Justin Bieber, Mega Celebrities in Music, Film, TV Sports Converge With Tech at CES


Technology
by Janis Brett Elspas



Las Vegas experienced a huge influx of world-class pop culture and entertainment talent last week for the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show. That's because dozens of recognizable celebrities were in town for appearances at various consumer tech company press conferences, show booths, parties and events held in conjunction with CES over the course of a handful of days. 

Justin Bieber at 2012 CES Showing New mRobo Ultra Bass
Photo courtesy of MWW Group on Behalf of TOSY

Most well-known -- at least among tween and teen fans -- was 17 year-old sensation Justin Bieber, the Grammy-nominated platinum pop star singer who was invited to the TOSY Robotics booth at Las Vegas Convention Center to help the Vietnamese firm introduce the mRobo Ultra Bass, a pint-sized Bieber-inspired concept that transforms from an audio speaker into an 18" tall dancing robot capable of holding up to 500 songs. According to the company the futuristic product is expected to launch in Fall 2012 and retail for about $199.
Will Smith Joins Sony on Stage to View Clips from the Upcoming MIB3
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Another big name descending into Fabulous Las Vegas was actor Will Smith, who appeared during a press conference led by Phil Molyneoux, COO of Sony Electronics. Here, a mind-boggling number of news announcements were delivered in rapid fire fashion about a slew of new Sony connected consumer products across a wide range of categories. Among them were Bloggie Live, the world’s first MP4 full HD pocket camera capable of live video streaming with built-in Wi-Fi and the wedge-shaped Sony Tablet S. Watch for individual MBE reviews on these innovative products soon. Smith, for his part, was on hand for a sneak preview of Men in Black MIB 3 from Sony and Columbia Pictures to be released in theaters May 25, 2012.

Not to be outdone by someone who has been in the public eye a few more years longer than she has was American Idol - Season 1 winner and multi-platinum singer and songwriter Kelly Clarkson who performed her hit song Mr. Know It All from the new album Stronger. It's amazing to think that this super talented vocalist has only been in the public eye for about 10 years, yet she has sold 20 million albums worldwide to date. Watch the press conference with Smith's CES appearance on stage and the performance of Clarkson by clicking on the Sony UStream Window above.

Nicole Polizzi on the Red Carpet, iHip Fete at Gallery at Planet Hollywood  Las Vegas
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Also there was Nicole Nicole Polizzi best known as Snooki on the hit reality TV show Jersey Shore on hand at the iHip booth to launch her dazzling brand of headphones as well as headlining an exclusive party held by the brand at The Gallery Night Club at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas. Carl Banks of New York Giants fame; Jose "Hyde" Cotto, urban music pioneer; and DJ Luny Tunes all made appearances during CES to promote new personal branded iHip headphones, too. 
Monster Announces Partnership With Earth, Wind & Fire at The Venetian
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Verdine White bassist of the iconic group Earth, Wind & Fire -- an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an 8-time Grammy Award winning ensemble -- shared the podium at the Monster press conference with Head Monster Noel Lee at The Venetian Hotel. White was there to celebrate the group's partnership with Monster and to roll-out a new line of advanced consumer electronic products inspired by his classic band starting with the high performance and elegant Gratitude headphones. Monster, BTW, also announced at CES it has dropped the word Cable from its name. 
 
Two Bond Girls Present James Bond on Blu-Ray at Panasonic Booth
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Meanwhile over at the Panasonic booth celebrating the 50th anniversary of the James Bond entity and announcing a commemorative boxed set of all 22 films on Blu-Ray from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment were Bond Girls and actresses Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale). This was followed by an all-star panel chat with three directors from the legendary series: John Glen (five Bond films), Martin Campbell (2 Bond films), and Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough).

Justin Bieber has a blast at mRobo Press Conference
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Other CES Star Sightings...

