Liz Gumbinner, Author at Cool Mom Tech

Watch Levar Burton read Goodnight Moon to Neil Degrasse Tyson and swoon a little.

We love Levar Burton. Did you ever listen to our podcast interview with him? He’s the best! We love Neil Degrasse Tyson. He’s not yet a podcast guest, but we’re still hoping, because he’s also the best! One thing we’re torn on...

A stylus with a particular sense of humor: Yours

by Liz Gumbinner | Father's Day Gifts

I’ve been a fan of the Carbon Crusader for a while — their engraved Hamilton Pencils were a huge hit with our readers over the holidays. So I’m happy to see the fantastic new custom stylus pens. While there are a few R-rated versions (like uh, the...

A first look at the new Star Wars drones from Propel. Get ready for the holiday tech gift of the year.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tech Toys

Each year, there’s one tech gift that we see and go…yup. That’s going to be the one everyone wants. And this year it’s the new Collector’s Edition Propel Star Wars Drones that I got to check out at a top secret press preview event this...

Cool gamer school supplies for kids with very, very nice parents | Back to School Tech 2017

by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Tech

Gaming has taken over the world — or at least our kids’ brains, same as it did when we were kids (ahem). But what our kids have that we didn’t have back in the day is such an amazing collection of cool gamer school supplies. Whether they’re...

TripIt’s new feature makes air travel so much less stressful. We’ll take it!

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps

If you’ve ever tried dragging a bunch of tired kids and all of their luggage around an airport while searching for a charging port, a snack, or a bathroom — let alone the gate for the next leg of your flight that boards in five minutes — you’ll...

Inbox Pause: The new amazing new Gmail feature that can get you more work-life balance.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tips and Tricks

For ages now I’ve touted the wonderful benefits of Boomerang for Gmail to help me better manage my incoming and outgoing email, and it seems the folks at Google like the feature themselves. Because now Gmail has actually incorporated Boomerang’s technology...

The Star Wars ride-on that will blow up kids’ holiday wish lists. Parents…get ready.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tech Toys

If you…oh. I mean, if your kid (ahem) ever wished they could zip around on Luke Skywalker’s Star Wars X-34 Landspeeder, that wish is about to be granted. Thanks to the help of Radio Flyer, Lucasfilm, 12v rechargeable battery power — and of course,...

A website that could put an end to I’m Bored Syndrome.

by Liz Gumbinner | Tech Toys

My kids love writing and they love doing art, but sometimes they don’t know what to do with that blank sheet of paper or the empty Procreate screen. (That’s my manga-obsessed daughter’s digital illustration iPad app of choice, by the way.) Since...

5 emoji collections we’re dying to see for International Emoji Day

by Liz Gumbinner | Best Apps

Yes, International Emoji Day is a thing. 21st century, y’all! And while we’ve described that the upcoming addition of custom emojis to your keyboard will lead to some creative options, there are some awesome sets of emojis we’d really like to see as...

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.