Techish

How to keep in touch with kids too young to own a smartphone

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Let’s face it, parents, most of us lose our kids at least once or twice while they’re growing up. Sometimes they just get a little too good at hide-and-seek, as my then-four-year-old daughter did for a few heart-stopping moments inside a department store several years ago. Or maybe they just aren’t where we expect them to be — even for a minute or two — and it’s absolutely terrifying. Apps on smartphones like Life360 and even Find My Friends work great to help track down teens and older kids mature enough to manage the responsibility of owning a smartphone. But what about for younger ones? What’s the best way to keep a watchful eye — that isn’t a smartphone? TECH THAT FOLLOWS THE KIDS ... Read more

Here’s how Apple’s iOS 12 wants to make it much easier to control your family’s screen time

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Policing how much time your family spends on their digital devices is a huge part of being a parent these days. Kids love to lose themselves in their smartphone and tablet screens, and setting vague limits or trusting them to put their phones down at bedtime doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to. There are a number of different apps that help parents monitor how much time their kids are spending on their phones, but Apple just one-upped all of them by baking those features right into the next version of iOS. iOS 12 includes a couple of super handy new features including Activity Reports and App Limits. You can find both in the new Screen Time app, and they're designed to help ... Read more

7 of the best gadgets to keep you looking and feeling cool this summer

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In case the longer days and sweltering heat didn't already tip you off: Summer is almost here. We're less than a month away from the official start of summer, which means beach trips, cookouts, and camping out just because you can. But before you go stocking up on burgers and popsicles, consider upgrading your gadget loadout to make the most of the next few months. Scorkl (starting at $229.00) Scuba diving is a blast, but it's also pretty hard to get into. I mean you need so much equipment to get started, right? Wrong! The Scorkl is an endlessly refillable mini underwater breathing tank that will give you 10 minutes of air so you can spend a little longer below the waves. No huge ... Read more

Does a 6-year-old need a smartphone? Incredibly survey reveals 20% of parents say yes!

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Just how young is too young to have a smartphone? That's a question lots and lots of parents struggle with, so tech buy-back site Decluttr decided to find out. The company conducted a survey of over 1,000 parents in the U.S. and asked them about their kids' technology habits, and you might be surprised with how many youngsters are walking around with smartphones of their very own. According to Decluttr's data, a whopping 20% of kids between the ages of 1 and 6 have their own smartphone. That's one out of every five kids below the age of seven. On top of that, almost one-third of those youngsters have a smartphone that cost their parents over $100. So, what exactly does a 6-year-old ... Read more

5 old gadgets you never use that are worth big bucks (so sell ’em now!)

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Are you sitting on a junky-gadget goldmine? Most everyone has some spare gadgets laying around on a shelf, in a drawer, or stuck in a box in the closet. We never give them any thought because, I mean really, who would ever want them? In the age of edge-to-edge smartphone screens and streaming music, that dusty tech is basically trash. Except that it isn't. Old-school electronics have a huge secondary market, and you might be sitting on an absolute gold mine of retro gadgets that you never even knew were collectible. Here's a handful of the most desirable pieces of old tech. Video Game Systems Of all the different kinds of home electronics, video game consoles hold their value better ... Read more

Google’s Assistant can make lifelike phone calls on your behalf — cool or way too creepy? Let’s discuss.

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If you missed Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s keynote presentation at the company's annual I/O Conference in San Francisco earlier this week, you missed a pretty special first-look at just how much our wired-world is about to change. Even though Pichai started his talk off by recognizing that the tech industry must always be responsible for the tools and services it creates, he then went on to show us some of the coolest — and potentially most creepy — new set of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tricks to date. Imagine typing an email and having your computer not just autocomplete words you use a lot, but entire sentences. (Now, imagine that those sentences are always right. I mean, it's ... Read more

AS SEEN ON KTVU: Mother’s Day Gadgets and Last Minute Ideas!

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In case you missed our segment with our family at KTVU last weekend morning -- here's everything I talked about: Mother’s Day is right around the corner and thanks to the latest tech tools and insider “hacks,” you still have time to give her something she actually wants and needs this year.  1. SWEET TREATS AND GORGEOUS BLOOMS: FTD.COM and Berries.Com:  This is one of my annual go-to’s – and the latest tech makes it super easy:  I ordered this “Irreplaceable Luxury Bouquet’” and this “Pink at Heart Orchid Bouquet” on Friday from FTD.com. Less than a day later –  a florist from Park Florist on Park Boulevard in Oakland delivered it herself to my doorstep. The carefully crafted bouquets are ... Read more

Mother’s Day 2018 Gift Ideas and Smart Tech Hacks to Win Child of the Year!

