Tag / ios

by Kush Sharma

7 Apps that every traveler should have

Here are some apps to get you started and on  the way to getting extra value for the money you spend on your upcoming trips, and also in a way unlocking your smartphone’s hidden potential.

Ask A Nomad

ask-a-nomad

For any new place you visit, inevitably there are bound to be a lot of questions – mostly regarding which place to visit. Quite simply, Ask A Nomad lets you ask a question, and get answers from other users who may have some idea about that subject. This is a lot more interactive than just searching for information on the web. Alternatively, you can also answer questions about places you’ve been to. The app divides the world very neatly into continents, countries and then cities. This makes asking a new question, reading other discussions and replying to a query simpler. Better way of getting all the information you need about a place, from people who have probably already been there.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS devices

Agoda.com

Agoda

This is an app you should definitely refer to, because it will surely have information  on the hotel that you plan on staying in. Considering over 1,50,000 hotels worldwide are a part of this database, users can search for hotels based on pricing and type, and even get special deals. This service also lets you book using credit card, along with special offers and deals from time to time.

We believe that even though you may find it a little risky to book from here, it is useful app to check out and compare hotels.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS devices

Foursquare

foursquare

This app isn’t very new, but it is a must have on every smart mobile device and most people have used it. But if you have a number of contacts who are explorers in their own right, this may just be the app for you.

Utilise the knowledge base of your friends to get information about a place you’re going to visit, or have already checked in to. Also get recommendations from other users who have visited the place and written reviews about it.

Price: Free

Platform: Android, Blackberry, iOS, Symbian  and Windows Phone

Expensify

expensify

Use Expensify on your Android™ device to log expenses, capture receipt images and manage reports on the go! Even better, SmartScan will read your receipt images, fill out the expense details, and create a new expense (or attach to an automatically imported bank/card transaction).

An essential app for business travelers, Expensify allows users to scan or log their receipts to be compiled into expense reports.

Price: Free

Platform: Android, iOS

Google Translate & Goggles

google-goggles

Google Translate helps you make sense of 63 different languages. You can even speak text to be translated into the local language.

Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a bar code or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles can read text in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish, and translate it into other languages.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android

WeatherBug

weatherbugIf you are sensitive to weather changes or do not like snowfall or rainfall, you would obviously be interested to find out about the weather in the places where you are going to be during your trip. WeatherBug gives accurate and reliable weather information, letting you know beforehand the kind of weather you can expect during your stay in a foreign city.

This app allows you access to the most reliable weather stations across North America to find out the exact weather conditions at thousands of locations around the world. You can thus avoid places where weather is not to your liking if you have this app installed.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android

Google Maps

Whether you need directions to your destination, the closest good place for a bite to eat, or just a sense of where you are, Google Maps for Android can help.

Immediately after Apple Maps landed, customers and critics complained loudly (and rightly) of inaccurate location search and a lack of map data over points of interest. Fortunately, Google does search better than most everyone, and Google Maps for iOS is no exception. You also can search for addresses like you would expect, but also landmarks, local restaurants, businesses, and common search terms like “pizza.” Google database is more extensive and generally much more accurate than Apple’s offering.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Symbian

 

by Kush Sharma

Control your pointer with WiFi Mouse App

wifi-mouse-wide

No need to use your old tech mouse in this era where Android/iOS is making its mark of gadgets. Transform your phone/tablet into a wireless mouse, keyboard and trackpad using WiFi Mouse. WiFi Mouse supports speech-to-text as well as multi-finger trackpad gestures. WiFi Mouse enables you to control your PC, MAC or HTPC effortlessly through a local network connection.

XDA Senior Member Williams Joe offers up computer control app. In the above video XDA Developer TV Producer TK reviews Wi-Fi Mouse. TK shows off the application and gives us his thoughts, so check out this app review.

