A number of startups have been trying their hand at subscription-based children’s books services, or something like a “Netflix for kids’ books,” so to speak. Today, another entry called Zoobean joins the flock, with the debut of its own handpicked catalog which parents can either subscribe to, or choose to just shop online like a standard e-commerce website. The company was… → Read More
TinyTap, a Tel Aviv-based platform that allows children to create their own mobile games and “playable” books, is now expanding from the iPad to the iPhone, as it also launches its own social marketplace for apps. Here, users can sell their TinyTap creations to others, or just share them for free. The move comes roughly six months after the company announced its half a million dollar seed round… → Read More
Timbuktu, an adorably designed educational and entertainment-focused iPad app for kids, has finally revamped its business model – a model which had previously been a terrible example of how children’s apps too often try to grow their revenue by tricking kids into purchasing in-app content. The company now admits that its virtual allowance mechanism was too misleading, and has moved forward… → Read More
Appolicious, the app search and discovery portal which helps users find new mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android, is today launching a new service today aimed at parents, teachers and others in search of the best educational apps for children: appoLearning. This new resource is Appolicious’ attempt solving the inherent problems with app search today, starting with a focus on apps… → Read More
Apple made a small but important change to the way its mobile apps appear in the iTunes App Store, which will help parents better determine which applications and games are appropriate for their children. The company has relocated the age rating (e.g. 9+, 12+, etc.) by moving it up from its previous position at the bottom of the app’s detail page, so that it now appears directly beneath the app… → Read More
Kytephone, the Y Combinator-backed startup making smartphones kid-friendly and safe, is now expanding its focus beyond the “little kids” crowd with the introduction of a new platform for teenagers and parents. Called “Kytetime,” the system is designed more for keeping track of a child’s location and their phone usage, rather than strictly locking down the phone or offering a simplified user… → Read More
Famil.io, a new service for privately sharing photos and videos with your family across web and mobile, is today officially launching to the public. The sharing platform can serve as a complement to Facebook, where most families network today, though in a more restrained fashion. Or for those family members who aren’t even active on Facebook, Famil.io can, to some extent, serve as a… → Read More
It’s rare to come across a service that’s directly tackling a problem affecting a large number of people out in the real world, but AppCertain is doing just that. Designed for parents whose children use an iOS device like the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, this new app monitoring service sends out email alerts informing parents of the apps their kids have just installed, what those apps do, and… → Read More
TrustEgg, a Y Combinator-backed startup which lets parents set up trusts for their children is actually launching. That’s a milestone in and of itself, because, as a financial services company, it had been facing a lot of regulatory hurdles. The company has also recovered from the loss of its first co-founder, Gabe Krambs, who left CEO Jeff Brice to take a job that paid the bills. It has since… → Read More
Diapers.com, the Amazon-owned e-commerce site targeting parents with new babies, is today launching a native app on the iPad, after seeing its mobile traffic increase more than 100 percent year-over-year. In December 2012, the company found that 40 percent of the website’s visitors came to shop via a smartphone or tablet. → Read More
BrainNook, a social, educational gaming site for children grades 1 through 5, is today expanding to the iPad with the debut of the first in a series of apps from the company. These apps will focus on teaching children math and language skills, but have the goal of being as entertaining and engaging as other popular kids’ virtual worlds, like Moshi Monsters or Club Penguin. → Read More
You might be familiar with the concept of the television being used to “babysit” kids. Back in my childhood days, my parents plopped me down in front of “Dukes Of Hazzard” and thanks to them, I really love the color orange. Go figure. The days of this television management style are over and I’m seeing trends towards more interactive entertainment thanks to the iPad and other mobile devices. The… → Read More
White label social networking platform Grou.ps is the latest to join the increasingly crowded “private networks for posting about babies” space (we may need a better title for this…), which has been heating up as of late. The company has just launched a new mobile app called Babyzilla on both iOS and Android, which allows families to privately communicate, post updates, chat, and share photos… → Read More
Menlo Park-based YogiPlay, the educational-focused recommendation service for children’s apps, is today announcing its “Parent Center” app is available across all major mobile platforms, including iOS, Google Play, Kindle and Nook. The company, backed by $1 million in venture funding, introduced its app rating system called “YogiMeter” earlier this summer, with plans to further integrate those… → Read More
Tel Aviv-based KIDO’Z, which got its start back in 2009 as a kid-friendly media browser for desktop computers is finally making the jump to mobile. The company is today officially announcing an Android version of its software that enables parents to lock down their smartphones and tablets, only allowing kids access to approved mobile applications and websites. The app also provides kids with a… → Read More
