Music | Mommies With Style

Get In Touch With Your Music: Logitech Touch

December 18, 2010 By kate Leave a Comment

I gotta agree with Madonna – “Music makes the people come together.” Whether it’s dancing around the living room with my kids, setting the mood for a party with holiday songs or making the cleaning go faster with some tunes, I love to have music on in the house. And one of my favorite companies that helps me get my home full of song is Logitech. Logitech makes all kinds of “personal peripherals” as they call them to help people get more enjoyment out of the digital world. From wireless mice and speakers to webcams and gaming accessories, Logitech has products that let you get the most out of your digital devices.

My favorite picks from Logitech are their Wi-Fi music players which include the Squeezebox Radio, Duet, Boom and the newest addition, the Squeezebox Touch. The Squeezebox Touch is a music portal that allows you to wirelessly stream your personal digital music library, Internet radio, and online music services via a convenient touch screen. Whether you love online or local radio stations, listening to your own personal music collection or discovering new artisst, podcasts or playlists, with the Squeezebox Touch you have an infinite selection of songs that are just a touch away.

Easily switch between music sources. This is one of my favorite features. With just a few touches on the screen I can change from the dance music I use to help clean the house, to a holiday playlist I made from our CD collection and still switch over to a local radio station to let my husband check up on current scores. Lately I’ve been tuning in to a French jazz station to unwind after a long day. Yes, a French radio station. From France. (Commercials are so much less annoying in French.) No plugging and unplugging multiple devices. No switching between my mp3 player, radio and computer. The Squeezebox Touch keeps all my music within easy reach.

4.3″ Touch Screen. What makes the Squeezebox Touch unique from the other Wi-Fi players in the Logitech line-up is the new touch screen. The 4.3″ color touch screen makes it easy to change artist, sort your collection, search for new music, see cover art and hundreds of other tasks. The display is thin and very sleek so you won’t mind leaving it out on your counter or bookshelf.

Dozens of ways to discover new music. I love shuffle. I don’t want to know what song is coming up next and love hearing new artists that match my tastes. More than half the time you can find Pandora or Slacker running on my Squeezebox, but there are dozens of online music services – paid and free – to choose from on the Squeezebox Touch. SIRIUS Radio, Rhapsody, BBC Radio, MediaFly, Last.fm, Napster and dozens more let you play and discover the music, talk radio or podcasts you like.

Remote control. Not next to the touch screen? No problem. The included remote lets you access all the features of the Squeezebox Touch from across the room.

Display light sensor. I know this is a small feature, but it speaks to the thought that Logitech puts into their products. The screen has a light sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display according to environment. When the lights are on in the room, the screen is bright enough for to you to see your music selection. Dim the lights in the room and the display screen dims too – no blaring, bright screen while you’re trying to slow dance with the hubs after the kids are down.

USB port and SD card slot. Listen to new music from friends and family with the USB port and SD card slot that allow you to access and view your photos and music stored on flash drives, memory sticks or other devices.

Build your music system. Another great feature of Logitech’s Wi-Fi music players? They work seamlessly together. Pick up their Squeezebox Duet or Radio and control what’s playing all over your house. Sync them together for a family dance party or let your kids rock out to Yo Gabba Gabba in their room while you relax with a classical masterpiece in yours.

What’s Included
Logitech Squeezebox Touch, power supply with plug adapters, infrared remote control with batteries, stereo audio cable. manual, cleaning cloth, 2-year limited hardware warranty

What You Need

Stereo system or powered speakers; ethernet or 802.11 b/g wireless home network; broadband Internet connection required for Internet radio and music services

Click here to read about all the product specifications to use the Squeezebox Touch.

Buy the Squeezebox Touch at Logitech

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Note: Logitech sent a sample of the Squeezebox Touch for this review.

Filed Under: Electronics, Parents Tagged With: Electronics, Logitech, music

Nintendo DSi: Gaming (and much more) on the go

March 22, 2010 By debbie 1 Comment

Another product we brought along on our trip last month was a Nintendo DSi system. My daughter couldn’t have been more thrilled about receiving it. She actually might have been more excited about getting it than going on the actual trip!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with a Nintendo DSi, it is a portable gaming system that kids love! The Nintendo DSi system comes with nine different built-in software applications: Nintendo DSi + Internet, Nintendo DSi Shop, DS Download Play, System Settings, Nintendo DSi Browser, PictoChat, Nintendo DSi Camera, Nintendo DSi Sound and Flipnote Studio.

The coolest feature of the DSi is that the unit is able to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots for Internet browsing and online gaming. While we were away, we frequented coffee shops that had Wi-Fi and my daughter was able to quickly download a new game. The DSi does have parental controls available so that you can limit access to certain content. Additionally, the DSi’s digital camera makes it ideal for capturing anything you want. My daughter is really into taking pictures of anything and everything, so she really loves this feature. There are actually two cameras – one inside for showing the player in an online gaming environment and the other on the outside for taking more traditional pictures. The outside camera is 3.0 megapixels and the quality is pretty good.

