Seen on Great Day Houston

Back to School in Style

Houston Family Magazine

www.houstonfamilymagazine.com

The Gadgets

Elementary

Study Buddy

Study Buddy uses dry-erase pens, photographs, graphics and/or original artwork that is prepared on reusable electronic cards. Parents and children can record an accompanying voice instruction that is unique for each card. Simply slip a photograph or artwork into one of the electronic cards, insert the card into Study Buddy’s card reader and record up to 10-seconds of customized audio that can be played back instantly. Until it is changed, each card corresponds exactly with its own unique audio segment.

The one-touch play and record feature makes the Study Buddy easy to operate for children of all ages, and its “record protect” feature keeps the recordings safe from accidental erasure or tampering.

$69.75 at www.hamiltonelectronics.com

Tag Reading System

Introducing Tag - the amazing touch reading system that brings to life reading like never before. Perfectly sized for little hands, the Tag™ Reader is a touch-and-talk reading device that brings stories to life like never before and offers insights into what your child is learning. As children touch the Tag Reader to the pages of specially printed storybooks, a small camera in the tip "reads" the pages, enabling children to hear words and stories read aloud. Characters, pictures and learning activities spring to life with every touch, immersing children in the thrill of reading.

Designed for children four to eight, the Tag Reading System works with a broad library of more than 20 books and games. Children can explore classic books such as Olivia and The Little Engine That Could, or join popular characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Ariel the Little Mermaid in new reading adventures. Leveled learning activities in every book adjust automatically to your child's pace, helping build confidence and a love of reading that lasts a lifetime.

$49.99 at www.leapfrog.com

Premier Elementary School Agenda

The Premier Elementary School Agenda is geared to ages 6-12 and encourages students to start each week by setting personal learning and caring goals and to reflect on these at the end of the week. Designed to turn goal setting, daily learning and character development into lifelong habits. Includes a SchoolTalk and Family Activity Corner to keep parents involved in their child's education.

$10.95 at www.franklincovey.com

iSight

Monitor iSight Tracking Device Location In Real-Time: The iSight tracking device allows a user to monitor the location of the device from a secure and easy to use website with clear and simple mapping technology.

Proven GPS Technology: Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), the iSight tracker identifies location, speed and direction.

Easy Installation: Simply mount the iSight tracker on the inside of your windshield, then plug the device into your car’s cigarette lighter or power socket.

Easy To Use Web Site: Log onto the secure website from your PC and see where the device has been as far back as the previous 30 days.

Receive Email and Text Alerts: The iSight tracker allows you to set limits on speed or on pre-set boundaries set up by the user. You can then be notified via text message and email if the vehicle enters or leaves a pre-determined area or travels above a pre-determined speed.

Compact Size: The small, lightweight iSight tracking device is portable and suitable for personal tracking.

Rechargeable and Portable: When unplugged, its internal lithium-ion battery will keep the iSight tracking device powered for several days under normal operation.

$149.99 and $16.95 per month at www.getisight.com

Zojirushi Lunch Jars(pronounced zo-g-roo-shi…just look at like zoji-rushi)

The Mini Bento Stainless Lunch Jar features durable stainless steel construction and vacuum insulation with excellent heat retention to keep hot lunches hot and cold lunches cold. It contains a washable vacuum insulated main bowl, two side bowls, chopsticks, chopsticks holder, and easy-to-carry insulated bag. All bowls are microwaveable and the carrying bag reconfigures to half its size when the bowls are empty.

40.99 at www.amazon.com

Middle School

Cygnett GrooveToons

With school coming up, it’s time to get back in the groove. Why not wake up to what you want to hear? Now you can do just that with GrooveToons, an iPod alarm clock. Compatible with the iPod Nano, this alarm clock allows you to wake up to your favorite songs. And don’t worry—there’s still a snooze button!

$49.99 at www.cygnett.com.

WordLock

2-4-6-8, this new combination lock is great! Wordlock’s innovative combination lock replaces the numbers with letters, allowing you to have an easy-to-remember password. This family-friendly lock is designed using only certain letter combinations, eliminating inappropriate words from the dial. And with more than 100,000 combinations, you won’t be at a loss for words. The Wordlock comes in many vibrant colors and shapes. $9.99 at www.amazon.com.

Crammer Study Tool

The Crammer study tool packs test prep and digital music into a pocket-sized

device for grade-schoolers on-the-go. More than 16,000 mathematics, social

studies and science questions, based on leading textbooks, are only a touch

away using Crammer’s sleek click-screen. And the included PC- and Maccompatible

LeapFrog® Connect Application allows kids to upload content to the

USB-enabled Crammer handheld, then create and store millions of customized digital

fl ashcards for any subject area. A Spanish translator comes on board, along with two games and space for up to 10 hours of music. As part of the LeapFrog Learning Path, available this summer at leapfrog.com/learningpath, parents can connect the Crammer system to the computer to see how engaged their kids are in studying, and kids can choose to share their by-quiz performance.