HashTip is a new mobile app targeting savvy shoppers, primarily moms, who want to share tips with each other about kids’ products, activities and deals. (OK, cue snarky comment about how we already have Pinterest for that.) But unlike Pinterest, HashTip isn’t about posting “inspirational” imagery, it’s more heavily focused on social commerce. The service augments its tips with extra info… → Read More
Duck Duck Moose, the startup behind a series of educational apps for children, is today announcing having closed on $7 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Stanford University. The company, whose paid applications have now seen over 2.4 million downloads, has remarkably grown its brand through word-of-mouth alone, earning… → Read More
Care.com, the site that helps parents and families find babysitters, nannies, childcare, and senior care professionals, is today releasing a new iPhone application called Karoo which is designed to connect parents with their child’s caregivers as well as record memories. Unlike some of the privacy-focused social networking apps that have launched in recent months, Karoo isn’t just about… → Read More
TrustEgg, the Y Combinator-backed startup which will allow anyone to set up a trust for their children without expensive legal fees or detailed financial know-how, is finally moving towards launch by opening up access to their beta list today. The startup, like many of those in the financial services space, has faced a number of regulatory hurdles which has caused slowdowns, as well as the loss of… → Read More
San Francisco-based FabKids is the latest startup to try its hand at subscription-based e-commerce, taking on competitors like Wittlebee in the kids’ apparel space, but with a slightly different twist. Instead of offering a box of separates shipped monthly, FabKids will send out one complete outfit it has designed in-house and personalized to the child, based on a custom profile filled out at… → Read More
MeMeTales, a super-cute (and guilt-free!) children’s books application arrives on Android today, following its iOS release and public debut at 500 Startups’ demo day last October. Originally from Seattle, now a San Francisco-based operation, the company was founded by husband and wife team Maya Bisineer and Pree Kolari, and offers a library of picture books designed for preschool and… → Read More
KinderTown, the company that makes the ever-useful educational app store for parents, is rolling out a new service targeted towards app developers. KinderSights, as it’s called, will offer up a series of monthly reports based on KinderTown’s internal data. The reports aim to answer the question: what apps are parents looking for right now?
Since April, the startup says parents have performed… → Read More
Kytephone, the mobile app that transforms Android smartphones into kid-safe devices, is officially making its public debut today. The startup had previously been in beta, following its reveal at this spring’s Y Combinator Demo Day, where founders Renat Gataullin and Martin Drashkov first detailed their company’s vision.
The idea behind Kytephone is simple. It addresses parents’ growing… → Read More
TinyTap is a new iPad application designed for kids which introduces a different angle on the “record-your-own-voice” storybooks craze, by offering a playable book or game you and your kids can customize with your own photos, camera shots, music, narration, and more. The resulting creations can then be shared with family and friends. And, for a little inspiration, the built-in TinyTap store offers… → Read More
ID and fraud protection service AllClear ID, is launching a new feature today which aims to protect kids’ Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from being stolen and used to secure things like mortgages, loans and other big ticket items. It’s a major problem, the company says, noting in a new study that 10.7% of children have had their ID stolen.
The idea with the new service is to create the… → Read More
Parents looking for a curated selection of music and videos that’s a little more kid-friendly than YouTube have another option now, thanks to the launch of Jitterbug.tv. The new iPad app is the first subscription-based music service for kids, and is targeting the 2-7 age range. Included in the app are videos and music from top kids artists like 23 Skidoo, The Jimmies, Laura Veirs, Milkshake Music… → Read More
NYC-based financial services startup for families, Tykoon, is exiting its private beta and is launching its first mobile app for iPhone. The company, which aims to change the ways kids think about and use money, is more that your typical allowance tracker application – it’s a platform for earning, saving, giving and spending, the latter which includes kid-friendly access to a curated and… → Read More
iPad guilt? There needs to be a technical term for that feeling in the pit of a parent’s stomach that arises from handing over the iPad to their kids, only to watch them play brain rotting Outfit7 games or level after level of Angry Birds. Fortunately, some startups are focusing on developing more educational content for the iPad to help parents assuage some of their guilt over their kids’… → Read More
Hey look: another private, micro social networking service has just launched. From Alt12 Apps, which moms know better as the maker of the BabyBump app, there now comes a new mobile-only private social networking service for parents called Kidfolio. The app, which is celebrating its public release today, offers parents tools for private sharing – mainly photos of children – which can be organized… → Read More
SittingAround, a new service that allows parents to quickly and more easily find and schedule a babysitter, is launching today. The business is the creation of CEO Erica Zidel, a former management consultant in the Boston area (and mom) and CTO Ted Tieken, who, like Zidel, is a Harvard grad. What’s unique about SittingAround is how it leverages users’ social networking connections – like those… → Read More
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