Apps Category Archive

PDF Reader iPad Edition App Review

4 Replies Steve August

Before the arrival of tablets, I used to read books on my computer. Then I moved to iPad, because of its mobility and the tactile feel in my hands. As I started using it, I had to try a few PDF reader apps for reading eBooks. Let me review one such app.

PDF Reader iPad Edition was a bit pricey, especially given that I was looking at the app in order to save money on eBooks, but because of all the positive reviews and interest on the web I decided to go with it. The interface is easy to use, it has the balance between simplicity and many functions that every app should look for, and it enables you to carry as many books with you as you could ever read. Plus, the ability to download almost any .pdf file from the internet on the go can be a real life saver. It’s not without its issues though, like a few interface errors that can sometimes lead to crashes.

PDF Reader iTunes Store image

You can jump to your .pdf library to open and read your stored PDF’s, jump to the Import section to add new content to your library, even scan and compile new PDF’s from photographs. Managing files is not difficult, and reading your stored. This PDF Reader is is as intuitive as any eBook reader out there. This simplicity of use is important for any utility that could potentially be one of the most used apps on an iPad, so this is definitely something the makers of PDF Reader iPad Edition did well. Users can also copy and paste text from your files, edit them, comment on them, even fill in signatures with the touch screen.

The only issue with the interface was a tendency to stutter while trying to scroll quickly through large lists or through a PDF file. This can be quite a frustration, but only very rarely leads to more complete crashes or bugs. If you read or work from your iPad in almost any capacity, iPad Reader PDF Edition will quickly pay for itself. This app is compatible with iPad and requires iOS 4.3 or later.

There’s an app for that

5 Replies Christopher Roberts

On June the 26th 2007, smartphones didn’t exist. Mobile phones, and computers were two very different things. A day later (27/06/2007) Apple launched the iPhone.

You could argue that there were ‘smartphones’ pre-iPhone, but many in the technology industry view the iPhone as the tipping point and birth-date of the modern smartphone – no inverted commas.

With the launch of the iPhone, came the launch of apps. A few years later along came tablets – and what would a tablet be without apps?

In this post I want to explore some of those apps. Not the apps like Angry Birds, Rayman Jungle Run, Skype and Fruit Ninja though, they are what you expect from applications – games and communication. In this post I am going to explore some of the more innovative uses for apps.

Mirror

Ever desperately needed a mirror just when there are none in sight? Mirror by mmapps mobile, is a free app for Android which turns your phone into a usable mirror! The app even lets you zoom in and out and freeze the mirror, something that no mirror I have ever used does.

The app is available in many different languages, and similar apps are available for iDevices, however mmapps mobile don’t make an ‘i’ version.

Square Wallet

Square Wallet is an application which lets you fully embrace mobile payment. With Square Wallet, you can link your credit card to your phone, and then, in a surprisingly large number of retailers, pay for goods, using your phone! The app also lets you track transactions, so you can keep track of what you are buying.

Square Wallet is available for iDevices with iOS 5.0 or later, and Androids via Google Play.

Inflora Flower App

Interflora smartphone appTen years ago, who would have thought that you could be out and about, and on a device which fits in your hand, and order a bouquet of flowers? Probably not many people!

The flower delivery company Interflora has an app where you can do just that. Naturally its called Interflora, and can be download for free for iDevices – any iPod, iPhone or iPad with iOS 3.0 or later. Interflora is also available to download for Android devices. The app gives you access to a wide range of flowers, information (such as delivery details and a description) and prices; you can even order your gift using the app!

Zite Personalised Magazine

If you like to keep up to date with the latest news, and you like the news your way, then Zite is the perfect app for you.

Zite trawls through your Facebook and Twitter feeds to work out what you like to read. The application then created you your very own personalised magazine to read, and the more you use it, the cleverer it gets, and the more tailored your content become – to a point where it should only be displaying content you really want to read.

Zite is available for free for all iDevices with iOS 6.0 or later, although the developers state that is is specifically designed for the iPhone, as opposed to tablets. Zite is also available on Android.

Flow Powered

Flow Powered - NutellaAmazon have recently released an augmented reality app called Flow Power, which can identify millions of real life products (using your phones camera), and can then tell you more information about them.

The app ‘knows’ thousands of books, games and CDs, and is able to tell you about almost anything, if you scan the barcode.

Be it a novel, or a box of chocolates, the app can tell you how much it costs and what other people think of it – pretty clever huh?

Flow Powered is available for Android via Google Play and iOS 4.2 and more recent iDevices through iTunes.

It seems like there is an app for almost everything these days, be it an app to help you apply make-up, order flowers or tell you the price of a video game. There’s an app for that!

Smartphones really are smart.

AireTalk Android App Review

Leave a reply Steve August

Just when we thought communications can’t get better than this, there are developers out there who outperform what is already there on the table. VOIP has been one of the prime focuses on development, and with the sudden burst in Android market, more and more developers are now pouring into creating state of the art applications that dramatically increase chatting, calling and messaging services. Recently, making its mark in this field has been AireTalk – an application by PingShow which attempts to provide these features on Android and iOS.

Nothing comes for free in this world, although the prices might not be visible or charged in a different sense which is neither direct nor hidden/masked. Being able to make free calls, AireTalk suggests that the calls will be made using the internet connection to any other AireTalk user and the caller doesn’t have to bear the charges of the “carrier” network.

Although this app might seem very similar to all other apps in this genre, AireTalk comes with an interesting feature which is inspired from Radio Stations and Yahoo’s famous chat room concept. This feature head is termed as “Studio”. This is like radio stations, which has different languages as “Stations”. Users can select a particular Language station – just like chat rooms and enter, also invite their friends and chat in that language. A very innovative idea which still requires more polishing, all in all this can be used as a good language tutor guide and practice zone.

Walkie Talkie screen of AireTalk

Some most common VOIP features are added by default. What is interesting to note in AireTalk is its Walkie Talkie feature. Just as the name suggest this feature can be most useful in camping trips and adventure tours where you would want a quick chat or message to be delivered. Since internet services are at use here, this app like all others doesn’t have restrictions on international calling as well.

Since its initial launch, Android has evolved at lot both in sense of performance and user experience. Although, many apps on the market still need to upgrade themselves a lot to avail the maximum that Android has to offer its developers. AireTalk has still to go a long way in becoming seamless and intuitive in sense of user experience. The options bar is responsive, while both the landscape and portrait views show the same layout; it can be improvised further to enhance visual effects and transitions between screens.

Facebook login might have become a bit old fashioned nowadays; nonetheless it has become an essential part in increasing effective user experience and ease of customization. This app enables users to login using Facebook, this way users cannot just connect with AireTalk friends but also with their Facebook friends thus accessing a wider range of people set. If you have an inquisitive mind towards what other upcoming apps have to offer to their users, you can try AireTalk.