Kate Etue, Author at Cool Mom Tech

With Google’s Santa Tracker, the Christmas countdown is all fun and games.

My son has told me at least four times today exactly how many days away Christmas is. I think you could say the countdown is officially on. So, I’m going to set the default home screen on our kitchen computer to Google’s Santa Tracker—a fun way for the...

Big cell phone news from the HTC One family. Like, really big.

by Kate Etue | Cell Phones

So the HTC One Max hit the shelves this month, and we’ve been wondering how it measures up to our favorite cell phones. Pun intended. The buzz revolves mostly around its size—it’s the biggest cell phone I’ve seen since my dad’s mid-90s brick in...

A to Sea: Dive deep with this beautiful new ebook for children

by Kate Etue | Educational Apps For Kids

My kids don’t know much about marine life. I’m not sure why this is—maybe because we’re landlocked and don’t have regular exposure to the ocean. Or maybe because children’s book illustrators tend to favor more cuddly, furry creatures for...

Oyster ereader subscription: Like a Netflix for books only this time for real.

by Kate Etue | Lifestyle Apps

Even with the busy holiday season here, I’m bound and determined to set aside some personal time for momma to keep me sane. For me, that means reading a lot more. Like, a lot more. So I’m really excited about the ebook subscription service Oyster....

The best gift books from your kids are the ones they made themselves. Thanks Artkive.

by Kate Etue | Photo Gifts

We have limited storage space at home, and I’m just not able to keep every single drawing my little Picassos bring home. Or, rather, I thought I didn’t until I discovered Artkive. We’ve raved about this kids’ art storage app before, but now...

Consumr app: Quick, crowdsourced reviews for almost anything. Perfect for holiday shopping.

by Kate Etue | Shopping Apps

My kids have been poring through the holiday catalogs that are flooding my mailbox, circling everything they want for Christmas. Plenty of which might be junk. Since Consumr is currently the number one app for consumer reviews in the Apple store, I thought I’d...

Enter the magical world of Pandora ebooks, where kids become storytellers too

by Kate Etue | Educational Apps For Kids

When I started working in children’s publishing over a decade ago, I would never have imagined that children’s authors would be able to create an interactive book experience for kids like what Hullabalu, creators of the über-successful ebook series Pandora...

Affordable mini photo books for when you have lots to send.

by Kate Etue | Photography

Editor’s Note: Kindred Prints has changed focus from creating photo books to photo printing services for app developers. Especially as the holidays approach, I find photo books make perfect gifts for so many people. But man, they’re not always cheap....

Sony Vaio Tap 21: Possibly the most evolved tabletop PC yet

by Kate Etue | Computers

One childhood memory I can recall with amazing clarity is the morning my dad loaded us all up in our wood-paneled station wagon and drove us to to pick up an Apple IIc. It had a whopping 128 KB of memory and an 8-inch green-on-green monitor. Wow, that makes me feel...

Toymail Mailmen – The cutest of all options before kids are ready for their own cell phones.

by Kate Etue | Tech Toys and Random Fun

Really young kids aren’t ready for their own cell phones yet, but we love the idea of being able to communicate remotely with our elementary age kids while they’re with a babysitter or just send them a funny message while they’re playing in their...

NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.

We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.

We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.

(Answer: It's complicated.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.