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Review: Fruity Matching HD makes produce recognition fun again

While not a particularly ambitious app, Fruity Matching HD is well designed, and when combined with the numerous other apps in the suite, featuring the same characters--almost all free--you have a nice mixture of fun experiences for preschool-aged children and toddlers.

When first opened, Fruity Matching HD shows you a mixture of all the different apps that are available from the developer. Each can be downloaded through the App Store to the interface on this screen, allowing you to access them all together. If you choose not to download any other apps just yet, you can start matching fruit. There … Read more

Review: Turn your child into a fruit connoisseur with Baby Learns Fruits HD

Baby Learns Fruits HD is the iPad version of the popular Baby Bus: Baby Learns Fruits app, and it is one of the more engaging offerings from the line. Using the same basic interface and design that has made the Baby Busy line of apps so popular for young children and their parents, Baby Learns Fruits is a great way to engage a young child and help them learn at the same time.

Most Baby Bus apps come with two games, but Baby Learns Fruits HD comes with four, making it even more engaging than others in the series. Games … Read more

Review: Baby Learns ABCs HD teaches letter-learning on the iPad

Fairly simple, highly polished, and heavy on the cuteness factor, Baby Learns ABCs HD is perfect for children ages 1-3. Part of the Baby Bus suite, this app is a must-download for parents.

The app features two simple, interactive games for young children. The first is a driving game in which children must move a car to capture the letters that appear onscreen. The second is a sing-along of the ABCs. Both are very rudimentary, but production values are high, which helps to keep the attention of the child using the app, and the interaction level is perfectly matched to … Read more

Review: Baby Learning Shapes HD teaches basic concepts to small children

Part of the Baby Bus suite of learning tools, Baby Learning Shapes HD focuses on teaching shapes to young children.

In the case of this app, the same basic Baby Bus interface greets you when the app is first started. This is one of the apps' biggest weak points as the screen is cluttered with menus, upgrades, and other apps that the developers entice you to download, not to mention ads that your children will almost certainly find a way to tap. Once you get past the home screen interface, however, the game is well-constructed and enjoyable. The animations are … Read more

How to create an OS X installer from Apple's Internet Recovery

Since its move to online purchasing and distribution of its operating system software, Apple has no longer included gray recovery DVDs with its Mac systems. Instead, if you wish to reinstall OS X you simply reboot to the OS X Recovery HD and use the tools there to format your hard drive (should you choose to), then run the installer to download OS X from Apple's servers.

While convenient for those with fast broadband connections, sometimes you may find yourself in a location without fast Internet and would benefit from having a way to reinstall OS X from scratch. … Read more

Review: Create beats with Ultimate Beat Maker [Dubstep] HD1

The drum pad and beat maker app craze continues with the release of Ultimate Beat Maker [Dubstep] for the iPad. The app, designed with nearly 50 different Dubstep and electronic music beats, allows you to set and combine any of those 48 beats with the tap of a button. While lacking in a number of features that would make this a must-own app, it is still very fun to use.

This is a very basic app, basically providing a map onscreen of 48 Dubstep beats that you can choose from. Tap any of the multicolored blocks and a beat will … Read more

Review: Cut and paste faces into different bodies and poses with Face In Hole for iOS

Whether it was an amusement park or a stand on the boardwalk, you probably remember those cardboard cutouts that you could put your face into to take on the body of someone else. They are often funny or ridiculous and they work well in any setting. So why not create an app that does the same thing with the photos on your phone or iPad? That's the thinking behind Face in Hole HD, and while it works as advertised there are some limitations.

The idea of Face in Hole HD is elementary, and creating the subsequent photos is as … Read more

Review: iOS photo app Heart Booth HD has questionable utility

Heart Booth HD - Free is an odd photo editing app that lets you edit your photos to create a shape, such as a heart, check mark, or X. Confused? Well, so were we after putting this app to the test. Vague directions and features left us scratching our heads.

Heart Booth HD - Free opens with a grid containing a heart. Buttons line the left and right sides of the screen, and a row of menu options line the bottom, as well. A banner ad sits at the top. Just looking at the buttons, we had no idea where … Read more

B&N chops prices on Nook HD and Nook HD+ for one week

This tablet deal may be hard to beat. After adding the Google Play store to its tablets on Friday, Barnes & Noble is now offering major discounts on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ in a one-week-only sale for Mother's Day.

Today through May 12 (yes, that's Mother's Day), the 7-inch Nook HD is available starting at $149 for the entry-level 8GB model (normally $199) and the 9-inch NOOK HD+ starts at a mere $179 for the 16GB model (normally $269). Both products offer expandable memory via a microSD expansion slot.

The reduced prices are available online … Read more