Category Archives: Personal Apps
Wear Your Android On Your Wrist – Sony Smartwatch Out Now
We’ve all been there right? You’re in the middle of a Uni Tute or Client Meeting and you can feel your phone vibrating away in your pocket, you’re ever so keen to have a quick look and see who rang or if that was a life changing text message that just arrived. There’s nothing worse and you can’t wait to get out to a break and check in with the World.
Well now thanks to Sony, you don’t have to wait. Just casually glance down at your wrist and in James Bond style, read your messages or view your missed calls live from your phone screen. Yes really.
Wearable technology has been creeping in to our lives for some time now, but getting the mix right has always been a bit tricky for the hardware makers and fashion houses to get right.
The Sony Smartwatch is discreet enough that it might just work. For one, you won’t have that Secret Agent look of the 90′s wearing your Bluetooth headset flashing away in the local night spot for one. Although recharging might be a challenge, you might look a little odd having a micro USB cable going from your wrist to a wall socket or PC hub! Just saying.
Available right now from Kogan in black for the great price of only $129.
Many features are available right out of the box, however Sony advise the Smartwatch is customisable with a range of Apps from the Play Store.
Flipboard For Android Officially Released
The long awaited flipping news reader made famous on the iPlatform and first released on the Galaxy SIII, is now available to one and all right from the Play Store.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago the App was calling for Beta Testers, but no more Beta testing, we are now Gold and Live!
Flipboard has to be the most eagerly awaited App release on Android and is a gorgeous and stylish way to read your favourite news and Social Media sites on your phone or tablet.
So what are you waiting for, get downloading or hit the scan below.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Leaked Prior to I/O 2012
Well there you have it, straight from the, err, Android’s mouth! As snapped by an avid Android fan on Google’s very own hardware site is a Galaxy Nexus soon to be sporting Jelly Bean.
In typical Android fashion, the Galaxy Nexus will be the very first to don the latest clothes from Google (still makes us want a Nexus dammit!).
One thing that is a little odd though, is that Google have not made an entire version jump with Jelly Bean. One would have expected Jelly Bean to be Android 4.0, as in previous iterations of the popular mobile OS.
Although, Eclair was 2.0 and Froyo 2.1 and Gingerbread 2.3. It wasn’t until Honeycomb (tablet only) that Android made the jump to 3.0 then Ice Cream Sandwich saw the leap to 4.0.
Details are not yet clear of what to expect from Jelly Bean as leaks have been pretty well contained this time round, however we don’t have long to go as we would anticipate Jelly Bean to be released at Google I/O 2012, this time next week!
There have also been suggestions that Google I/O could also see the launch of the Android/ Google Vanilla tablet codenamed Nexus Tablet. Nexus is widely rumoured to be a Vanilla Jelly Bean 7″ Tablet, manufactured by Asus.
And don’t forget, the only way to follow all the very latest news from Google I/O 2012 is with its very own app, available from the Play Store, or scan below.
Source: Ausdroid, Redmond Pie, Google I/O
Never Miss Your Favourite Shows With IceTV For Android
Don’t you hate that sinking feeling, when you’ve just left town for the weekend and you realise you forgot to program your DVR to record your favourite movie or sporting event?
What do you? Turn around, call a friend? No, if you have Ice TV, simply pull your Android out of your pocket and schedule the recording there and then. It couldn’t be simpler.
Filling a real niche in the market, Australian EPG (Electronic Program Guide) Specialists Ice TV have been at the very forefront of the technology since its inception in digital set top boxes some 6 or so years ago.
Well before the days of Freeview, you could hook your Beyonwiz, Topfield or other brand DVR up to an Ice TV subscription and receive full EPG data to your recorder, which allowed you to schedule recordings in advance as well as receive in depth information on your upcoming shows.
A couple of years ago, Ice TV took the service a step further and allowed Subscribers to log in via the Interwebs to follow, track, edit and record their favourite series. What else to do on a lunch break than to pre-set your next month’s worth of TV… Before TiVo was cool (or ever), Ice TV allowed full series recording, allowing the control even of HD or SD channels, first runs, or repeats.
In the last 12 months or so, the service has been perfected for mobile, in particular, Android! The Ice TV app is available as a free download in the Google Play store and allows access to all your Recordings, upcoming 7 day EPG, and other information you can view on new TV shows as well as old favourites.
There is a plethora of information available via your Android, and from our own testing runs perfectly well on a simple 3G connection, on Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich, above screenshot was from our Samsung Galaxy SIII, but we also tested on an ICS Galaxy SII and Gingerbread and ICS Galaxy Note; as well as our Asus Transformer tablet. The tablet really is an ideal layout for reading all about your favourite shows.
So, if you love to be in control of your TV and not the other way around, best you scoot on across to Ice TV’s website and sign up for a free trial.
Your TV will thank you for it.
Facebook Opens App Store, Mobile Included
Facebook have finally taken the wraps off its long awaited App Store, and is ready with open arms for all web and mobile users to dive right in start clicking.
Accessible via your Web Browser at https://www.facebook.com/appcenter, you are greated with a familiar (to anyone who has used the Google Play Store or iTunes) layout of the most popular highest paying Apps at the top, then a long menu of Genres down the left hand side.
You can choose to then install your App on Web or Mobile, or Play the game live in your browser. You can also filter the lists to your Preference.
When browsing through Mobile Apps, choosing a new game for your phone is as easy as clicking on Send To Mobile
At which point in time a message appears on your mobile Facebook app, advising there is a new App available and it is then installed.
We have had the embarrassing occurrence a couple of times though where the App has only been available on iDevices only – woops!
The Facebook App Store has been in the works for some time, and is the first step in Facebook turning their immense mobile market into actual Commercial dollars and cents.
How long before we start seeing paid apps is anyone’s guess, but for now, go forth and discover, there are over 600 apps available right now!
Look for the dedicated app soon in the Play Store.
Instapaper Hits Android Play Store
The gap between our iSheep friends and our shiny Droids is ever tightening, with news today that the wildly popular “read it later” app, Instapaper, has now launched on the Play Store.
Instapaper now joins those other two iMoguls, Flipboard and Instagram on the other side of the fence and is finding the grass is just as green here too.
Filling a niche perfectly, Instapaper is all about capturing the busy Blog or Website reader at a busy moment, don’t have time to catch that story now, no problem, share it with Instapaper and read it a very non-fussed manner, with nice big, always perfect clear font. No need for squinting or resizing. Instapaper always knows exactly the right size for your story, your device and your eyes.
Instapaper creator Marco Arment was none too fussed about creating his masterpiece on Android though, so he entrusted this to Tumblr creators Mobelux with the project, citing they were “a great fit with a compatible heritage’.
So go forth and download, available right now on the Play Store for only AUD$3.07/ USD$2.99.
Source: The Verge
