Russell Brand and Katy Perry get engaged

Controversial comedian Russell Brand and singer Katy Perry have announced their engagement while on holiday in India on New Year’s Eve.

According to The Sun newspaper, their relationship was blessed by a “love guru”. The couple have since been celebrating in Thailand.

Perry, 25, said of their relationship, “The wonderful thing is we both have our own kind of separate talents, careers and lives and we really respect each other”.

Twelve toys of Christmas: under £50 toys a hit this year

Last month’s industry research found that British kids are hankering for sub-£50 toys and games this Christmas.

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped parents.

A few old favourites get makeovers, including LEGO, Monopoly and Transformers.

The Toy Retailers Association found that the average price of a toy on the top dozen list was around £26. That’s £6 less than two years ago.

“With licensed toys combining the fun and familiarity of popular characters as well as collectable, pocket money priced toys making a big comeback this year, we are in for an affordable, family orientated Christmas,” said the association’s chairman Gary Grant.

“The list also reveals a trend towards nostalgic characters and brands which have been updated with a modern twist. Consumers are reverting back to heritage brands which will last longer than the Christmas season.”

The dozen is:

1. Bakugan Battle Pack
2. Battle Strikers Starter Set
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack
5. Go Go Pets Hamster
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera
8. LEGO Games 3841 Minotaurus
9. Monopoly City
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures

Child-friendly alarm clock plays “What’s the time Mister Wolf”

The “Teach Me Time” talking alarm clock is the perfect invention for young children who are learning to tell the time, as well as their parents who can help to reinforce bedtime and getting-up-time rules.

The clock has both analogue and digital clocks, so a child learns to tell the time in two different ways at the same time.

There’s also a Teach Me Time game which puts a random time on the analogue clock and asks the child to say what time it is.

The alarm clock also features a dual-coloured night-light which glows green when it’s “OK to wake” and glows a soft yellow colour throughout bedtime.

Available in three different colours for £39.99.

Buy the Teach Me Time! Talking Alarm Clock & Nightlight

Gadget Watch: Firefly glowPhone

Here’s a really simple mobile phone designed for younger children. The bright pink (or black) Firefly glowPhone is simple to set up and only has five main buttons, arranged in a butterfly pattern, so is much easier and less fiddly to use for small fingers.

Two of the buttons can be assigned to call mum or dad, while the middle one has arrow keys for moving around options. There’s a 1.5-inch colour screen which can display customised wallpapers, and there are also built-in games and ringtones.

Important features include an emergency button on the side of the phone, and the ability for parents to lock the phone to allow certain calls to be made or received.

The phone works on Pay-As-You-Go, so your child won’t rack up a huge phone bill.

If you think your younger child should own a mobile phone (half of under-10s in the UK do, apparently) then this might be worth considering. It’s likely that older kids and teenagers will want the latest, expensive, “grown-up” mainstream mobile phones.

The handset launch has been delayed but it’s expected to cost around £85 and you’ll find places to buy it at the Firefly Mobile Ireland web site.

(Via Tech Digest)

Gadget Watch: The rise of Blu-ray

This post looks at one of the latest bits of home entertainment kit. You’ve probably started to hear “Blu-ray” mentioned at the end of adverts for films. Read on for an explanation and find out how you can enter the world of high definition.

The rise of high-definition TV formatting and Blu-ray has seen a change in home entertainment and we are now able to create a full cinema experience within the family home, which is a great bonus during the currently economic climate.

What is Blu-ray? Blu-ray is a high-definition disc format and DVD is a standard-definition format. The higher definition means that Blu-ray is a significant improvement over DVD in terms of picture and sound quality, delivering a whole new exciting way to experience movies, games and music. Blu-ray discs play through either a BD player or Playstation III enabling the highest quality viewing experience available to date.

This new technology often sounds intimidating, however it’s surprisingly simple to use! You don’t have to throw out the existing collection of DVDs as they still play on these machines and in fact the Blu-ray player will even enhance the quality of your DVDs. Price has also been a worry in the past but this is a another surprise, with BD players now starting at £80.00 and Blu-ray discs available nationwide.

So, is Blu-ray here to stay? It’s a resounding yes, as 3D TV is still a little way off the HD images that Blu-ray provides are second to none. I recently viewed Disney’s Enchanted on both DVD and Blu-ray, the difference was astounding and I was able to create the cinema experience from my very own living room with a little help from the kids.

The science bit, how does it work?

The Blu-ray Disc offers better video quality and to do this each disc needs to hold more information so it is burnt using a different laser to a DVD. As these discs can hold more content they also have an array of bonus features and many players now offer connection to the Internet. This enables you to download additional content or features about the program or movie you are viewing.

With Blu-ray sales predicted to exceed 15m in 2009 we have been quicker to switch to the format than we were to relinquish the VHS. Recent sales figures from Disney home entertainment show that 1 in 10 sales of Wall-E were purchased on Blu-ray rather than DVD.

