SurfBalance, a new app for the iPhone and iPod touch is available at
the Apple App Store
(http://itunes.com/apps/SurfBalanceSafeBrowserForKids). It costs
US$14.99 and is compatible with all Apple devices running iPhone OS
2.2 through iPhone OS 3.0.
SurfBalance combines a full-screen mobile web browser with features
that go beyond traditional web site filtering to guide young web
users to develop better web usage habits, says its developers. The
browser lets parents guide, limit and verify their kids’ web use,
even if they’re connecting to the web through mobile hotspots that
typically don’t limit site access.
SurfBalance provides a catalog, which parents can modify, of more
than 1,000 kid-friendly sites. The app tracks and displays total
usage and usage by category. This feature helps kids understand how
they spend time on the web and helps them find appropriate sites.
SurfBalance provides category level filtering, individual site level
controls, and daily and weekly web time browsing limits to limit web
travels. Parents can choose from three different site category filter
levels to match the maturity of the users. When users try to visit a
blocked site, they can request permission to view the blocked site.
Parents can review these site visit requests and decide whether to
allow access to the site or continue blocking. Parents can also
choose to limit the maximum browsing time by day and week.
Parents can receive daily or weekly email reports detailing total web
usage time, browsing activity by category, and a list of Web sites
where kids visit the most, along with links to review the sites
directly from the report.
