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Great apps to get your kindergartner ready for school

24.05.13

Throughout the course of the story, children follow a band of quirky characters on an adventure to transform numbers into the letters of the alphabet. 99) — The distant worlds of numbers and letters merge into one in this beautifully designed interactive book/game app that pays homage to Fritz Lang’s famed silent film “Metropolis. Kids will join the show’s characters as they go on adventures that have them learning letter sounds, writing letters and forming simple words. ” Here readers are transported to a world where letters do not exist, only numbers. 99) The PBS children’s program “Super Why” is a favorite around our house for the way it turns learning to read into a magical, story-filled adventure.

Source: NBCNews.com

Now Your Phone Can Wait in Line for You

24.05.13

The Pittsburgh-based startup  has developed an app that effectively replaces those pagers with smartphones, and adds a whole lot of intelligence on top of it. Instead of a dedicated system to page people when their table is ready, NoWait has... The host gets your name and phone number, enters the information into NoWait’s app on an iPad (or any iOS device), and then sends a text message with an approximate wait time. In return, the restaurant now has a directory of phone numbers and names to which they can send special offers, such as “show this message to your server for half off our nachos. While it would be sad to see the expert host and hostess get completely replaced by an app, when everything else in our lives is communicated through our phones, adding notification about when your table is ready seems as inevitable as a saying... The system also records average wait times, and the number of customers that come back to eat versus those that walk out. As long as they see the text message or hear the pre-recorded call, customers can linger at the bar, or leave the restaurant entirely to shop for socks in the mall until it’s their turn to sit down. Competitors to NoWait include NoshList, BuzzTable, and OpenTable, all of which text or call patrons when their table is ready. The NoWait system allows for a conversation — it could be about table selection or unforeseen delays. NoWait plans to compete by offering a completely free service for up to 200 parties per month. Still, the restaurants that have signed up for NoWait, including selected Red Robin and TGI Friday’s and locally owned establishments in 45 states, apparently aren’t concerned about that. Those hockey puck-sized hunks of plastic that light up like you’ve won the lottery when your table is ready at the local Cheesecake Factory. If you’ve dined out in the last decade (all those hipper-than-thou food trucks don’t count) you’re familiar with the restaurant pager. Customers can even send cancellation notices, so the restaurant isn’t left hanging when they decide they want Japanese food after all. Here’s how it works: You walk into a restaurant and ask for a table. You’re then free to go do whatever you want in the time NoWait has granted you. Kids love them, but they don’t do much more than tell you it’s time to leave the waiting area (or bar) and shuffle up to the host stand.

Source: Wired (blog)