360 DEGREES Weblog

With a traditional baby monitor, you have a camera for the child’s room and a monitor that you carry around with you so you can see what’s happening with the baby.  You’ll need a power source for the monitor, and that means finding an outlet in the room you’re in or keeping the monitor supplied with batteries.  With the BabyPing monitoring system (from a newly-created division of Y-cam Solutions Ltd), you won’t have to worry about lugging around a separate monitor.  Place the BabyPing camera in the baby’s room, connect it to your home WiFi network, and use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as your monitor.  The free app “offers a wealth of security and safety features which include double-layer security and alerts to inform the user if the baby cries, if the Wi-Fi connection has been broken or if the monitoring iOS device is out of range.  Using specially developed technology, the Smart Filter™  cuts out the background noise and static normally associated with baby monitors, while Constant-Connect™ acts as a permanent tether between the app and monitor, instantly notifying the user when the baby is upset or if the connection is broken at any point, ensuring parents can put their trust in this new technology.”  The BabyPing will be available in the UK starting in February for £149.99 (about $230).  You can sign up at the BabyPing website to be notified of availability.

One of the fun things about being a kid is finally learning how to ride a bike. It can be a bit scary, as they go faster than your trusty tricycle or Big Wheel. But I still remember the first time I rode without training wheels. It was a glorious 10-15 seconds before I fell and scraped my knee. Well, if you want your kids to experience this same feeling, without making them do all of the hard work like pedaling, then you should get them a Peg Perego Ducati Monster 12V electric bike.

This electric bike features many of the things you’d find on its larger counterpart. Things like a front headlight, horn, engine sounds, and shock absorbers all add to the authentic feel. You can even get up to speeds of almost 5mph. The thing that disturbs me about this is that the age range on this is 3-7 years old. It does come with training wheels, but I think I’d want my kid to have been riding a regular bike for a few years before putting them on a $470 electric motorcycle.

Ok happy new parents, if you feel the need to keep an eye on your baby throughout the night because he/she sleeps in a different room you probably need a baby monitor to do the job. While audio-only monitors have done the job for many years, it looks like they’re about to get a significant upgrade with BabyPing: a combination of your iOS device, a free app and a baby monitor over a WiFi network.

Watch your baby sleep in full color video (640 x 480) over your WiFi network, and hear every noise he/she makes with the built in microphone on the monitor. The monitor also features Smart Filter which cuts out background noise and static normally associated with baby monitors and Constant-Connect acts as a permanent tether between the app and monitor – instantly notifying you when the baby is upset or the connection is broken.

The BabyPing Video Monitor will be available starting February 2012, but you can sign up for notifications on the launch of BabyPing at the official website.

If you or a friend have a baby, you need to start the young geekling off correctly with this Star Trek Enterprise Light-Up Feeding System from ThinkGeek.  The set includes a bib with motion-activated LEDs and a feeding spoon.  The Enterprise has an on/off switch and comes with three pop-off spoon attachments.  The bib and the Enterprise should be cleaned with a damp cloth; the spoon attachments are dishwasher safe.  The set is designed for children 12 months and older.  This licensed collectible is only $24.99 and makes a great gift for a Star Trek fan. Harm you know what to do!!

How many times did your parents ask you to clean you room when you were younger? Room cleaning is such a mundane and boring task that it’s a wonder we ever got through it. Things would have been much easier if you had a Pedal Powered Forklift to move things around. This is pretty much the kiddie version of a big piece of a machinery, but how awesome would it be to have a forklift in your room?

Now keep in mind, this thing is not for industrial use, so don’t be surprised that it can only lift 6.5 pounds. At a cost of $319.95, it’s a bit excessive for a play thing. However, you can lift things all the way up to 55 inches, which is sizable when you are young. Even if you don’t have kids, this would be hilarious to use to take mail and notes to coworkers. Or make regular housework more interesting.

The idea that everybody recording everybody else makes for a safer, more accountable, world is taken one step further with remote video camera monitoring solutions like Stem Innovation’s new iZON (eyes on – get it?) security monitor. Using a clever rounded magnetic base that can be set on a flat surface or mounted to a wall, the iZON camera connects to your home or office’s wireless network providing you with a constant video feed of wherever you have the lens pointed.

You’ll need to download the accompanying Stem:Connect iOS app to monitor the feed from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, but you can also set it up to capture footage directly to a private YouTube account for perusing later. And besides just providing a window to your home or office while you’re away, the iZON’s software also allows it to serve as a remote tattletale, keeping track of suspicious sounds or movements and alerting you when something has been detected via push notifications. Available “soon” for $129.95.

It’s summer, and a lot of us will be spending time at pools, lakes, and the ocean.  Life jackets are a requirement for many activities, especially for little kids.  Why not make wearing them fun for the kids – and for us, too.  With the Sea Squirts life vests and swim assist vests from Opa Cove, you can turn your little swimmer into a Grrreat White Shark (shown), a Blue or Pink Dolphin, a Killa Whale, Clown Fish, or an Angelfish.  The fins will fold flat so kids can sit comfortably on a boat seat or chair.  The vests are sized for children and are available in Small/Medium/Large sizes.  The life jackets are US Coast Guard approved and are $69.95; the swim assist vests serve as a learning aid for beginning swimmers and are $59.95.  You can purchase the vests at the Opa Cove website, or you can check their list of retailers for a local or online vendor.

A few years back LEGO launched their Architect Series with what is probably the most famous house ever built; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. It was an obvious choice to start with, but now as the collection has grown I’m happy to see they’ve recently added another famous landmark, and one of my personal favorites, the Farnsworth House.

Located 55 miles southwest of Chicago in Plano, Illinois, and designed and built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Chicago medical specialist Dr. Edith Farnsworth, the house has become an icon of the International Style of architecture, and can now be yours. Of course some assembly is required, 546 pieces worth to be exact, and the set even includes miniature LEGO versions of Mies’ furniture inside. $59.99 available directly from LEGO’s online store.

Griffin Technology and Crayola have joined forces to launch “an entirely new digital play experience” in the form of the Crayola ColorStudio HD. Announced at CES this week, the system brings together a custom-built Crayola iMarker digital stylus with an iPad application that gives a high-tech edge to coloring by allowing kids to interact with the animated pages featuring music and special effects.

“Imagine a coloring book that morphs and changes as kids digitally color it in,” said Warren Schorr, Head of Crayola Licensing. “This application is taking a classic play pattern and bringing it totally outside the box.”

The iMarker is used acts as a marker, crayon, pen, and paintbrush all in one. It is designed to work fluidly with iPad’s multi-touch display and also prevents the app from getting confused between fingers and colouring.

This app is equipped with a vast library of games, activities and themes including, under the sea, jungle and playtime.

Crayola ColorStudio HD is priced at US$29.99 and will be available from March 2011. It includes Crayola iMarker (AA batteries included), a free download of the ColorStudio HD App, periodic content updates, and built-in user tutorials.

If you’ve got kids, you’ve got crayons. And if you’ve got crayons, you’ve probably got a big container of tiny crayon nubs that are even too small for kid fingers. But Crayola themselves now have a way for you to recycle all those worn down bits into new crayons, mixing and mashing whatever colors you like together.

If you’re a stickler for color purity there’s nothing stopping you from making boring single-colored crayons again. But the truly adventurous out there will be cooking up tie-dye inspired creations, thinking outside the limits of the crayon box. Amazon’s got it for just $19.95 right now, but I suspect you’ll easily be able to find one at your local toy store once the Christmas rush is over.