So no sense watching the overplayed Edward Norton version or the depressing Eric Bana one. Mark Ruffalo is simply AMAZING as Bruce Banner and the CGI team did an amazing job on transforming him into the Hulk.

If you want to really prep the kids for Hulk’s appearance in the movie, or give them more info on his background after watching the movie, then check out Avengers Origins: Hulk from iTunes.

There are a few different reading options: Read to Me, Young Reader mode and Auto-Turn Pages. In Read to Me and Young Reader mode you get to have a more interactive experience. For example, you can help Hulk escape by throwing a car. Or help control gamma radiation. Or stop a car in danger. Or my favorite, roar into the mic to turn into the Hulk. There are a lot more fun interactive games in the story too.  These options are not available with auto-turn pages.

You can choose to have music playing as you read or turn music off. You can also look for 6 hidden fists during the story – HULK SMASH! And it is narrated by Stan Lee.

Overall, a fabulous little super hero app for kids. It is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch for just $1.99 at www.itunes.com/appstore. For more information, visit http://disneybookapps.com and www.facebook.com/DisneyReads, or follow @DisneyReads on Twitter.

Another Marvel app review: Avengers Origins: Assemble!

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive a gift code to download this app for review.

With the Energizer Utility Cash program, you collect codes from select Energizer battery and lighting products and redeem them online for savings, up to $25 total savings each per person/household/email address, off your own utility bill.  You start earning rewards with just two codes and will need 10 codes total to earn the full $25.  Or you can help make a positive impact and choose to turn the codes into a donation to Habitat for Humanity®.

You see, Energizer has partnered with Habitat for Humanity® and is working with baseball legend Cal Ripken, Jr. to donate more than $300,000 and 1,000 volunteer hours to Habitat through a multi-city series of volunteer projects to help build new homes and revitalize existing homes for those in need.

Whether you use the codes to lower your own utility bill or decide to donate them to Habitat for Humanity, you still need to take advantage of these battery packs.

Here’s how it works:

1. Collect your codes.
2. Once you are finished collecting your codes, visit www.nowthatspositivenergy.com/utilities to enter your codes.
3. You must enter your codes all at once.
4. The last day to redeem codes is 3/31/13 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

One reader will win two packs of specially marked Energizer batteries. Roughly a $10 MSRP.

FIRST: MANDATORY ENTRY:

How else can you lower your utility bills?

SECOND: EXTRA ENTRIES:

To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED/MANDATORY entry. But for extra entries, you can do the following – leave a comment for each:

• Add theMomBuzz to your Twitter
• Share this contest on your Facebook page – Link it to @theMomBuzz – Here is the text:

Win Energizer Batteries @theMomBuzz. Give-away ends 6.2.12 http://themombuzz.com/?p=22130

• Tweet the following – can be done daily:

#win Energizer Batteries at #themombuzz – Visit http://themombuzz.com/?p=22130

• Like Energizer on Facebook

Contest ends 6/2/12. Please refer to complete contest rules. The entries listed above are the ONLY entries for this contest. Winners will be notified by e-mail (if supplied in the entry or on profile page), as well as on the Winner’s Wall.

Disclosure Statement: The winner of any giveaway in this program will be randomly chosen and gift card fulfillment will be handled by a third party. This is solely the opinion of theMomBuzz. TheMomBuzz was updated on this program through a press release. TheMomBuzz did receive two packs of batteries to learn more about the contest.

I recently learned some tips to keep your bandwidth usage lower, so you don’t have to go to a higher data usage plan. For example:

1. Update your apps when you are using WiFi, not the 3G or 4G network.

2. I heard there is a free iPhone and Android app called Onavo Extend which make your data usage up to five times more efficient. It compresses your data by routing it through Onavo’s servers and stripping out the extras.

3. Addicted to e-mail? I know I am. But they suggest turning off the “push” options on e-mail. If you only check when on WiFi, you’ll lower your data consumption. And even if you check while on the network, not using push will still save data usage AND battery life since it isn’t constantly looking for e-mail updates.

