Phonics Monkey FTW!
Nothing really to add, other than when I first saw this infomercial I mentioned it to my friends who have two young children, and they watched it and did some research, and decided it wasn't a bad thing, but they figured their kids could learn as much in the traditional ways (being read to, phonics cards etc.) so passed on it. It's probably fine, just not necessary. And as some have said, how can you lose with another learning tool?