A child protection scandal and failure to innovate have left Habbo Hotel — once one of the most popular virtual worlds — reeling. Now with the departure of CEO Paul LaFontaine, it’s feeling increasingly like the Finnish company faces a do or die moment. Read more »
Orange has reportedly asked banks to find a US investor for Dailymotion, as the French video site embarks on a subscription video by embracing the growing paid kids’ content trend. Read more at paidContent »
Kajeet plans to offer some kind of 4G mobile broadband service for kids, though it was a bit stingy with the details. Chances are it will start selling dongles and hotspots directly to families, turning modems into virtual nannies. Read more »
SpongeBob SquarePants has a new home: Hulu just opened up a dedicated kids section on its website as well as within the Hulu Plus app on the PS3. That comes after Netflix launched its own kids section on the web and devices last year. Read more »
Moshi Monsters creator Mind Candy has announced the purchase of UK games studio Origami Blue to help lead its experimental labs project – but the company’s first acquisition is unlikely to be its last, with a new head of M&A joining. Read more »
Finnish kids’ virtual world Habbo is being pushed to the brink, after accusations that the site had become a haven for pedophiles led to a second investor pulling out of the business, and British retailers dropping the company’s products. Read more »
Facebook is said to be working on new features that would allow children under 13 to access the network. Is this a way of helping parents encourage their children to develop better online skills, or does it open kids up to privacy problems and other issues? Read more »
Mounting evidence suggests Europe’s mobile operators are becoming increasingly censorious, thanks to haphazard adult content filters that are applied to millions of users. The result? De facto, unregulated censorship that screens out thousands of legitimate websites, including GigaOM. Read more »
A new EU child safety strategy calls for parental controls to be built into all internet-capable devices, for apps to get their own age ratings — and for a proposed electronic ID system to be used for proving your age online. Read more »
Start-up Pixykids is emerging out of stealth and is hoping to become the Facebook for kids with a platform that blends social networking, virtual worlds, video chatting and self-expression and invites the entire family to participate in a child’s activities. Read more »
British supermarket chain Asda conducted a survey and found parents were increasingly using technology as a form of in-home intercom with their kids, calling them to dinner or telling them to do homework. One in five used gadgets to communicate with children inside the home. Read more »
Apps just might be the next action figures, and iPad accessories the new Tickle-Me-Elmo. Judging by interest from kids and content partners, Apple won’t just be the device-maker of the future; it’ll be a toy-maker on par with the likes of Hasbro and Mattel, too. Read more »
As children get smartphones at an earlier age, there are dangers ranging from inappropriate content to texts from strangers. Sprint Mobile Control, a $4.99 monthly service, help parents manage their kids’ smartphones and help control usage as well as communications from unknown contacts Read more »
Raspberry Pi, the British outfit trying to build and sell low cost computers to help teach children how to code, has garnered plenty of attention in the past few months. Now director David Braben says the first devices will be on the market in weeks. Read more »
The majority of parents in a recent survey find that age 16 is about the right time for kids to have a smartphone. Standard cell phones are OK at a younger age; that makes sense as households dump landlines and kids are talking more to friends. Read more »
Netlix recently posted a job opening for a UI designer specialized on kids websites and online games. Does the video giant plan to launch a separate website dedicated to its large library of kids content, or will the entire Netflix UI become a bit more kid-friendly? Read more »
Even if your kids understand the value of a dollar, do they appreciate how quickly they add up when using an iOS device? Unprotected iDevices can lead to big accidental iTunes charges. Here’s how to stop that from happening to you and your family. Read more »
Does one set out to create a computer literate family, or to cultivate a creative family familiar with the modern communication capabilities of today’s age? The distinction is subtle, but the benefits of the latter strongly outweigh the former. Read more »
In my school district, kids get out of school as early as 2:45 pm and as late as 4:15 pm. If you start working after the kids leave for school, you can usually get around six or seven hours of work done. Most people tend to […] Read more »
I wish school would go year-round — then summer would be easier to handle. Alas, the kids have almost three months off, and it means finding a way to balance fun and relaxation with working. Parents everywhere face the summer dilemma every year, so try these […] Read more »
