Tweakersoft

by Forget Sharpies and highlighters, the new back to school essentials this fall are apps for your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. While cellphones used to be classroom contraband, the burgeoning market of educational apps means iOS devices are as welcome as loose leaf and pencils. This school year, free iOS apps can replace your pricey graphing calculator and clunky dictionary. Inexpensive planners will organize your homework, grades and finances. We’ve rounded up the essentials for the season, so you won’t go back to school unprepared. These 15 apps will keep your academic and extracurricular life on track. 1 of 15 Cost: Free Supported devices: iPhone and iPod touch Why you need it: No one likes to waste money on textbooks -- especially after putting your John Hancock on an increasingly fat tuition check. Amazon Student is here so you can avoid overpaying for your pile of books. Use the app to scan barcodes in the bookstore and compare your campus hub to Amazon.com's prices. Likewise, at the end of the term, exchange your used books, games, movies or gadgets for credit by scanning their barcodes. The icing on the cake? Free two-day shipping for college students. 1 Cost: Free Supported devices: iPad, iPhone and iPod touch (with limited functions) Why you need it: If you're headed to a new town to study, AroundMe is a great tool to help you get the lay of the land. The app finds the nearest banks, hospitals, bars, gas stations, hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, taxi companies, theaters and supermarkets. With AroundMe on your iOS device, you'll limit the perpetual U-turns and mistaken directions that come standard with learning a new city. 2 Cost: $2.99 Supported devices: iPad, iPhone and iPod touch Why you need it: Don't consider buying a dictionary for your dorm room with this app on the market. Without an Internet connection, this mobile dictionary and thesaurus gives you access to nearly 2,000,000 words. Turn on the popular Word of the Day notifications to improve your vocabulary. 3 Cost: $9.99 Supported devices: iPad and iPhone Why you need it: Create, edit and share Word (.doc, .docx), PowerPoint and PDF files from your iOS device with Documents To Go. Add last minute edits to your papers or takes notes on presentations without lugging around your laptop. The mobile app now includes intricate formatting options, so even work done from your iPhone can look Read More

I've looked at Where To? before and found it to be a handy, easy to use local guide when I'm looking for anything from Art Galleries to the Zoo. It has info on nearby food, shopping, health care and attractions. The latest version of this app has added improvements to the animations in augmented reality mode, a new direction indicator, and support for Google Earth. It has connectivity to the Motion X GPS program for directions in addition to the existing TomTom and Navigon apps. Where To? also adds store hours when provided by a business. I found that many entries had that information. There's no shortage of these local info apps, and I've always liked Around Me which has some similar capabilities but without the links to nav apps. I like the improvements in this version of the Where To? app. It is an 11 MB download, works in 10 different languages and requires iOS 3.0 or later. I think it's a worthwhile addition to your basket of travel and information apps. Check the gallery for some screen shots. Where To? is available for US$2.99 from the App Store, but is on sale for $0.99 until Sunday August 21. Read More

I can't believe it. August is here which means the summer is just about over and the back to school season is almost upon us. So go buy your books, sharpen your pencils and grab these five iOS apps to help you start off the school year on the right foot: Grades 2 is an app that will help you reach your target GPA. It'll let you input your classes, their assignments and your scores as the semester progresses. If you input a target grade, the app will tell you what you need to score on your assignments to reach your goal. iHomework is the ultimate organizer for students. It lets you keep track of courses, teacher information, assignments, grades and more. It has a built-in calendar and reminder system. It also works on your iPhone or iPad and has a Mac app so you can sync your information across all three devices. Snoozerr is an audio recording app that you can use to record lectures. It also integrates with the iPhone camera and lets you snap a photo during a lecture. The app will timestamp the photo so you can sync the visual content with the audio and get all parts of the lecture. AroundMe is a GPS app that shows you points of interests like gas stations and banks around you. It's perfect for the first-year college student who's venturing out for the first time to a new location. Last but not least is the Guinness Pub finder app. One of the joys of upper-class college living is the ability to go out and have a good meal with a cold beer at a local pub. The pub finder app lets you find a local tavern that sells the hearty stout. It also lets you rate the establishment and receive tips on drinking a proper mug of Guinness. A 99-cent in-app purchase will add a trivia-based game or a gallery of Guinness images. Read More

