Boston, MA - December 2, 2012 - Vicky Wu Davis, serial entrepreneur and videogame industry veteran, teamed up with former University Professor Waipeng Lee and Lillian Dai, PhD MIT, to create Peach Ice Cream Adventures (PICA). The three moms wanted a fun way to teach their kids a new language so they combined determination  with language and technical expertise to create an immersive, engaging second-­‐language learning tool for children under six called PICA.

But the need for this tool extended beyond their immediate needs. Boston City Councillor Tito Jackson understood that and has championed their efforts. He is spearheading  incorporation  of the early language immersion, STEM-based adventure game to preschools, K1, and K2 classrooms in District 7.

With an innovation and global economy rising, both STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) education and second-­language learning have been deemed extremely valuable in fostering job-­readiness. One-­to-four-year-old children are particularly receptive to learning math and logic; the golden years for acquiring language are to five. These disciplines and their early learning are complementary and Peach Ice Cream Adventures uses the perfect link between early childhood STEM and second-language learning by combining multiple goals that connect the seemingly disparate learning objectives.  It would be great to expose our youngest learners in the community to Chinese while also helping the 46% of students in Councillor Jackson’s District whose primary spoken language is Spanish. Ultimately, the PICA Project would allow us to complement all second-­language pre-school, k-­1 and k-­2 learners’ education.

But Councillor Jackson is racing against the clock - PICA’s Kickstarter campaign to raise at least $60,000 ends December 17.  If successful, PICA will be developed in Mandarin Chinese, French, and Spanish for the iPad.  If Tito’s stretch goal of $70,000 is met, then the PICA project will also be developed for Android.

With $70,000, Councillor Jackson will run a pilot program in preschools-­K in Boston District 7 starting summer 2013 because Isabella Products will donate their Android-based tablets to preschools and kindergartens  in Roxbury and Dorchester preloaded with Peach Ice Cream Adventures in Chinese and Spanish. There is a strong connection between socioeconomic  circumstances  and a child’s academic success.  Knowledge delays in the early years - unless something is done about it - follows children into their later years, leading to a growing academic achievement gap.

“That $70,000 Kickstarter fundraising goal,” says Tito, “will provide access to fun tools for mastering languages integral to my community - Spanish and Chinese. PICA is an amazing immersive language experience and teaches science. It’s a great STEM resource for my Spanish speakers.” “Usually kids from underserved communities have limited or even no access to the latest tools, but Vicky, her Kickstarter project, Matthew Growney and Isabella Products, and I are determined to make positive change and provide the best access, products, and opportunity to the kids in District 7.”

Matthew I. Growney, founder and CEO of Isabella Products, agrees. “Isabella is pleased to partner with PICA on this campaign to provide an incredible learning tool to Dorchester and Roxbury schools. Fable, our new tablet, with the PICA app will enhance the learning experience of young children and teachers alike.” “Moreover, PICA engages and stimulates students to learn important language comprehension  through gamification”  says Nancy Hamilton, Content Manager for Isabella and former 8th grade teacher. “We believe PICA can provide new applications using its gamification platform for future education segments and, as a former teacher, I love the interaction between using PICA as a language tool as well as a STEM tool!”

Councillor Tito Jackson has offered to have dinner in Boston with anyone who pledges $4,500 or more to the Peach Ice Cream Adventures Kickstarter campaign.  In addition, every $4,500 pledger will be invited to the special Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in celebration of meeting the $70,000 goal. Pledge today at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2090484647/peach-ice-cream-adventures-pica-2nd-language-learn?ref=live

About City Councillor Tito Jackson

Tito H. Jackson is the Boston City Councillor for District 7. He was elected with 82% of the vote during a Special Election. In November of 2011, the 85% of the voters in District 7 selected Councillor Jackson for a full two-­‐year term. Mr. Jackson was raised in the Grove Hall section of Roxbury and is a proud life-­‐long resident of District 7, which includes all of Roxbury and parts of the South End, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and the Fenway.  In 2007, Councillor Jackson became the Industry Director for Information Technology at Governor Deval Patrick’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development  where he focused his energies on creating and sustaining jobs within Massachusetts and helping local businesses grow. Councillor Jackson is now the Chair of the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, and Vice Chair of the Education Committee. Councillor Jackson is a much sought after public speaker at career days, motivational seminars and community events. In this capacity, he addresses youth development  issues, such as how to better motivate young people to pursue careers in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Education.

About Isabella Products

Isabella Products, Inc. is a leading mobile device company developing a family of connected wireless products that enrich and entertain your everyday life. Through its VizitMe content management  service, Isabella effectively and securely delivers and manages real-­‐time content experiences among a portfolio of innovative products including Fable, it’s soon-to-be-released children’s tablet. Isabella Products is led by a world-­‐class management  team with deep experience in the mobile and consumer electronics industries. For more information, please visit: http://www.isabellaproducts.com.