Available OCTOBER $59.99 at www.leapfrog.com

Polaroid PoGo

The Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer lets you share photos whether you are on vacation or just hanging out with your friends. Bring Polaroid magic from your camera cell phone or digital camera with ZINK™ Zero Ink™ Printing Technology from ZINK Imaging. Mobile and easy-to-use, the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Mobile Printer provides a new, innovative way to share digital photos directly from your camera cell phone or digital camera, instantly. The Polaroid Way.

$149.99 at Best Buy

High School

Belkin TuneTalk Stereo

This voice recorder plugs in to your iPod with video and allows you to record cd-quality audio memos, lectures, interviews or conversations in full. So it can tune it, while you tune out. You can go back and listen to your recordings later by using earbud headphones or a computer. This great product requires no installation and is compatible with most cases. Note-taking is a thing of the past thanks to the TuneTalk.

$69.99 at www.belkin.com

Belkin Energy Collection Laptop Backpack

• Designed with durable, water resistant, Rip-Stop material on the outside

• Features plush, scratch-free notebook compartment lining material on the inside

• Earphone access with pass-through for internal MP3 secure pocket

• Handle on top with soft grip

• Zippered front pocket keeps pack slim while not in use, and expends when needed

• Rubber feet on bottom of bag keep fabric clean

• Includes accessory pouch for power-block and notebook accessories

• Mesh panel designed to dissipate heat

• Padding designed to ergonomically align with muscles and minimize contact with spine

$59.99 at www.dell.com....

And for homework:

Belkin Cushtop Hideaway

Designed for comfortable use on the couch, bed or floor as a CushTop.----acts as a desk while you are away from one! When you are not using it with your laptop, use it to store your laptop safely.

$39.99 at www.belkin.com. Coming soon!

Lexmark 4850 WiFi Printer

The Lexmark™ X4850 Wireless All-in-One offers the convenience of wireless technology combined with efficient 2-sided printing and business class speeds — up to 30 ppm black and 27 ppm color*. Produce high resolution scan documents and easily copy with 1-touch of a button. Robust photo performance allows viewing and editing of photos on the 2.4" (6 cm) LCD and direct photo printing from memory card, USB Flash drive or from PictBridge™ compatible cameras. Enjoy vibrant resilient borderless photos on popular photos sizes printed with Lexmark evercolor2™ ink. The Lexmark X4850 provides maxium performance for your home. *Printing in draft mode and excludes time to first page feed.

$139.99 at www.lexmarkstore.com

Amazon Kindle

This wireless portable reading device has instant access to more than 145,000 books, blogs, newspapers and magazines. Whether you’re in bed or on the bus, the Kindle lets you think of a book, and get it in less than a minute. It offers free book samples—the first chapter of every book, to help you decide if you want to download it. Best sellers and new releases are $9.99. You can e-mail your word documents and pictures to you Kindle for on-the-go viewing. Free wireless access to Wikipedia. Allows for bookmarks and annotation. Built-in dictionary. Adjustable text size. Weighs 10.3 ounces!

$399 at amazon.com

Mimobots

Produced in limited editions, mimobot® Designer USB Flash Drives merge the art of the progressive Vinyl Toy movement with the functionality of USB flash memory keys. The result is an experiential platform where multitudes of characters are translated into the portable mimobot form and are coupled with preloaded exclusive digital content.

The mimobot platform serves three distinct categories. The first are original mimoco creations: residents of the Planet Blõôh and drivers of the mimobot storyline, they are the mimobot Core Series. Second are original designs by some of the finest contemporary character artists like Hanazuki(Netherlands), Mori Chack(Japan), and SketOne (Connecticut). Third are licensed crossovers of your favorite entertainment franchises like Star Wars, Halo, and Happy Tree Friends.

The tiny two inch mimobotsare available in 512MB to 4GB capacities, are high‐speed USB2.0, compatible with Mac and Windows (enhanced for Vista ReadyBoost) and are preloaded with an assortment of character‐related media content such as animation, games, music, wallpapers, screensavers, icons and the mimobot soundByte™ application.The mimobot line can be found at many modern art museum shops worldwide (MOMA, MCA Chicago, MCA

$39.95 to $119.95 at www.mimoco.com

Fly Fusion

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer works only with FLY™ Paper. FLY paper and software sold separately. FLY Fusion Pentop Computer is not compatible with FLY 1.0 products. When you write with the FLY Fusion™ Pentop Computer on FLY™ Paper, everything is automatically captured and digitized. You can then upload it to your PC and convert to text. Touch your pentop computer to FLY Paper, and you can quiz yourself on history, get help with a quadratic equation, or even play your favorite MP3. And when you're ready for new software, simply connect to your PC again to purchase and download custom homework and gaming applications directly to your FLY Fusion Pentop Computer.

Finally, technology designed for your Life, School, Music and Fun! This is Pentop Computing, the next generation of high-speed digital processing, developed to deliver high-speed homework help – in the palm of your hand.

$69.99 at leapfrog.com