SoftCity - Articles

article : Free Animation App

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:40:08 -0500

“Skit” from SkitApp.com for iPads (iPad 2 and up) makes it easy to create animations with your photos. Start with a friend’s photo or anybody’s — and use your finger to erase the body. Plop the head on an alien body and have another arrive by spaceship. Once you share the app, the recipient can edit the story to make it their own.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Share a Ride on a Private Jet

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:09:48 -0500

“BlackJet,” a new app for iPhones, lists space-sharing opportunities in private jets. At present, it is available in ten major cities. Check the list at their web site, BlackJet.com. You need an invitation code to search for seats, but that’s easy to get. Enter the code “COOLBLACKJET100″ at Blackjet.com. Unfortunately, there’s a membership fee of $2500; seats tend to cost around $2000 each, and that’s just one way. They give you a companion ticket worth $1750 when you book your first flight, to soften the blow. If you don’t have an iPhone you can just go to the web site.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Picstitch Makes Photo Collages

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:45:49 -0500

“PicStitch” for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is a free and easy way to make photo collages and post them on Facebook or email them to friends. We didn’t mind the ads.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Disposable Phone Numbers

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:59:01 -0500

“Burner” for Android phones gives you a free disposable phone number. When someone calls, it connects to your regular number. Dispose of it when you wish. Free for a number that expires the next day. Two dollars for a three-pack or to extend a selected number.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Time Clock App

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:22:15 -0500

Punch.in, for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad from Punch Technologies, is the old time clock for punching in and out of work activities. It also lets you see what your co-workers are doing, and collaborate with them through text, image and voice notes.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Whole Lot of Shaking Coming Up

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:13:43 -0500

A new product still a bit down the road is a cell phone case that charges your phone by shaking or just walking around. This will be one of those cases where every little movement has a meaning all its own.

The working title is “Infinity Cell” and of course the method of operation is being kept secret. But just so you can seem in the know at parties and lunches, there are a few ways you can do this:

The most direct one is through magnetic induction. Any moving conductor (wire, for example) that passed through a magnetic field generates an electric current. The reverse is also true. So, a tiny magnet moving back and forth through a coil of wire as you walk, will generate a small amount of electricity which can be used to eventually recharge your battery. Another way is with a weight and a ratchet, probably not practical in this situation. The proposed Infinity Cell is projected to give you a 20 percent charge from 30 minutes of shaking or a full charge after three-hours. If that sounds like a whole lot of shaking going on, it is. But over the course of the day you should be able to get a usable charge for your phone just by walking around. Depends on your action, of course.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Fun and Games

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:18:01 -0500

“Idol Words” for Apple phones, tablets and the iPod Touch, takes you deep into the jungle to uncover as many words hidden in ancient stone carvings; swipe your finger across the right letters to discover the word. If players use all the letters on the board, it flips to reveal a new challenge. Though this game is similar to others we’ve tried, it’s more fun.

Maybe it’s the graphics, maybe it’s the pace. We enjoyed playing random opponents. Choosing options like the multiplier for boosting your score or freezing a frame to slow everything down, all added to the fun. There’s also a daily challenge and a global tournament. On the first try, we were better than around 400 players, but there were another thousand better than us. We’re getting better every second.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Our Ten Favorite Tablet Apps

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:16:01 -0500

Our favorite iPad and Android Tablet apps include Scrabble, Draw Something, the Kindle app, the Chrome web browser, Pocket (formerly called “read it later”), Appy Geek for tech news and CoinKeeper for budgeting. Here are some more to round out the list.

SnapSeed is a free photo editor considered by some to be superior to the popular Instagram; we agree completely. ”Zite” creates a magazine of your special interests, and then of course there are the Facebook and Twitter apps.

StumbleUpon.com is a favorite of ours on the desktop. It’s also a fun, free app on the iPad, iPhone or Android tablet. Just as the name implies, give it its head and you will find some amazing and truly obscure sites.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Slip Sliding Away

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:04:47 -0500

WeVideo is a free app for making video and photo slideshows. It works on some Android phones and tablets, as well as iPhones, iPads, and the iPod Touch.

