Will Smartphones And iPads Mush My Toddler's Brain?

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Enlarge Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

For real: Fisher-Price's Laugh & Learn Baby iCan Play Case protects an iPhone while baby plays with apps.

Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

For real: Fisher-Price's Laugh & Learn Baby iCan Play Case protects an iPhone while baby plays with apps.

Parents of small children have long been told to avoid using the television as a babysitter. This week, the nation's leading group of pediatricians reiterated its stance against letting kids under 2 watch any TV at all.

But what about iPhones and iPads?

These days, it's pretty common to see Mom or Dad hand over a pricey smartphone to a cranky toddler to stave off a temper tantrum. One survey found that as many as 1 in 4 toddlers has used a smartphone. For many young kids, it's become the toy of choice.

I confess, I've given my iPhone to my 1 1/2-year-old in a pinch (he likes to browse my iTunes collection). But in general, I've tried to limit my son's exposure to our family's iPad and iPhones because of the American Academy of Pediatrics' long-standing advice to keep kids under 2 away from screens.

 

The AAP first issued that guidance in 1999. Now, "we have more science to back up the previous recommendation," says Dr. Ari Brown, the lead author of the AAP's revised guidelines on toddlers and TV. (Parents might recognize her as the author of the best-selling parenting guide Baby 411.)

Despite the many educational DVDs aimed at the under-2 crowd, the AAP says research doesn't support the notion that kids that young benefit from videos. Some studies suggest TV viewing may actually be harmful to those under 2 — even when the set is merely on in the background.

"The concern that we have is it's distracting to the parent, so the parent is talking less to the child, there's less parent-child conversation, which is important for language development," Brown tells Shots. "And it's also distracting for the child."

Distracted infants and toddlers are more likely to abandon an activity quickly. Experts worry about how that will affect children's ability to learn to organize information and make decisions "when they're not having the experience of being really focused on the activity that's at hand," says Brown.

A better use of time, says Brown: Let tots engage in free play, like stacking cups on the floor. That type of activity has been shown to boost baby's development.

So how does all this relate to smartphones and tablets?

The AAP's new policy doesn't address these devices — "we simply don't have the science right now to comment," Brown says.

But if you're merely pulling up an Elmo video on YouTube and handing your mobile device over, that viewing experience is just as passive as if your kid were watching TV, so the same concerns apply, says Brown.

What about all those peekaboo and storybook apps aimed specifically at the toddler set?

"When it comes to apps and interactive games," she says, "that is a completely different way of using your brain."

That's not official AAP policy, Brown stresses. But as a pediatrician, she says she could see how some apps might provide a limited, "virtual approximation of something a child might be doing with an object in their hand. They're figuring out cause and effect or sequencing or ordering."

"There might be a real educational use for those items on these screens," she says. "We just don't have any data to say one way or the other."

And if the same impulse that keeps so many of us bound to our digital devices also makes parents more likely to play an app with a child, so much the better, says Brown. "It might teach the parent and child how to share."

Just don't use that as an excuse to sneak in some rounds of Angry Birds under the guise of family bonding. The bottom line, says Brown, is that parents need to engage actively with their child — not with their devices. "When you are with your child," she says, "be there with them."

Career Advisor

Health Management

Read More

Dell, the shift in the focus of work-and play tablets, smartphones

After "moderate success" selling smartphones and achieving tablets for consumers, Dell the focus is shifted devices that work and play, straddle CEO said the company this week.

Future tablets and Smartphones from Dell will be oriented to an audience, the it for both for business travellers as well as for personal use, will, said Steve Lalla, Dell's Vice President and general manager of mobility products and solutions at the Dell World Conference in Austin, Texas.

"We have playing go the first few years after a pure consumers." "We had moderate success, but we really wanted to align our strategy, our core-business solutions," said Lalla.

Dell Publishing this year a new smartphone or tablet, and more devices next year Lalla said to offer information.

Dell's consumer business has a back seat in recent years as the company builds to make a product portfolio, acquired more success in data centers. Dell has released streak tablets with different screen sizes, the Google's Android OS running and use place smartphones, the Android and Microsoft's Windows phone 7 operating systems.

In August set Dell streak 5 poor customer service, and the other products fared not much better. It builds alliances with wireless carriers and other partners, to its future devices successfully.

"I think it is on this path of this kind of a stand-alone [device], let it started us, we get a feel for that important, and now we are there to the next level, the" Lalla said.

Some of the features integrated in its future mobile devices will probably access to enterprise cloud applications, easy management and improve safety.

Lalla rejected rumors that Dell support for Windows phone 7 had set. Earlier this month, created rumors that Dell would not back Windows phone 7 for future smartphones, Lalla, said the company maintains an open approach with operating systems and builds phones depending on the needs of consumers.

Dell executives also said that the company plans to release new devices on Google Android and Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating systems based. Android successfully are a lot of excitement about Windows 8, according to Steve Felice, President of the consumer, on smartphones but less on tablets, and small and medium enterprises in Dell, during a question and answer session with press and analysts.

