Coolest App of The Week – Scribble Press

Scribble Press

Rated: 4+

Price: £2.49

Compatible with: iPad

Developer: Scribble Press Inc.

Scribble Press is a virtual book shop  in which kids draw, write and animate their own ebooks.

                      

Scribble Press features hundreds of great drawing and writing tools with dozens of templates and also features a store where kids can buy story packs for 99p to help them get started.

                                             

Once they’ve finished  Scribble Press includes an option to let them share their creations in the public gallery for people to read, download and rate. They can also order a printed copy of their book which is available to most addresses around the world.

                                             

This is why Mama Loves Tech!

To find out more about this app click here.

Follow Scribble Press on Facebook and Twitter.

Coolest App of The Week – Maily

Maily

Rated: 4+

Price: Free

Compatible with: iPad

Developer: Goodnews.is

Maily is a child friendly App which teaches children as young as four . This App allows children to take photos of themselves, write and paint then email their creations to their friends and family.

                              

Maily hosts a range of ways to customise there creations such as text tools, background templates and paint brushes.

                  

Theres also no need for parents to worry about what their kids are sending or who there talking to because Maily features a ‘Parents Dashboard’ which let’s them supervise emails and manage contacts.

                   

This is why Mama Loves Tech!

To find out more about this app click here.

Follow Maily on Facebook and Twitter.

How to Set up a Facebook Business Page

Your company wants a Facebook page or you’ve decided to set one up for your brand, here’s the quick step by step guide to setting one up.

Step 1

You need a personal Facebook account, if you don’t have one go to https://www.facebook.com and click sign up and fill in the required information.

Step 2

Once you have signed in on your personal Facebook account navigate your way to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. You can either click through on this link or find the link at the bottom (in the footer) of most pages on Facebook.

Once there are six categories to choose from:

• Local Business or Place
• Company, Organisation or Institution
• Brand or Product
• Artist, Band or Public Figure
• Entertainment
• Cause or Community

Choose the correct category for your business and enter the required information. Choosing the correct category can help people find you on Facebook, the category and business name cannot be changed so please choose and type wisely although if you do go wrong at this stage you can always delete the page and start again!

Step 3

Facebook will now ask you to upload a photo for your page, this is a picture that will appear next to everything your business does on Facebook so it should ideally be your company logo. This picture/logo can be changed at any time but you should always make sure you have a picture uploaded. A business page without one looks sad and unloved.

You now want to write a sentence about your business, make sure you include your website, this sentence will appear on your page in the “about” section (just below your logo).

Set a web address (url) that is your business name, e.g. if your business is called “Humpty Dumpty” you will want your web address to be “www.facebook.com/humptydumpty”. Occasionally you discover that the address you want is already in use, if this is the case then try and come up with an address that people will still know is your business. For example when we were setting up the Facebook page for Mama Tea we were not able to get the web address facebook.com/mamatea so our web address is facebook.com/mamapregnancytea as Mama Tea’s products are teas for pregnant women.

Step 4

This step is really about you filling out details about your business. Use the admin panel and edit your details, make sure you put in all your basic contact information including an email address, upload a cover photo (this is a must if you want your page to look professional as it will be the first thing visitors to your page see).

Also have a look at other business pages and see what other companies have done, here are a few to get you started;

• http://www.facebook.com/MamaTeaPregnancyTea
• http://www.facebook.com/MamaLovesTech
• http://www.facebook.com/Harrods
• http://www.facebook.com/innocent.drinks

Step 5

Start posting!

For more information about facebook business pages; https://www.facebook.com/business/build

For more information about how Mama Loves Tech can help your business please email us at info@mamalovestech.com, tweet us, of go to our facebook page.

Coolest App of The Week – Faces iMake

Faces iMake

Rated: 4+

Price: £1.49

Compatible with: iPad

Developer: iMagine Machine in conjunction with artist Hanoch Piven

Faces iMake is a new creative App for kids which let’s them create their own unique characters using every day objects including buttons, string and food.

                                 

Faces iMake includes an interesting feature called Faceworld which let’s the user create a face and then upload it so anyone else in the world can download it, customise it and it will appear next to yours when they upload it, encouraging interaction between users.

                                              

This App also offers a unique soundtrack while creating your character so theres never any chance of getting bored. This is a great App for children who like to play with their food but without the mess.

                                        

This is why Mama Loves Tech!

To find out more about this app click here.

Follow Faces iMake on Facebook and Twitter.

Coolest App of The Week – FarFaria

FarFaria

Rated: 4+

Price: Free to download then £2.49 a month

Developer: Intuary Inc.

FarFaria is a much loved children’s App which will help children of a young age to get into reading in a new and interactive way. The books included are not only some of the old favourites a lot of parents will remember but they’ve added in some new books from lesser known authors which the kids will fall in love with.

                        

A great feature of this App is that you will never run out of stories because five new stories will be added every week, so the fun never ends. Of course the stories aren’t all fictional, Intuary Inc. will include an educational book every two weeks.

                       

Don’t worry if you aren’t always there to read to your kid because with every book comes a ‘Read with me’ feature, which will read the book to them even when they are offline.

                              

We love this and will definitely be playing with this over the Christmas holidays!

This is why Mama Loves Tech!