It’s actually quite simple:

1. Make sure your TV is HD ready – check to see if there is an HD symbol on your TV as nearly half of all homes in the UK already have an HD TV.

2. Get a Blu-ray player. There are over 67 different players now available, prices starting from £80.00.

3. Connect your Blu-ray player to your HD TV with an HDMI cable – it should be in the box with your Blu-ray player.

4. Blu-ray not only looks better but it sounds better too. Enjoy this enhanced audio quality with a simple surround sound system.

5. Connect to the Internet through your Blu-ray player to download bonus features and games that you and the kids can enjoy (most modern Blu-ray players support this feature – look for ones that say “BD Live”).

For more information on family titles available on Blu-ray visit http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/bluray/

Internet Watch: Such A Smart Mom

A new web site has launched — SuchASmartMom.com — which lets parents pool resources by asking questions of other parents.

Shrinking school budgets, crowded classrooms and fiercer-than-ever competition to get into college make it more important than ever for parents to be involved in their children’s education.

“As a mom, I understand all too well that parents have just 13 precious years to get their kids from kindergarten to college,” said site creator Ruth McKinnie Braun. “Such A Smart Mom will be there every step of the way as a trusted resource.”

Braun started Such A Smart Mom after more than two decades as a reporter and editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune. She’s a mother of two teens and a former parent group president with more than a decade of school volunteer experience.

Her extensive background in journalism shows through in the caliber of her reporting and writing. Her instincts as a mom and parent volunteer guide her story choices and bring a unique voice to her first-person blog that also appears on Such A Smart Mom.

“Our children can’t put their education on hold until the economy turns around,” Braun said. “Their time to learn is now. Fortunately, smart moms and dads can turn to Such A Smart Mom to help their kids get where they need to go.”

Celebrity Watch: Katie and Peter, Jennifer Aniston/Bradley Cooper

Katie and Peter

Rumours surrounding Katie Price and Peter Andre continue regarding what led the couple to split.

One thing seems certain: the newspapers won’t leave this alone, even suggesting that they have an intimate knowledge of the couple’s sex life.

Jennifer Aniston/Bradley Cooper

Reports suggest that Bradley Cooper is very flattered to have been romantically linked to Jennifer Aniston, even though the rumours are completely untrue.

“My mom loves it, but, unfortunately, it’s not true,” Cooper said.

Internet Watch: CBeebies iPlayer, Kidlandia

CBeebies iPlayer

The BBC has expanded the reach of its incredibly popular online TV catchup service, BBC iPlayer, by creating a special version made specially for under-6s.

Though children’s content is readily available on the standard iPlayer, this version is not only more colourful and accessible for younger computer users, but will only show CBeebies content. This makes it much easier for parents to control what their children are viewing, particularly as it’s possible to add parental locks to various programmes.

As per the main iPlayer, most shows are available to watch for a week after broadcast, with series being available to catchup on for up to 13 weeks.

CBBC iPlayer, aimed at 6-12s, launched last year.

Kidlandia

There’s a new online destination where kids and parents can connect in their very own virtual kingdom.

Kidlandia allows every child to be king or queen in their own fantasy kingdom with whimsical characters as companions, from horned Uniquills and scowling Grumps to long-trunked Yuhoos cavorting in Peppermint Meadows.

The child’s unique fantasyland online becomes home decor as a wall art map that displays islands, cities, mountains, and other features named after family and friends. The map is a legacy gift that can be presented as a family heirloom to decorate a child’s room, or ordered as a canvas scroll for sharing on a play date or at family reunions.

Kidlandia is the inspiration of Brian Backus, who started drawing the fascinating, illustrated characters that populate Kidlandia when he was just 4 years old, after being inspired by the stories of family neighbour Dr Seuss.

“Every child is enthusiastic about being the king or queen of their very own kingdom, with places named after a parent, brother, or best friend,” he said. “Kidlandia provides a personalized and safe way for parents and children to spend quality time online together, learning about and recording their own family stories in a kid-friendly way that then becomes a legacy. I wish my grandmother had one!”

UK TV Watch: 8th-14th May 2009

Welcome to the Family Relationships Magazine weekly roundup of family/relationships TV highlights for the coming week.

Please be aware that these are generally programmes about families and relationships, and are not necessarily suitable for all-age/family viewing.

Friday 8th May

Affecting everyone, the Tonight programme shows Credit Secrets Revealed, in which Martin Lewis reveals the secrets of how credit scoring works and explains how to improve the chances of getting the best financial deals.

Wife Swap is at 10pm on E4 – no celebrities this time. A career-oriented wife goes to live with a hunter-gatherer husband.

Sunday 10th May

The Cutting Edge film Madeleine Was Here (10pm, More4) reconstructs the night Madeleine McCann disappeared and the efforts of her parents to create a normal life for their other children.

Monday 11th May

Make My Kids Happy (8pm, ITV1) conducts a social experiment by taking away the material possessions of a group of teenagers for one month to see if breaking their cycle of excessive consumerism makes them happier. Second part airs on Friday at 8pm.