About The PICA Project

Peach Ice Cream Adventures (PICA) is a second-language learning tool delivered through an interactive tablet-­‐based adventure.  Designed specifically for 3-6 year olds, PICA is a gamified digital slice of a successful Early Education program that engages students in Mandarin Chinese within the context of science exploration and STEM principles. PICA facilitates greater development  and command of a fuller range of linguistic, abstract, and discrete problem-solving capabilities than other educational methods and curricula. PICA will be offered in Chinese, French, Spanish and will incorporate ESL for Chinese and Spanish speakers in later versions. Learn more and have fun with PICA. For more information go to www.froghop3.net/peachicecream.

Media Contacts:

Councillor Tito Jackson
Tito.Jackson@cityofboston.gov
617-­939-­8527

Vicky Wu Davis
Vicky@froghop.net
617-­‐290-­‐5499
@PICAcampaign

Nancy Hamilton
nancy.hamilton@isabellaproducts.com
978-­‐287-­‐0007
@isabellaprdcts

It was 1989. Pediatricians and early childhood educators developed Reach Out and Read at Boston Medical Center. The concept was simple: During well-child checkups, doctors would deliver books to children and critical messages about the importance of reading aloud to parents.

Fast forward 23 years.

The concept remains simple. But, the book has become more complicated.

For the first time in our organization’s history, we find ourselves faced with a new kind of children’s book, one that is displayed on the screen of a tablet. Devices such as the NOOK, the Kindle, the iPad, and the Fable are leading us to a new frontier of literacy — whether we like it or not.

Already, there have been lots of voices in the mix of the e-reader debate. The New York Times wrote about tech-savvy parents who insist on traditional books for their children. The Washington Post reported on the pros and cons of apps for kids on smartphones and tablets. A Maine School Superintendent last year made waves when every kindergartner in his district received an iPad, and he declared that the device was “even more important than a book.”

And there’s so much more to come.

As a nonprofit dedicated to fostering literacy-rich home environments and children who love books and reading, we’re paying close attention to the e-reader debate. We’re thinking and studying and talking. We don’t know the answers — yet.

What we do know is what we’ve always known: Children who are read to from an early age have a better chance of succeeding in school and in life than those who are not. That’s the message we continue to spread. With research behind us, we know that engaged parents can make a serious and meaningful difference in their children’s educational outcomes.

For an e-reader to be an effective learning and bonding tool, it needs to be used responsibly. Many devices come with bells and whistles that can distract both parents and children.

The e-reader should be used by parents and children together with focus, with the same goals as a physical book. It should stimulate a child’s language, listening, prediction, and cognitive skills, build curiosity and memory, and create a nurturing environment positive for both the parent and the child.

Time spent reading aloud to a child should be just that, not an opportunity to check email, play games, or update a Facebook status.

As the technology develops and the conversation around e-readers unfolds, we’ll continue to recommend that parents read aloud to their children at least 20 minutes each and every day. We’ll still encourage families to talk and sing and imagine together. And we’ll always remind them that the best parent-child bonding time happens over a book.

We can’t — and don’t want to — stop innovation.

Change is upon us. It’s what we do with that change that matters most.

Article

Eliminating at a stroke one of the biggest headaches associated with digital signage deployments, vendors, network operators and end users alike are increasingly turning to wireless technology as it grows ever more ubiquitous, faster and more reliable.

Digital out-of-home technology specialist Stratacache, for example, is working with giant U.S. mobile operator Verizon on a digital signage system using Verizon’s 4G network along with a Stratacache media player, its ActiVia for Media digital signage software, and a high-definition display.

Exhibited at the Retail’s Big Show event in New York, the package can run as a service in the cloud, or in a customer’s own location. Users can log in from a PC or any Verizon mobile device to update the screen network instantly.

Another partnership deal sees one of the best-known providers of digital signage software, Scala, team up with Isabella, producer of the Vizit display.

To speed deployment of Scala’s SignChannel system, aimed at small to medium-size users of digital signage, Isabella is producing a 10.4-inch version of Vizit specifically for digital out-of-home, and optimising its Mini 3G USB stick for use with the software.

Said Jeff Porter, president of Scala SignChannel: “The Mini-DS is a game changer. Just plug the Mini-DS into any TV and you will have a SignChannel player. It couldn’t be easier.”

Unlike Stratacache, the duo are using 2G and 3G wireless technology, and piggy-backing on Isabella’s existing relationships with carriers worldwide.

Also at the New York expo, YCD Multimedia displayed an in-store promotional stand that it has developed for Coca Cola (pictured), designed to be easy to install and move.

YCD has fitted the unit with wireless links so that retailers can easily move it around a shop floor, or from site to site, without having to remove and reinstall cabling.

The firm also used Retail’s Big Show to highlight a new analytics module for its Retail Advertising and Merchandising Platform (RAMP) that links to POS systems in order to assess the impact of in-store media.

