Coast 2 Coast Mom

Angry Birds Saturdays - Play and Win a Samsung SMART TV

So playing Angry Birds on our Samsung SMART TV is pretty cool, but what if you don't have one and would like to try it out too? Or better yet, what if you'd like to WIN a Samsung SMART TV by playing Angry Birds? It could happen.

Just tweet a photo of yourself playing Angry Birds on a Samsung Smart TV to @SamsungTV with the hashtags #AngryBirdSaturdays and #AngryBirdSaturday for a chance to win prizes including a Samsung Blu-ray player, Angry Birds plushies, or a grand prize of a new Samsung ES8000 SMART TV. Just be sure that you're following @SamsungTV on Twitter.

If you don't have a Samsung Smart TV, you can play the game on one at these stores nationwide: Best Buy, Sears, Fry's Home Electronics, ABC Warehouse, BJ's Wholesale Club, P.C. Richards and Sons or Electronics Expo (see full list here) and tweet a picture of yourself from there. :-)

Their contest runs for the next four Saturdays, so go check it out.

Good luck!!

Thanks to Samsung Visual Display for sponsoring Coast to Coast Mom this month as part of the #FamiliesInMotion initiative, and providing us with a Samsung SMART TV ES8000 to try out all of the great features like the Angry Birds app.

Samsung SMART TV Angry Birds App Fun

Facebook just recently announced that they reached the one billion user mark last week, but one of the most prolific games ever reached a similar milestone months earlier. Which game?  Angry Birds! Rovio officially announced that Angry Birds reached one billion downloads earlier in September.

Now that's a lot of Angry Birds. It's hard to escape them - not only are they on your smartphone, they are everywhere! (t-shirts, plush toys, even Angry Birds Space fruities). But now you can PLAY Angry Birds in a cool way. Through the built-in camera on top of the Samsung ES8000, the Angry Birds app can now be played on your TV. Like Xbox Kinect technology where you are the controller, Samsung motion control technology allows you to play Angry Birds on your TV from across the room with just your hand.

The controls are pretty simple to use, and fairly easy to control, but you need to make sure to keep your hand up continuously so the ES8000 recognizes that you're still there. We found that if we got lazy and our hand was tilted down or to the right or left, that the motion sensor would lose the connection.

Here's a look at the Kiddo playing one of the levels, you'll note how he make a fist to grab the angry bird and then move it around to adjust the trajectory of the bird. In very little time he got pretty good at clearing levels!

Angry Birds tends to be a solitary game to kill time, but playing it on your TV makes it a spectator sport that you can play with the entire family. We actually had a family Angry Birds playdate after flag football last Saturday while it rained. (Which explains why the video is a little dark - we'll have to record ourselves when the sun's out this weekend! :-) )

If you don't already have a Samsung SMART TV, you can try out the app and play to win your own Samsung SMART TV as part of their Angry Birds Saturdays contest at retailers now.

Thanks to Samsung Visual Display for sponsoring Coast to Coast Mom this month, and for providing us with the ES8000 to try out all of the great features as part of the #FamiliesinMotion program

Sony Tablet P Available This Weekend Through AT&T

The Sony Tablet P arrives through AT&T on March 4th. The next generation of the Sony Tablet S (which we enjoy using!), the Tablet P offers two screen separate touchscreens that can be used in tandem as one large extension of each other. Or you can use the two screens distinct from one each other, perhaps reading an email on the top screen, and using the bottom screen as a keyboard. Take a look at the world's first foldable dual touchscreen tablet:

The dual screen design gives people some flexibility and addresses the issue of one large single screen for gamers or people who prefer a keyboard experience. It's light (weighs less than a pound) and folds up like the Nintendo DS, making it easy to slip into a handbag or backpack.

It runs on the Android 3.2 platform (I'm still lukewarm on Android), but I love that it includes the Sony Entertainment Network with Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited and PlayStation-certified games.

The Tablet P has two cameras: one front-facing, one rear-facing, 4GB of storage, and 4G LTE speed. I've held it and played with it at CES, but I haven't really explored the apps that are launching with it, which claim to optimize the experience for two screens. Of course, I really liked playing games on it for the few minutes I held it! :-)

The Sony Tablet P will retail for $400 with a two-year AT&T service agreement and be available at AT&T stores, or online at www.att.com

 

Double Fine Happy Action Theater Launches in Xbox LIVE Arcade

Double Fine Happy Action Theater just launched in Xbox LIVE Arcade and is great for playdates or families with multiple kids because everyone can interact with the video game download on their own simultaneously. So you can totally avoid getting annoyed by the sibling or friend who runs in front of the Kinect sensor while others are playing mid-game ;-) Double Fine Happy Action Theater is a fun interactive experience with no instructions or required gestures, and no way to "win" or "lose" the game, making it great for preschoolers and up.

The game includes 18 different environments where up to six people can immerse themselves in some ridiculous scenes. The Kinect sensor captures you and your surroundings to actually put you "in" the scenes of the game for augmented reality interaction. For instance, there's a scene where pigeons are flying about, and they land on your arms, your head, and any furniture behind you. In another, you're standing knee deep, splashing in a living room full of lava or throwing snowballs.

7 Favorite Transformers Toys and Gifts for the Holidays

Last winter during NY Toy Fair, I had the pleasure of visiting the Hasbro showroom for a peek at the toys coming over the course of the year :-D There was a lot going on for our family that weekend in the city, so we drove in, and as @c2cdad and the Kiddo dropped me off, they shouted out in simultaneous excitement, "That's Optimus Prime! Optimus Prime's here!!" It was exciting and hilarious both at once - the real, full-size Optimus Prime from Transformers Dark of the Moon on the streets of NYC.

But of course, here was Optimus inside the showroom...

