household tech Archives | Cool Mom Tech

The best ways to clean and disinfect your phone during cold and flu season: From gentle cleaning to killing bacteria and microbes

With the concern about the COVID-19 Coronavirus right now, it seems like a good time to bring back the talk about the best ways to clean your phone, or disinfect it entirely. Also, your kids’ phones (ahem). Because while it’s important to know the best way...

Cleansebot: The Roomba-like germ-killing robot for your hotel bed (Or, your home bed. We won’t judge.)

by Kate Etue | Travel Essentials

We’ve all seen the late-night news exposés with hosts shining black lights in hotel rooms, and let’s just say we wish we could forget them. But now we have no reason to worry when we scrunch up next to our partners (and children, let’s be honest...

9 smart home holiday gifts in every price range, from affordable to incredible | Tech Holiday Gift Guide 2018

by Cool Mom Staff | Holiday Picks, Holiday Tech Gifts

If you really want to make someone’s holiday this year, consider splurging on one of these hot smart home holiday gifts that will functionally make their lives so much easier. From smart home assistants that can turn on the coffee maker and warm up the house...

Amazon’s Echo Dot for Kids is here. But there will be no “Alexa, buy me a pony.”

by Liz Gumbinner | Smart Appliances, Tech Toys and Random Fun

The Echo Dot has been one of Amazon’s most popular speakers, so it’s no surprise that they saw an opportunity to bring all the joy and magic and Orwellian fun of Alexa to kids in the form of the new Echo Dot Kids Edition available exclusively at Amazon....

Ooh…Cromatica Bluetooth speakers are music for the eyes, too

by Liz Gumbinner | Around the House, Audio

One look at the Italian Cromatica Bluetooth speakers and…whoa. Think of this lamp-speaker hybrid like a mood ring for your home. You choose the color illumination that suits you, choose your music, then lie back and chill. Or, clean your bathroom. Or, get some...

The affordable little gadget that turns regular appliances into smart ones | Sponsored Message

by Cool Mom Staff | Smart Appliances

This is a sponsored message from Wemo Mini It’s amazing how technology can simplify the lives of parents, especially with one of the busiest times of year upon us. And that’s exactly the case with the Wemo Mini, an affordable little plug that instantly...

6 smart night lights that go way beyond our smart night light expectations.

by Ellyn Exley Dvorkin | Baby Tech, Smart Appliances

Technology is changing and our night lights are changing, too. If you haven’t seen everything that they can do, let me tell you: you’re missing out. They’ve come a long way, baby. These days, night lights double as baby monitors and speakers, even smoke...

What you need to know about the VIZIO privacy breach. And how to fix it right now.

by Kate Etue | Internet Safety

If you own an Internet-connected VIZIO smart television, you might have heard that they’ve been collecting data on your viewing habits for years, and surprise, it’s a serious breach of privacy. We took a close look at the reports and the claim on the FTC...

The touchscreen Ray Super Remote: Consider our minds blown

by Jeana | Smart Appliances

If your household is anything like mine, you’re familiar with the epic battles between kids over the remote control — as in who holds it, what to search for, what to watch and what not to watch. I’m lucky if I ever get my hands on it at all. So when...

The new UviCube UV light sterilizer: For more than just sterilizing baby bottles.

by Kate Etue | Baby Tech, Kitchen Tech

It’s officially winter, as Jonas has let us know oh-so-subtly this past weekend. And since everyone in my house also has some form of a winter cold, I’m officially over the germs that go along with the cold weather. So while we’re stuck inside,...

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.