Coolest App of The Week – Foldify

Foldify

Rated: 9+

Price: £1.49

Developer: Pixle

Foldify is a new App which let’s you create colourful and imaginative 3D cut outs straight from your iPad. This App really is a great tool for those who have kids and want to teach them about being creative.

The website says it all: “Create 3D figures on iPad. Then print and fold them from paper.”

                        

When you’ve completed your design you don’t have to worry about wasting paper to see your finished product because you can preview the your artwork in 3D.

                       

One of the greatest features of this App are the templates, which are pre-made shapes such as car and facial features, which are great for those that maybe not know where or how to start.

                         

Once you’ve created your cut out you can then share it on Facebook or Twitter, or you can email it to your friends.

We can’t wait to try it out on the kids! We will post next week our attempts at creating some Flodify 3-D images!!

Assassin’s Creed 3 Review

Rating: 18+

Release Date: 30th October 2012

Developers: Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec

Publisher: Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed 3: Plot

The game returns to the continues story of Desmond Miles who is still on the run from the murderous Templars and once again must enter the mysterious Animus to recover the memories of past live assassins to help him in the present day to help prevent the end of the world. Once in the Animus, Desmond must relive the memories of young Native – American Connor Kenway or Ratohnhake:ton, who shortly becomes an assassin after his village is destroyed and as a result loses his mother.During his training Connor visits some of the most iconic places during Americas Battle of Independence such as Boston, New York and the Frontier to rid America of the Templar – controlled British forces. While doing so Connor will also meet some historical icons such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Paul Revere.

  

Assassin’s Creed 3: Gameplay

One of the biggest features is the introduction of the four seasons throughout the game which can sometimes help Connor in both stealth and combat but can also hinder him. Stealth is one of the more flexible new aspects of the game, while Connor can hide in hay bales, large groups of people and  wells much like his predecessors but can now take cover in bushes and also a new cover system has been implemented. Hunting is one of first tutorials taught to Connor and while fun doesn’t feel incredibly necessary throughout the rest of the game. As well as Boston and New York you are also given a Homestead where Connor begins his training and where a lot of the side missions come into play. Along with a new assassin there is also a new combat system and re-engineered stealth features. The combat system has been completely redone as well, it is now a much more fluent system to attack and counter enemies moves with dozens of different combinations from your selection of weapons.

  

Assassin’s Creed 3: Features

They have of course brought back some weapons from past games such as swords, smoke pellets and everyone’s favourite, the Hidden Blades. New weapons  include Rope Darts, Bow and Arrows, Flintlock Pistols and Connor’s weapon of choice, the Tomahawk. Also brought to the table are new climbing abilities such as more fluent free running, climbing trees, stealth modes, naval battles and a new hunting feature. Multiplayer also returns a new versus mode where you can choose a free-for-all or a new group vs group mode where you take turns assassinating and hiding. But like every game there are some minor glitches throughout. While playing I encountered floating Muskets, a deer lodged in a tree and once or twice I managed to get Connor Lodged in a tree so much so that he looked like Slender Man.

   

Assassin’s Creed 3: Verdict

Visually the game is absolutely beautiful, from the free streets of Boston and New York to the wide open seas and incredible detail of the Frontier so glitches can be overlooked given the shear scale of the game. If I had to say anything against this game if have to be that Connor is kept on quite a short leash during the first hour of the game it’s only once the full back story has been accomplished that you are allowed to free roam the streets and woods. All of these thing can be forgiven of course game that would not only appeal to Assassins Creed fans old and new but to anyone interested in action, violence and games with both history and depth.

Overall Verdict:  9 / 10

Assassin’s Creed 3 UK Launch Trailer

Desmond’s Story

Assassin’s Creed 3 Independence Trailer

Business and Social Media?

Many businesses have found themselves questioning whether they should get involved in the world of social media and of what benefit it could be to them.

In short the answer is yes, your business should get involved in the world of social media, and the benefits to your business will depend on what you’re looking to achieve from your involvement.

Here at Mama Loves Tech we regularly come across people that say something along the lines of “social media is not for us” or “what good is a Facebook page to my business” and we understand why people think this, as they associate Facebook with their teenage children and can’t see the relevance of this to their accountancy practice, for instance. We can’t make everyone want to get involved with social media but we do hope to make everyone understand that there are conversations going on out there on the internet and by opting out of social media you’re opting out of joining in, and at times controlling, the conversation. The key thing is to find the relevant conversations (for conversation substitute social media platform) for you, which is exactly what teenagers do on Facebook.

The world of social media is daunting, if you’ve so far opted out, and when you first dip your toe in it can seem unfathomable, the thought of finding conversations relevant to you near impossible but as with most things some research and goals in place can help you find your way. There are lots of different social networks each with a different strength and here at Mama Loves Tech we believe there is at least one network, probably more than one, relevant to every business, and that’s before you consider a blog.

There’s no denying social networking requires time but so does face to face networking, potential client meetings and traditional marketing and most businesses don’t question the necessity of this. With networking across social media it is important to remember what your business is aiming to get out of it, and try to avoid getting drawn into time wasting conversations just for the sake of being involved in a conversation, and like many things the more time and effort you put into it the greater the rewards are likely to be.

So do some research, make a plan, set some goals and give it a go there’s a whole world out there waiting to talk to you!