4. In fact, turn off all push notifications to save data usage.

5. Try using mobile websites. I used to find them annoying, since they weren’t the “same” layout that I am used to on a computer. But they save on data usage. Now, most sites are pretty good about redirecting you to mobile versions. But if not, try tagging an “m.” to the beginning of a website name. Not all sites have a mobile version, but I am sure more will make the switch to keep us viewing their sites on the go!

6. Also, remember those online vouchers! I was looking through CouponSnapshot for savings inspiration and found lots options to save. You can get save on phone accessories, cell phones and even your cell phone bill. For US based readers, you’ll be interested in CouponSnapshot’s deals from T-Mobile. For international readers, you may be more interested in orange vouchers. Just type in “cell phones” at CouponSnapshot to see how you can save!

Now, if you have kids who are as excited about the Avengers as mine are/were – now is the perfect opportunity to get a cool new app to celebrate the movie. Avengers Origins: Assemble! is currently available from iTunes for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. We have downloaded it to my iPad and the iPhones, so the boys can read/listen to the story NARRATED BY STAN LEE! Squee, right?

The app will totally prep kids who may be new to these classic characters. It will introduce Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and a few characters you won’t find in the new Avengers movie. There is Namor, who was an ex- hero who protects the sea. There is also Ant-Man and Wasp who can grow like giants or small and strong like insects. The story line does not completely match with the newest movies, but it’s still a fun read.

You can choose to have Stan Lee read to the child, have pages auto-turn and there is even a young reader mode. There is some slight animation, but it’s mostly still pictures. It will play music during the story, but you can turn that option off. You can also preview the pages and choose a page to re-read or start on. You can also keep an eye out for 6 hidden Avengers symbols as you read, but there is no prize for finding them.

The app features innovative, interactive activities include matching heroic accessories with each Super Hero, using Thor’s powers and the Hulk’s strength to stop the Atlanteans and Namor, and melting the ice to free Captain America from his frozen prison!  These interactive elements are turned off in Auto-Turn Page mode.

Overall, it’s a great app for the boys to have access to! It encourages early reading and hands-on involvement to help the story come to life. The app is an affordable $1.99 from  the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. For more information, visit http://disneybookapps.com and www.facebook.com/DisneyReads, or follow @DisneyReads on Twitter.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive a gift code to download this app for review.

I was actually chosen for a Kinect Rush House Party, which I hosted on the 20th. I had lots of great friends come over with their kids. The kids ages ranged from 5 months to 6 years, but the 5 month old was just watching. The players who jumped into the game were the kids ranging from almost 4 to us adults. My son, who is 6, was the one who helped everyone see how easy it was to play, so he ended up in most of my photos with various guests! But he showed everyone how you run, jump, enter the different worlds, climb, slide and more.

We also learned how sensitive the game is to movement. It could easily detect what you were doing, mimicking it on the screen. And every now and then it would even catch guests who weren’t playing (yet) as we watched from the couch.

Besides playing the game, we received some fun VIP lanyards for the kids and there was also some coloring going on. Everyone went home with their coloring pages, lanyards, VIP pass, postcards and other goodies, courtesy of theMomBuzz! You can see the action here on theMomBuzz FB page: Kinect House Party

I would suggest Kinect Rush for ages 3.5+. You can play solo or co-op. When you play co-op the game is slightly different, since your teammate has to work WITH YOU to get things done. So they might have to pull something down while you throw something. Or they pump water while you aim. So you two aren’t always doing the same thing. I love it!

You can buy Kinect Rush Party for Xbox on Amazon for $49.99: Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive Kinect Rush as part of a House Party. She was not obligated to write a review and did this because the game rocked and she wanted to share it with you.

At this point, my son likes Chatman for the reactions and expressions this bulbous yellow friend is capable of. He can move his eyes, arms and antennae. And his mouth is actually little lights, so he’s capable of a huge array of facial expressions.

