Must Reads: Close Watch On New Amazon Phone, Summer Learning Online, TweetDeck Attacked, Coding in Schools

Jun 20, 2014 4:15 PM ET

Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids and Families Blog

To help you keep up with what’s going on with kids, families, schools, and technology, we’ve compiled a list of stories, tips, and insights, we’ve found most useful over the past week.

This week: Close Watch On New Amazon Phone, Summer Learning Online, TweetDeck Attacked, Coding in Schools

WATCHING AMAZON’S FIRE PHONE CLOSELY: Amazon ventured into the world of smartphones with the launch of its Fire Phone this week.  Early reviews are less than stellar, though it’s not available until later in July.  Experts claim it doesn’t seem to have much of a competitive advantage over Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy, but it does have unlimited photo storage and a shopping app called Firefly that I believe is worth watching from a youth and online safety perspective.  Cameras are one of the most heavily used features of smartphones, helping to drive the popularity of apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.  While the techies are arguing tech specs, I think having no limit to snapping selfies could be a huge selling point for some demographics (new parents, teens, etc.).   Let’s not write this phone off so early – we’ll certainly be watching it closely.

Read the full article at Trend Micro's Internet Safety for Kids and Families Blog here