As far as the gaming on the DSi goes, it should be noted that the DSi plays all Nintendo DS games. There are literally hundreds of titles from which to choose. One game we received and that my daughter loved was Style Savvy, a game that combines creativity and fashion with a collection of trendy clothes, chic accessories and stylish shoes. In the game, you’re the owner of a clothing boutique and you must purchase inventory, monitor the store’s funds and try to please your fashionista customers. Once you build up some cash from your loyal customers, it’s time to start making real business decisions: Should you expand your inventory? Should you start getting ready for seasonal changes? Utilizing the wireless capabilities of the DSi, your child can join up to three of their friends in hosting a fashion runway contest to see who has the best eye for fashion!

The DSi is on-sale this week at Target and is available in the following colors: White, Blue, Pink and Black.

Filed Under: Coupon Codes & Sales, Electronics, Games, Kids, Movies & Music, On The Go, Play Time, Toys Tagged With: camera, chat, dsgames, Games, internet, music, nintendo dsi, photographs, video games, Wi-Fi, wireless

My Baby Loves (Giveaway)

November 16, 2009 By debbie 14 Comments

Are you tired of listening to the same old lullabies with your baby? Wouldn’t you love to hear music with your baby that you actually enjoyed?

Well, let me introduce you to a series of fabulous CD’s called “My Baby Loves…,” full of hit songs transformed into lullabies that you will fall in love with. The initial compilations are based on the music of the 80’s (Madonna and Michael Jackson) that new parents in their 20’s and 30’s will adore! How awesome is that?

The creators of the CD series were out shopping for baby products since they were about to become first time parents when they discovered that music for infants was very limited and predictable. They wanted something different and also wanted to be able to enjoy the music with their new baby. Being in the music industry, they had an edge on what the market was missing and decided to create My Baby Loves Christmas, My Baby Loves The 80′s, My Baby Loves Madonna and My Baby Loves Michael Jackson. My Baby Loves make a fabulous gift for baby showers, birthdays and holidays! These CD’s aren’t something that’ll be out of fashion in a few months either; they’re going to have real longevity.

Share the music you love with the baby you love with the new My Baby Loves… series! Hear the greatest hits of the 80’s transformed into soothing, instrumental lullabies. It’s the perfect soundtrack for new parents and babies! Available at Amazon, Borders and iTunes.

We will be giving away 5 CD’s. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling us which CD you think you would most enjoy hearing! To hear a sample of the music click the above links for each CD. The Giveaway will end on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 when five names will be selected at random. Winners will have 24 hours to respond to our email.

Filed Under: Babies, Giveaways, Mommy Time, On The Go, Parents Tagged With: 80's, CD, christmas, Madonna, Michael Jackson, music, My Baby Loves

Music & Movies: Our Early Fall Playlist

October 4, 2009 By julie 2 Comments

The latest CD to spin in our car player, What a Ride by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band is, as my 4 year old says, much fun. With an independent sound, the music is a reflection of music we listened to in college. I can totally see dancing it out in a preschool room to Come Play! and Ants in Your Pants, and I love singing along with How Big. My son’s favorite: Stink Bug.

We’re also enjoying Putumayo Kid’s Picnic Playground, any food-lover who listens will be sure to say this is “her kinda music” as its a souppot of multicultural songs and beats celebrating food, family and fun.

Speaking of food, another CD we’re enjoying is Best of the Bowl, Ingles y Espanol by Hot Peas and Butter. This bilingual CD makes you want to get up and dance to the Latin beat as they mix the Spanish and English.

On a recent roadtrip coming home from an amusement park, the husband asked if I had any baby-appropriate music for our little one. As in, to lull her (and maybe her brothers) to calmness. Wasn’t he surprised when I popped in RockaBye Baby!’s Lullaby Renditions of Aerosmith. We sang along as the kids relaxed and calmed. From Don’t Want to Miss a Thing to Walk This Way, this is a fun sleeper. Want to gift a RockaBye Baby CD but you don’t know which one to gift? Now available on the RockaBye Baby Music website: a Digital Download Card where the giftee can any one CD as an MP3 download. The packaging is perfect. I received mine today and opened it without reading, wondering where the CD was? Once I read the gift I was so excited to get to select my own music this time!

Last year we hosted a Halloween Party for several of the kids’ friends. We played games, read stories and enjoyed pizza, all before Trick or Treating. But how much did we need a movie? Planning to host this year? Get a copy of A Very Brave Witch … and more Halloween Stories. In addition to A Very Brave Witch, watch animated 7 other Halloween books including A Dark, Dark Tale. Narrators include Sherry Stringfield and Elle Fanning.

Another Scholastic Storybook Treasures production, the Scholastic Treasury of Classic Bedtime Stories will help you and your kids calm for bed nightly. This collection of 4 DVDs includes 28 animated bedtime favorites including Goodnight Gorilla and Harold and the Purple Crayon. A whole month’s worth of bedtime stories!

