I love my gadgets but very few recent devices have caught my imagination like the current wave of activity and sleep trackers. Devices like the Fitbit Flex wristband and the UP wristband by Jawbone have the potential to change our lives by monitoring two of the most important elements that factor into our overall health: exercise and sleep.

The Fitbit Flex and the UP attach comfortably to your wrist but there are other activity trackers like the Fitbit One that attach to a belt or any other convenient item of clothing. Once activated, they literally track your activity every minute of the day. They record how many steps you take, how many calories you burn, how many minutes per day you are active, and, most importantly, how well you are sleeping.

Most activity trackers are compatible with the iPhone, iPad and a growing number of Android devices. Set up couldn’t be easier. You just download the relevant app from your app store, set up your account, and sync your phone with the activity tracking device. (The UP wristband syncs by plugging into the headset jack on your phone, while Fitbit devices sync wirelessly.)

As part of the set up process, you will be asked to set both movement and sleep goals. On the UP band, the default movement goal is 10,000 steps per day, which works out around 5 miles for the average person. Similarly, the default sleep setting is 8 hours, but you can set it to anything you want. After that, the activity band tracks your progress, giving you a detailed breakdown of how you are doing against each goal.

Even though 10,000 steps a day might sound like a lot, you will be surprised at how quickly those steps mount up. Remember, the activity tracker is monitoring every step you take, so even if you just get up to answer the door, that’s another 40 steps in the bank. Of course, the real goal is to get you to exercise and activity trackers are amazingly effective at doing just that. You might find that your dog is getting a lot more evening walks as you make sure you hit your daily goal!

Just as fascinating are the nighttime readouts. Not only do activity trackers record how long you slept but they can also tell you how long it took you to fall asleep, the amount of light sleep versus deep sleep, and how often you woke up during the night. After just a few days of use, you start forming habits that promote better quality sleep, which may ultimately be the biggest benefit of using one of these devices.

In addition to its automatic movement and sleep tracking capabilities, the activity trackers allow you to manually input and track various other activities, including your food and drink intake, your workouts, and even your moods! As with most connected device these days, you can also share your data with friends via Facebook or Twitter.

Activity trackers are one of those breakthrough categories that use state-of-the-art technology to completely transform an everyday activity. Try one and I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

Now it’s even easier for parents to get the information they need before buying a video game. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) – which assigns the ratings for video games – has released a new version of its free mobile app, which allows parents to get an in-depth rating summary of a game by taking a photo of the game box with their iPhone or Android camera.

Rating summaries, which are available at ESRB.org but are not displayed on game boxes, provide parents with a detailed, straight-forward explanation – including specific examples – of the content that factored into a game’s rating. By using the ESRB mobile app to access rating summaries, parents can make truly informed game choices for their children.

“When buying a video game for a child it’s important to check the game’s rating and understand its content to determine if it’s the right choice,” says ESRB president Patricia Vance. “With our new mobile app all you have to do a snap a photo to access the rating summary right from the store, where this information is usually needed most. By using the ESRB ratings – and tools like rating summaries – parents can be confident that they’re giving games this holiday season that are not only fun, but also appropriate.”

The ESRB mobile app is available for free via the Apple App Store or the Android Market. It offers easy access to ESRB rating information for over 20,000 titles by either taking a photo of the game box or typing in the name of the game. Rating summaries are available for all games rated since July 1, 2008, including most of the games that are likely to appear on kids’ wish lists this holiday season.

It’s one of the toughest day-to-day problems 21st century parents face: choosing which video games our children should be allowed to play. Where should you start? With your own values, of course. Next, step back and look at your child: every child’s different. Then, get some help (heaven knows, these days, we all need as much help as we can get!)

Here’s one place to get the help you need: the ESRB rating system.

ESRB is the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It’s the self-regulatory body for the videogame industry (just like the organization that rates movies, the MPAA). Nearly every game sold in the U.S. and Canada gets an ESRB rating: many stores won’t sell an unrated game and the major console manufacturers (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) won’t publish unrated games for their systems.

