Rivet and Other Cool Children Apps

I'm always looking for new, child friendly apps for the iPad / iPhone or even maybe Amazon's newly updated Amazon Kindle Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet specifically when it comes to reading or math. Granted, I'm pretty sure that my children do not spend more than 20 minutes on any device per week when I'm home as I have a strict no screen time during the week and only VERY limited time on the weekend. Anyways, that's a whole different batttle these days as the Wall Street Journal points out.

Out today is Google's new Rivet app from their incubator team Area 120 called Rivet on Apple App Store or Google Play. It's a speech processing app that has over 200 books availble for children to read and learn. I played with it yesterday with my son for just over 3 minutes and it was awesome. I've also done the Apple Coding App for children called Swift Playground on the iPad but of course, Google has their own app as well, by the same group called Grasshopper. I encourage you to check them all out. Pretty intuitive and interactive stuff!

Federico's iPad Pro Review

From Frederico MacStories' iPad Pro Review:

This is less of a "just for media consumption" device than any iPad before it. The iPad Pro is, primarily, about getting work done on iOS. And with such a focus on productivity, the iPad Pro has made rethink what I expect from an iPad.

I've find myself manipulating my iPhone 6s Plus more and more as my main device and have been updating elijahnicolas.com more often than not using only iOS.

After reading Frederico's awesome review, I find myself intrigued about the future where I used an iPad Pro as my main device.

Those who will only compare the iPad Pro to a laptop will miss the big picture – this is a large tablet that can be used at a desk and that runs iOS. The richness of the iOS ecosystem is what sets the iPad Pro apart, and the reason why, ultimately, people like me will prefer it over a MacBook. It can be used at a desk, but it's also portable, and it runs iOS.

This is where I believe he has seen the light as compared to Walt Mossberg's "I'm disappointed in the iPad Pro because it's not a laptop replacement" review. I'm actually disappointed with his review as I expected a more thorough analysis but alas, he just skimmed the top in my opinion.

If you're going to read other reviews, check out Jon Gruber's Daring Fireball and Rene Ritchie's iPad Pro Preview along with Living With: Day One story on iMore. Macworld also posted a "First Few Hours" review which is worth a read.

Brenthaven Collins Tech Pack 60% off!

For a cool $19.95 (down from $49.95) go grab a stylistic pack / satchel / murse or man bag to hold all your goods whilst traveling to the local coffee shop for a flat white. Brenthaven just slashed the price of their Collins Tech Pack by 60% and that makes it a wonderful steal!

The construction is beautiful and is sure to hold your Moleskine, pens and protect your iPad using their "High Density Foam Protection System"! Oh yeah, did I forget about Brenthaven's lifetime guarantee too! If this sale doesn't suit you, there are a few iPad cases and iPhone cases as well marked down by over 75%!