kids

These days, IT knowledge isn't just good to have, but apparently a must-have even for pre-schoolers. So, instead of spending money on a laptop-like toy with a tiny LCD screen this holiday season, why not get a real child-proof Netbook that will last the kid through his destructive years?

The PeeWee Pivot 2.0--a follow-up to the PeeWee Pivot Laptop Tablet--is a convertible laptop running on the previous-generation Atom N450 1.66GHz processor and integrated graphics chip. While $599 is pretty expensive for these specifications (considering a similar Netbook retails for about $300 these days), what sets the PeeWee Pivot 2.0 apart are its ruggedized features, 10.1-inch resistive touch screen and prebundled education software.

It even comes with a spill-resistant keyboard and accelerometer for auto screen rotation. This minilaptop was tested to survive drops up to 1.6 feet, which should help keep it ticking in the hands of most children. … Read more

Last week, CNET broke the story that Barnes & Noble would be introducing a $249 Android-based color e-reader for the holiday buying season. That product, the Nook Color, has just become official, with Barnes & Noble showing off the new device at a press conference at its flagship Union Square store in New York City today.

After a picture of the Nook Color was leaked to CNET, the biggest mystery surrounding the product was what type of screen it would sport. As we anticipated, the screen is a 7-inch touch-screen LCD, and not something more exotic like a color e-ink or a Mirasol display, which won't be available until next year. Barnes & Noble told CNET that this is a next-generation LED-backlit display supplied by LG, which is bright yet energy efficient. The product's designers added a special layer of laminate to the glass that covers the display to help cut down on glare and improve off-axis viewing.

A lot of people wondered whether this would be classified as an Android tablet, and while the device does run on Android 2.1 (it will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 next year) and offers additional functionality such as Web browsing, audio and video playback, and some basic games, Barnes & Noble is spinning it as a "reader's tablet." The Nook Color has built-in Wi-Fi but no 3G, and comes with 8GB of internal memory, plus the capability to expand capacity via a microSD expansion slot tucked into the bottom of the device near its "corner slot."

Here are its key specs:… Read more

Jay, Josh, and Danny from BeenVerified are back in The 404 studio to show off their brand new sex offender locator app for the Android and iPhone! For some reason, it keeps going off during the show...

BeenVerified is an online service that makes it easy to do quick, thorough background checks on people, and it's a lot easier than simply Googling someone's name. The instant search not only gives public access to legal databases for criminal records and phone numbers; it's also an excellent source for monitoring sex offenders in your neighborhood.

Their latest Sex Offender Tracker App uses augmented reality to display graphical overlays on your phone that help you locate registered sex offenders in your area, and can you believe it? They got ANTOINE DODSON to be their spokesperson in the commercial!

Keep listening if you're unaware of Mr. Dodson, but with a successful single that has gotten 35,000 YouTube hits so far and his own Halloween costume, you should really know this guy already.

The Sex Offender Tracker app is available for the iPhone and Android for $1.99, and 5 percent of all proceeds will be donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (Rainn), an anti-sexual-assault organization.

The guys stick around after the break for the following batch of video voicemails:

DeeJay shows us how an 8-bit beat is made with a simple drum machine!

Mass from Phil the Mailguy hopes we have a wonderful day!

It is no longer worthwhile for the average 12-year-old to make 20 bucks for cleaning someone's car. It is certainly pointless for prepimpled youths to make a little pocket money for, say, cleaning the house or, perhaps, washing their armpits.

Not when there's Mozilla ready to give them $3,000 for a little overdue diligence.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Alex Miller is one 12-year-old who knows exactly which side of his bread he wishes buttered. The moment he saw that the benevolent bosses of Firefox were offering 3,000 big ones in order to eradicate … Read more

Zillionz is a toy line that's meant to teach kids how to keep track of their money. It features toys like cash registers, digital piggy banks, and electric coin jars, all of which use kids' real money to help them manage their personal finances and save up. It's kind of a cool idea, even if the private plastic ATM is a little weird.

The latest edition to the lineup is the Zillionaire, a personal-savings machine. It's like a trio of savings jars, each one assigned to a different child or fund, like "new bike," "… Read more

Former Nintendo Vice President Cammie Dunaway has a new job: U.S. president and global marketing head for an interactive family entertainment company.

Dunaway, who left Nintendo on Friday, will run the U.S. branch for KidZania, a Mexico-based global company that makes kid-sized cities with streets, buildings, businesses, and vehicles that children can explore and run. By letting kids pretend to be firefighters, vets, bakers, and other professionals, these family entertainment parks try to entertain and educate them about their options in life, according to KidZania.

So far, the company has launched eight parks around the world, with more … Read more

This program is called Kid-Key-Lock, but it could just as easily be called Cat-Key-Lock. It was just a few days ago that we came back to our computer to find that our cat had added several letters and numbers and 15 pages of carriage returns to a document that we had been working on. Whether you have a curious toddler or an oblivious feline, Kid-Key-Lock can keep your computer safe from unwanted keyboard and mouse input.

The program appears as an icon in the system tray, and you can access the setup menu by right-clicking on it. From there, there … Read more

Preschool Memory Match is a high-quality, Concentration-style card-matching game designed for preschoolers.

Like similar apps, the primary interface for Preschool Memory Match is a small grid of cards, which kids can touch to flip over momentarily as they search for matching pairs. What sets Preschool Memory Match apart is its overall quality and production values: the interface is quick and responsive (perfect for jabby little fingers, with a just-right pause between card flips), the cards are colorful and numerous (with more than 220 different cards, each with distinct, well-done illustrations), and the sound and voice-over are excellent (when kids find … Read more

Whether you believe in a kid-oriented laptop probably depends on whether you have kids, and whether you like the idea of them fiddling with your own computer when you're out of the room. Accordingly, your reaction to the Satellite L635 will probably vary.

Toshiba's Best Buy-exclusive Satellite L635 feels at first glance like a larger-scale version of the education-oriented Netbooks we've seen from Intel and others. A ruggedized look, bright colors, and a easy-to-clean keyboard create that impression most of all, but in reality this is a full 13.3-inch-screen laptop that isn't much different under the hood from the low-end doorbusters you might see in retail circulars. We got to check one out recently, and it seemed pretty much like many entry-level Toshiba Satellites we've used before, except for its rubberized keyboard.

Besides size and capability, another key difference lies in its target audience: this is meant for home use, whereas many of the educational Netbooks we've seen, such as the Intel Classmate and HP Mini 100e are institutionally targeted, many of them never even seeing the light of a retail store. The Satellite L635 will be at Best Buy starting September 26. … Read more