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| Photo by Svadilfari via Creative Commons |
Today is Sophia’s first day back at school. Do you see me jumping for joy? Our family had a lazy and wonderful summer, but I’m ready to get back in the swing of things. I’m happy to have a routine to our days again. This also means I need to be more organized.
As much as I love pen and paper, I have (mostly) embraced my smartphone and computers. I carry my Samsung Galaxy S2 phone with me everywhere. The apps of my phone help me remember doctor appointments, take down notes, and amuse my kids.
Earlier this summer, I was invited to an event at T-Mobile to learn about apps that can keep my family safe and help me stay organized. I got to try some of the apps first hand and was impressed with them.
Here’s some apps for your smartphone or tablet that I’ve used or recommended by T-Mobile that will help you get back into your back to school routine:
Dropbox. I use my cellphone to take photos more and more. My digital camera is a bit lonely. When I take Sophia’s first day of school photo, Dropbox will automatically sync my photos and videos in the cloud, which then syncs it on all the computers that I have Dropbox installed on. I also store many of my documents on Dropbox so I can move from computer to laptop to phone without physically transferring the files. A free Dropbox account starts you off with 2GB of storage. You can earn more space through referrals or pay for a larger account. (If you decide to join Dropobox and use my referral link, we’ll both get additional space for free.)
MobileLife Family Organizer. T-Mobile has partnered with Cozi to offer an organizer that your entire family can use. Many of my friends swear by Cozi to keep track of their family’s calendar. It’s easy to send reminders to your partner, plan family meals, make a shopping list, create to-do lists and much more. I’ve signed up for a Cozi account, but have yet to fully try out all the features. Mainly because I’ve trained hubby to use Google calendar and he barely uses it. I’m not sure if he would make the switch. Cozi’s basic account is free and you can access premium features for a $4.99 a month. The app is available on all platforms: Android, iOS, and Blackberry.
Lookout Mobile Security One of the first app I installed on my phone was Lookout Mobile. It works in the background to keep my phone safe. Just like your computer needs an anti-virus and malware program, so does your smartphone and table. Lookout Mobile scans for viruses on new apps you install and you can schedule it to regularly scan your phone or tablet. You can get additional protection from Lookout including the ability to backup your photos, remotely lock your phone and wipe its contents, and find out which apps or services are accessing your personal information for only $2.99 per month. Lookout is available for Android devices.
Web Guard My smartphone phone isn’t through T-Mobile, but I wish I could get Web Guard on my phone. If your kids are tech savvy like mine, they love taking photos and playing games on my smartphone. Web Guard is a free optional add-on feature, which restricts access to websites on your phone when you use the T-Mobile network. If I had the Web Guard app on my phone, I could us the different Child, Teen and Young Adult settings so the content that is restricted can change as your children grow. There is no charge to turn this feature on or off. As a parent, make sure you track your child’s usage as it may or may not block or filter some content, including user-generated content such as instant messaging, e-mail, and text messages.
Now that you’ve learned about these apps that will help make life a little bit easier, you can enter to win a cool new tablet. It’s up to you if you want to share it with the kids!
To celebrate our kids going back-to-school, I’ve teamed with T-Mobile to give one of my lucky readers a Springboard Tablet (ARV $299)!
This tablet is wifi/4G capable, has a dual core processor, 16GB of space and 5 megapixel rear camera. It even comes with a front facing camera so you can make videos or Skype with the grandparents. Think of all the cool back-to-school apps you can download, after you download the ones I mentioned above, of course! You can learn more about it here: T-Mobile Springboard Tablet.
Ready to enter? More details in the Raffelcopter form.
No compensation or product was received for hosting this giveaway. I just wanted to give you all tablet. Because it’s fun to have one. Dropbox links are referral links. I personally use Dropbox and Lookout Mobile. I use the free version but will upgrade, one of these days.
Very nice post dear. Thanks for sharing with us.