Here are screen-free tech ideas for the holidays
Updated: 12:28 PM PST Dec 18, 2023
MINUTES FROM ELK GROVE. BACK TO YOU, BRIAN. THANKS SO MUCH. NEW THIS MORNING. TECH GIFTS. THEY’RE ALWAYS POPULAR WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS OR BASICALLY ANYONE. SO IF YOU NEED TO DO SOME LAST MINUTE SHOPPING, THERE’S PLENTY OF THINGS YOU CAN STILL SNAG YOUR HANDS ON. LET’S GO TO A DEIRDRE FITZPATRICK AND YOU’VE GOT ONE OF OUR FAVORITES IN-HOUSE. YEAH, TECH EXPERT JENNIFER JOLLY. AND TODAY, THANKS FOR YOU. BROUGHT ALL THE TOYS STARTING WITH WHAT YOU’RE CALLING THE TRAINING WHEELS OF PHONES FOR KIDS. YES. SO NUMBER ONE QUESTION I GET ASKED THIS TIME OF YEAR IS, IS IT TIME TO GIVE MY KIDS A SMARTPHONE? KIDS AGES SEVEN AND OVER ARE ASKING FOR ONE OF THEIR OWN. DO NOT GIVE IN PARENTS I KNOW IT’S HARD. DON’T JUST HAND THEM THE NEWEST IPHONE TELLING YOU THIS AND I’VE RAISED A CHILD IN THE DIGITAL AGE. START WITH TRAINING WHEEL TECH. I REALLY LIKE THE BARK PHONE. UM, YOU. THIS STARTS OUT WITH HOWEVER MUCH THEY’RE READY FOR, AND IT LETS THE PARENT CONTROL IT ON AN APP ON THEIR OWN PHONE, AND YOU CAN GIVE THEM NEW, YOU KNOW, CAN THEY GO ON YOUTUBE? WHAT CAN THEY DO ON YOUTUBE? THIS IS LIKE MAKE A PHONE CALL, TAKE A PICTURE, LISTEN TO MUSIC. BUT IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A BABY PHONE. IT LOOKS LIKE A BECAUSE IT IS. IT’S A SAMSUNG GALAXY PHONE. IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A KIDS PHONE, BUT IT ALLOWS YOU TO SET SCREEN TIME LIMITS AND SET SOME BOUNDARIES THAT HELPS THEM GROW AND LEARN. AND THEN WHEN THEY’RE READY FOR THE NEXT PHONE, YOU KNOW, AROUND 16, 18, 21, 30 COMPANIES ARE CHANGING THE WAY THAT THEY’RE EVEN TRYING TO GET YOU INTO THEIR PHONES. YEAH. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I’VE BEEN WARNING PEOPLE ABOUT IS THAT SMARTPHONE, LIKE THE THE SMARTPHONE THAT’S FREE, THAT FREE PHONE TYPICALLY THAT BRAND NEW IPHONE FOR FREE REALLY COMES WITH A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. AND BY THE TIME YOU’RE DONE WITH THAT, YOU END UP PAYING ABOUT 300 TO $600 MORE. SO TOTAL BY VERIZON HAS A FREE SAMSUNG GALAXY A13, 5G THAT IS ACTUALLY FREE. THERE’S NO BAIT AND SWITCH. IT DOES HAVE TO COME WITH A $60 A MONTH UM, SERVICE THIS NEW SERVICE PLAN, OR YOU CAN DO 25 PER LINE FOR NEW SERVICE, UP TO FOUR LINES. SO THERE’S ALWAYS A LITTLE BIT OF A CATCH. AND THAT YOU SHOULD DO WITH AUTOPAY. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE FINE PRINT, BUT YOU CAN GET A BRAND NEW FREE SMARTPHONE IF YOU KNOW THE WAY THAT THIS IS DONE. THERE’S A GREAT TREND IN SCREEN FREE TOYS. THIS IS A DOG THAT TEACHES YOU CODING. YEAH, THIS IS PIXEL, A CODERS BEST FRIEND OUT OF A COMPANY CALLED EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS. AND I REALLY LIKE THEM BECAUSE IT’S SCREEN FREE PLAY TIME AND WE ARE ALL DESPERATE FOR THAT. I HAVE A LITTLE TWO YEAR OLD NIECE IN MY LIFE, AND THE WAY SHE JUST GETS LOCKED INTO THAT IPHONE, AND SHE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW TO USE IT. SO I’M ALWAYS TESTING THIS STUFF WITH HER, TRYING TO GET HER OFF THE SCREENS. THIS TEACHES CODING. THEY ARE REALIZING AND LEARNING SO MANY SKILLS THEY DON’T KNOW THAT THEY’RE EVEN LEARNING. AND IT’S BLOCKLY AND PYTHON. THAT’S THE SAME CODING LANGUAGE THAT SPACEX USES. SO IT’S A TON OF FUN. YOU CAN CODE IT, YOU CAN PAIR IT WITH AN APP. HE’LL DO ALL KINDS OF TRICKS. YOU CAN ALSO USE ANOTHER LITTLE HANDHELD DEVICE TO CONTROL THEM, BUT THEY’RE VERY SWEET, VERY CUTE. AND KIDS LOVE KIDS AS YOUNG AS SEVEN EIGHT YEARS OLD ARE CODING AND TEACHING THEM ALL KINDS OF NEW. ONE MINUTE LEFT. OKAY, TONY’S ANOTHER SCREEN FREE DEVICE. THE BIG DEAL THIS YEAR TONY’S THE SCREEN FREE INTERACTIVE MUSIC PLAYER. UM, IT ENGAGES KIDS. IT’S AN AUDIO PLAYER WITH STORY SONGS AND A BUNCH MORE. YOU POP THE LITTLE TONY’S ON TOP AND THAT’S WHAT LAUNCHES HIM. AND THIS YEAR THEY HAVE SPIDEY AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. SO MARVEL, THAT’S NEW. OKAY, SO WE WANT TO GET TO THESE LAST TWO. THIS IS THE VTECH SMART BABY MONITOR. BABY MONITORS ARE GOING HIGH TECH. THIS ONE GOES OVER THE CRIB AND THEN WE’LL TELL YOU PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU. YEAH. FACE COVERING DETECTION. SO IT SENDS YOU AN ALERT IF ANYTHING’S COVERING YOUR FACE. AND THEN JUST FOR SPYING ON THEM. THIS IS AWESOME. SCAN MY PHOTOS IS A SERVICE YOU CAN LOOK UP, SCAN MY PHOTOS. COM YOU PUT A BOX TOGETHER, YOU SEND THEM YOUR OLD MOVIE REELS, YOUR OLD SLIDES, YOUR