Get an accurate heart-rate reading by putting the tip of your index finger on the smartphone's camera. If you don't have a phone with a flash, you need to be somewhere well lit for it to work. "I have to admit that I'm the non-runner in the family, but I'm hearing lots of good things about this app. The perfect plan to get someone who is exercise-averse off their butt, out of the house and onto the mean streets. The settings, social-networking links and the integration with your music collection are all designed to swing even the most recalcitrant jogger into action." SH "This app is the perfect blend of analogue meets digital. You can take a photo from your smartphone, then send a physical postcard of that photo straight to your grandma in England." AF An iPhone app that lets you make free phone calls to other iPhone users who have Viber installed. "A good alternative to Skype that seems to integrate better with the way people use their phones. It utilises your contacts list to tell you who else is using it and also receives calls when the app isn't active." AF A surprisingly accurate talk-to-type tool that records your spoken words as text, then sends them via email or text, or copies them to your clipboard. Leaves you with no excuse for texting while driving. "Bump two phones together and you can pass on contact details, photos, music and apps. Great if you've run out of business cards." - KC Whether in the nearest Macca's, cafe or bookstore, this searches and finds public free and paid Wi-Fi hot spots near you, anywhere in the world. Can filter by venue types and providers. Turns your iPhone into a wireless, external hard drive that you can connect to your email, website or home computer. If you're greedy for even more space, you can pay $8.99 for the Pro version. Lets you use your iPhone as a wireless touch pad, mouse or keyboard with your computer, so you don't have to get up from the couch to write that pesky email. It does require you to download and install the app on your PC as well, but that's relatively simple. Uses live streaming to bring you more than 40,000 radio stations from all around the world, which can be recorded, paused and rewound. Search station by genre, language or location.   Read More

I've looked at Where To? in the past, and found it a well thought out way to find points of interest in your vicinity. Another plus is that it integrates with the Navigon and TomTom apps so that you can send information for precise navigation. Now the app has added a new wrinkle: augmented reality. Basically that means, in either portrait or landscape mode, your camera will activate, and points of interest in categories that you select can be seen layered over the real-time image. The closer the location, the bigger the marker. Generally, I think augmented reality is overblown and not all that helpful, but the developers of Where To? have overcome some of the hazards of the feature and made it easier to use. When lots of labels appear very close together, you can zoom in and move them apart. Improvements have also been made to eliminate compass lag, which has affected more than a few AR apps. If you liked Where To? before, you'll like the improvements. The augmented reality feature is an additional $0.99 cents over the US$2.99 purchase price of the app, and you can try the feature free for 30 days. I think this implementation of AR works well, and it has clearly been thought out. There are plenty of free apps that will give you the same information, like Around Me or Google Places. If you don't opt for the AR feature, you'll get maps of your destinations or a list view with the closest locations at the top. All the apps draw from the same database, but I like the integration of Navigon and TomTom, and I think the AR is actually useful rather than a gimmick. I do think it should have just been included in the basic purchase price, but on the other hand, I think it is worth the extra dollar. Where To? runs on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It requires iOS 3.0 or greater. Read More

Sur le même principe qu'AroundMe, Google Places vous permet de trouver à proximité un distributeur de billet, un bar, une station-service, un hôpital, un cinéma, un restaurant, etc. Mais cette première version gratuite semble toutefois un peu limité. On retrouve comme habituellement sur ce genre d'outil, un moteur de recherche par catégories des points d'intérêts pratiques, culturels ou de consommation présent à proximité de vous. Plusieurs résultats peuvent vous être proposés et pour vous aider à affiner votre choix, vous avez accès aux commentaires sur le lieu, déposés par les autres utilisateurs de Google Places, mais également à des avis extraits de sites de notation. En entrant vos identifiants Google, vous pourrez vous même déposer votre avis, et donner une note aux lieux proposés. Une fois votre choix fait, vous avez accès à l'adresse complète, éventuellement le téléphone du lieu. Vous pouvez également bien visualiser son emplacement sur une carte Google Maps et définir un itinéraire pour y aller. Voilà pour les points positifs. Ce qui fâchent un peu dans cette première version délivrée par Google, c'est tout d'abord qu'elle ne soit proposée qu'en anglais. Aussi, elle est basée sur le système de géolocalisation de votre iPhone/iPod Touch qu'il faudra impérativement débloqué. Et ne permet pas d'entrer une autre adresse pour anticiper sa recherche de points d'intérêts. Mais encore une fois, il ne s'agit que de la première version de Google Places, gratuite sur l'AppStore, et la société de Mountain View a promis sur son blog dédié à l'application des améliorations à venir, notamment en ce qui concerne la langue. Read More

