Weekend naps are the best...falling asleep in a comfy chair after catching up on your Facebook updates or a session of YouTube cat videos. But there's always a little bit of "did-I-drop-it?" panic when you wake up with your iPad on your chest. And if you're one of the 600,000 people in America with a heart defibrilator, rolling over on your screen isn't the only thing to worry about. More

Children LOVE the iPad...or any touch screen device, for that matter. But especially the iPad. Something about the big, bright screen and Apple's GUI makes it a kid magnet. I often notice amongst friends the iPad is used as a short term digital babysitter when Mom or Dad needs a moment to breath or a bite to eat. But before you hand a $329+ tablet over to a child, be sure to change this setting for a little extra insurance...

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Product: Belkin Thunderstorm
Price: $199.99
Rating: Recommend*

There's really no way around the fact the built-in speakers of the Apple iPad are tiny and anemic. Movies, games, and music require plugging in a pair of headphones for clear dialogue and an immersive experience. Belkin's aptly named Thunderstorm was designed to eliminate the need for headphones or Airplaying to an external source by augmenting output with a miniature sound bar design. Using my iPad 3, I took this hybrid case/speaker for a high-fidelity test drive.

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Aware of my background in education and also my weekly app post here on Apartment Therapy, one of the questions I'm often asked at parties with parents in attendance is about kid-friendly app recommendations. To help answer their queries for apps best suited for kids, here are a few tablet apps I think will both entertain and educate on the iPad, Android, and Windows 8 tablet devices...

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If Mom has been hinting she's always wanted a tablet (or an upgrade), now might be the time to jump on a tablet pricing war between Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Each of their respective tablet lines are discounted this week for Mother's Day...

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With Mother's Day just around the corner I decided to indulge my own mother (above) with an app roundup appealing to her favorite hobby: scrapbooking. She was kind enough to share several of her favorite apps she uses on her iPad to help plan and layout her scrapbook projects, a mix of apps for both inspiration and planning she refers to before the cutting and gluing process.

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The last we heard, Nintendo has sold over 32 million Wii Fit Balance Boards, which means there's a good chance you've got one stored away in the closet or media cabinet, neglected and forgotten since your last Wii-fueled workout. Even if you have no further plans for working out using the balance-oriented accessory, a new open-source Android application can breathe new life into the Balance Board as a fitness tool connected to your Android powered device...

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Running a small business out of your home has never been more attainable. Affordability of home office supplies have dipped, while the options for utility and features have spiked — the perfect combination for setting up a streamlined workspace at home. We've rounded up a handful of "pro" upgrades for anyone looking to boost productivity with a modest investment for the home office below...

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Google Now
• FREE
• Apple iTunes

If you're an iPhone user who has always wanted to dip your toes into the Android experience without actually giving up the iPhone and switching over to an Android device, now is an opportune time to download/update the Google Search app for iOS. The app is now infused with the push, info-rich goodness via Google's information card based alert system. We've included a video below the jump just in case you're not acquainted with what Google Now has to offer. But we doubt you'll ever want to go back once you compare Google Now versus the barebones iOS notification system. More

One of my earliest memories of spending time with my grandfather was watching him stand over an array of small pots in the dining room, carefully checking their growth. He explained to me that soon they would be ready to go outside in the garden, and eventually they would become vegetables. Not being super keen on some vegetables as a child, I had to squelch the desire to sabotage his budding collection waiting to be moved to the big plot outside. 

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