicately wrapped them up in tin foil. We put it in a green vase and I think my sister actually tried decorating it by coloring the tin foil red and green. Ah, youth. Well, I couldn’t totally blame her for her attempts to make something bad into something good, afterall, she had a perm and actually thought it looked cool. But, heck, it was the mid-80s, so the poor choice made by my nine-year-old sibling could be forgiven in retrospect.
In all honesty, the last Christmas I remembered before this particular one I’m about to tell you about when I was eleven, was when I was five. I got a whole bunch of Micronauts and this huge plastic Spider-Man doll that had a grappling hook, which was supposedly a web that he could “climb.” Mind you, I don’t blame my parents for any of this lack of remembering several years in between as they always did their best, God bless their hearts, and I’m glad my sister was always in the Christmas spirit, but I knew what was up. Okay sure, I was a Holden Caufield without knowing I was at the time, but whatever. I dealt with it. You couldn’t fool me, I tell ya.
But, this particular Christmas, I got fooled.
Click to continue reading Holiday Gift Guide Flashback: True Christmas Spirit
K-Fed Back in the Limelight

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Break-ups, Divorce, Weddings, Celebrity Babies, Where Are They Now?,
Britney Spears is finally getting good headlines and positive gossip. She’s got an album that’s sure to be hit, a tour that’s going to be a success and a documentary that’s going to be re-ran about seven hundred times. But she’s also got an ex-husband who’s got a voice of his own - one that’s sure to be heard.
Kevin Federline has recently opened up about Brit and the past in an interview with People magazine. The father of four (Shar Jackson is the mother of Kori, 6, and Kaleb, 4, Britney the mother of Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden James, 2) has been brought up in conversation by Spears several times recently. Now, he’s going to go on the record when it comes to her.
Click to continue reading K-Fed Back in the Limelight
Read More | People
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: Fisher-Price Elmo Live

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Toys, Kids, Under $100,
Once again, Elmo is here to take over the holiday, causing parking lot brawls between otherwise-normal parents. Back in 1996, Tickle Me Elmo flew off store shelves. 12 years later, Elmo Live tells jokes, sings songs, plays games, and tells stories. Oh, and he still laughs too. The biggest change, though, is thatElmo’s mouth actually moves when he talks, along with the rest of his body. He also moves his arms, nods his head, stands up, sits down, among other things, all with a squeeze of his foot. I was at Target the other day, and almost every shopping cart with a kid in it had one, and at one moment, I literally heard 7 of these things going at once, simply due to the carts being in close proximity. This is one of the big toy gifts this year. Elmo Live sells for $65.99, but we found it on Amazon for 9% off, at $59.88.
Elmo Live is Still Ticklish

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Toys, Videos,
You know we love the hot electronic toys, so we ran, not walked to get an Elmo Live for our kids. We have to admit that if you want something your toddlers (and cats) will love, but will drive you bonkers, this is the toy to get. The bugger doesn’t move his legs, and sometimes the noise he makes is louder than his guffaws, but still we think that he will keep your kids amused for at least a couple of hours while you take a nap during the holiday hubbub. Besides, you can always try to sell it on eBay for a big chunk of change ($750.00 worth) like this person thinks he/she can. For the rest of us, Elmo goes for about $60.00.
Read More | Fisher Price
What’s Next for Angelina Jolie?

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Movies, Celebrity Babies, Editorials,

“I don’t love being alone like I used to,” Angelina Jolie said to Today, referring to her now long-standing relationship with Hollywood hottie Brad Pitt. “I met the right person.”
With her love life nice and stable (apparently in spite of what the media says), with her new twins now a well-established three months of age and a hot new movie ready to debut, what could Jolie possibly add to the mix? …How about another kid? Sure, she’s only got six (and counting).
Click to continue reading What’s Next for Angelina Jolie?
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