There's no shortage of location-based search apps. One of my favorites is Around Me, but there are plenty of others. Smith Micro has come up with its own search app that has some nice additions, and misses a few things too. The free app, called Locality, uses Google searching to find the nearest restaurants, pharmacies, hospitals, etc. It does that well, generating a list of places, or it can show them on a map. One nice feature is an 'Events' function, so you can see things that might be of special interest around you. Some things it found were local concerts, antique shows, and some commercial events like sales at local stores. The app also features a selection of geo-tagged photos. They are provided by Panoramio, and it's a nice addition to this compact little app. Sadly, the photos are only one way affairs. You can see submitted photos, but you can't submit them from the Locality app. (Panoramio has a free app that lets you do this from your iPhone.) You can email the photos, or the app can give you directions to where the photo was taken. which is a useful feature. I'd like to see it do the same with pictures from your own camera roll. I gave the app a spin here in Southern Arizona. There were plenty of destinations to explore, although as is often the case with the Google data, it can be out of date. Some searches didn't go too well. A search for a keyword could get hits that were not relevant. It didn't happen all the time, but enough to be irritating. I'd like to see some more detail in categories. Rather than just a broad restaurant search, I'd like to be able to search for Greek, or Italian or Thai food. Favorites can be shared and bookmarked. The app is ad supported, and small strip of ads appear at the bottom of the screen. I did not find them intrusive. Locality is good for what it is. It has a few added features, but lacks the ability to search with more precision. It's worth a download for your collection of travel and navigation related apps. Locality is a universal app for the iPhone and iPad. Read More

One great thing about Android phones is their ability to help you orient yourself, based on your exact location. With navigation tools, you can find your way to anywhere you'd like to go. The Android market has a number of navigation apps to choose from, helping you track down garage sales and avoiding speed traps along the way. Google Maps is one of the best free navigation tools for Android. The app gives turn-by-turn directions for walking, transit or driving, with an option for spoken navigation, as well. Search for nearby venues, track traffic, and access Google Maps Street View from this app. You can also view friends' locations, and add custom layers. Navigate your surroundings with the popular iPhone and Android app, AroundMe. Free, AroundMe will navigate you to businesses in your vicinity. Broken down by category, you can filter results based on distance to your current GPS location. Waze is a free mobile app available for iPhone and Android users. With several layer options for your immediate location, you can find nearby venues, avoid police traps, keep track of friends, and receive traffic updates. The crowd-sourced contributions for Waze add context to your mobile navigation, orienting the tool for your purposes. WisePilot's free Android app adds a custom touch by tracking your history and letting you add favorites to your navigation locations. Similar to Waze, WisePilot aggregates speed alerts, weather updates and venue details along with its navigation tool. Though based in the U.K., WisePilot works for U.S. users, even with local search. BackCountry Navigator is an add-on for accessing the full version of the Android app. For $9.99, you get offline topography maps, aerial photography and road maps, which you can use to navigate unmarked terrain. Designed for the adventuresome, hikers and hunters will make the best use of this outdoor recreation tool. Appreciate a good yard-sale find? Try the Garage Sale Rover. This $2.99 Android app maps local yard sales, pulled from Craigslist, and gives you turn-by-turn directions to each. Now you'll catch all the yard sales you want, without having to scour the city aimlessly. Save sales of interest, plot your path, and get to roving! Read More

28 Jul 2010 alle 09:00 Produttore: Tweakersoft | Download Link: AppStore | Prezzo: Gratis AroundMe è un’ottima utility tutta italiana che permette di trovare velocemente i POI disponibili nelle vicinanze, tramite l’utilizzo della geolocalizzazione. L’applicazione è stata aggiornata da poche ore alla versione 4.0.1.0 ed introduce il supporto all’iPhone 4. In particolare, troviamo: Ricordiamo inoltre che poco tempo fa c’è stato l’aggiornamento per l’iOS 4 con le seguenti novità: AroundMe è compatibile con iPhone e iPod Touch, richiede il firmware 3.1 o successivi ed è localizzata in Italiano, Inglese, Francese, Spagnolo, Tedesco e Giapponese. Read More

9 Feb 2010 alle 21:17 Produttore: Tweakersoft | Download Link: AppStore | Prezzo: Gratis AroundMe è un’ottima utility tutta italiana che permette di trovare velocemente i POI disponibili nelle vicinanze, tramite l’utilizzo della geolocalizzazione. Dopo aver risolto i problemi legati alla visualizzazione delle mappe, è stata aggiornata alla versione 3.5.3 risolvendo alcuni piccoli problemi riscontrati dall’utenza che vi elenchiamo di seguito. AroundMe è compatibile con iPhone e iPod Touch, richiede il firmware 3.1 o successivi ed è localizzata in Italiano, Inglese, Francese, Spagnolo, Tedesco e Giapponese. Grazie iAlex83 per la segnalazione Push Read More