Meanwhile, British network operator Amscreen has contracted Vodafone, one of Europe’s biggest wireless carriers, to supply connectivity across its European network. Every Amscreen display will be supplied with a Vodafone SIM card for swift updating of content.

Amscreen has for the past six months been engaged in a large rollout of its network to BP forecourts on mainland Europe, with other deals likely to follow.

Said its CEO Simon Sugar: “This universal agreement will help accelerate our expansion plans and will ensure 100 percent coverage and compliance for our network partners and our pan-European advertisers.”

Article

Isabella Products Inc. (“Isabella”), a leading mobile device and services company, announces a strategic partnership with Scala Inc. (“Scala”), the world’s leading software platform for digital signage networks. Both companies have agreed to develop sales, marketing, and technology initiatives for 2012 and beyond for the digital signage market.

Scala, in its efforts to better serve Small and Medium Business (SMB) with its SignChannel service, will support Isabella Products’ Vizit and Mini devices to provide a low cost, hassle-free, cellular networking solution for SignChannel users. Isabella will in turn develop a Digital Signage version (DS) of its award-winning Vizit® interactive display and Mini™ 3G USB stick optimized for use with SignChannel.

The Vizit-DS and Mini-DS products will provide Scala with integrated 2G/3G cellular solutions for reliably delivering digital signage content across multiple display environments throughout various locations. Utilizing Isabella’s existing relationships with world-class wireless carriers, Vizit-DS and Mini-DS will be marketed through Scala’s existing global sales and distribution channels.
“Combining Scala’s global presence and expertise in the digital signage business with Isabella’s compelling, cost-effective product portfolio with mobile capabilities, we are excited to introduce these new products and services to a whole new market,” Matthew I. Growney, Founder, CEO of Isabella Products.

Scala’s award-winning SignChannel service allows SMB owners to easily deploy digital signage in their locations without the complexity or cost normally associated with traditional enterprise solutions. SignChannel’s intuitive web interface requires no special training and installation is simple. Until now, users still had to find a solution for connecting their devices to the Internet. That problem is now cleanly solved. If your cell phone works, your digital signage or kiosk will work.

“The Mini-DS is a game changer,” said Jeff Porter, President of SignChannel. “Just plug the Mini-DS into any TV and you will have a SignChannel player. It couldn’t be easier. In addition, the Vizit-DS makes deploying a kiosk just as easy - simply add electricity, nothing more! With SignChannel’s ease of use and Isabella’s relationships in the cellular industry, deploying digital signage and kiosks just got a whole lot simpler.”

Vizit-DS is a 10.4” full-touch interactive media display that wirelessly receives and plays images and SWF files while allowing viewers to interact and share the display’s content remotely. Mini-DS is a 3G USB stick that can be inserted into digital televisions, digital photo frames, and digital monitors to cost-effectively deliver content across the cellular network. Both companies are evaluating additional product development opportunities that will provide mobile Internet connectivity in a cost-effective manner to emerging interactive displays, kiosks, and other digital signage implementations.

For all inquiries about the Vizit-DS and Mini-DS with SignChannel service, please contact jeff.porter(at)scala(dot)com.

About Isabella Products
Isabella Products, Inc. is a leading mobile device company developing a family of connected wireless products that enrich and entertain your everyday life. Through its VizitMe content management service, Isabella effectively and securely delivers and manages real-time content experiences among a portfolio of innovative products including Vizit, Mini, and Fable (the latter available in fall 2012). Isabella Products is led by a world-class management team with deep experience in the mobile and consumer electronics industries. For more information, please visit: http://www.isabellaproducts.com.

About Scala
Driving more than 500,000 screens worldwide, Scala Inc. is a leading global provider of digital signage and advertising management solutions. Scala is the world’s first connected signage company, offering the leading platforms for content creation, management and distribution in digital signage networks and the first unified platform for advertising management of both traditional and digital signage networks. Scala is headquartered near Philadelphia, PA, and has subsidiaries in Canada, The Netherlands, France, Norway, Germany, Japan and India, as well as more than 500 partners in over 90 countries. For more information, please visit: http://www.scala.com or their blog. Connect with Scala via the Scala Blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

###

As we barrel toward the two most capitalistic holidays of the year — Black Friday and Cyber Monday — I’ve been thinking about gifts you could give, or sites you could patronize, to support the Massachusetts innovation economy. Here’s a list of 15 ideas.

1. I’m listening to my Bose QuietComfort 15 noise-cancelling headphones ($299) as I write this blog post; they’re great for tuning out noise from the next cubicle, or the loud conversation taking place across the aisle of your commuter train. A single AAA battery powers them for 35 hours. They’re comfortable enough that I’ve slept with them on, on red-eye flights. Framingham-based Bose has stores in the Burlington Mall, Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, and the Natick Mall. (I wrote about how the headphones work, and how the company markets them, last December.)

