If you're 'appy and you know it vote for meeee!

App-ologies for the naff title of this post.

Sorry. No more app puns, promise.

I recently had the opportunity to work with Three UK who are looking to develop a brand new time-saving smartphone app. I helped set up a workshop in Manchester with my friends from the North West. We worked with an app developer and brainstormed app ideas.

Huge thanks to everyone who couldn't make the event, but emailed with ideas (Mediocre Mum, Nickie from Typecast, Amy from And 1 More Means Four and 1 More, Cara from Freckles Family and Cheshire Claire).

My team on the day named themselves 'Appy Mums. 'Appy Mums are: Geek Mummy, Lindy from Squidgyboo, Second Time Mummy, Kate from the Five F's Blog and my non-blogging friend, Lisa (yes, I have real life friends)!

It was such good fun. It felt like we were in an episode of The Apprentice, only one where we all genuinely got on!

We threw around loads of ideas and finally settled on...

Drumroll please...

The Weekly Meal Plan.
"Forgetting items during the weekly shop will be a thing of the past with Weekly Meal Plan. Parents can plot recipes and meal ideas on a calendar, automatically creating a weekly shopping list that calculates the quantities of ingredients needed based on the number of adults and children in the household."

We are up against four other teams from around the country. To see the other app ideas and to vote on your favourite head to the On The Go Mums tab of the Three UK Facebook page. Voting closes 18th July 2011.

The winning app will be launched as a free download and the winning team will be treated to a slap-up meal.

Oh and here is our video explaining more about our app (no sniggering at the back):

We're really proud of our idea and would love you to vote for us by clicking the 'Like' button by our idea. Thank you.






Disclosure: Three paid my travel expenses to the event and have provided me with an iPhone4 on the One Plan with the all-you-can-eat data package, along with a MiFi, paid for until the end of the year. 

If you're 'appy and you know it vote for meeee!

I'm an 'On the Go' Mum with Three

I was invited to be an 'On the Go' Mum with Three. My initital reaction was 'I can't, I'm a technical dunce', but I guess that's my angle. I'm keen to learn how a smartphone can save me time.

Three's research found that mums could save 135 hours per year by making the most of their mobiles.  I want 135 more hours per year! At the fantastic launch event we discussed ways to save time and money with mobile internet. In the two weeks that I've had a smartphone (with MiFi) I've been able to get online and reply to emails when out and about. I've used Google Maps for directions and Vouchercloud to get instant discounts. I'm loving the app store at the moment.

The time I've saved by being away from my laptop has so far been spent playing I'm afraid (I'm Sandy Calico on Words With Friends if you fancy a game), but I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon. There are some wonderful educational apps and I've let my boys play on my phone when I've needed a little time to make phone calls (using my other phone!). This has been a life-saver as I'm dealing with solicitors and estate agents in readiness for our second house move of the year. I can also keep an eye on Twitter and read blog posts when the boys are playing in the garden and I'm huddling in my white plastic garden chair trying to keep warm.

If you have any favourite apps, please let me know in the comments. We can share time-saving tips.

Also if you've got a great idea for app that would help you save time in your busy life, well, we may be able to do something about that! More on that at a later date.

In the meantime...

Are you Britain's busiest mum? You can find this brilliant competition on Three's Facebook Page

"We’re on a mission to reward Britain’s busiest mums with the precious gift of time.

We’ve got weekly prizes of BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphones up for grabs, as well as a five star holiday to the Caribbean for one lucky winner and their family, including a make-over and photoshoot in OK! magazine

For your chance to win, tell us in 50 words or less why you, or a mum you know, should be crowned Britain’s Busiest Mum, and how a mobile makeover could help save you time.

We’ll also donate £1 to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity for every entry."

Good luck if you enter yourself, your mum or a friend.



Disclosure: Three paid my travel expenses to the launch event and have provided me with an iPhone4 on the One Plan with the all-you-can-eat data package, along with a MiFi, paid for until the end of the year. Oh yes, I also had lunch with Denise Van Outen:

That's Denise, on the right. She is such a friendly person and completely down to earth. We chatted about babies, parenting and the In the Night Garden iPad app that her daughter loves.

Here are someone else's gorgeous children being distracted by an iPad:

We also got taught how to ice cupcakes:

I decorated these. No, really I did!

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I'm an 'On the Go' Mum with Three