This is just about the simplest slideshow program we’ve tried. Drag photos or videos to the timeline, tap to make captions, choose a style, some music, and you’re done. The themes are nice and include travel scrapbook pages.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Parents and Kids App

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:51:16 -0500

“PBS Parents Play and Learn” is a free app with activities for parents and their wee ones. The activities are for familiarlocations, like restaurants. We tapped the bath section and learned about fun songs to make up and how to make ahomemade boat. Games for children teach them their letters, how to count and make rhymes. It works on Android, iPhone/iPad and Nook. Be sure to put “PBS” in the search box or it doesn’t come up. We had to install Adobe Air first, but that was easy.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Strike Force

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:14:04 -0600

Taking office warfare to new heights, the new “iStrike Shuttle” is an indoor helicopter controlled by your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. It’s $130 from DreamCheeky.com.

The iStrike Shuttle can drop ping pong balls or other small objects on unsuspecting co-workers. An optional training wheel makes landings easier. The gizmo started life on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter, and raised enough money to launch. In-coming!

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Getting Stuff Off Your Phone

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:38:31 -0600

A friend told us she couldn’t get her photos off her phone and onto her Acer computer, though the transfer worked fine with her other computers. So we told her about the Bump app, but now there’s something new out there that’s even better.

A free app called “Younity,” merges photos, music, and movies from your computers and iPhones onto your own private cloud. (Same thing coming soon to Android.) Forget having to sync stuff; it would all be available online as soon as you put in a password.

In our tests, it worked beautifully. We installed it first from GetYounity.com onto our Windows 8 computer. We then added it to our iPod Touch from the Apple app store. As soon as we signed in, boom, our stuff was all there. Tapping on “videos” brought us a video clip (“I feel pretty,” from West Side Story) — and it was even stored on a different computer, where we hadn’t installed Younity. But both computers were on the same wireless network and the app went out looking for them. We also saw links to all our files stored onGoogle Driveand Dropbox.

Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud are all good backup services, but Younity takes the work out of it. You don’t have to remember what’s stored on which service, or how much space you have left, because storage space is unlimited. (Well, for all practical purposes.) According to Younity’s creator, a typical user has a terabyte of data to store. None of the other services even have a level for that. Okay, we’re impressed.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : App Happy Exercise

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:57:39 -0600

“Daily Arm Workout,” “Daily Ab Workout” and “Daily Leg Workout” give you five to ten minute work-out sessions. The instructor doesn’t see what you’re doing, but you see her and that’s enough. Joy likes them and is still trying to talk Bob into them. For Android or Apple devices.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Tag Your Pet

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:17:03 -0600

Tagg keeps track of your pet’s whereabouts through a GPS attachment on its collar.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : The First Smartphone Breathalyzer

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:06:34 -0600

Coming soon to a (“hic”) drunk near you: a $20 gizmo that turns your smartphone into a breathalyzer.

The “Breathometer” plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone or Android phone. It measures the alcohol content of the incoming breath and gives it a number. If that number is .08 percent or higher, in most states you’re grounded.

In theU.S., there are more than 10,000 deaths a year that can be attributed to drunk driving. According to a recent survey at the Sodahead web site, 64 percent of respondents said they had driven while intoxicated or had been in the car with a drunken driver. Sixty-seven percent know someone who has been in an accident that involved alcohol. Eighty-percent know someone who has received a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) or DWI (driving while intoxicated) citation.

Besides analyzing your breath, the breathometer will connect your phone to a local cab company so you can get a ride home. Pre-order the gizmo on the crowdfunding site, Indiegogo.com or get more info at breathometer.com.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Apple Undercuts Apple

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:07 -0600

Here are two things we learned from the site DealNews.com:

Apple sells its refurbished Macbook Air laptops for $100 cheaper on eBay than at their own website
Refurbished iPad Minis will hit the Apple online store in May for around $250, an $80 discount

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Store Tickets and Coupons on Your Phone

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:59:19 -0600

“Passbook” on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch lets you electronically store boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, and loyalty cards. It’s very high-tech. If you step into a Starbucks, for example, your Starbucks card automatically appears on the phone. Make sure you’ve got the latest operating system: iOS 6. If you have an Android phone, there’s PassWallet. We couldn’t figure it out but maybe you can. Not quite ready for prime time.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Urgent Care

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:57:25 -0600

“Urgent Care” for Android or iPhone connects users to a registered nurse and a doctor, for advice, diagnoses and possibly a prescription. The app is free to download, but the service is $4 per call.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Make a Face