Filed Under: Books, Family Travel, Movies & Music Tagged With: movies, music

Father’s Day Gift Idea: Give Your Main Squeeze A Logitech Squeezebox Duet

June 15, 2009 By kate Leave a Comment

squeezebox_duet For digital-music loving dads, consider picking up a Squeezebox Duet by Logitech this Father’s Day. The Squeezebox Duet turns your home-entertainment or stereo system into a digital music player that can access your MP3 collection, internet radio stations and subscription music services like Pandora, Slacker and Rhapsody – even while your computer is off! My husband loves listening variety, but he often found himself switching between listening to our iPod plugged into the stereo, Pandora on the computer or a local sports radio station on the radio. No more! With a quick flick of the Squeezebox remote, you can switch between a local talk radio station, a downloaded podcast and your favorite Pandora station with ease. And without getting out of your chair.

What You Get: The Squeezebox Duet consists of a Squeezebox Receiver, remote with charging station and necessary batteries and cables.

How It Works: The Squeezebox Duet uses WiFi technology to allow you to play your computer-based music collection as well as Internet-based radio and music services on your home stereo system – without wires, without your computer being on and without physically transitioning between various stereo equipment. (Still confused about what exactly the Squeezebox Duet is? Check out this YouTube feature which shows the Duet in action.)

System Requirements: Here’s what you need to make sure your computer has.
• 256 MB RAM and 80 MB hard disk space
• Ethernet or wireless network
• Windows: 733 MHz Pentium running Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista
• Mac: OS X 10.3.5 or later
• Linux / BSD / Solaris / Other: Perl 5.8.3 or later
• Broadband Internet connection

How To Set It Up: There are four parts to the set-up. I’m going to try to keep it as un-techy as I can – just be sure to keep track of all the different “squeezes”.
Receiver: Plug the Squeezebox Duet receiver into an outlet and connect it to almost any stereo or powered speaker system with the included RCA cables. Insert the battery into the remote and plug it into the charging station.
Internet: Set up a SqueezeNetwork account online. SqueezeNetwork is Logitech’s free, Internet-based service that allows you to connect to a variety of Internet radio stations and music services like Pandora and Last.fm. You can also store your own MP3 music collection in a “digital locker” here so that you can access your song collection even when your computer is off.
Your Computer: Download and install the SqueezeCenter onto your computer. This is the application that allows you to wirelessly connect your computer to the Squeezebox receiver and give it access to your music desktop music collection.
Remote: Remove the remote from the charging station and follow the directions on the remote LCD to connect it to your computer network as well as to your receiver.

Things I Like:
• Listening variety! I love the hundreds of artists, albums, stations and music services that are available at your fingertips.
• You can quickly and easily build and add to playlists from the remote.
• I don’t have experience with the other music services, but with Pandora the Squeezebox Duet remote allows all the same functions that the Pandora website offers – approve/disapprove songs, create new playlists, find our more information about a song or even purchase it.
• Since the remote works through WiFi, you don’t have be in sight of the receiver to adjust volume or change song or music source. You can even add additional Squeezebox receivers and control the music in multiple rooms with the same remote.

While set-up was not seamless, it was well worth the effort. I love that we can seamlessly transition between various music sources on my computer, my husband’s computer and the Internet. The remote is sleek and attractive enough to sit on the counter and I’m impressed with the features, options and settings the it offers. Visit www.slimdevice.com to learn more about the Squeezebox Duet or take advantge of the current free shipping offer and order one for your main squeeze in time for Father’s Day. And for those who love the concept, but don’t have an existing stereo or speaker system to connect the Squeezebox Duet to, consider Logitech’s Squeezebox Boom, an all-in-one unit that provides many of the same features of the Duet as well as built-in speakers.

Filed Under: Dads, For the Home Tagged With: Father's Day, Logitech, music, Squeezebox

Garth Brooks for kids; Casey & Bella Go to Hollywood

June 2, 2009 By julie Leave a Comment

My 5-year-old grabbed Jane Lovascio’s Casey and Bella Go to Hollywood the minute I opened the package. He’s all about new reads… it didn’t even phase him that this read was pink. He was engrossed in the story immediately, and after reading, shared the story of these cute little dog friends who travel to Hollywood and “go all around the town.” I even learned about the friends (and faux foes, hey, its Hollywood) they meet along the way. Of course, the highlight of their limelight visit is the friendship between the two–who truly are dogs’ best friends.

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I’m a Garth fan. Really, really big. He probably has his own list in my list of favorite music. So Hushabye Baby’s newest installment, Lullaby Renditions of Garth Brooks (releasing today) keeps finding its way from the 3-year-old’s CD player to my own. I can sing along to the lullaby (there are no words on the CD, its just the music made into lullabies) and feel all Garth-happy and sleepy. The 3-year-old calls it his “boing boing” music because the first few notes sound like toys going “boing.”

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I don’t know if it was their recent Idol appearance, but I’m suddenly reliving Queen moments. Like singing “We Will Rock You” during basketball games in high school. Of course, previewing Rockabye Baby’s Lullaby Renditions of Queen may have something to do with the nostalgic moments. Especially as I drift off into relaxation mode (can anything be more relaxing than the tune of We Are the Champions as a lullaby?) (released May 19 and available at Amazon on MP-3).