What the ratings tell you

ESRB’s ratings are intended to provide general guidance about a game’s content and age-appropriateness, but some games allow for online play that can let users add and change a game’s content in ways that may not be consistent with its ESRB rating. And, as soon as a player goes online, he or she might be competing with other players who don’t “fit the profile,” and might use the various chat features (text, voice, and in some cases video) available on many online-enabled games to harass other players, sometimes using harsh language.

Games that allow these types of online interactions among players carry a notice on the package as well as on the game’s opening screen that reads “Online Interactions Not Rated By The ESRB,” as a warning to consumers that these features may allow for the introduction of content not factored into the game’s rating.  All that being said, the ESRB ratings will give you a good general sense of whether you’ll be comfortable bringing a game into your home, just like the MPAA ratings do for movies.

There are six levels of ratings, from “Early Childhood” all the way to “Adults Only” games that shouldn’t be sold to anyone under 18. You’ll find these ratings on the front and back of the game box (and if you’re buying online, most e-commerce sites display them, too). Official rating category definitions are available on the ESRB’s website, but here’s our breakdown:

	Early Childhood For age 3 or older; nothing inappropriate here! Example: Jumpstart Advanced Preschool Fundamentals
	Everyone For age 6 or older: you might find a little “cartoon, fantasy or mild” violence and the occasional mean (but not obscene) word. Example: Super Mario Galaxy
	Everyone 10+ For age 10 or older: these titles are likely to contain a little more violence, a little tougher language, and maybe the occasional “suggestive” theme. Example: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
	Teen For age 13 or older: more violence and suggestive themes, crude humor, a little blood, some simulated gambling, and the occasional “strong language.” Example: Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
	Mature For age 17 and older: may have intense violence, blood and gore, and/or sexual content or significant strong language. Example: Halo 3
	Adults Only Should not be played by anyone younger than 18; may include “prolonged scenes of intense violence” and/or “graphic sexual content and nudity.”

There’s one more rating you might see, but only for games that haven’t been officially rated and released yet:

Rating Pending Make sure to check back when the game goes on sale for its final, official rating

Why it got that rating

So why did that game get the rating it got? What type of content might we as parents be interested in knowing about?  Look on the back of the box for the details. ESRB uses over 30 “content descriptors”: everything from “Comic Mischief” to “Use of Tobacco” to “Strong Sexual Content.”  Using both parts of the rating (the age ratings on the front and the content descriptors on the back) helps to give good guidance as to whether a particular game is right for your child.  But again, use your own judgment and knowledge of your child to make the best choices for him or her.

Rating Summary

If you’d like to go a bit deeper, the ESRB also offers a supplementary source of information about game content called “rating summaries,” which provide a brief explanation of the context and relevant content that factored into a game’s rating.  They’re a straight-forward, objective snapshot of exactly what parents would want to know about when deciding if a game is one they deem suitable for their child.  Rating summaries are available when searching for games on the ESRB website, via the ESRB rating search widget, as well as right from the video game store by logging onto ESRB’s mobile website at m.esrb.org.  They’re also available through the ESRB’s free ParenTools newsletter, which provides subscribers with a bi-monthly list of recently rated titles complete with rating summaries and customized to their selected preference of rating categories and game platforms.

Finally, a tip: don’t let your child tell you “everyone’s” playing that M-rated game. It’s just not true. Six in ten parents “never” allow their children to play M-rated games, and another third of them only do so “sometimes.”  In fact, parents of children under the age of 13 are more than twice as likely as those of older children to never allow their child to play an M-rated game.  If they’re not ready, stand your ground!

And there’s no shortage of games rated for younger players, either. A couple of years ago, only 6% of all ratings assigned by ESRB were for games rated “M” for Mature, and those games were responsible for only 15.5% of sales. In contrast, more than half of the ratings assigned by ESRB were “E” for Everyone.  E-rated games dominate the top-selling games each year, so there’s plenty of game choices that are both fun and appropriate.