National Geographic launches National Park guide app for iPhone | 0 Comments
By brian on 04-25-2012 03:27 PM
Just in time for all those summer travels, here’s an app that you’d better get on the way there – National Parks by National Geographic. The application is available for free on the App Store, but packs plenty of useful information. Along with it comes one free guide for a park of your choice, and additional guides will cost you from $0.99 to $1.99. Even without the guide, you get a set of basic features – Park info, camping and lodging information, maps, weather, stats, and a few photos. The guide brings much more details such as tips on what to do and see, park secrets, and plenty of additional photos.
The photographs are needless to say of great quality and annotated, and back in the main page of a park you get to see the weather conditions and stats that will tell you the number of visitors, size of the park and the local time.
But the most fascinating part of the application is the photo tips section. There, the photographer who snapped the picture shares all the details of how he shot, and exact GPS coordinates of the place.
The parks included in National Parks are Acadia, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Haleakala, Hawaii Volcanoes, Joshua Tree, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Shenanadoah, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. Check out the free application at the link below and let us know how you like it.
Download National Parks by National Geographic on the App Store [iTunes link]
What would you do if you got a $200,000 cell phone bill? | 0 Comments
By evp on 04-24-2012 08:28 PM
EVP always has clients contacting us and looking for ways to lower their cell phone bill. This day in age cell phones are almost as important as food or water for some people so the prices for service can get high. What if your bill came in the mail and it was for $200,000? Would you be mad? Cry? Faint? One woman in Florida received that very bill for over $200,000 for texting and data charges used by her brothers when they were out of the country. The carrier did confirm that the charges were correct, but later lowered her bill to $2,500 and gave her 6 months to pay according to Yahoo News.
What can you do to prevent this from happening to your family? Various carriers have applied spending limits to client’s accounts in hopes of preventing just this kind of mistake. Also a variety of apps are available to track your usage and make sure you stay within the range of your plan. Lastly, Make sure that if you are going out of the country with your phone you always call the carrier first and get set up on the correct plan.
Read more at Yahoo News.
What are the best apps for your new Tablet? | 0 Comments
By evp on 02-22-2012 08:13 PM
You have just received your shiny new Android Tablet and now you’re wondering what to do with it. Once you’ve played with your settings and set up your email account that next best thing is to head to the Android Market.
In the Android Market you can browse apps, music, books and truly customize your tablet for your needs. The hard part can be deciding which apps are helpful and which are a waste of time. Since Android is an open source platform new apps are created daily with some 400,000 apps to chose from. USA today can up with a handy list of the 9 must have apps for your Android Tablet. Check em out:
- Dropbox
- Double Twist with AirSync
- HootSuite
- Evernote
- Apps Organizer
- Advanced Task Killer
- Skitch
- Google Reader
- Amazon Kindle
-Source Liz Patt- USA Today
Do you use Facebook on your phone, computer or both? | 0 Comments
By evp on 12-29-2011 09:15 PM
A new study shows that 40% of Facebook use is from mobile apps. This past week I visited the App Store and saw that the Facebook app was in the Top 25 during the holiday weekend. I assume it was because everyone got a new smartphone for Christmas and immediately went to download the app, like I did.
If you think about today’s technology we have built a society that has us always on the go. We want tablets and smartphones and everything needs to be 4G, fast and wireless. It’s no surprise that people aren’t taking the time to sit at their desktop and login to sites as much. We are checking apps at a stoplight, on our lunch break or during a meeting. Many companies are now blocking social media sites like Facebook on corporate computers which forces employees to check in more often from their smartphone. Could you imagine a world where computers were obsolete? With the number of new apps on the rise we’ll see what the future holds.
