2013
A cleaner, faster and more personalized Google Maps is coming
Although Google has kept most of its secrets close to the chest, it seems an updated Google Maps may be announced today at Google IO 2013 based on a discovery by DroidLife. They discovered a special landing page that says "tailored map for every search" Based on the screenshots they provided, it looks much more like a mobile influenced design with WebGL overviews (taken from Google Earth), built in Flight Search and a feature to compare multiple modes of transportation on the same map.
Best Business Card OCR App For The IPhone
As a leader in a multinational organization, I meet dozens of people every week and need a way to easily (and reliably) capture their contact information and make it available anytime/anywhere I need it. There are dozens of Business Card OCR apps in the Apple itunes AppStore but most have one fatal flaw, they rely on technology to recognize the information on the business card which means you will have to manually correct all of the transcription errors. Human transcription is better Enter the wonderful world of manually transcribed business cards provided for free by CardMunch.
Blackberry Chat (BBM) coming to IOS and Android
This is not a joke. Blackberry has confirmed that it will be opening its venerable messaging platform (BBM) to IOS and Android users. The ETA is sometime "this summer" conditional on approval from Google and Apple. It will launch as a FREE app on each of the appstores. They will bring straight one-on-one and group messaging at first but plan to introduce more advanced functionality is subsequent releases (voice, screen sharing, etc). Thorsten Heins, Blackberry CEO, said he is "
Roam Mobility offers competitive US roaming for Canadians
Previously I have published articles about the new roaming plans from Fido and Rogers. Although their plans are acceptable to the casual user, many smartphone owners may find these plans restrictive and too expensive for longer trips. This is whereRoam Mobility steps in to offer different plans for customers with unlocked smartphones or those who buy Roam's devices. What's so special about Roam Mobility Roam offers a wide range of SIM cards to accomodate all GSM phones : standard SIM, microSIM, nanoSIM (like the iPhone 5).
Google consolidating all your storage into one 15GB chunck
Until recently, each Google service had it's own distinct Google Storage and unused space couldn't be shared between services. As an example, you have 10GB of GMAIL storage but only 5GB for Google Drive. If you want to use 10GB for Drive and 5GB for GMAIL you couldn't.... until now. The sultant of search has informed its citizens that it will henceforth consolidate all storage into one giant shareable pool of 15 GB. This means you can use any of that storage with any Google service you want (no more artificial storage walls or barriers.
Rogers offers US roaming for $7.99 a day
In February, I wrote about a new Fido plan that offered US roaming for $7.99 a day. I wanted to remind Rogers customers that they too have the same option. The plan costs $7.99 a day [for US bound travellers] which comes with 50MB of 3G data a day. Some some of us, 50MB seems extremely limiting but Rogers assures us that this is "twice the data a Rogers wireless customer would typically use per day while in Canada". Telus and Bell don't yet offer by the day plans for Canadians visiting the US: Telus has a plan that costs $40 and offers 100MB for 30 days ($1 per extra MB).
PicShop HD for IOS – Photo Editor - Free today on itunes
PicShop HD is a universal IOS app (works on iPhone, Ipad mini and iPad) and allows you to easily perform basic editing on the go. It includes basic photo improvement tools, frames, stickers and of course filters. You can save your masterpiece in the camera roll or upload it to Facebook or Twitter. Normally PicShop HD is $4.99 but you can get it free on the itunes store today.
Nokia teases upcoming Lumia “more than your eyes can see”
Nokia has started teasing the public about its upcoming Nokia device that will be announced tomorrow morning (May 14) at 5am ET. The video shows the device's camera, its "dual" flash and teasing "more than your eyes can see". Most expect Nokia to release the much rumored Lumia "Catwalk". The "Catwalk" is a rumored codename for a device that is expected to have a 1.5GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, 4.5" octaOLED display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a 8.
