Tech Tuesday Review & Giveaway: Readeo.com – Read together whether you’re in the same room or thousands of miles apart

Since moving far away from family last summer, we’ve become quite familiar with our webcams. Video chatting has allowed my family the chance to watch Kieran show off her latest ballet moves and the chance to see Brendan when he was just days old.  Now enter Readeo.com, which takes the idea of video chatting a whole new direction. This brand new online service provides numerous popular children’s books available for reading between two parties. Video is combined to create a shared reading experience called BookChat^TM. These scanned books have a realistic flipping action of the pages that bring the idea of story-time online to life. Kieran and I tested it out with her grandparents. She couldn’t get enough! After the first book she asked her grandma to “read another book, please”.  This went on for about four more books. The only reason we tended to stop at each session was because the grandparents had to leave!

Readeo was born of the idea to connect families across the miles through story time. They realize that families nowadays are scattered not just across the country, but across the world. From parents in the military stationed overseas to grandparents across town, Readeo provides the opportunity for families to connect in a new and fun way.

One charming aspect of the site—you can create “bookshelves” and put your favorite titles on it for quick and easy access. The picture quality is excellent.  It really is like looking at the book. Kieran even got excited the last time we were loading it up, commenting “Oooooh, I like this Readeo thing!” Readeo keeps my almost three-year-old’s attention as much as reading to her in the home, if not more.  She enjoyed having the video at the bottom of the screen as well so she could see her grandparents.  While my daughter was enjoying story-time with her grandparents, I would sit next to her on the floor and have some extra playtime with my three month old.  It was a win-win situation!

There were a few things, however, that should be addressed.  It appears everything about the book is the same as in the original book, right down to the blank pages. In starting “The Biggest Job of All”, after you read the cover page, there are 2 blank pages. For a bit, we wondered if the pages were still loading up, but realized that wasn’t the case.  It was, simply, 2 blank pages. I think for an online version there should be a way to streamline this. Also, the size of the words in some of the books were quite difficult to read for Kieran’s sight-impaired grandparents. In some books, the text was so small it seemed like were reading the book in 6 point font (The Boy Who Painted Dragons). If it’s possible, I think it would be nice for a user to zoom in on the text, without affecting the other users screen so they can see the print better. In another book, the text color was black on a dark blue background (The Circus Ship), again making it difficult to read. An easy solution was to just pick a different book, which suited us fine. All in all, this is a great concept and Kieran and I really enjoyed using it.

That’s IT Mommy Friends Heather, Kieran & Brendan

GIVEAWAY

Readeo.com is offering five (5) winners a one-year subscription to their online service.

MAIN ENTRY – Visit www.readeo.com and tell us the first book you’ll be reading if you win. Come back here and leave your comment in the comment box below. (Remember if this MAIN ENTRY is not followed then no other entries will count)

Extra entries – Lots of ways to earn more entries. Please, leave each extra entry in a separate comment.

* 2 Extra Entries – Follow Readeo on Twitter and let us know. (leave 2 separate comments #1, #2)

* 2 Extra Entries – Like Readeo on Facebook and let us know.

* 1 Extra Entry – Follow us on Twitter and let us know.

* 1 Extra Entry – Like on us on Facebook and let us know.

* 1 Extra Entry – Follow us on Networked Blogs

* 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe to our RSS feed or by email (or let us know if you already subscribe).

* 1 Extra Entry – Tweet this giveaway. – Read together whether you’re in the same room or 1,000s of miles apart. Win a subscription 2 Readeo.com! @thatsitmommy http://wp.me/pAWsG-WY

** Let us know that you tweeted in a separate comment. Come back daily!

* 2 Extra Entries – Have a Blog? Blog about this giveaway and leave the url of your post in a separate comment below.

This giveaway will run through midnight on June 7, 2010 (PST) with winner being announced sometime on or before June 9, 2010 (PST). Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact us before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S and Canadian residents. (18+).

* We did not receive monetary compensation for this review.
* Heather was given full access to readeo.com to facilitate this review.
 This will in no way sway our opinion of the product or service.
The review is in our own words and is our opinion. Your results and opinions may differ.

Related posts:

1. Tech Tuesday: PicPocket Books Review & Giveaway
2. Tech Tuesday: Lightscoop® – Quality and Dimension
3. Tech Tuesday: PhotoWorks – Shop, Upload, Buy, Share
4. Tech Tuesday: GelaSkins Review
5. Tech Tuesday: HoodLoupe, for you camera accessory junkies

Tagged as: BookChat, reading, technology, video