Imagine holding up five crisp $100 bills in a crowd and you have an idea of the potential for a quick loss of your iPhone or Blackberry.

My wife, while riding the bus, lost hers in just this way last week. She was sitting opposite the middle doors of the bus and was checking her email. The bus stopped, a kid grabbed the phone, and she watched in shock as he ran out the doors just as they closed. She, at first didn’t even realize what happened and neither did any of her fellow riders. When she spoke to ATT and to have the phone shut off, they related to her that this type of crime is on the rise.

With the proliferation of devices that fit nicely into our lives and provide multimedia experiences wherever we are comes an increased risk of theft. A while back it was simple iPod with their tell-tale white headphones, and now it is iPhones and the like, because people are often standing in a crowded space holding on with one hand, often while completely unaware of their surroundings. The police are even busting iPhone theft rings, organized to steal and traffic in phones, especially those stolen directly from retail stores.

During this crowded holiday season, just keep it in mind, and hold on to the phone a bit tighter or more discretely. It’s too bad that it’s a threat, but you’re better off protecting it than funding someone else’s holiday shopping at your expense.

As they say, there isn’t anything in the world that isn’t on the iPhone or won’t be there someday. It will be interesting to see the limits, but a new one being broken is kids book adventures for the tiny screen.

We’ve been testing four titles from my daughter and son’s favorite book titles and have their review here.   

Hadley’s Review (age 9): These games are very entertaining if you’re sitting around being bored. The only bad part about the I Spy game is that, unlike the books, it is very hard to see things on your tiny iphone screen,otherwise this game is good for ages 6 and up. I thought Word Girl was boring. I didn’t like 39 Clues, though I like the books.

Paul’s review: I agree with Hadley, but even more so. For adult eyes, the I Spy games are a bit hard to play. While I Spy preserves has a lot of the good parts from the books and software, the iPhone app is almost too small for one person, let alone playing together which is most of the fun of iSpy. My daughter just ran to get an I Spy book so she could see the bigger image to solve one of the riddles. Note that these are familiar illustrations and puzzles that you will find in the books. This might be a good thing since they are hard to see.

39 Clues is really a maze puzzle with less educational content. There are additional pieces that fill in parts of the 39 Clues story, but they won’t make sense if you haven’t read the books.

Word Girl tells VERY simple stories in simple illustration form, asking kids to choose between three vocabulary words to finish the sentence. The announcer voice is painfully bad, and the stories are pretty shallow, but each game has a simple video game that might entertain little kids.

I SPY Riddle Race: Combines the classic I SPY search-and-find play with the appeal of board games and timed challenges. Inspired by the best-selling Scholastic franchise, I SPY Riddle Race includes 60 interactive puzzles and is ideal for kids who love I SPY or casual gamers who love hidden objects

I SPY Spooky Mansion: Takes players on a hidden object adventure through a scary and mysterious mansion where the only escape is to collect keys by solving classic I SPY riddles and puzzles.

THE 39 CLUES Madrigal Maze: Solve a mystery that spans the world and history! Based on the best-selling multimedia program by Scholastic, The 39 Clues Madrigal Maze app takes players on a training mission to solve a series of 39 mazes and become a member of a top secret organization in the hunt for The 39 Clues. Players who accept the challenge and succeed will unlock exclusive access to a secret Madrigal Encryption Key on www.the39clues.com.

WORDGIRL Word Hunt: Behind every good hero is a good word! Based on the Emmy award-winning television series from Scholastic, the WordGirl Word Hunt app takes budding superheroes on an action-packed adventure to help WordGirl save the city from villains by using vocabulary words. Featuring favorite characters from the TV show that airs Monday through Friday on PBS KIDS GO! and online at pbskidsgo.org, players will save the day while learning over 100 word definitions in 40 rounds of crime-fighting gameplay.

The apps are available for either $1.99 or $3.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

GreatDad.com Review Policy: The featured product for this review was provided to us, at no cost, by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. We do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. We only review products that we have personally tested and used in our own homes, and all opinions expressed are our own.

I’m happy to report that our new app that helps dads find local activities via their phone is off to a great start. We’ll be launching the iPhone version as soon as Apple gives the green light.

Check out some of these positive comments:

This is a great app and is very useful, but didn’t recieve 5 stars because it seems to be focused on San Fransisco when I use it

Unbelievable, makes finding fun ideas so easy along with directions and everything u need 2 know. Sorry dads, i’m a mom using this

This is a really good app. Now I have a place to find different activies do with my kids. For sure a Man Secret!!!

I never knew half of this stuff was around! Mums world take aid from this also. But its best kept a guy secret!

I feel guilty i havent done 95% of the stuff this app says i could be doing with my kid right now!

i live in philly and i didnlt know half of the places here i could take my kids. love it love it love it! 5 stars

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