7 of the best photo storage options for families with tons of pics on different devices: Reader Q + A

by Nicole Blades | Photography, Tips and Tricks

Hi Cool Mom Tech, Have you written about a tech solution that gathers photos from all the family computers and phones into one place for backup purposes?  – James We’ve been exactly where you are, James: looking at all the options and scratching our heads,...

8 simple, smart tips to help work-at-home parents crush productivity and get more done in less time.

by Nicole Blades | Tips and Tricks

There are two things folks typically say when you tell them that you work from home. The first is: You’re so lucky. You get to be in your pajamas all day and wake up whenever you want! Uh, sure. And the second is something along the lines of, I wouldn’t get anything...

SimplyCircle app streamlines parent-school communication. And parent-soccer team, parent-carpool group, even parent-parent living in the same household. Which we often need too.

by Nicole Blades | Best Apps

A large chunk of parenthood is about communication: With your partner, your kids, other parents, teachers, coaches, you name it. And too often, mishaps pop-up and communication goes wonky — especially this time of year, when it seems like there are more class...

Todoist app may be our new favorite to-do list app.

by Nicole Blades | Best Apps

Where would any of us be without our to-do lists? Probably reclined somewhere on a beach having sweet nothings whispered into our ears by our hot-to-death boyfriend Idris Elba. (Okay. That’s just me. Big Driis and I have history.) The point is, sometimes our...

16 of the best organizational apps for parents: Back to School Tech Guide 2015

by Nicole Blades | Back to School Tech, Best Apps

Let’s hear it for organizational apps this time of year! What would we ever do without them? After all, back to school also means getting back to routines, which can highlight some of our old systems for staying organized and keeping the family running like a...

Picjoy: Because one way to help with a photo organization problem is to have an app do it for you.

by Nicole Blades | Best Apps

If we asked you to count the things you’d rather spend a day doing than iPhone photo organization, what number would we be talking about here? Fifteen? Fifty? Eleventy hundred other things you’d rather do? Yeah, wrangling the tons of photos we’ve all...

Livescribe’s new Echo Smartpen 8GB Pro is ready to take dictation, boss

by Nicole Blades | Uncategorized

Last year I told you about the greatest pen that has ever penned: also known as the Livescribe 3 smartpen. Well, this year, kicking off back-to-school season with class, comes the new Echo Smartpen 8GB Pro Edition. Very similar to Livescribe 3, the Echo Smartpen...

New Moleskine Timepage app for iPhone is about beauty and brains. We like that combo.

by Nicole Blades | Best Apps

First, let’s get this out of the way: There’s an ongoing tomayto-tomahto situation around the correct way to pronounce the popular notebook-maker Moleskine — is it skin or skine? The official response according to the company is, your way is the...

Father’s Day cord taco is an awesome little tech gift. No hot sauce required.

by Liz Gumbinner | Father's Day Gifts

When I think Father’s Day gifts, I don’t necessarily think tacos. Not that there’s anything wrong with tacos. But I do think tech gifts, and while it’s hard to find affordable ones, I am so happy to have discovered our friends at This is Ground...

A smart little MacBook cable organizer for those of us familiar with the term, cord spaghetti.

by Liz Gumbinner | Travel

Hi, nice to meet you. I’m one of those people whose cord always somehow slips off my laptop adapter in my bag, making me that person next to you in the airport lounge or the business meeting, pulling out the big, embarrassing handful of cord spaghetti, and...