2. I love my Tivoli iPal radio ($219). It sounds great, and it can either be plugged into a wall outlet or run for up to 16 hours using its internal rechargeable battery. You can easily plug an iPod or iPhone into the input jack in the back. The exterior is covered with a grippy rubber. Mine even survived a rainstorm, when I accidentally left it outside. Tivoli is based in Boston, and they have retail kiosks at the Prudential Center and Natick malls.

3. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters may be headquartered in Vermont, but the Keurig division that designs single-cup brewing systems for homes and offices is in Reading. Their lowest-priced brewer, marketed under the Mr. Coffee name, is $79.95. The plastic K-Cup containers that hold the coffee grounds cost about 70 cents apiece. (Last year, I wrote a piece headlined, “An environmental quandary percolates at Green Mountain Coffee Roaster,” and in August, the Globe Sunday Magazine ran a great piece that told the Keurig story, from start-up to the coffee industry’s force to be reckoned with.)

4. Released in October, Dance Central 2 ($49) is a videogame from Cambridge’s Harmonix Music Systems that encourages players to get off the couch and shake their respective groove thangs. You can compete against, or dance collaboratively with a friend, and the game features songs from Lady Gaga, Donna Summer, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj, and the inevitable Justin Bieber. Playing Dance Central 2 requires the Kinect motion-sensing accessory for Microsoft’s Xbox.

5. If you’ve got any budding Eadweard Muybridges or John Lasseters on your list, they might enjoy the Strobotop Lightphase Animator ($19.95) from Eye Think in Waltham. They get a stroboscopic flashlight that brings pictures to life on spinning tops. My favorite is the set of tops that let you make your own animations.

6. BabbaCo mails out boxes of activities that parents can do with their children, geared to kids between the ages of three and six. You can gift three months worth of boxes for $90, or a year for $299. Each box contains books, art projects, and prepaid digital downloads. (I wrote about the company in September, when founder Jessica Kim moved it from Chicago to Boston.)

7. Wayland-based Vers makes all kinds of nifty iPhone and iPad cases from sustainably-grown walnut and bamboo, as well as earphones and an iPod/iPhone docking system. Their wood case for the iPad 2, pictured at right, is $79.99.

8. Schylling Toys, located in Rowley, mainly makes low-tech and retro toys, but their product line does include Erector sets, a make-your-own volcano project, and a kit to build several solar-powered vehicles. (I wrote about Schylling last December, looking at the development of one of the toys in their catalog.)

9. Newton-based Zeo, one of the pioneers of helping consumers monitor and improve the quality of their sleep, introduced a $99 headband back in September that can communicate with your iPhone or Android phone. It serves up data about how much deep sleep and REM sleep you’re getting, and can also gently wake you up at the ideal moment in your sleep cycle. The Zeo system is available at Best Buy stores, and also online.

10. A 16 gigabyte USB flash drive shaped like Wicket the Ewok is pretty much the ideal stocking stuffer. Boston-based Mimoco makes them, along with flash drives in the shape of dozens of other fun characters.

11. Among the online retailers based in Massachusetts: bGreen (eco-friendly products), Wayfair (home goods), Karmaloop (hipster apparel), and Daily Grommet (unique and useful products.)

12. If you know someone who likes to cook, consider some of the kitchen goodies from Waltham-based Preserve Products, all made from recycled plastics. They include cutting boards, colanders, measuring cups, and food storage containers. (I wrote about the development of Preserve’s cute little single-serve yogurt container earlier this year.)

13. Gemvara sells customized jewelry: you pick the gemstone, the metal, and specify things like what kind of backing you’d like on an earring or what you’d like engraved inside of a ring. The company is based in Boston, across from South Station. (I first wrote about Gemvara, founded by two Babson College alums, in 2008.)

14. Isabella Products of Concord makes the Vizit, a $229 digital photo frame. It has a 10.4 inch color screen, and any of your family members can send photos to it via e-mail or text message. (Or you can use the built-in SD Card or USB ports.) The frame can store up to 300 photos at a time, and you can use it to forward favorite photos to another family member’s e-mail account — or to their digital photo frame. (Unfortunately, since the frame relies on a cellular network rather than WiFi for its connectivity, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee to cover that.)

15. Burlington-based iRobot makes an array of robots to handle unpleasant household tasks like scrubbing the floor. One of their least-expensive products is the iRobot Looj ($169), a tank-like bot that roars through your gutters, knocking out leaves, pine needles, and other debris. You control it with a handheld remote. The company says that it can clean 60 feet of gutter in 10 minutes. My idea of fun: race your next door neighbor, who’s still using the primitive hose-and-ladder approach.

Article

There are a wide number of ways to do photo sharing, but the Vizit Frame has reduced this necessity (for an increasing number of us, anyway) to absolute simplicity by connecting the product to AT&T’s cellular network and enabling the simple MMS and e-mail transfer of photos directly to the frame. This will have obvious appeal for the less technically literate out there, who will nonetheless be thrilled to the arrival of new pictures of the grandchildren, that new bathroom, or Aunt Ruth’s cat doing something so amazing that it really should be on one of those TV network home-video shows that I never watch because I spend all my time testing products for the Network World Holiday Gift Guide. Actually, I wouldn’t watch them regardless, but I like to see new photos of the family as much as anyone.