Starbucks has the nation’s largest mobile payment program | 0 Comments
By evp on 12-07-2011 07:28 PM
Less than a year ago Starbucks introduced a new mobile payments system through the Starbucks Card Mobile iPhone and BlackBerry applications, which is used at nearly 7,000 Starbucks across the US. Coffee lovers can easily pay for their favorite latte with their phone versus a debit card. The Starbucks app allows you to reload your Starbucks card and scan the bar code at checkout. Since the app was launched over 26 million transactions have been made according to Computerworld.com. Matt Hamblen states “Starbucks didn’t divulge the total number of purchases with mobile devices, but said $110 million had been reloaded onto Starbucks cards directly through the mobile app since January. Globally, $2.4 billion was loaded onto Starbucks cards in fiscal 2011, with the cards making up one in four transactions in U.S. Starbucks stores. Starbucks cards were launched a decade ago and $10 billion has been loaded onto them, the company said.” Starbucks is only the beginning, with this kind of success I would imagine other retailers hopping on the bandwagon. Smartphones and apps continue to make our daily life easier and a bit more entertaining, what will they think of next?
- Matt Hamblen- ComputerWorld.com Article
Apps to improve your holiday shopping | 0 Comments
By evp on 11-09-2011 09:13 PM
The holidays will be here before you know it and if you’re like me the thought of all that shopping can be a little daunting. I want to make sure I’m getting a good deal, but I don’t want to spend a whole month at home reading consumer reports and polling my friends and family for product reviews. This season, apps will be more commonly used to help shoppers check prices, reviews, availability and even get coupons when the GPS notices they are nearby. The best apps will be unique for each shopper depending on their store and product preference so shop the app market for your Android or Apple-based device.
Some tips from USA Today to help you shop smartly with your mobile device:
•Limit the number of shopping-related apps you download. “Definitely don’t overload yourself, because you likely won’t use those 10 apps,” says Dan Shust, innovation director at the digital marketing agency, Resource Interactive. Six or so key ones are probably all you’ll need, recommends Sterneckert.
•Consider an app to keep track of your receipts, no small task at the holidays. Shust recommends Lemon, which does a quick scan of receipts and keeps them organized on your phone.
•Many apps let you keep your holiday shopping lists handy, a big plus if you want to avoid overspending.
•Stick with store apps that truly add utility. Among other things, Home Depot’s will scan QR bar codes in the store and pull up reviews of products you’re considering.
- Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today: Read more at USA Today
Boo! Halloween Apps for the iPhone! | 1 Comment
By brian on 10-26-2011 03:28 PM
Halloween apps can be a fun way to get into the spirit of the holiday. These five apps represent the variety of Halloween apps you can find on the market. All the basic versions are free and are available for both iPhone and iPad.
Scary Sounds: This app lets you play one scary sound or create a combination of sounds to loop over and over. You can attach your device to speakers and create spooky sound effects for your party or haunted house. Sounds include Growling, Laugh Howl, Screech, Wicked Witch Laugh, Wolves Howling and more. Rated 12+.
Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents Magazine: This app is great for kids who aren’t quite ready to wield a real pumpkin carving knife. Your kids can carve their own jack-o-lantern or pick from a library of crazy eyes, noses and mouths. It’s simple and fun and once they are finished they can add a message and share their creation with family and friends. Rated 4+.
Scary Camera Free – Create Halloween Spooky and Haunted Photos: Take a photo and then turn it into a spooky creation with this app’s scary photo effects. Photo effects include Zombie, Shocking, Horror and Black and White. You can also add frames to images to make them bloody, smokey, ghostly and more. Rated 9+.
Halloween Card Creator – Free: Use this app to create cute, fun and spooky Halloween cards to share with your family and friends. Cards are easy to customize with fun graphics and backgrounds. Please note that there is a deluxe version of this app for $0.99, that includes more clip art. Rated 4+.
Scene It? Horror Movies 2: This app is for adults who love horror movies. Similar to the board game, it has scary trivia, movie clips and puzzles from some of your favorite terrifying movies. The basic version is free, but if you want more you can add $0.99 Horror Trivia Packs. It also includes Airplay, HD videos for the iPad, and sharing with Facebook Connect and Game Center. You must be at least 17 years old to download app.