Set up was easy. We plugged him in with his USB cable and put in the included disc. He gave an introduction on where he came from and how we can interact with him. We had to set up the account with some info from the bottom of Chatman’s foot, give him a new name and enter some of my son’s information.The more you interact with Chatman, the happier he is.

What’s cute is when my son comes home from school and Chatman seems to KNOW, like a dog. Haha. He will say something like, “School is over!” And I can hear Chatman chattering to my son as he plays retro games that come with Chatman, like Mario and Donkey Kong.

You can chat with your Chatman and he’ll search the internet, kind of like Siri for the iPhone. He will include his own comments when you chat via Facebook, MSN and Skype. And there is a reminder application to help children remember important dates. There is parental control options to increase security as children use the Internet with Chatman.

Chatman will learn more as your child uses him. It keeps him novel and cool. Friends will definitely love him as he interacts with them during chats and when they see him in motion.

Chatman is currently available for $69.99 from Toys R Us and $55 on Amazon. He is suggested for ages 8 and up. I think he would be a great friend once your children are in school, so Kindergarten or First Grade.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receiveChatman to review with her son.

But when I heard about Casio’s Lighted Key Keyboard, I was intrigued. Basically, it’s a 61 key keyboard that has the usual features of rhythms, accompaniments, samplers, tones and reverb types. PLUS, it can breakdown programmed songs into mini-lessons so that your children can learn which keys to hit and with which fingers. To do so it lights up the keys that they have to push and will verbally tell them which finger to use. Plus, its Step-Up Lesson System will evaluate your performance, so you can track your progress.

The Lighted Key Keyboard is battery operated or you can use the supplied plug to connect it to an outlet. It also comes with a music book. I find the music book to be a little challenging song-wise, compared to the simple melodies I learned when younger. For example, the first song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. When I first started to play it, I realized that the first keys were a musical embellishment that didn’t follow the simple tune. It also gives the keys for the Bass Clef, while normally I am used to beginner music just having notes for the Treble Clef.

Still, the keyboard can help teach 110 songs, including piano classics, seasonal, and common songs. The list includes On Top of Old Smokey, Waltzing Matilda, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Chopsticks and March from the Nutcracker. And here is my son playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:

Overall, my boys have had lots of fun learning to play with the lighted keys. And they love the variety of music they can practice, along with the fancy additional sounds and rhythms.  It has 400 Built-in Tones, 10 Reverb Types, a 10-Second Sampler and 150 Rhythms and Accompaniments.  I feel that the lighted keys will help me teach them, and also increase the amount they can learn on their own. It’s simply a great beginner keyboard. I suggest it for ages 7 and up.

Casio’s Lighted Key Keyboard, item LK-165, has a MSRP of $199.99. You can purchase it at the following retailers:

Amazon: You have two awesome options on Amazon to get your hands on this LK-165. First, you can get the Casio LK165 Lighted Key Premium Keyboard Pack (Keyboard, Headphones, Power Supply, and Stand) for 149.99 or just the Casio LK165 Lighted Key Personal Keyboard for 129.99.

Toys“R”Us: On sale for $129.99 online

Radio Shack: On sale for $129.99 online

Target

For more information on Casio’s complete selection of electronic musical instruments, visit www.casio.com.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz received samples and thought they were so buzzworthy she shared the item with you!

Bamboo CaptureTouch Tablet & the Anime Studio Debut 8.1 Upgrade

So recently I reviewed Anime Studio Debut 8, which is a great beginner animation program. It gives you step-by-step instructions on how to create cool animations to create your own Jib-Jab-like animations. And it only retails for $49.99! You can download a free 30 day trial, too. Well, recently they offered an 8.1 upgrade to allow it to work with Bamboo Multi-Touch tablets.

