3 On Your Side: High Tech Toys
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--Have your kids been making their lists and checking them twice? If so, it's not surprising that find high tech toys are topping many wish lists this year. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan takes a look at the latest gadgets and gizmos.
Laurie Schacht of The Toy Insider says tablets still top many wish lists and this year they're loaded with more options than ever. Like the InnoTab 3S, according to Shacht, "Kids can actually talk to their parents on their devices. They can send a text message, they can send a picture."
The Kurio Touch 4S is similar to an iPod touch, but runs on an android operating system. It offers parental controls, comes pre-loaded with more than 30 free games and apps, and earbuds built for a child.
Dan Ackerman with CNET says, "We see a lot of toys aimed at kids now that echo a lot of the technology that adults use, so things have touch screens, things have internet connectivity. Kids kind of want to mimic what their parents are doing."
The new LeapReader is designed to help teach toddlers to write.
Zoomer is a dog that responds to voice commands.
RoboMe lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch to customize a robot.
And Lego Mindstorms Robots? Schacht says, "Once they build it, they have to program the whole robot, how it walks, how it talks, every movement is programmed."
Future fashionistas may like the Barbie Digital Dress that uses LED lights, and facial tracking technology on the Barbie Digital Makeover Mirror will have young faces smiling. Schacht says, "By simply pretending to put makeup on with the applicator, the makeup will show up in the mirror the kids are looking at."
By the way, for toys with internet connectivity, I highly suggest that you play with the parental controls to make sure they're set to levels you're comfortable with for your children and that you limit what sites they see and what sites have access to their information.
Links: http://www.vtechkids.com/brands/brand_view/innotab3s
http://www.kurioworld.com/k/us/parents/products/4s/
http://www.leapfrog.com/en/landingpages/leapreader.html
http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/?domainredir=mindstorms.lego.com
http://mattelbrandsmedia.com/product.php?category=0&product=108