But I digress. Product setup involves very little work – turn on the frame, register at vizitme.com, authorize users by inviting them (by e-mail or mobile number), and that’s that. Just direct new photos to @vizitme.com, and after a minute or two, smiles all around. The only real disadvantage to the Vizit Frame is those photos cost money to transfer – plans are available starting at $6/month, or $79/year for up to 1450 pictures sent. I think it’s wrong to send a gift that requires an additional expenditure, so be sure to include a subscription with your gift. And be sure to check local cellular coverage – if the frame’s home has no service, this puppy is a paperweight. Maybe they could add Wi-Fi to a future edition.

There are a few configuration options that one can access via the Web or by tapping (and it takes a pretty good tap, by the way) on the screen. But the Vizit Digital Photo Frame is otherwise easy to use and will prove to be a big hit with those who just love to see new photos of friends and family, and, with just a little experience, it’s easy to use and fun to watch. Image quality is excellent, and even non-techies will be comfortable with operating the device and its service after just a few minutes. So save the iPad for the heavy-duty tasks and get one of these for full-time photo fun.

Cool Yule rating: 4 stars
Price: $198.01 (Amazon)
Reviewed by C.J. Mathias

Article

Isabella Products Inc. (”Isabella”), a leading mobile device company developing a family of connected wireless products that enrich and entertain your everyday life, announces the launch of the VizitMe® Content Submission Site (”Site”) for children’s publishers, content providers, application developers, and digital authors.

The VizitMe® Content Submission Site opened at 12:01am EST Wednesday, November 16, 2011.  Once in the portal, publishers, developers, and authors can submit their digital content in a number of popular formats including Android, Flash, ePub, and Adobe PDF.  Content submissions will be reviewed by Isabella to confirm that product and content specifications are met.  Once a content submission is accepted, it will be available for sale when Fable^TM launches in April of 2012.  The Site also has resources and information for developers about Fable’s specifications, marketing and strategic partnership opportunities.

“Isabella is very excited about today’s launch of the VizitMe Content Submission site. This platform will allow children’s publishers, authors, and content developers a highly streamlined process to learn about Fable’s unique product offering while facilitating valuable content partnerships in real-time,” states Matthew I. Growney, Founder and CEO of Isabella Products.

VizitMe®, Isabella’s proprietary content management system, currently offers customers the ability to share and manage content across all Isabella Products devices using its secure “invitation-only” content delivery network.  With the pending launch of Fable^TM, Isabella’s revolutionary children’s tablet, VizitMe’s services will expand to include the purchase, delivery, and management of customers’ eBooks, games, applications, learning modules, and video content across all of their devices.

In building the most comprehensive children’s digital content marketplace available, Isabella has secured several new key partnerships to accompany its current partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Today, Isabella is excited to announce a new partnership with Genera Interactive, producer of TouchyBooks, imaginative interactive ebooks that delight kids with the touch of every page. “As children’s toys and picture books are moving towards more advanced digital platforms we are very excited to partner with Isabella Products. Our interactive books and their child-friendly tablet are a perfect fit,” says TouchyBooks CEO, Jose Miguel Lopez Catalan, from their headquarters in Seville, Spain.

Isabella is also extremely pleased to announce its new partnership with WGBH Educational Foundation to provide Games and Video content to Fable and the VizitMe store. “As the children’s digital media landscape proliferates, WGBH is as committed as ever to creating content that entertains, inspires, and above all educates children, reaching them wherever they are consuming media. We are excited to partner with Isabella as they chart this new territory,” says Brigid Sullivan, Vice President of Children’s Media and Educational Programming for WGBH.

Fable^TM is expected to be the first fully-interactive, portable tablet that enables children to read, draw, game, watch videos and share over the mobile broadband network. The durable, “juice-proof” Fable^TM children’s tablet is designed to be 3G and WiFi-enabled, allowing it to purchase, receive, and share content in real-time.  The tablet’s sleek yet durable design with its award-winning carousel user interface appeals to tech-savvy kids and is intuitive to use.  Fable^TM offers children an experience similar to popular tablets for adults, but in a secure, browser-free environment filled with interactive books and entertaining, educational content catered specifically to children.

To learn more about Fable and the VizitMe Content Submission program, please visit http://Submission.VizitMe.com.

About Isabella Products

Isabella Products, Inc. is a leading mobile device company developing a family of connected wireless products that enrich and entertain your everyday life. Through its VizitMe content management service, Isabella effectively and securely delivers and manages real-time content experiences among a portfolio of innovative products. Isabella Products is led by a world-class management team with deep experience in the mobile and consumer electronics industries. For more information, please visit http://www.isabellaproducts.com/.