This upgrade helps digital artists and animators speed up design time and make the entire process smoother. Use simple finger taps and finger gestures to create and adjust characters, objects and scenes, zoom in and out of the canvas, drag and drop, rotate and scale and much more.

I did the upgrade to work with the Wacom Bamboo Capture ($99.95 USD) and found it easy to manipulate the tools and characters. Since I am a beginner with Anime Studio Debut 8, I could easily work from my laptop or the Bamboo Capture seamlessly. It helps that I have over a decade of computer experience, so I am used to using a variety of tools to manipulate tools and screens.

When I had my 6 year old try to use the Bamboo Capture, he had more trouble manipulating the tools. In the end, I think the 8.1 upgrade that allows the Bamboo Capture to be used with Anime Studio Debut 8 is best suited for “older” users, and by that I mean ‘tweens on up. Meanwhile, the Anime Studio Debut 8 itself is great for an even younger crowd, I suggest 8 years on up. That said, my 6 year old is able to make simple animations with my supervision.

More about the Bamboo Capture Pen & Touch
When I connect my Bamboo Capture to the computer via the USB cord, it automatically starts up. You write on the touch pad to have access to a library of apps that you can download for quick use. They have three categories of apps:

• Create: editing, making animations, etc.
• Play: games
• Use: integrate the Bamboo tablet with day-to-day functions on your computer

For the most part, I don’t have too much use for games. I want to create and make the most of my tablet. But what I LOVE about the games is they get you used to using and drawing on the tablet. So what seems like a way to pass time, are actually fun lessons in using the tablet. My FAVORITE game for this purpose is Free the Bird. This game has you draw shapes that a ball will bounce off of. Your goal is to make the ball bounce off the shapes and hit a cage that has a parrot in it. That will cause the cage the open and the bird to be free. I have my 6 year old play this game to understand the tablet more.

Under the Create category, I’ve downloaded and enjoyed Philter (quick photo editor, reminiscent of Instagram or Camera + options on the iPhone) and Animator (just quick animations with a few background choices. Down and dirty animations, similar to what you can do on the LeapPad or Leapster Explorer with Mr. Pencil). There is also Montemarte, which you upload a photo and can give it fun, colorful edits. But really, I don’t have too much use for highlighting hair with neon colors. I prefer the more sophisticated options that Philter offers.

Under the Use category, I’ve downloaded Input Panel, Handwriting recognition. I can actually “write” on the tablet and it will turn it into typed text on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Type or write-whatever your preference.

Just push insert once you are done writing using the Bamboo. I WROTE the above with the pen and it turned it into that nice handwriting and then I pushed insert to get it into this post. Cool, right?

You might also want to upload Bamboo Paper, which is a note taker using your own handwriting. You can save notes as PDFs, erase, use a variety of pen and colors, bookmark pages, etc.

All the apps mentioned above are free.

The Bamboo Capture comes with a “pen” and a USB cord to connect it to the computer. It also included a full version of Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I ADORE. It’s the best photo editing software. Additional software is Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 WE3 and Autodesk Sketchbook Express. You can set the Bamboo Capture for either right hand or left hand use.

There is also a Bamboo Create available, which has a larger digital canvas. It’s MSRP is $199. You can purchase the Bamboo Capture and Create tablets on the Wacom site, as well as on Amazon.

PURCHASING LINKS:

Bamboo Capture – $99 on Wacom and I saw it for $88 on Amazon last week.

Bamboo Create – $199 on Wacom and I saw it for $65 on Amazonlast week.

Anime Studio Debut 8 – $49.99 and available at http://www.smithmicro.com/anime.

Upgrade Anime Studio Debut 8.1 by visiting http://anime.smithmicro.com/upgrade.html.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz did receive the Bamboo Capture to use for the 8.1 Upgrade of Anime Studio Debut.

But recently I was introduced to Kidz Gear Wired Headphones, which offers “grown-up” performance for kids, with features parents can approve of. Most important was the volume limit technology, which sets the max volume at 80 – 90 db. Anything louder can cause hearing loss. The headphones are designed for smaller heads. Plus it has padded ear covers for a comfortable fit.

