Beth

My boys and I can't watch Star Wars movies without afterward pretending to be Jedis, using sticks as light sabers and our voices for sound effects. Sound familiar? So last week when I had a chance to review the new Kinect Star Wars game …

This year at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, it was no small task narrowing down more than 20,000 new products to just the stuff I think parents will love. (As in, not a pair of $2000 designer 3-D glasses). Here, five tech trends tha…

If you are a PC user who has been coveting a laptop as light as a MacBook Air - then the wait is over with a new offering from Intel that weighs less than 3 pounds. Intel Ultrabooks are not only lightweight, they're less than 1 inch thic…

After we proudly figured out how to compost scraps from our kitchen without decorating the room with fruit flies, I've been looking for other ways to get more eco-friendly. And as a true tech mama, it seems that decreasing my family's de…

Well one thing is clear about the new changes on Facebook--none of it is clear! At least according to our community, who bombarded us with questions on our Facebook page and our Cool Mom Picks Twitter account his past week, at our reques…

So, you may have gotten wind of a huge change to Facebook called a Digital Timeline this week. Let's be honest -- anyone who's been on Facebook more than four seconds, has learned not to be surprised by changes to the social network, fro…

In a perfect world I would have time to go for a run everyday. But in the real world, as a busy mom, that's not going to happen. So what if I could turn everyday routines into exercise? Now there's a nifty little gadget that can help you…

With Hurricane Irene in full swing right now, we thought for those of you worried about your A Zone status, you might want to grab some of the best extreme weather mobile apps. Here are a few we found that cover topics such as finding sh…

Back to school in our house means not only buying new school supplies, but also checking to make sure our home technology can handle the new school year. Fortunately, all our tech made the cut, but if I decided to replace my video-editin…

I have a 2 year old smartphone. That's easily middle age in phone years and with the contract ending in August I've starting the research for my next phone adventure. While the logical first step in a mom's smartphone comparison is the u…

Let's just say that smartphone and tablet games we love are nothing compared with what's coming out soon--console games are alive and motion kicking in the most amazing ways. Last week, nearly 50,000 people in attendance at the 2011 E3 c…

If you are a Nintendo Wii fan (and really, who isn't?) then yesterday's announcement from Nintendo is one you won't want to miss. The next generation Wii gaming system has been announced and it is called ( drumroll ) Wii U. Think everyth…

If buying an computer for a lucky high school grad this year is part of your plans, then you're in for an extra bonus of the awesome variety. Starting today, participating retailers are offering a free Xbox with the purchase of a Windows…

I always used to look forward to catalogs appearing in my mailbox. Now that I am more eco-conscious (and busy), catalogs are like paper spam, or at best, something for my kids to cut up for art projects. While I still enjoy the experienc…

Just when I thought I finally understood the privacy settings on Facebook, my son reminded me that he will be 13 soon--old enough ( shriek of terro r) to have his own Facebook profile. At that moment, I had a feeling that another "talk" …

As with most families with pre-teens these days, we've got those moments when I need something new and cool to keep my boys entertained: that very important phone call, the long wait in the doctor's office, the never-ending road trip. Yo…

From the rumors we're hearing, it might not be long before our kids are toting a single e-reader to school in lieu of all those heavy textbooks. e-readers are changing the world, so it's not surprising that we get a ton of mail from Cool…

We're all for greening up our homes and lives wherever we can, and sometimes that comes from the manufacturers, who give us better options in the first place. We read this week that General Electric plans to introduce the first HFC-free …

For so many of us, it's a tradition to pick up the phone at midnight on New Year's--okay, maybe 12:03 after we've done our kissing a those with us in person and made fun of Snooki--and wish our loved ones a happy New Year. Obviously Skyp…

With the holiday shopping rush now over, some of you lucky enough to be on Santa's nice list may be looking to buy some new technology with those new gift cards, or take advantage of the big after-Christmas sales. For you tablet coveters…

I know people that I can describe as a man or woman of their word, but that's being taken to a whole new level when words become a style of personalization for gadgets. A pair of The Street Headphones are a holy, major, unabashed splurge…

Holiday time is of course a photographer's paradise for capturing family memories. I encourage the kids in our family to take pictures, which provides a great "kid's eye view" into own traditions and activities--and the fact that my own …

Last week, I was thrilled to join a few bloggers and a whole lot of media for the inaugural sailing of the Disney Dream Cruise line from Orlando to the Bahamas. Why yes, I do love my job. Funny you should ask. While my son and I enjoyed …