Alernatively, Dispatches: Lost in Care (8pm, Channel 4) reveals the scandal in the British system that condemns vulnerable children to lives of isolation. Thousands are taken into care every year but there’s a wait of two years or more for adoption.

Following this, Find Me a Family (9pm, Channel 4) follows three households as they attempt to find homes for children that no-one has come forward to adopt. Continues tomorrow and Wednesday at 9pm.

Thursday 14th May

Cutting Edge: The Homecoming (9pm, Channel 4) is a film exploring the effects of long-term care on kids and their families. Thirty years after she was placed in a Doncaster children’s home, Rachel Roberts goes in search of the other children who were there with her. Armed with just one old photograph and some distant memories, Rachel discovers some astonishing stories from her former housemates and meets a long-lost member of her family.

Gadget Watch: O2 Joggler

Welcome to Family Relationships Magazine’s weekly roundup of family-friendly gadgets.

Designed to act as the virtual fridge door for busy families, the O2 Joggler is a new device designed to organise family life.

For O2 customers, it works with the interactive online calendar and mobile phones, sends out text messages, provides various information including news, sport, traffic and weather updates, and it can also play and display music, photos and video on its screen.

If someone updates the shared events calendar from their PC, it automatically updates the Joggler too. There’s more information about it at O2Family.O2.co.uk.

It’s coming tomorrow, priced £149.99.

UK TV Watch: 1st-7th May 2009

Welcome to the Family Relationships Magazine weekly roundup of family/relationships TV highlights for the coming week.

Please be aware that these are generally programmes about families and relationships, and are not necessarily suitable for all-age/family viewing.

Friday 1st May

If spying on celebrity couples is your thing, and you’re not sick of them yet, then Katie & Peter: Stateside (ITV2, 10pm) is for you. This week, Katie meets her new horse which has just come out of quarantine after being flown over to America.

Alternatively, there’s sure to be some cringeworthy material in Celebrity Wife Swap (10.05pm, E4) as eighties pop star Sinitta trades places with Sandra, the wife of actor Bruce Jones.

Saturday 2nd May

Take on the Takeaway (11.30am, BBC1) sees Ken Hom trying to convince a busy couple that it is possible to cook quick and healthy food instead of relying on the local Chinese takeaway.

Family quizzes your thing? Try the new series of All Star Mr & Mrs (6.20pm ITV1) which sees Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and his wife Lisa, Brigitte Nielsen and Mattia, and Peter Shilton and Sue battle it out to see who knows the most about their other half.

Tuesday 5th May

The second part of the fourth series of Born to be Different (9pm, Channel 4) follows six disabled children who have features in the series since birth. This time, we see them aged nine. Each child has their own particular battle to fight; some face major operations, some require constant support and medication; and for one it’s a battle just to stay alive.

More celebrity following in Claire Richards: My Big Fat Wedding (9pm, BBC3). The former Steps singer sets out to shed some pounds from her size 20 frame in time for her wedding, a task which sees her face off with the paparazzi.

Wednesday 6th May

The World’s Strictest Parents (8pm, BBC3) continues as teenagers Lizzie Pol and Stefan Alvarez travel to Ghana to live with a middle-class Christian couple who prioritise chores and ban the pair from romantic relationships.

Thursday 7th May

A new four-part documentary series, Keep it in the Family (9pm, BBC2), follows the family of Gary Don, who has dedicated his career to the family auction house and has persuaded his 28-year-old son Jamie to pick up the mantle.

On Channel 4 at 9pm, Madeleine Was Here looks at how parents Kate and Gerry are dealing with the lack of knowledge about their daughter’s whereabouts, two years on from her disappearance.

Real-life wedding preps, under the camera of course, in Don’t Tell the Bride (8pm, BBC3).

Gadget Watch: B(l)aby belt, Memoir digital photo frame

Welcome to Family Relationships Magazine’s weekly roundup of family-friendly gadgets.

B(l)aby belt

Though currently only a prototype, the B(l)aby belt is like a hi-fi system for the womb.

It’s a wide, contoured belt equipped with a touch-sensitive digital music player and three vibration-based speakers that effectively transmit music directly into the womb.

Based on research which suggests that music (particularly classical) may help boost children’s intelligence, Canadian design student Geof Ramsay built the device.

It’s not commercially available yet but Ramsay is looking for developers.

Read more

Memoir digital photo frame

Digital photo frames are pretty popular these days. They allow you to view the photos taken on your digital camera or stored on your PC and have all sorts of fancy features.

However, getting the images on to the frame has potentially been a stumbling block for those not so au fait with technology, particularly if the photos are prints.

Here’s a solution from Skyla. The Memoir FS80 digital photo frame is also a scanner, so you can add those printed pictures that you haven’t got round (or been able) to get onto your computer.

It has a decent eight-inch colour screen and a slot at the bottom for feeding in photographs. It can even be used as the “go-between” for getting photos onto a computer thanks to its standard USB port – the same as you find on most modern PCs and digital cameras.

It costs around £178 and will be available from the end of this month.

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