Tom Hanks at a private CES event launching Electric City on Yahoo! Larry Johnson, New York Knicks and Ron Duguay, New York Rangers in uniform at Duracell Powermat booth. Also rapper/actor LL Cool J who demo-ed the Boomdizzle Virtual Studio with live recording of his new song, No More at the CNET stage while his engineer was in New York. Additional notables: Jillian Michaels, TV personality and fitness guru; rapper 50 Cent; Dennis Rodman, NBA Hall of Fame; Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011; NBA legends Robert Horry and John Salley; and an eclectic collection of others.
Ice Sculpture at 2012 CES Unveiled Event
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Who are your favorite stars? If you could attend just one of these CES events which one would you choose and why? Please leave a comment and share.

FTC Disclosure: I was invited to attend these events as a member of the press covering the news for MBE. This blog did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this particular post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.
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Hard Working Mom Tech Bloggers Take a Brief Break from Covering the 2012 International CES

Technology

What an awesome, exciting, and exhausting week CES was. Here's a photo of a lighter moment during a special tour for an elite group of tech bloggers, including me. It was great seeing so many of my old blogging friends as well as meeting a few new ones too as the show and conference -- I especially was thrilled to finally meet The Online Mom in person who I've known for years and who organized the Verizon event for us to meet with the brand's PR and management people.

This set of pictures was taken at the Verizon Photo Booth of the Future in one of those cavernous Consumer Electronics Show exhibit halls at Las Vegas Convention Center. That's me in the second row on right in black shirt with my reading glasses on top of my head. Feel free to tag yourself in this photo which I've also posted on MBE's Facebook page.

Learned about lots of really cool and practical cutting edge technologies last week, so watch for many more tech posts about the show as soon as I can unpack and write about them all!
 


FTC Disclosure: I was an invited guest of Verizon for a special tour of their CES booth as well as the event that followed; I also received a gift bag from the brand. However, the opinions expressed here are my own and MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment associated with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.
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10 Twitter Parties This Week With Major Consumer Brand Giveaways Moms & Women Will Love

Twitter Parties 

Updated 1/17/12

Both moms who blog and moms and women in general that  just want to win some great prizes and interact with like-minded others will want to check into participating in your choice of this week's upcoming Twitter parties. Be sure to revisit this post throughout the week as I'll be updating it and adding more fun online events for you to attend this week as they are discovered.
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Monday, January 16
9 pm EST
Share Your Packing Tips #TMom Twitter Party, hosted by @ TravelingMoms. Prize at end of party.
RSVP

Tuesday, January 17

7-8 pm EST 
Fancy Food Show #MomsandBrands Twitter Party sponsored by Winter Fancy Food Show, San Francisco and hosted by @KemiIngram
Prizes from the upcoming #WFF12 Show such as GoGo Squeez and ACTIVATE Drinks
RSVP

8-9 pm EST
2nd Bloggy Conference 2012 Twitter Party #Bloggycon hosted by @BloggyMoms. Prize provided by Plum District.
RSVP 

9-11 pm EST
Bushs Beans Twitter Party on Winter chili, soups, and stews, hosted by @MomItForward and sponsored by #BushsBeans #Gno. Prizes: $250 of Bushs Beans & cooking equipment. RSVP 

Wednesday, January 18

8-9 pm EST
The #Handwriting Twitter Party hosted by @TheGraciousGirl and sponsored by @CraneandCo, @Sheaffer_Page and @StationeryTrend. Prizes from Crane & Co. and Sheaffer.
RSVP 

8-9 pm EST
Movies on Demand #MODAwards Twitter Party hosted by @MomSpark. Prizes include $200 Visa Giftcard plus GCs from Sephora, American Express, Best Buy & more.
RSVP

Thursday, January 19

9-10 pm EST
Friends & Family Twitter Party hosted by @busymommymedia and sponsored by Hasbro. Follow them @familygamenight to join the fun and conversation about tips and game ideas for your next party with hash tag #GameNight. Prizes: Hasbro's favorite party games (1 Grand Prize Package and 15 individual game winners).
RSVP

