Much like Stanza identifies songs, Cry Translator identifies cries.
In the classic Simpsons episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?", Homer's long-lost brother Herb invents a baby translator. The baby cries, the machine announces its meaning (in Danny DeVito's inimitable voice) in plain English.
Seventeen years later, there's an app for that. Cry Translator promises to identify the "five distinct cries" made by infants.
In other words, you no longer have to wonder if your ankle-biter is tired, hungry, mad, stressed, or just bored. It's like Stanza for crybabies.
My first reaction: That's cheating! My second reaction: Why wasn't this around nine years ago when I needed it? And finally: No way does this actually work.
Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of babies on which to test it. So I'll throw this out to anyone willing to invest $9.99 on the promise of easier parenting. Put the app to the test, then report your findings here.
For what it's worth, the app not only translates Junior's cries, but also offers suggestions on how to calm him. You can also enter emergency contacts, like your pediatrician, for quick and easy access.
Again, I have my doubts about whether this really works--but wouldn't it be awesome if it did? The developer cites a study--conducted in Spain--that reported a 96-percent success rate in calming crying babies when following the supplied suggestions.
If nothing else, it might be $10 well-spent just to calm fretful parents. Once upon a time, I was one of them.
(Credit:
Sony Pictures)
In 2005, we got to witness the return of two extremely popular characters in the Final Fantasy franchise--Cloud Strife and Sephiroth--but this time they'd do battle in a movie and not in a game. As of 2006 that movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, has sold more than 10.5 million copies worldwide on DVD and UMD. And now it's getting the full Blu-ray treatment.
On June 2, Sony pictures is releasing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (director's cut) on Blu-ray. Exclusive to the release will be 26 minutes of additional footage and over 1000 revised scenes, each of which was re-recorded with the original voice cast including Rachel Leigh Cook (Josie and the Pussycats) and Mena Suvari (American Beauty), and a 25-minute original anime short film, telling the story of the character Denzel before the events of Advent Children; a featurette showing a story line digest incorporating related footage from the video games; a documentary on the history of Final Fantasy VII; and a first look at the Final Fantasy XIII video game.
We received an early preview of this upcoming release and it looked beautiful. It was so detailed you could count hair strands and see textures in the clothing. ... Read more
Anne Geddes. You know her. She's the one who does those baby photos that pass the point of being cute and fly head first into a steaming pile of pretentiousness? Well, that's my opinion, anyway.
(Credit:
Westinghouse)
Still, according to Westinghouse, her books have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 24 languages. So if you're champing at the bit to give your child a cuteness inferiority complex, read on.
Westinghouse obviously sees this and they've partnered with Geddes and the Geddes Group to create a new family of digital photo frames. The frames will feature images from Anne Geddes, but users will be able to mix their own photos and content with specifically selected photos and content of babies and children by Ms. Geddes.
The frames will require specialized software, developed by Westinghouse, to power them. So far there is no word on price.
A new portable device lets doctors conduct a quick, non-invasive pediatric eye exam--and hopefully detect vision problems early.
The PediaVision Assessment Solution (PAS), scheduled to be demonstrated at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting in Boston this week, uses an infrared camera to take digital images of the eye in children as young as six months. The screener consists of a small, handheld unit; a printer; and a laptop with preinstalled software.
Basically, the PAS projects an infrared light through the pupil onto the retina from a distance of 3 feet (good for shy kids who don't like people up in their faces). Depending on the refractive problem, the reflected light forms a specific brightness pattern within the pupil. The administering doctor then gets a digital printout of the results in about five seconds.
(Credit:
PediaVision)
Florida-based PediaVision--which was founded by a team of optometrists and ophthalmologists--says the device can be used by non-vision specialists to detect conditions including near-sightedness, far-sightedness, blurred vision, and irregularly shaped corneas or lenses.
The company's CEO, David Melnik, says the PAS aims to provide the pediatricians and family practitioners who are the gatekeepers of children's health with a simple and accurate way to catch vision problems early, when they are most curable.
"Parents look to their pediatrician for early health assessments and trust their physician to thoroughly evaluate and identify any problems from birth," said Melnik, adding that pediatricians now have an easy-to-use tool for early vision assessment.
The idea here is that young children with vision problems often don't know they see the world differently than others. That, along with the fact that vision problems generally don't cause physical pain, means that many kids' vision issues often go undetected.
We'll be curious to see what docs have to say about the device once they give it a try.
(Credit:
iTeddy)
No, it's not Internet lingerie (how would that work exactly, anyway?), but it might be just as questionable. According to its Web site, iTeddy is the "cuddly way to watch, learn, and play." Is it just me, or does that sound slightly foreboding?
In any event, the U.K.-based company iTeddy appears to focus on just the one product: an otherwise standard-looking stuffed bear with a screen on its belly and memory in its brain...512MB of it, to be exact. The iTeddy also includes an SD card slot for memory expansion, built-in external speakers, a built-in rechargeable battery, and a USB cable (which I can only hope attaches to his foot).