About Genera Interactive

Genera Interactive has specialized for nearly 10 years in multiplatform entertainment and utility applications for mobile devices and tables. They’ve worked with numerous operators, device manufacturers, content owners, brands and their own creative teams in the development of more than 500 applications. TouchyBooks, a spinoff of Genera Interactive, is an innovative bookstore app for interactive and multilingual children’s picture books where together with publishers and content owners offer more than 80 children’s titles. For more information about Genera Interactive or TouchyBooks please email info@touchybooks.com or info@generainteractive.com.

About WGBH

WGBH Boston is the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including such innovative, entertaining, curriculum-based children’s media as Arthur, Curious George (the No. 1 show on TV for preschoolers), Postcards from Buster, Between the Lions, Design Squad Nation, Martha Speaks (and its Dog Party mobile app, with proven impact on kids’ vocabulary), and Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman. These join  Masterpiece, Nova, Frontline, American Experience, Antiques Roadshow (PBS’s most-watched program),  and other signature WGBH programs “produced in Boston, shared with the world.”  WGBH also is a major source of programs for public radio (including The World), a leader in educational multimedia (including  PBS LearningMedia, a free online service providing the nation’s educators with curriculum-based digital content to meet 21st-century learners’ needs), and  a pioneer in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually impaired. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards…even two Oscars. Find more information at www.wgbh.org.

In a situation where military families are split up, sometimes even thousands upon thousands of miles away, it can be tough to pass the time without having loved ones close to you. Sharing memories, and life itself, is the most precious gift we are given during our lifetimes.

Vizit solves this challenge. Vizit, a 10.4” LCD Display, is a mobile Internet device that allows users to deliver photos and memories over its VizitMe.com content management platform via the cellular network.

· Vizit is the first device of its kind to deliver two-way photo sharing with no hassles
a) People can respond to photos sent directly to their frame through Vizit’s touch screen user face
· Thanks to the utilization of AT&T cellular network in the U.S. and Vodaphone providing services in Europe and Saudi region, as long as the Vizit digital photo frame is plugged into a power source it will receive pictures inside, outside, and wherever there is a cellular connection. Sharing anytime, anywhere, and anyplace with Vizit
· Vizit is a cellular media delivery solution that is truly seamless and secure
a) Only pictures sent from your frame’s established “friends” will be able to send pictures to your frame
b) Add other family members and friends to the account to receive photo updates from loved ones across the country!
· Real Time photo sharing allows photos to be seen under five minutes from initial delivery
· Vizit is compact, affordable, effective and most importantly you can be up and running in less than five minutes
a) Its design offers a simple and immediate user experience that can be enjoyed directly out of the box
· Vizit is the most cost effective method of sharing memories with loved ones
a) Multiple photo plans allow you to pick the one right for your family’s sharing needs
· You can control your Vizit displays on an individual or group (up to 16 displays per account) basis so that you can deliver your same photos to multiple frames across the country to each and every family member.

Photos can be uploaded in three different and extremely convenient manners.
1) Text photos directly from your cell phone to the digital photo frame for the ultimate convenience in photo sharing
2) Upload each photo seamlessly via Isabella Product’s www.vizitme.com website. Photos and accounts can be managed via this medium as well.
3) Email photos directly to the frame, for ease in sharing

Vizit connects the mobile network and the digital photo frame, eliminating the need for Wi-Fi. Only approved email addresses and mobile phone numbers are allowed to send photos which are automatically stored on our secure website — VizitMe.comwhere photos can be accessed, edited, deleted, and organized instantly updating the frame. Seamlessly with one touch the carousel menu appears, displaying graphic icons for each function. Vizit allows the viewer to reply to the sender and to forward photos to others directly from the frame.

The frame will automatically receive instant software updates over the air to be the latest and greatest version.
Each Vizit frame comes with a personal account on our ad-free, secure photo management platform, VizitMe.com. You can have up to 300 photos at a time on your frame and thousands more saved in your VizitMe.com storage.

Quick Specs:
· 10.4 inch Led backlit LCD touchscreen
· 800×600 SVGA resolution
· Automatic photo scaling
· USB 2.0 & SD Card slot
· Included in box: Frame, AC Adapter, Wall Mount, Cleaning Cloth, User Guide and Terms and Conditions Agreement
· Colors: Silver with White accent & Charcoal with Black accent
· Photo plan: 1450 photos - $79.99 annual subscription (20% more photos) or $5.99/month for 100 photos/month

Sounds cool right? Here’s two chances to win one:

Twitter party info: #dadzone August 1st from 2 PM – 3:30 PM
Guest speakers include - @Dadarocks, @Frankidurbin, @Childsplayx3, @TheDaddyYoDude
Free Vizit Digital Frame Giveaway to one attendee who registers for the contest at http://events.vizitme.com/twitterparty
Discussion will be focused on the emergence of men in the blogging community, and in events such as the upcoming BlogHer 2011

Summer Giveaway 2011: Register by August 15th at www.vizitme.com/giveaway
This is just a straight up product giveaway, no attendance to any event is necessary, simply register to be included.

