free or close to it

Every time I get my AT&T bill, I brace myself for the additional charges I may have accrued from my month-long thumb frenzy with friends. Sure, I have a number of free texts built into my plan, but I do text a lot and even the short text…

Atlanta's The Baby Grands have a laid-back sound with a beat that I like so much -- it reminds me a bit of the Barenaked Ladies mixed with Jack Johnson. And now, for a limited time, it's free. The Baby Grands are offering up their second…

The only thing more jammin' than subscribing to Cool Mom Tech is subscribing knowing you could win this month's awesome giveaway of a fabulous Jawbone Jambox. When you're a subscriber, you get the hottest deals, coolest picks, and exclus…

While I'm pretty proud of myself for actually getting my photos uploaded to Flickr, I tend to just let them sit there collecting digital dust. But now with this cool new service from Photojojo , I can get my old photos sent to my inbox e…

I recently got an iPad 2, but I am having a hard time justifying paying for ebooks. I have been searching for a website that allows me to rent current bestsellers for free and I found one called My Pad Media that claims for a one-time li…

Back in 2010 the talented Jaime Derringer of the super design blog Design Milk began an open ended project. Acknowledging how much time we all spend staring at our computer screens (like you are doing right now), Jaime took it upon herse…

You don't have to go to an ashram or take up Bikram yoga for this sort of Epiphanie, the hottest camera/gadget bag of the year. All you have to do is be a Cool Mom Tech subscriber and invite three friends who would enjoy all the techy go…

One of our favorite kindie voices, Charlie Hope, has a brand new release called Let's Go Play! , and you can bet you'll see a review of this wonderful family album soon on Cool Mom Picks . But today we have a little treat for you: a beau…

When I was younger, I was only allowed to watch TV on the weekends. I remember scouring the TV Guide that came with the Sunday paper and figuring out which shows I'd watch that week. Boy, have times changed. Peel is a free iOS app that i…

I get a little geeky when it comes to jazzing up my browser with themes--it's such an easy way to give your PC a makeover. I find I've been spending more and more time with Google Chrome lately, and poking around the themes page, there a…

I've got a confession to make: I hate running. Okay, "hate" is probably too severe considering that I just ran a 10K last Monday (go me!), but I don't run for fun. That said, I've found a few awesome apps that have made running a lot mor…

I've lamented many times in previous posts the sheer number of photos I have on my phone, and the many ways I attempt to organize, manage, fancify and distribute. There are so many apps and services available to help with this process, b…

Q: Aw man...where is the Hipstamatic for us Android users? -Cool Mom Tech fan via Facebook . A: Lots of readers agreed with Debi Mazar's Hipstamatic app recommendation on our site last week, but our Android users are again asking, "where…

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…

Now that we moms can practically run our lives from the palms of our hands, three of the best mom-focused apps have come together to do something nice for us for Mother's Day--help keep us a little more organized. The free Mother's Day A…

Here's a new twist on the growing market of instant e-Cards--an app that lets you customize an animated message for just about every occasion. Also? It's free The YourCards app has a great selection of video e-cards that your children ar…

We're thrilled to welcome Grammy nominee Brady Rymer as a guest Dads Dig This blogger. He's one of our favorite family music artists whose new album " Love me for who I am " is just out! If you're on the lookout for a trusted place to di…

Now that it's getting to where can crack our window to let in some fresh air without freezing us all out, I am in full scale spring cleaning/redecorating mode. Even my old MacBook is feeling a little dowdy these days--which only has a li…

We love the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) iPhone app just as much as our kids do, because it gives us access to thousands of cool Canadian shows, movies, and documentaries--good ones--completely free. But now starting today, you An…

We're continuing to keep a close eye on the news emerging from Japan in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, so we were touched to see this announcement from Verizon. Through April 10, Verizon wireless and resident…

In addition to being a mom, wife, career woman, sister, daughter, and more lately, I've found myself serving as tech support for the litany of tech-related questions my parents have been asking me. Of all the mini projects I've helped th…

Our next Dads Dig This guest blogger is David Wescott, a Durham, NC-based dad who writes about public relations, science communication, and politics at It's Not a Lecture . I admit that most of the time you can find me in worn jeans and …

This weekend on Cool Mom Picks , we uncovered an awesome custom video from Santa , and our readers are going nuts for it. As are our own children. So much so, it would be gross holiday negligence for me not to share it here so even more …

Between after-school activities, weekend soccer games, getting Caleb a birthday present for his party on Saturday, flu shot appointments, sending in the permission slip for the field trip, and, uh, you get the gist, it's a wonder I don't…