If it hasn't become clear yet, iTeddy is just your typical stuffed animal with a media player built right in. The bear, which is aimed at preschoolers, offers a small color screen and--from the looks of it--very basic controls, which allow a child to navigate music options as well as look at photos, watch videos, and play games.
The device is intended to provide young children with an appealing entry point into digital media, but it makes me yearn for the days when all that was on a bear's gut was a Tummy Symbol (call me sentimental). However, anecdotal evidence suggests iTeddy's target audience is enthralled by the gadget, and some parents seem to think its a pretty neat idea (others note that the screen quality is poor and video encoding is a hassle).
I will say this: if you're looking for a way to introduce your 3- to 6-year-old to MP3s, its the cuddliest option available. The iTeddy is now available in the U.S. through Zizzle.
It's been awhile since we've seen a ruggedized external hard drive come to the market. The last one we reviewed was the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive; it scored well in the speed tests and even withstood a 30-inch drop off a desk in nonoperating mode.
Iomega's eGo camo portable hard drive takes it a step higher and bumps the maximum drop height to 60 inches (5 feet), or so they report. Along with the standard read and write tests, we also took the liberty of performing a drop test to prove its toughness. The day we tested this drive, it just happened to be "bring your kids to work day," so we put those little buggers to work. Check out the video above and rest assured that if you buy this drive, you're not going to worry about its durability. This little guy took several drops and connected to the computer with no wounds to the exterior and zero loss of data.
All of Iomega's eGo line has a drop resistance of 51 inches, but the camo version has an ace of its sleeve: the "Power Grip Band" is a thick piece of rubber that swaddles the drive and allows you to drop it an extra 9 inches without worry. For those of you are constantly on the go and are looking for an external hard drive to throw in your bag, we certainly recommend the Iomega eGo Camo portable hard drive--it'll keep your sensitive data in one piece.
Check out the review for more information including transfer speed testing and a detailed hardware description.
If you need proof that children's music has grown quite credible, look no farther than the soundtrack to the Disney show "Johnny and the Sprites." The subject matter--spaghetti and self-empowerment, mostly--doesn't hide the serious Broadway smarts of the songwriting.
(Credit:
Sony)
We're not sure if it's a good sign for electronics to be aimed at such early ages, but Sony is introducing a pair of headphones designed for kids 8 and up.
It actually makes good sense from a business standpoint, to get consumers hooked into buying your brand at the earliest possible age, kind of like the way tobacco companies try to do with cigarettes. And even at $15, they're bound to be better than the cheap 'phones that come with any kids' gadgets.
The MDR-222KD headphones not only come in "cotton-candy pink" (as well as and black), according to Slippery Brick, but they also have open-air earpieces and volume limitations so your kids won't destroy their eardrums as they're want to do. There's an additional incentive for parents too: Headphones that fit children's ears better are less likely to let their awful music leak out.
Parents on the lookout for carefree, unintimidating ways to urge the sprout of their young kids' creativity ought to take a look at Ten Amazing Fruits. As the product name suggests, Ten Amazing Fruits stars a sampling of botanical characters, including the frequently miscast tomato (hurrah!) These are not, however, your garden-variety fruits. Each outsize organic possesses arms, feet, and a blank face upon which children can attach, Mr. Potato Head-style, a variety of digital features and appendages. A posh voice recites object names when the cursor mouses by, but a quick trip to the options can put an end to it.
Hidden in the branches of the app's help manual are instructions on playing the loosely defined game, and an accompanying story written cheerfully in passable English translation. The goal? Help the fruit escape certain death-by-digestion by dragging and dropping on eyes, ears, and noses so they can find their way out of the fruit bowl. Yawn. Without the app's interaction, it's much more satisfying to dream up new stories for each character, and save the fertile faces to the computer as BMP or proprietary FRD files, or print them out to adorn the fridge.
While light-hearted fun, Ten Amazing Fruits is no study in sophistication. Woefully short on graphic finesse, additional backgrounds and accouterments, and space to type new stories, the app nevertheless offers a whimsical and wonderfully silly way for young kids to personify produce.
And at the very least, an early lesson on the tomato's true horticultural alliance. My dapper three-eyed Mr. Tomato, vested in black hat and bow tie, would surely agree.
(Credit:
Disney)
Sometimes it seems that Japanese phone makers target their products at children as much as adult consumers--in some cases even before they're born.
Disney Japan is no exception, of course, so it's no surprise that the Magic Kingdom of the Pacific is coming out with yet another mobile handset for kids. But its new DM001SH model, which MobileWhack says is produced jointly with Tokyo-based Softbank, looks decidedly more grown-up and polished than previous phones and other gadgets aimed at the kodomo market.
In fact, we wouldn't mind having one of these handsets either, with its 2.6-inch screen, 2-megapixel camera, and clean metallic finish (in gold, silver, or pink), as well as a media player and SD card slot. Except for the ears, of course. We've had enough of those.