GoSleep pods make sleeping or sex at the airport affordable
The Abu Dhabi Airport has installed 10 GoSleep sleep pods (out of a total 35). These pods will be rented for $12 per hour and each pod provides a secure private sleeping area with internet access, electrical charging ports and a secure storage locker for your luggage. This is expensive for longer stays but much cheaper than a hotel room for short stays. You can leave the privacy cover open, partially closed or completely closed. I love the concept for short power naps but have some concerns about cleanliness.
Websites can now save directly to your Google Drive
If I want to save a web hosted file on Google drive, I have to download it to my PC then upload it to Google Drive. Google has now released a simple code snippet developers can add to their sites which will allow users to download files directly to their Google Drive (called "Save to Drive"). <script src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script> <div class="g-savetodrive" data-filename="My Statement.pdf" data-sitename="My Company Name" src="/path/to/myfile.pdf"> </div> Read the Google blog post here.
Boston switches from Microsoft to Google services
Google has been on the offensive trying to convince customers to move from Microsoft to it's cloud services. Over the year, we have heard many high profile switches and now the city of Boston is jumping ship (and taking its 20,000 users with it). The city estimates that switching from Exchange to Google Gmail will save it $280,000 per year It’s not just the gee whiz factor: It’s also a matter of money. It will cost Boston around $800,000 to move over to Gmail, Google Docs for word processing, and Google’s cloud service for storing documents.
FocusTwist is a Lytro alternative for the iPhone
FocusTwist from Arqspin on Vimeo. FocusTwist is a fresh app that simulates the Light Field Technology intriduced by Lytro (only it costs $2 instead of $400). The app takes several pictures at different focus settings and then creates a Lytro style interactive picture that can be "re-focused" after the fact. It works best with subjects that don't move in well lit conditions. You can see sample picture taken by existing users and shared on twitter here.
KLYPAPP for iPhone review - take pictures by clapping (free app)
My go to camera app on the iPhone is Camera+ but I thought some of you may find this useful so I am sharing it. Klypapp is a new app by Manfrotto, the kingpin of photo accessories and enables you to take pictures by simply clapping your hands (great for group shots you want to be in). It has a basic settings menu where you can set timer, delay, number of photos per activation, etc. There is a night mode that increases the camera's sensitivity (clearer shot in darker situations but a hige increase in noise).
Best video recording app for the iPhone
For most iPhone owners, the built-in camera and video app is more than enough. For the rest of us, there is FiLMiC Pro. Best App Ever Awards: video nominee 2011, 2012 Best App Ever finalist, Tap! Magazine Gizmodo Essential App 2011, 2012 Best Video App of 2011 - TUAW, Editors Pick 5 Stars, Editors Review, cnet.com App of the Week, Time.com/Techland Editorʼs Choice - Wired, Film Riot, Macworld During the Zacuto "Revenge of the Great Camera Shoot Out"
Samsung pushing OTA update for Canadian Galaxy S4 devices
SamMobile is reporting that Samsung is pushing an update (I337MVLUAMDJ) to its Kies servers. This is typically the first step of the general availability of an Over The Air update. Based on their analysis, it seems to be a bug fix release improving performance and stability. Typically the update should become available in the next week or so.
Facebook may be interested in WAZE GPS
Mark Zuckerberg is clearly taking mobile very seriously and want premium placement on your smartphone. We all heard of the Instagram acquisition last year and the release of Facebook home [for select Android phones]. Israeli newspaper Calcalilst is now reporting that Facebook may be interested in snapping up Waze. Acquiring Waze and mapping users to their Facebook accounts would provider incredibly valuable signals to the social goliath it can use to further target ads. It will be interesting to see if this $1 billion deal actually materializes and if it does, how Waze's existing users will react.
Paper cup and stir stick in one
Yanko design has created a simple paper cup, called the +4.5 paper cup, that has a built in stiff stir stick. Simple, cheap and ingenius. Yanko webpage here.
#OPUSA Looks like some Saudi anonymous groups have joined in
Site hacked : http://2flirt.us