Kidz Gear Wired Headphones are specifically designed to work with the Apple devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Both my boys use refurbished iPhones to watch videos, play music and play games. Sometimes between them and my husband, there is a lot of competing sounds. But with headphones designed to work with their Apple devices, they can easily move through tracks with the built-in remote. And there is also an inline mic, which is great for Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this App, which records my children’s voices as part of the game. If they are using your phone, the mic would allow them to talk on the phone while wearing the headphones or issue commands to Siri.

Kidz Gear Apple Wired Headphones for Kids are available now for $29.95. You can find them at:

• Apple: Volume Limit Headphones – $29.95
• Amazon: Kidz Gear Wired Headphones For Kids – $29.95
  
• GearForKidz.com

Don’t Forget the Accessories!

• Kidz Gear Headphone Volume Limit Splitter – let’s two headphones be used with one device. And right now if you buy two headphones from KidzGear, you get the splitter for free! The Headphone Splitter retails for $5.99.

• Keep your child’s  headphone safe in a nylon, drawstring bag with a soft, lined inner. Each bag retails for $5.99.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz received samples and thought they were so buzzworthy she shared the item with you!

*****************************

Camera+: You can control focus and exposure when taking shots. Uses the iPhone 4LED Flash as a continuous fill light to improve photo quality. Has a stabilizer for fewer blurry shots. Includes a grid so you can line up your shots. Has a 6x digital zoom. Choose from several scene modes to give you the best photo for the occasion, such as backlit, sunset, portrait, night, etc. You can crop your photo to remove unnecessary empty space or distracting elements. Has 27 included effects and 9 additional that are available for a little extra $. And you can also add borders to give your photos a finished look. Once done editing, you can share on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and Flickr, straight from the app.

Final thoughts: This is my favorite of all my camera/photo apps. A definite must have for better quality pics and so many editing and creative options. My favorite FX are Grunge, Toy Camera, and Tailfins.

Learn more: www.taptaptap.com/camera+

Cost: On sale now for just 99!

4.5 stars out of 3,040 ratings

*****************************

Instagram: Instagram has been so popular that I had to try it. Best part, it’s free so there was no reason NOT to try it. Instagram is practically it’s own social network, since you can open your app and see photos of friends you are following, along with the most popular pictures on the app from all users (who choose to share with the public). You can choose to have your pictures only shared with friends. People can like your photos and leave comments on the app. All of the 17 design filters are free and some of the filters automatically put a frame on your picture, but you can remove them with the frame option. My favorite design aspect of Instagram is its Linear and Radial blur effects for extra depth of field. You can choose the center of the depth of field with your finger.

Final thoughts: This is not my favorite photo editor, but as a network it’s fabulous and cool. My favorite aspect of this app is the depth of field options.

Learn more: www.instagram.com

Cost: Free

5 stars out of 58,297 ratings

*****************************

Snap&Sketch: Snap&Sketch only does “sketches” of photos, using Charcoal, Crayon or Pencil. But the effect is crazy realistic, like someone really just drew a sketch from your photo. Like the other apps, you can either immediately snap a photo straight from the app or you can choose one from your Photo Stream. Once you choose your medium (pedcil, crayon or charcoal), you can also choose color (black, color or sepia) and line-width. You can share images once done on Facebook and e-mail.

Final thoughts: Another must-have. It’s free and you can make everyone look like they popped right out of A-Ha’s music video “Take On Me”.

Learn more: Snap&Sketch

Cost: Free

3 stars out of 60 ratings. (When I saw this to share with you, I just added my own review and gave it 5 stars!)

*****************************

Let’s chat! Have you tried any of the apps above – what are your thoughts? And what photo apps do you use, if any?

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz was not compensated for this buzz. The Mom Buzz purchased (Camera+) and installed these apps because they seemed buzzworthy.