OLD PHOTOS. I SENT THEM PHOTOS. STILL IN A PHOTO ALBUM. I DON’T THINK THEY LOVE THAT, BUT THEY DIGITIZE IT IN ONE DAY. I SENT THEM SIX BOXES. I GOT IT ALL BACK VIA DROPBOX. I WAS ABLE TO DOWNLOAD OVER 4000 PHOTOS. MY ENTIRE THREE GENERATIONS OF LIFE. AND THEN I JUST USED IMOVIE AND SOME MUSIC AND TURNED THOSE INTO WHAT HAVE BECOME THE BEST GIFTS I HAVE EVER GIVEN ANYONE IN MY FAMILY. IT’S THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. THEY HAVE A PRINTABLE, UM, GIFT CERTIFICATE THAT YOU CAN ALSO DO, BUT YOU CAN STILL DO THIS IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. GRAB ALL THOSE PHOTOS. DOES EVERYBODY REMEMBER THEIR PARENTS? LIKE DOING THIS UP? LIKE BY THE. EVERYBODY’S NOT LIKE HOLDING IT UP BY THE LAMP JUST TO SEE WHAT THE PICTURE WAS. I HEARD MY GRANDFATHER’S VOICE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS. OH, THAT’S AWESOME. IT’S WORTH IT. GREAT IDEAS. YOU CAN FIND MORE AT TECHIES.COM. THANKS F
Here are screen-free tech ideas for the holidays
Updated: 12:28 PM PST Dec 18, 2023
‘Tis the season for digital gift-giving. Tech expert Jennifer Jolly has ideas for every age and price point.”All kids want phones. I’m a tech expert telling you don’t do it until you have to,” says Jolly. Jolly also suggests starting with what she calls the “training wheels” of smartphones. Consider the Bark phone. It’s a customizable smartphone that allows parents to decide which features a kid can access. It offers features like GPS location tracking, screen limits, and can be locked remotely. Kids like it because it looks like a typical smartphone. Is a phone ever really a free phone? Lots of providers promise free phones, but they come with lots of catches. Jolly says the Total by Verizon program is offering a Samsung Galaxy A13 5G for free if you switch to the Total by Verizon plan for a flat $60 per month. She says it could be a good option for budget-conscious consumers who can’t afford to have extra fees show up. Screen-free toys are getting easier to find, too. Pyxel A Coder’s Best Friend is made by Educational Insights. The robot dog is a hands-on toy that teaches coding. Toniebox is incorporating popular characters into their new screen-free audio players. The Tonies MARVEL Spidey & His Amazing Friends entertain kids with stories and songs. Each figure costs $18. Need a baby monitor? VTech’s V-Care Smart Baby Monitor is taking baby watching to a new level. The monitor is placed over a crib and offers face covering and rollover protection. And finally, Jolly says it’s never been easier to digitize your family memories. ScanMyPhotos offers digitizing VHS and film, photos and slides. You box it up and it’s digitized within a day. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
‘Tis the season for digital gift-giving. Tech expert Jennifer Jolly has ideas for every age and price point.
“All kids want phones. I’m a tech expert telling you don’t do it until you have to,” says Jolly. Jolly also suggests starting with what she calls the “training wheels” of smartphones.
Consider the Bark phone. It’s a customizable smartphone that allows parents to decide which features a kid can access. It offers features like GPS location tracking, screen limits, and can be locked remotely.
Kids like it because it looks like a typical smartphone.
Is a phone ever really a free phone? Lots of providers promise free phones, but they come with lots of catches. Jolly says the Total by Verizon program is offering a Samsung Galaxy A13 5G for free if you switch to the Total by Verizon plan for a flat $60 per month. She says it could be a good option for budget-conscious consumers who can’t afford to have extra fees show up.
Screen-free toys are getting easier to find, too. Pyxel A Coder’s Best Friend is made by Educational Insights. The robot dog is a hands-on toy that teaches coding.
Toniebox is incorporating popular characters into their new screen-free audio players. The Tonies MARVEL Spidey & His Amazing Friends entertain kids with stories and songs. Each figure costs $18.
Need a baby monitor? VTech’s V-Care Smart Baby Monitor is taking baby watching to a new level. The monitor is placed over a crib and offers face covering and rollover protection.
And finally, Jolly says it’s never been easier to digitize your family memories.
ScanMyPhotos offers digitizing VHS and film, photos and slides. You box it up and it’s digitized within a day.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
