Blog entry August 2010

Mobicip is proud to be associated with an active (often hyperactive) app developer community comprised of parents like you.

MomsWithApps has been featured on ABC News, Fox News, SFO Chronicls, Washington Post, etc. Here is an excerpt from the latest article on their blog that happens to feature Mobicip's Safe Browser in addition to several family-friendly apps for the iPad.

Are you considering an iPad purchase for your family? If so, the developers at Moms With Apps are creating content to make the iPad shine.  In this post the Moms With Apps developer group highlights apps that have made a big impression with the kids and families of our community. We hope this starting point illustrates how the iPad can be an interactive tool for people of all ages!

Follow this link to see the rest of the article.

Education Apps Review (IEAR.org) recently posted a review about Mobicip, their review is below and can be found on the IEAR blog.  In their review, IEAR shares the overall educational value of Mobicip: "This app is very important for education because it allows schools to send the devices home without having to worry about what the student may access."  Thank you IEAR.org!

IEAR Review: 
"Purpose: This app is essential for schools that send the iPod touch home with students.  Mobicip is a safe Internet browser that replaces Safari on the iPods interface.  Instead of Safari, students click on the Mobicip icon to access the Internet.  The functionality is the same as Safari but students now only have access to safe sites.  Teachers and administrators can set the filtering level based upon the age of the student.

In addition to the basic app, teachers also have the ability to subscribe to the premium service ($9.99. annually), which allows for more customization.  Teachers can block or allow websites and categories on the device in order to have more control over what the student sees.  Teachers are also able to login to the Internet and view each device and monitor what sites the students have accessed.   There are also a number of reports that teachers can run that shows what types of sites are blocked and how often they were accessed.

Program Functionality: The navigation of Mobicip is essentially the same as Safari.  It is very easy to use.  Initially the teacher will need to set it up on the iPod so they can enter the login credentials.  This is done only once.  After this, the student can open the Mobicip icon and it will go straight to the Internet.

I especially like the bookmarks that come with Mobicip.  These are all safe and useful websites for the kids to access.

Overall Educational Value: This app is very important for education because it allows schools to send the devices home without having to worry about what the student may access."


 

Scott Meech, the founder of IEAR.org (Education Apps Review), recently featured Mobicip as a resource in an IEAR.org Classroom Live 2.0 Session. You can find his slides below as well as a link to his blog post: http://www.iear.org/iear/2010/8/14/classroom-20-live-session-8142010.html

David Burt, an expert on internet filtering and parental control software, writes on his GetParentalControls blog:

A new survey by BlogHer and Parenting Magazine recently recorded the views of 1,032 moms regarding their attitudes and practices regarding the use of technology by their children.  The survey was fielded on two separate populations:
•568 digitally savvy moms aged 18-49 in the BlogHer Publishing Network
•464 moms aged 18+ on the Parenting Mom Connection panel 

The survey found high levels of involvement from both samples, including a whopping 85 percent using “parental controls for TV, computers, web browsers.”  According to the survey’s author, the digitally savvy moms were slightly less likely to use parental controls, but both used them at very high levels.

Click here for the full article on David's blog.

While the survey covers computers and web browsers, it doesn't dig deeper to ask similar questions about mobile and personal Internet devices like the iPod Touch, iPad or DSi for instance. From our experience, awareness about the Internet access anytime anywhere on these devices is pretty low among moms and parents. We do expect this to change as they become more aware of the time that kids spend on these devices and the content that they are exposed to.

Thousand Oaks, CA - Mobicip.com, the leading internet safety and parental control service for mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad is getting more and more adoption by family friendly groups, associations and organizations due to the rise in mobile web usage by their constituents.  Smart families use Mobicip to help keep the quality of content intact while making mobile learning a safe, secure, family-friendly experience that everyone can enjoy. Mobicip.com’s mobile application software provides the most comprehensive online content filtering service to protect kids and teens’ mobile experience.

“As a father of two, I personally understand the concern families have about the quality of content their kids and teens may access on mobile devices” says Suren Rammasubu, founder and CEO of Mobicip.com.  “We created the most intelligent content filtering technology so parents could allow their kids to use popular sites like Google but be able to screen inappropriate content that is not family-friendly.  We are seeing more family-focused groups like PTAs, church groups, etc. recommend our service due to the comprehensive technology, ease of use and controls, which makes me a proud family man.”

Mobicip's service is being used by thousands of parents around the world, and by many school districts to enable safe mobile learning in and out of the classroom. Comal Independent School District Teacher, Ann Jeanette Patton, shares: “Had we not had a restricted internet service like Mobicip, I wouldn’t have allowed them (the mobile devices) in the room as a tool, because of the monitoring that would have had to have occurred and plus they couldn’t have taken them (iPod's) home. So, I very much (sic) strongly affirm that Mobicip is an integral part of this process."

“The Mobicip Safe Browser's intuitive design is easy-to-use. It looks almost identical to the preferred Safari browser resident on many Apple products, says Teresa DiFalco, a reviewer for Parents’ Choice.” “Searches on inappropriate content produce a simple ‘access is denied’ message and a link to the Mobicip website where a parent or administrator can, if they desire, change the filtering level. There are three age-appropriate levels: elementary, middle school, and high school.”

Mobicip’s Safe Browser app for kids and teens is available on the iPhone App Store, and the service is available at www.mobicip.com.

About Mobicip’s Online Content Filtering for Family-Friendly Mobile Use
Mobicip is the most powerful Internet filtering and parental control software designed specifically to work with mobile devices.  Parents, educators and family friendly groups use Mobicip’s custom web filtering so kids and teens can use the internet safely, securely and specific to their age, interests and parent/educator requirements.  The Safe Browser iPhone app is the most popular parental control app on the iPhone App store.  Kids are mobile – parents use Mobicip to ensure their mobile kids are safely using their mobile devices, even without supervision.  Learn more about Mobicip at www.Mobicip.com.