9-10 pm EST 
Tide Cold Water Twitter Party #Washcold, sponsored by Tide and P&G Future Friendly and hosted by SheSpeaks.com 
Prizes include Grand Prize: Whirlpool High Efficiency Washing Machine plus $700 worth of prizes including a Honey-Can-Do Triple Laundry Sorter, a Suncast Recycle Bin and more.
RSVP 

9-10 pm EST
Get Back in Shape Fitness Twitter Party #GetItGuide w/ @YahooShine and @Bookieboo. Prizes: Fitness DVDs & Amazon GC

Sunday, January 22

During Downton Abbey Broadcast EST
The @MasterpiecePBS Downton Abbey Season 2 Twitter Party #DowntonPBS , event repeats weekly all season.



FTC Disclosure: MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.
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Toyota Unveils New Prius Family Member at Detroit Auto Show - Highest City MPG of Any Car in U.S.

Automotive

America got its first look at the newest addition to the Prius family from Toyota last week. Known as the Prius c, this new hybrid car was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 10.  Having just finished a test drive and been impressed by the fuel efficiency and handling of another Toyota model -- the 2012 Prius v that will be reviewed separately on this blog shortly -- I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the latest Prius vehicle soon to experience it first-hand.

The 2012 Toyota Prius v, big sister to the brand new Prius c
iPhone photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

The smaller and shorter Prius c -- the c stands for "city" -- will be available in March 2012. At 53 mpg in town and 46 mpg on the highway with a combined rating of 50 mpg, this urban-friendly model has the highest in-city fuel efficiency of any car without a plug in America according to Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc.

Designed as a five-door hatchback with a starting MSRP below $19,000, this all-new vehicle will usher in Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive to the subcompact market when it goes on sale. This car will be offered in three new uber cool colors: Habanero, Moonglow, and Summer Rain Metallic, in addition to existing hues such as Blue Streak Metallic, Absolutely Red, Black Sand Pearl, Magnetic Gray Metallic, Classic Silver Metallic, and Super White.


Debut of the Prius c at the Detroit Auto Show, January 10, 2012

The Prius c joins siblings that include the third generation Prius Liftback and the new Prius v, both already on the market, and the Prius Plug-in Hybrid which will debut early this year. Since the first generation of the Prius was introduced to consumers 14 years ago, more than two million of the brand's units have been sold around the world. With Prius c, Toyota's most proven hybrid technology will finally be available to subcompact car shoppers, in addition to having access to options such as the car manufacturer's sophisticated Entunes system which was first announced last summer.

Based on what I've learned so far about this car and my own current experience with the Toyota brand -- because of its hip styling and pricing -- I wouldn't be surprised if the Prius c sells particularly well to first-time and youthful drivers as well as to older consumers who are young at heart but also budget conscious.

Have you test driven any hybrid cars? If yes, what did you think of the experience?




FTC Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the Toyota Women Influencers Network TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of Toyota or any of its brands. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.
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15 Free Educational Craft Ideas & Printable Kids Activities for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

History

Monday, January 16 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S.  This day -- which always occurs on a Monday as a legal holiday -- marks the anniversary of this great civil rights leader's birth on January 15, 1929.   Like many other Baby Boomers, I remember King's marches, learning about racial equality in elementary school, and his gravely unfortunate murder in 1968. To keep his memory alive for the generations born since his passing it is important to educate children about who King was and how he impacted the course of history in America. Here are a variety of educational and craft projects for kids so they can better understand what Martin Luther King, Jr. was all about.

Craft Ideas, Educational Projects & Printables 

From Crayola

From TLC.com

From Activity Village

From DLTK

From KinderArt

From Education.com

From The Holiday Zone

From Education World

From Teacher Vision

From About.com/Homeschooling




FTC Disclosure: This blog did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this particular post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.   
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