Features:
* Mouse curser movement
* left and right click support
* Middle mouse button scroll
* Remote keyboard input
* PC/Mac hot keys and combination key
* Speech-to-text input for all languages
* Mouse & keyboard full screen
* Auto-connect on application startup
* Compatible with XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Mac OSX.

Gestures:
* Tap-to-click
* Two finger tap for right click
* Two finger scroll
* Pinch to zoom
* Three finger drag & drop or highlight
* Four finger swipe down to show desktop
* Four finger swipe up to maximise current window
* Four finger swipe sideways to change current window focus
* Left handed mouse support (swap left and right mouse click)

How It Works

For an app this advanced it’s fairly easy to set up, all you’ve got to do is install the app from the Play Store and then install the Server software. I can’t speak for Mac Users but the installation on Windows was pain-free and more importantly – safe and unobtrusive.

After that all you have to do is open up the app on your phone and then either click auto-connect and wait for the magic to happen. I manually entered the IP address because I really don’t trust Windows and networking but in testing both worked fine.

Conclusion

To control a PC off in the distance or just use touch for a change through your smartphone is brilliant. Its execution is good as well, a solid application that serves it’s purpose almost flawlessly. These apps were all the rage some years ago and whilst you could say this app is trying to revive a trend I’d disagree because the app changes the rules and gives you an experience that touchpad manufacturers have struggled to deliver in laptops for years – through your smartphone.

Get the app from Play Store.

by Kush Sharma

Evernote

evernote

Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.

Why Use Evernote?
Without the Evernote app, I’d be a lot less productive while I’m away from my desk, when the only device I typically carry is an iPhone 5. This free, straightforward note-making and –syncing app outrivals most competing apps thanks to its strong search capabilities, effortless tagging features, and  simple organization. But the real key to its success and popularity is that Evernote synchronizes all your files by saving them to a cloud service, meaning anything you create or alter from your iPhone will be there waiting for you when you log into any other version of Evernote, such as Evernote for iPad,Evernote Web app, Evernote for Windows, and every other platform where it’s supported.

Evernote excels when it comes to searching your notes. Evernote can find typed text, as well as text that shows up in images, including handwriting. Let’s say you’re walking or driving by a new shop, and you want to jot down its name, address, and phone number. You can pop open Evernote and simply take a photo of the store’s window or awning where that information is likely to appear. Later, just search for anything you can remember about the business, either the first few digits of the phone number or the name of the business, and Evernote will find the photo. Although I’ve been able to stump Evernote’s OCR, it’s reliable on the whole.

In a nutshell, Evernote lets you create all kinds of electronic files—text files, images and photos, audio or voice memos, and videos—and gives you access to them through a variety of interface Log into any of these access points with your Evernote account, and you’ll be able to read, write, search, and otherwise utilize all your files.

 

 

With the new interface, you now have easy ways to view your information no matter how you have it organized. Whether you rely on using notebooks, places, or tags to find your notes, you switch to a view tailored to your preference that shows you a handy list of each. This is a much better experience than the older versions of the app provided, putting all the ways to browse Evernote only a couple of taps away.

My only beef with this app is that the premium version offers all the important tools you need, but costs more than most people will want to pay. With Premium, you get PIN access to keep your professional documents safe; you can use and edit documents offline when there’s no connection; you can view past versions of your notes with note history; and much more. I understand that a company needs to make money and Evernote is a great service, but I think $5 per month puts it out of reach of many users (like students who could really take advantage of the app), and after only a few months your investment in the service will be more than it’s worth.

The good: Evernote gives you access to your notes, images, and voice recordings on all your devices. A premium subscription includes PIN access, among other features.

The bad: Evernote Premium offers the ideal setup with PIN access, document history, offline notebooks, and priority support, but a $5 monthly subscription is simply too steep.

The bottom line: If you’re looking for a note-taking app that syncs across all platforms — or just an easy way to keep track of your digital odds and ends — Evernote is a worthwhile download.