Click here for the original post.

Concord, MA  June 27, 2011

Isabella Products, a leading mobile Internet device and services company, today announced that it has selected Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile operators, to provide wireless connectivity to its range of mobile products and services in Europe.

Under the exclusive two year deal, Vodafone will supply connectivity and its Machine to Machine (M2M) platform so users can instantly and wirelessly share content, such as pictures with friends and family on Isabella’s products.

A Vodafone SIM card will be built into every Isabella mobile device - including the award winning Vizit® - giving universal and reliable access to a range of Machine to Machine (M2M) services. Vodafone’s high performance networks and M2M management system will give Isabella central control over how they wirelessly enable and roll out their products across the continent.

The award-winning Vizit®, the world’s first 2-way digital photo frame; and Mini™, the world’s first 3G USB stick for the photo-sharing market, will be available in early 2012 through online and retail partners in the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Vizit®- Consumers will be able to send digital photos, picture messages, and other image-based content over the Vodafone mobile network to Vizit’s large 10.4” full-touch interactive display. With Vizit’s unique wireless email address, proprietary user interface, and cellular connectivity, Vizit users will experience a rich, yet effortless, 2-way photo sharing experience. Vizit is the first digital photo frame to provide users with the ability to Reply to a photo in real time from the device and to Forward a photo onto even more family and friends over the mobile broadband network.

Mini™- Consumers can now share photos, picture messages, and other image-base content directly with their existing digital photo frame or digital television by using Mini, the world’s first 3G USB stick dedicated to photo-sharing. Users simply plug Mini into their existing digital photo frame or digital television’s USB 2.0 slot and instantly connect it to Isabella’s VizitMe content management service. Each Mini has its own unique wireless email address for friends and family to send photos to just about any digital photo frame or digital television using their mobile phone or email. Photos are stored securely on Mini making it the perfect portable photo album.

VizitMe- Isabella’s product portfolio is supported by its proprietary mobility and content management service, VizitMe. This cloud-based service provides carrier-class subscriber management and secure content management. Users are able to create a Friends contact list for each of their devices, upload new content, remotely manage their device experience, and subscribe to 3rd party content and services all from a Web portal.

“We are extremely excited to partner with Vodafone for the European marketplace,” said Matthew I. Growney, Founder and CEO of Isabella Products. “The enormous global footprint of the Vodafone network and their ability to provide us with a robust M2M management platform will allow Isabella to successfully launch innovative mobile devices and services throughout the region.”

“Vizit and Mini are exciting examples of innovative mobile Internet devices that will quickly and conveniently connect family and friends,” said Erik Brenneis, Head of M2M, Vodafone. “By connecting over Vodafone’s mobile network, Isabella customers will be able to share photos and memories in real time.”

For more information about Vizit, Mini, and Isabella Products, please go to http://www.isabellaproducts.com.

About Isabella Products, Inc.
Isabella Products, Inc. is a mobile Internet device company focused on developing innovative solutions for emerging consumer needs. Through its VizitMe content management service, Isabella will effectively and securely deliver and manage real-time content experiences among a portfolio of innovative products. With its initial product, Vizit®, Isabella enables consumers to interact with the billions of unshared images found within camera phones, PCs and the Internet by combining a state-of-the-art touch-screen display with wireless network capabilities. Also part of the Isabella product portfolio is the recently announced FableTM, a handheld, connected children’s tablet for reading, drawing, gaming, and photo sharing. Isabella Products is led by a world-class management team with deep experience in the mobile and consumer electronics industries. For more information, please visithttp://www.isabellaproducts.com.

Isabella Products Media Contact

Carrie Callahan/Meghan Daly
PAN Communications
isabella@pancomm.com
+1-617-502-4300

Matthew Growney wants to connect the unconnected. He sees an opportunity for analog things, atoms, to benefit from internet bits, and he’s already putting his ideas into practice with his line of picture frames and tablets.

I met Growney in his West Concord office. The modest exterior of his building belies a tasteful and smart interior, incorporating an open floor plan, where I imagine he meets with his team to discuss his company’s creative vision and direction. Matthew’s own dressed-down exterior seems to be a carbon copy of his building. With a quiet smile, short spiky hair, fleece jacket, and jeans - unassuming as an ensemble - I would never pick him out from the line at the local coffee shop, as the founder of both an investment company and a successful start up. But that’s exactly how he likes it. It’s all about being real for him.

Real People. Real time. Real simple. Real ideas.

Real People: His mind may be in The Cloud, but he runs his business the old fashioned way: by finding out what people want, and then designing products that deliver.

Growney is the founder and CEO of Isabella Products (www.isabellaproducts.com), and was named one of the “40 under 40″ by the Boston Business Journal for his professional achievements. That’s all well and good, but for Growney, running a successful business is less about awards and all about connecting with people.

