Smart Home Lifestyle

August 11, 2007

High-tech gear will make going back to school a lot cooler this year

Back in my day, a great notebook meant more than 500 pages of lined paper. Today it means more than 500 MB of RAM. Typing 101 has evolved to Texting 101, and teens are more excited about getting into a good chat rooms than a homeroom. To keep your kid hip, here are some high-tech gadgets to make going back to school a little cooler.

A pen or a computer?

Taking notes just got a whole lot easier thanks to Logitech's io2 Digital Writing Pen. The io2 looks and feels like a regular pen, but when paired with "smart paper," it digitally captures everything you write or draw and inputs it to your computer. The io2 works without a scanner and is useful for note taking that involves graphs or pictures. For just less than $150, the io2 blends perfect penmanship with perfectly simple technology.

Kick it up a notch

Want even more tech to take to the classroom? LeapFrog helps lower the learning curve with new Fly Fusion Pentop computer. Like io2, Fly uses special paper to digitize your notes and convert them to text on your computer, but it adds more software applications, including an MP3 player.

Fly offers on-the-go calculating, an MP3 player, garage-band music mixing capability and 13 Fusion games. Plus, you can get enhanced learning applications like algebra, essay writing and French and Spanish translation.

Fly costs just less than $80, with the software programs ranging from about $2 to $30 each.

Music to go

Need your music a little more mobile? Check out Five Star's Sound Binder. Sound Binder combines a place to store your notes and a way to listen to your tunes. Built in speakers stream sound from your MP3 player, portable DVD player or laptop.

All you need is four AAA batteries and $29.99 for a portable player that can hold your MP3 player, cell phone, pens and pencils, papers and more.

Run, Nike, run

To help avoid the flab of the "freshman 15," try SportKit. Apple Computers and Nike have partnered to bring sports and music together, changing the way people run by making it a whole lot more fun.

Sport Kit is a wireless system that allows Nike+ footwear to talk with your iPod nano. A sensor is placed in your shoe, and the receiver plugs into you iPod. Sport Kit tracks time, distance, calories burned and pace, all while playing your favorite tunes. You can even hit "power song" for that extra energy boost.

Sport Kit saves data on your iPod, while giving real-time audio feedback, like distance run, through your headphones. Once you're done, simply download the info into your computer to compare and analyze all your latest workouts. Just remember, the Sport Kit costs $29 but requires an iPod nano, starting about $150 and a pair of Nike+-enabled footwear costing $85-$100.

No downtime

Want to make sure your student never looses touch? Give him Solio, the solar energy charger for all his electronics. All he needs is some direct sunlight, and he's got some real talking and playing power.

Solio works with cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, game players and GPS units. When Solio is fully charged, it has enough power to power a cell phone or iPod nano at least twice. Solio can store energy for more than a year.

Solio (www.solio.com) comes in white, gray, black and pink, and costs less than $100.

Author: Diana Kostigen, Marketing/Public Relations Director, Comtec