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According to a handful of Mother’s Day surveys and polls, most moms want one gift over all others this year: More sleep. That’s right, give us one night of completely, totally, blissfully uninterrupted sleep, and you’ll win child (or husband, or BFF) of the year. Even those of us Moms with older kids (mine is 17) aren’t getting nearly enough, according to a study presented at 2017’s American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Boston. THESE APPS = GREAT GIFT HACKS Best tech hack to help Mom get the peace and quiet she craves? Download the HotelTonight app (free, iOS and Android). It gives you access to fantastic deals, super low rates, and awesome experiences in more than ... Read more

You can now share your favorite Spotify tracks to Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories — here’s how!

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Facebook's developer conference (called F8) is going on right now, and that means lots of news about new features. One of the biggest announcements so far is that Facebook is adding app integration to Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories, so you can share what you're doing in different apps directly in your Story feeds. It's a brand new feature, but Facebook got Spotify to dive in head-first, becoming the first app to tie in with Stories. Here's how it works! When you're listening to a Spotify song on your smartphone, just click the little "..." menu icon and then tap the "Share" button. You'll see Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories on the list, so tap whichever one you ... Read more

JENN’S LIST: Best Gadgets of Spring 2018

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Spring has sprung, and now that the last remnants of winter have melted away it's time start 2018 for real. We're only four months into the year, but there are already some awesome new gadget trends starting to emerge. Oculus Go ($199) Oculus got off to a bit of a slow start with the Rift virtual reality headset, but it's hoping to make up a whole lot of ground with the all-new Oculus Go, a wireless VR gadget that you can take anywhere. It's an entirely standalone VR experience, meaning no messy wires and you don't need a pricey computer to attach it to, and at $199 it's a whole lot cheaper than most of the other virtual reality headsets out there. Developers have already been ... Read more

YES! There is a way to stop those annoying robocalls!

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My smartphone rings. It’s a number I don’t recognize. I ignore it and the caller leaves a message, “You will be taken under custody by the local cops,” says a robotic sounding female voice. “There are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment...” They leave a phone number to call back — or else. I know right away that it’s a scam, likely one of a half dozen calls I’ll get today. And it’s not even noon yet. This kind of frustrating little scenario played out more than three billion times in the month of March alone, according to the YouMail Robocall Index, at a cost of more than $9.5 billion annually to people who fall victim to phone scams. A new Harris Poll for ... Read more

HOW TO: Manage and update your Google privacy and security settings

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Facebook's been dominating headlines lately for its massive privacy woes, but it's not the only internet company that knows a whole lot about you. Google, through its various properties like YouTube, Gmail, and others, has some serious prying-power too. If you use Google every day — as I do — you've probably told the company more about you than you realize. The good news is that Google is pretty proactive when it comes to getting you to lock down your information, and it has built-in tools to walk you through all the steps to secure your account. Getting Started Start by going to privacy.google.com. Scroll through the brief tutorial that explains what information Google collects and ... Read more

One of the most popular robot vacuums is just $99 right now on Amazon

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It wasn't all that long ago that robot vacuums would set you back hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but a whole lot has changed over the past few years. Like any kind of new tech, a whole bunch of companies jumped on the robot vacuum trend, and prices have plummeted as a result. Some cheap ones don't exactly live up to their promise, but with nearly 1,000 reviews and a 4.5/5 star rating on Amazon, Housmile's $99 robot vacuum is a win/win. Here's the product highlights: Premium Features: infrared-sensor for evading obstacles, and smart drop-sensing tech to avoid falls. High-Capacity Li-ion Battery: Delivers over 1.5 hours of fade-free power for constant, powerful suction. Easy ... Read more

HOW TO: Spring Clean Your Social Media Like a Pro

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A dirty, unkempt, constantly cluttered house takes a toll on your health — according to dozens of scientific studies and experts. And just like piles of junk don’t do your physical or mental health any favors, neither does a messy social media life. “Most of us are both addicted to social media and fatigued by it at the same time,” says Amy Jo Martin, a best-selling author named the third most powerful woman on Twitter. “It's important to reset our habits and patterns around social media.” Considering that most of us will spend more than five years of our lives scanning social media, it’s as important a place as any these days to do some serious Spring cleaning. Here’s how to deep clean, ... Read more

All the Ways Facebook Tracks You: True or False?

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I carry my phone everywhere I go, and the last thing I need is an app like Facebook listening in on my private conversations. But is that really what’s going on? In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal — which compromised the personal info of up to 87 million people on Facebook — there’s a whole heap of confusion. Does Facebook actively spy on you? Are they reading private messages and texts? Does the app track your phone calls and location? CEO Mark Zuckerberg has now been grilled by lawmakers and answered a lot of questions, but how does that affect you or me? Let’s take a look how Facebook tracks you — what’s true, what’s not — and what you can do about it all. TRUE OR FALSE? ... Read more

Here’s every privacy related update Facebook’s made so far – in one place: 

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Here's a look at all of Facebook's recent privacy changes and updates, in one place, with working links. We will continue to update this list and Facebook rolls out more changes. Updated their terms of service to be easier to understand https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/04/terms-and-data-policy/ Turned off data access for unused apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Restricted Facebook login data for apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Made data settings and tools easier to find (privacy shortcuts) ... Read more