Techstination Week is a compilation of this week's Techstination reports with tech journalist and host Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.   Toys that are fun…but give kids new learning experiences…are what a lot of parents are looking for this holiday season.  At VTech and the company’s Leap Frog brand…there are lots of toys that fit nicely into that category.  One favorite is the Magic Adventures Globe that has added high quality BBC videos…more than five hours worth in all…that are displayed on a screen at the base of the globe.  There are games and quizzes built in too.  Mr. Scribble’s Scribble and Write is designed to make learning to write numbers and letters more fun.  And for a platform that can grow with a child, it is hard to top the LeapStart Preschool Success interactive learning system.  It uses the ever growing LeapStart library.  And Vtech’s Paw Patrol Learning Watch is entertaining and fun too.  Check out www.VTechkids.com for more.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

OK Play app creates family fun for kids & parents: Co-founder Travis Chen chats with Techstination.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Kitche is the name of an app…introduced initially in the U.K…that aims to cut kitchen waste.  The plan is to bring it to the U.S. as well.  Co-founder and CEO Alex Vlassopulos says the app scans your supermarket receipts…reminds you to use the food before it goes bad…and even can provide you with recipes…

“And one of the reasons we created Kitche is I was in the park with friends and they were complaining about their food waste which I didn’t understand.  I cook at home for my family, I don’t waste food.  And they were saying we forget what we’ve got at home.  We go shopping and then we buy it again.  So this solves that problem because you have an on the go version of your kitchen in an app.”

It’s among the hottest apps in the U.K..  and we look forward to it coming here.  The site for more info is www.kitche.co. You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.   When it comes to easy to use software for restoring old photos and documents, Restore from Vivid-Pix is the best we’ve seen.  And the latest update makes it even better.  CEO Rick Voight says among the new features..

“You’re able to zoom into an image, and you’re now able to enter the information that’s important into a side screen and all of that information that you’re now able to read and transcribe goes directly into the image metadata.”

So you can save the names of relatives or friends from years gone by into the photo for future generations.  You can try Restore for free at www.vivid-pix.com.  And the price to buy is about fifty dollars and you’ll find it’s one click simple.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  With Covid-19 cases continuing to skyrocket, Google has added a new layer to Google Maps to help you see the risks before you head to a location.  Google’s Justin Burr…

“In order to unlock that feature, just go into Google Maps, click on the little diamond looking thing on the right hand corner and from there you’re going to be able to see all the different layer options…and one of those is Covid-19 layers.  Once you click into that, it’s going to show that in real time on Google Maps and you can zoom in, zoom out.”

Google has also added more types of locations…such as parks…to help you see how many people are currently in a location…a feature previously available to help avoid crowds at shopping locations and restaurants.  Google once again has shopping tips online to help you find some of the best deals.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Consumer shopping trends still shifting: IBM Public Cloud VP Aki Duvvur in Techstination interview.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  The National Retail Federation’s annual survey of consumers has found nearly 60 percent of us plan to do more of our holiday shopping online this year.  Not a big surprise given Covid-19.  And Amazon…the online retail behemoth…is telling consumers they can find great deals without having to wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday….

“So if you go to Amazon.com/holidaydash you will find deep discounts across all of our categories from kitchen, home, toys, electronics, beauty, fashion…there’s really something for everyone to find on any budget.”

Amazon’s Katie Larsen…who says it has increased hiring to help make sure the crush of holiday orders are fulfilled as promised.  The site again is Amazon.com/holidaydash.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination Week is a compilation of this week's Techstination reports with tech journalist and host Fred Fishkin.