Before he created Vizit, the picture frame that features real time two-way photo sharing between friends and family, he booked the ballroom at the Ritz Carlton in Boston and wined and dined 120 moms, ages 35-65, mined from salons, mommy groups, and fitness clubs.

“We wanted to ask women, specifically mothers, since they are the photo keeper, how they use, touch, and share photos,” says Growney. “We wanted to know what their biggest complaint about taking photos on their phone was. We asked them what they like, and what don’t they like.”

Right there. Real interactions with people, instead of scouring social networks trying to determine analytics based on mindless drivel limited to 140 characters. And then he moved forward with his plans.

For me, the “real time” aspect of the Vizit is appealing. I can imagine myself on the sidelines at one of my kids’ games snapping pictures on my mobile phone. In an instant I send my pictures up to Growney’s mobile network cloud Vizit Me, and then in another instant they magically appear on my mother’s Vizit picture frame in California, where she can experience the thrill of the game along with me.

If she wants to, she can reply to me right from her frame, or forward the pictures on to anyone who is part of the Vizit network. Growney uses 3-G instead of WiFi because it’s reliable and he runs a business on real time. Connecting the unconnected.

As Growney begins to tell me about the Mini, the device that magically catapults any existing digital picture frame into a real time sharing tour de force, an actual train rattles by his office. “That’s one of the downsides,” of the office location, he says. But I like the contrast. He’s running a business that looks for ways to serve consumers, and trains have been doing that for over a century.

And what’s more predictable than a train? In the little known, but sweet children’s book, “Pianna,” Anna the main character says, “Six trains a day were as good as a clock back then.” And that sentiment persists today right in Growney’s office. No need to check his watch, or daily planner, when he’s got trains providing predictability, and keeping him on task. I ponder if Growney’s considered the irony that the trains are equipped with WiFi instead of 3G, but decide not to bring it up. Otherwise I’ll get his wheels spinning, and I still have some questions for him to answer.

Real simple. Matthew’s house is being painted today. The funny thing is he didn’t know it until this morning. I chuckle about this. How can someone so aware of his surroundings, and so on top of his business, not know his house may be a new color when he arrives home from work that day?

“My wife runs the ship at home,” he says. “She’s got her crew and I’ve got mine.” Still, when I ask him what color his house will be, he says “I assume white.” But I can tell he’s a bit flustered not knowing for sure. “I have to check on that,” he says. I don’t think the ramifications of some radical new color adhering to his clapboards, or even scarier, the brick facade that he and his wife have debated about painting, dawned on him until that very moment.

Before Growney founded Isabella Products, the consumer technology company that launched the Vizit line, he ran Motorola Ventures for 10 years, following in his father’s footsteps. However, his father’s prolonged absences - traveling around the world to explore business opportunities - got Matthew thinking about ways to create a better balance with his own life.

Born from this thinking was Rudyard Partners (rudyardpartners.com), the next generation family-run investment firm that focuses on early stage consumer technology opportunities in the global marketplace.

Matthew’s office is a mile from his house, intentionally. He wants to be a strong and consistent presence in his three kids’ lives, and being close by affords him the luxury of running a business and still being able to see his family. He is happy about the arrangement, another connection to a simpler time when people worked where they lived, and came home for dinner and bedtime stories. Growney is intent on remaining connected and he seems to be staying the course.

Real Ideas. Matthew’s excited about Fable, a tablet specifically designed for kids, and another attractive piece of his product line. “Imagine a father,” he says, “being able to send content about his job to a classroom full of students, all using Fable tablets. All the kids can immediately receive the information and then discuss, and interact with it.

“Or imagine a child studying a picture from a National Geographic let’s say, and this child takes one of the photos from the magazine and draws herself into the picture and sends it off to her mother or father at work. All in real time.” And I thought Pong was pretty cool. Clearly I grew up in the wrong century.

Growney talks of connecting other things with the network. Binoculars. Toys. Jewelry. The opportunities are only growing. Binoculars? I say. How? He smiles. “Wouldn’t it be neat to be able to post the image of the falcon you’re viewing right from your binoculars while you lie in a wet field? You could post the image and notes to your own private site, or a wildlife site, or your own cloud. You wouldn’t have to worry about film or downloading this or that. You already have optics, magnification, and resolution.”

So what’s next, I ask him, knowing full well that this isn’t the last stop on Growney’s entrepreneurial train.

Sure enough he surprises me. He and his wife plan on starting a fashion label in the next few years. He says it will be cutthroat and competitive but they are up for the challenge. I’m sure his kids will also be involved somehow, maybe as design consultants or models. I ask him if he will he be offering a shoe line as well, that somehow connects the unconnected. He smiles and says, “That’s a bit too far fetched even for me.” I find that hard to believe. Of course I’m still wondering about the color of his house and how it will turn out.

Click here to read the original post.