Disney Universe Brings Disney and Disney Pixar Worlds to Life

Today, Disney launches Disney Universe, a fun and darkly whimsical new game for tweens and families from Disney Interactive Studios that takes 45 Disney and Disney Pixar movie characters set in your choice of six Disney or Disney Pixar movie sets - all in one place for the first time ever.

As the story opens, the Universe is a peaceful place where VIC, the Virtual Information Cube is your tour guide, and characters called Cast bots are designed to take you on a "journey of your dreams" through beloved Disney environments that you know from the movies. As you're being assured that things are "completely safe" VIC is taken over in a Mr. Hyde kind of a way by a villainous cube named HEX, who proclaims himself the new master of Disney Universe. As he says, he's ready to "rock, roll and reboot."

K'NEX Mario Kart Wii Building Set Launch

Earlier this week the Kiddo and I visited the Nintendo World Store in NYC for the launch of the officially licensed K'NEX building sets inspired by the Mario Kart Wii game. The new building sets bring the famed Nintendo video game characters, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi to the hands-on construction set world. The Kiddo had a blast playing Mario Kart Wii, building with the new K'NEX pieces and getting to meet Mario and Luigi!

Here's a sample of the new building set tracks:

 

A look at the character figurines and their battery-operated carts (motorcycle bikes are available too)...

 

The K'NEX Mario Kart Wii Building Sets are designed for kids 6+ and are the same quality you'd expect from K'NEX. We received the Mario vs. Goombas Building Set to review and the Kiddo studied the box nearly the whole train ride home so that he was ready to dig in and start building the set the second we walked in the door.

PBS KIDS Toy Line and PBS KIDS Online Shop Launch Today

PBS is launching a PBS KIDS toy line and online PBSKIDSshop.com today and I couldn't be more excited! In an effort to reinforce learning through yet another avenue, PBS is introducing toys to extend preschool learning beyond TV, online and mobile - and into the creative hands, hearts and heads of kids anywhere.

 
The new PBS Kids toy line includes 20 wooden play sets:

• PBS KIDS Sounds of the World Rhythm Set, one of several musical toys designed to foster hand-eye coordination and children’s exploration of sound.
• PBS KIDS Puzzle Playsets, themed playsets that promote imaginative play and encourages children to explore new words. The playsets willbe offered in safari, beach and playground themes.
• Building and construction toys, like my FAVORITE above -  the PBS KIDS Exploration Blocks City.
• PBS KIDS 3-Layer Puzzles (in Barn, Camping and other themes) to promote problem-solving, letter recognition, number matching and other developing skills.

Playing Golf on the iPad with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12

The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass just wrapped up this weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, and we found ourselves playing along with Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 for the iPad. This full featured game for the iPad, iPhone or iTouch allows you to play TPC Sawgrass like K.J. Choi this weekend, and it comes with four modes for some variety and flexibility in how you want to play your round of golf.

An Easter Gift For the Whole Family: Win an Xbox 360 with Kinect and Kinectimals

Easter season, Passover celebrations and spring bring to mind the sound of birds chirping and evoke images of flowers, green grass and adorable baby animals ... like the delightful Kinectimals baby animals! The Kinectimals video game for the Xbox 360 with Kinect, allows your whole family - even preschoolers - to play and interact with over 20 virtual baby wild animals like the white tigers, African lions, Iberian lynx and the Kiddo's fave, the Bornean clouded leopard.

Here's five of my favorite things about Kinectimals for Xbox 360 with Kinect:

1. It's a video game that requires physical activity. The game involves teaching, training and caring for the wild animals, as they interact and mimic the player's movements. It makes me smile watching my son grinning as he spins around, jumps or plays "dead" while playing the sensor-based video game.  
2. It's easy enough for a preschooler to play. The directions and clues in the game are easy to follow and require basic body movements or talking. Which means that he can play it on his own without having to call to me to help him with something every 10 minutes. Instead of popping in a movie or pulling something up on Tivo to occupy the Kiddo while I'm on deadline, I've been putting in Kinectimals and he gets more engaging, active time than passively sitting on the sofa waiting for me to be done with my conference call or assignment.
3. It connects the physical and interactive video worlds. The Kinectimals video game brings the physical plush Kinectimals to life on the TV. I love that the Kiddo can spend a half hour playing with the stuffed animals, and connect with them virtually in the game by simply scanning the QR code on the animals' scan tags (via Microsoft Tag technology) so he can "unlock" these new characters to play with in the video game. This enhances it from an isolated and detached video game experience into something playful and brings the idea of interacting and caring for a virtual animal home for kids' imaginations.
4. The graphics are awesome. The graphics are easy on the eyes and kid-friendly. You can see the furriness of the animals, even the slobber from their kisses.
5. The playfulness and cute factor. Kinectimals is seemingly geared toward kids - I'd say the sweet spot is between four and 10 year olds, but tweens, parents and grandparents will have smiles on their faces watching the younger kids play, or even interacting with the adorable animals themselves!

So maybe instead of searching for several small items for each member of your family's Easter baskets, you'll consider a gift the whole family can enjoy. Imagine your family's surprise when sitting next to your festive Easter baskets filled with jelly beans, candy rabbits and chocolate eggs ... they find a family Easter gift of:

• 1 Xbox 360 4GB
• 1 Kinect sensor with Kinect Adventures game
• 1 Kinectimals game
• 2 plush Kinectimal animals

Enter to win the Xbox 360 with Kinect and Kinectimals video game Easter basket or Passover Celebration giveaway! Simply leave a comment below to enter by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 18th when the contest will end. I will use Random.org to choose a winner and will email the winner Tuesday April 19th morning by 9 a.m. ET. The winner must email me his/her mailing address in order to receive the giveaway prize by Easter. The prize will ship directly from Microsoft.

Good luck!