vukee Photo Book App Review

I received a camera for Christmas last year, while I love it, I don’t always bring it with me everywhere. I have my phone with me everywhere I go. I take more photos on my iPhone than with my camera. A camera is just another thing to lug around. You never know when you will have a great photo opp. Some of my favorite photos are ones that just happened. I have a photo of Noah in a tree, he just climbed up in it and looked like the king of the world. He was so proud that he did it all by himself. I would have missed that moment if I would have relied on bringing my camera. I have over 1,000 photos on my iPhone. I have some great shots but I don’t want to keep them on my phone for forever. I learned about an app called vukee. You can make beautiful photo books, postcards and calendars right from the app! You don’t even have to mess with getting online and dealing with your computer.  A photo book from vukee would be a great holiday gift for a loved one. It would be a very sweet way to show your family how your children have grown. You could also make a photo book for your vacation. What would be cooler than sitting at the airport, waiting for your flight home and already have your photo book made? Talk about easy. I am always sitting bored in airports after a fun trip. It only takes two minutes, so you can really make your photo book, calendar or postcards anywhere, even while waiting at the checkout.

You could make a special calendar for grandparents. One of my favorite gifts I received was a photo calendar of Noah. Skip the premade kittens and puppies calendars, make one that means something and isn’t just cute. Every month is a new photo. You can even order postcards. Personalized post cards would be great for holiday cards, birth announcements, Save the date reminders or just because cards. I love that they ship anywhere in the world. My dad lives in England and it would be a great gift for him to send a photo book of Noah. I send him some pictures through email but then he has to print them. I love that vukee takes care of shipping them out. I don’t like going to the post office, and our little post office doesn’t have the same services as the big one. The post office is usually a zoo anyways this time of year.  

I have ordered photo books in the past and it took weeks to be printed and then longer to ship. Did you know that vukee prints within 72 hours? That is really fast and off it goes to you or your loved one.  No more wondering and waiting for your photos to be printed. I love the free ePhotobook you get for every order. You can share it via email, Facebook and Twitter. What an easy way to share your photos with everyone without having to send them all a printed book.  I love looking at my friends photos on Facebook and Twitter.  All of the products are extremely affordable too! Photo books start at $7.99. If you were to order other places they are usually twenty five dollars.  There are over 8 different layouts to create your own custom design, from classic to modern. vukee is also offering users both a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee, and up to 60% discount on their first photo book.

For more information please visit vukee’s website.

You can find the vukee app in iTunes.

It is also available in Google Play.

Be sure to like vukee on Facebook to stay up to date with sales, and other cool information.

iTrace App Updates

A while back, I did an app review of iTrace. If you remember, iTrace is a handwriting app, that helps your child learn to write or help them practice. I am so excited to share with you that iTrace has some cool new features!

 
iTrace — Handwriting for Kids from Michael Bogorad on Vimeo.

They added all three popular handwriting styles. Basically, in most schools teachers are using one of the three styles: Handwriting without Tears, Zaner-Blosser or D'Nealian (the last one is probably less popular than two others). In the original release we used letters similar to Zaner-Blosser. In this release they added all three of them, so the app can be used in almost any US school. I know that iPads are becoming a popular classroom tool for children to use.

 Noah has been asking me how to write in cursive. I honestly have to think about a few of the letters, like Z and Q. iTrace has now added cursive letters. Most US schools don't teach cursive anymore, so parents were asking to add cursive letters to the app. Now with the three styles mentioned and the cursive letters, iTrace now has 300 letters on the app!

iTrace is now available on iPhone. iPhone support was one the most requested features since day one. The reason it wasn’t available for iPhone before was because they thought the screen of an iPhone would be too small to learn handwriting on. The developer redesigned every single screen to make the app really work on the smaller device, and they have been receiving good feedback from our beta-testers.

Now for the coolest and the most unique feature on iTrace is the ability to print paper worksheets. Now I don’t have to spend time looking online for worksheets online that are poor quality or purchase some paper worksheets in the bookstore and spend like ten dollars on one book. Now parents can easily print as many worksheets as they need right from the app. You can choose the letter and the size, and iTrace will generate a worksheet for you. You can either print that worksheet right from the app if you have a device with AirPrint support, or you send a PDF to yourself and print that PDF from your computer.

 I can also make worksheets with words, not only letters. Finally, each worksheet has a maze puzzle at the bottom, so kids can have some fun solving that puzzle after they complete the exercise. The new puzzle is generated each time you open the worksheets page in the app. Noah loves mazes. For those who don't want to spend $3.99 without trying the app, we will also release a free light version very soon. Free version does not allow you to create multiple players, print worksheets, and provides limited access to letters and words. However, it should good enough to feel how cool the app is.


iTrace School Testimonials from Michael Bogorad on Vimeo.

Here are some of the iTrace stats:
The iTrace app has been downloaded over 20K times.

There are several thousands educational downloads, so I guess the app used by at least several dozens of schools.

The apps average rating is 4.5

For more information please visit the iTrace website.

iTrace is available in iTunes for $3.99

 

Hostess Twinkie Minion Makeover Contest

Everyone knows I love treats. It is no big secret. My nickname is Sheilacakes after all. One of the things I love is Twinkies. I remember taking a tour of the Wonder Bread and Hostess factory when I was young. It was one of my top favorite field trips I went on. There is something just extremely delicious about biting in a Twinkie and tasting the delicious cream. My family likes to freeze them and eat them straight from the freezer. I like them either frozen or not frozen. Noah asked me to buy some Twinkies a couple days ago. I thought it was funny because later that day I learned about this awesome contest!  Here are the details:

HOSTESS INVITES FANS TO GIVE TWINKIES A MINION MAKEOVER!

Hostess and Universal Studios Celebrate the Despicable Me 2 release on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD with The Twinkie Minion Makeover Sweepstakes! The Limited Edition Minion Makeover Packaging hits shelves as the holiday season gets underway.

Hostess is inviting fans across the country to kick up their creativity and dress up their favorite golden, crème-filled treats and “Minion-ize” their Twinkies for the chance to win great prizes. Now through January 5, 2014, Hostess lovers can make the season a little brighter by visiting https://www.facebook.com/Hostess and https://www.Facebook.com/Hostess/app_170621563134175 to download a collection of Minion accessories, and make their own Twinkie Minion.  Fans can then upload pictures of their creations to enter to win a daily instant prize, which includes a Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray™ and special offers from Hostess, or the grand prize, which includes a Home Theater System, a collection of 30 Blu-rays and a year’s supply of Hostess treats.

Enter to Win!