Home, Architecture and Furniture

Travel Info

Read More

TECHNOLOGY, Nokia Readies Linux OS for Low-end Smartphones

Nokia has underlined the importance of low-cost smartphones and now it appears that the company is developing a Linux-based OS for smartphones that will cost less than US$100 without subsidies.
The new OS is code-named "Meltemi," and the project is being led by Mary McDowell, Nokia's executive vice president in charge of mobile phones, according to sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The company has been hinting at plans for a reboot of its low-end smartphone portfolio. At its Connection event in Singapore Nokia said that Qt -- a Linux-compatible cross-platform application and user interface framework -- would be a good fit for lower-end devices, and before that McDowell said that Nokia needs to find a replacement for Series 40, according to Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.
"So if you put the two together, we can see where this would fit in," said Milanesi.
Series 40 is the OS Nokia today uses on its feature phones, a product segment that is going away as users want smartphones. Nokia dabbled with a Linux phone two years ago, introducing the N900 running Linux.
On the record, Nokia is keeping mum about its plans.
"Of course, we don't comment on future products or technologies. However, I can say that our Mobile Phones team has a number of exciting projects in the works that will help connect the next billion consumers to the Internet," a spokesman said via email.
Nokia choosing Windows Phone over Android has put the company in a tight spot when it comes to low-end smartphones. There is no question that Android is pushing the price of smartphones to levels that are considerably lower than that of smartphones based on Windows Phone in the near-term, which means that Nokia has a gap in its portfolio, according to Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.
"That means Nokia either needs to scale up Series 40 and make it a more robust competitor with a smart-like experience or look at alternative options, and [Meltemi] could be one of the other options," said Wood.
Nokia can't afford to bet its entire future on Windows Phone and if it wants to remain the volume leader it needs to step up its efforts in the low-end smartphone segment, he said.
The low-end smartphone market is increasingly important and will become the largest smartphone market segment, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC. Sales of less expensive smartphones are already growing faster that high-end models in Western Europe and the availability of low-end smartphones will be crucial to increase sales in emerging markets, he said.
The opportunity is so big that no one can afford to ignore it, not even Apple, Jeronimo said, adding that he won't be surprised if the company releases a cheaper version of the iPhone next week.
For Nokia, a logical venue for the public launch of Meltemi would be at Nokia World in London at the end of October. The drawback is that Meltemi risks being drowned by the expected launch of Nokia's first Windows Phone, according to Wood.

Read More

TECHNOLOGY, Tablets, Smartphones to Get Speed Boost With New Memory

A new form of mobile DDR3 memory that can speed up tablets, smartphones and laptops could appear in devices starting as early as late next year, with adoption ramping up in 2013, analysts said on Thursday.
Low-power DDR3 memory -- also called LPDDR3 -- will bring a bigger data transfer pipe to tablets and smartphones, which could translate into better performance and longer battery life, analysts said. Standards-setting organization JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) is defining the specifications for LPDDR3, which draws heavily from conventional DDR3 DRAM found in PCs today.
The mobile memory will replace LPDDR2, which is found in current smartphones and tablets like Apple's iPad. Memory maker Samsung Electronics this week said it had developed a 4GB LPDDR3 DRAM unit, which it called the industry's first. The mobile memory can transfer data at up to 1,600 megabits per second, which is 1.5 times faster than LPDDR2, while consuming 20 percent less power.
Tablets and smartphones will need to switch to a faster form of memory as devices and applications become more resource intensive, said Mike Howard, principal analyst for DRAM and memory at IHS iSuppli.
"As far as viewing and recording high-definition content, it's going to be a better experience with LPDDR3 because of the bandwidth available," Howard said.
Mobile memory is key in bringing more multitasking to devices, Howard said. As hardware advances to include faster processors and higher resolution screens, LPDDR3 will keep the ball rolling on switching between videos, phone calls and other applications, Howard said.
In addition to better performance, LPDDR3 memory is designed to consume less power than its predecessor, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. A combination of low-power consumption and more bandwidth could prolong battery life on tablets and smartphones, McCarron said.
"It is allowing lower power consumption that has an immediate benefit everywhere," McCarron said.
The memory type will initially be found in tablets and high-end smartphones, where performance matters more, McCarron said. But as is the case with most new technologies, LPDDR3 initially won't be cheap, but as production ramps, LPDDR2 will be phased out and its successor will appear in more devices. As adoption increases, prices will fall and that will be reflected in the prices of smartphones and tablets.
"Eventually all these technologies become a commodity," McCarron said.
Intel has also been pushing the use of low-power memory in ultrabooks, which is being promoted by the chip maker as a category of thin-and-light laptops with tablet-like features. Analysts said that there are still a lot of unknowns about components that may be used in ultrabooks, but LPDDR3 may be in those PCs in coming years. LPDDR3 offers close to a 15 percent power reduction compared to standard DDR3, according to JEDEC.
JEDEC is still developing LPDDR3 specifications, but that could be finalized soon, Howard said. Backing of the mobile memory could ramp once the specification is finalized. The world's top DRAM makers include Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor, Elpida Memory, Micron and Nanya, all of which are members of JEDEC.
JEDEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on when it would finalize LPDDR3, but analysts estimated that it could be finalized by the end of the year.
In prior renditions of synchronous DRAM such as SDRAM, DDR and DDR2, JEDEC pushed hard on speed without worrying too much about power, said Jim Handy, director of Objective Analysis. With DDR3 and LPDDR3, JEDEC worked to bring the power specifications back down while continuing to increase speed.
But adoption typically depends on other parts of the system, Handy said. For cell phones it's less sudden than it is in PCs, where a single supplier dictates which interface the chipsets are going to support. But the power advantage is a sufficiently compelling reason for device makers to quickly switch over to LPDDR3.
"I would anticipate a quick conversion of cell phones to LPDDR3. In tablets, so far Apple is the only supplier of any significance, so adoption depends solely on their moves," Handy said.
It's hard to predict when Samsung will ramp up production of LPDDR3, Handy said.
"Samsung has announced products lately that don't show up in production systems for over a year," Handy said.

Read More