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:33:32 -0600

“iMadeFace” is a free app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad 2 and 3. It lets you make a cartoon face with a message, like “I love you.” Joy had fun choosing a heart-shaped face, a pony tail, arched eyebrows, nice eyes, small mouth, normal nose and glasses, before emailing it to Bob. You can make it look like yourself or not. It can also be shared on social networking sites.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : App Happy

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:06:46 -0600

“Songza” brings you music in half a dozen categories: “Working out,” “Unwinding,” “Driving,” “Working,” “Entertaining Cool Friends,” and “Cooking.” When you tap “entertaining,” you get sub-categories, like “Hipster-Approved Classic Rock.” We liked a tune from “The Zombies” and “Shadowfax” from “New Age Beginnings.” It’s all free and works on computers or phones.
“Obstacles XRT” is a 99 cent exercise app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. It doesn’t recognize your movements, but a video guides you through a virtual obstacle course. Trek over virtual tires, escape quicksand, and sneak under fences.
DUIcam, as in “Driving under the influence,” lets drivers use cell phones to record the erratic movements of the car ahead of them. There’s a zoom feature to let you zoom in on the license plate of the drunk driver, and the app lets you email a snapshot or the entire video to the police. It’s free for Android or iPhone. Get a mount for your phone first, so it’s stable on the dashboard. They range in price from $6 to around $25. Don’t forget to take your phone out of the mount when you leave the car.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : My Name is My Phone Number

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:57:55 -0600

Joy loves to memorize credit cards, phone numbers, and any long number that comes along. It’s a quirk. But Zoove’s “Star Star Me” service is great for non-memorizers. It lets you use your name or any favorite word as your phone number. It can also automatically reply to phone calls with a text message when you’re driving or in a meeting.

The $3 a month service is offered by Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile. To start it, tap **ME on your phone (tap the * key and the numbers 63) or visit the website at star.star.me. They’ll send you a text message with a link to a download.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : In the Vault

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:53:00 -0600

When we admitted to losing a smart phone with all our passwords stored on board, a reader wrote to suggest” “Why not use the Vault?”

“The Vault” is a free app for Android or iPhone and it encrypts and stores any information you type. To get back into the vault you must use the right password or you don’t get in at all. We stored passwords for half a dozen websites, and a few credit card numbers. If we get a new phone some day, we’ll export that information to a memory card and import it to the new phone.

“The Vault” app should not to be confused with “NQ Mobile Vault” for Android. The NQ puts your text messages, photos, videos and Facebook chats into its own vault. This could be useful for cheating spouses, criminals, and anyone with a secretive nature. It’s been downloaded over 10,000 times so far, still early days.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Doing the Bump

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:35:03 -0600

Many smart phones these days have what’s called “Near Field Communications” (NFC), meaning you can bump with another phone that is so enabled to exchange files: words, music or pictures. NFC also lets you pay at some cashier counters simply by passing your phone over a receiver.

With a free app called “NFC Launcher” and some sticky tags to serve as receivers, NFC can be used to automate common tasks, like turning music on and off. The receivers are thin pieces of plastic with embedded circuitry. We got some from Tagstand.com. A pack of four tags cost $13.50.

To use this system, simply tap your phone on a tag; this will automatically register the tag’s electronic signature with your phone. In your car, for example, tapping the phone on a tag could turn on a Bluetooth speaker for hands-free calling, turn Wi-Fi off, or start playing your favorite music app. Docking your phone on a nightstand could be set to turn off the ring so you won’t be disturbed. It can also automatically dim the display and set an alarm. You decide what you want to happen in each location. For a list of phones with NFC capabilities, go tonfcWorld.com.

Here’s a different free app that can quickly moves files from your smart phone to the computer: Go to bu.mp, to download the app. Select what files you want to transfer. It will move those files from your Android or iPhone to the computer just by tapping the phone on the keyboard’s space-bar. A tap on the bar uploaded all the photos on our Samsung Galaxy right to the computer; it was done in a few seconds. You can also bump files and photos from phone to phone.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Kid Stuff

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:01:29 -0600

A new book in the “Dummies” series is “iPad Apps for Kids,” by Jinny Gudmundsen, $20 fromWiley.com. Here are a few of its recommendations for kids. All are free.

“Toontastic” is the best app we tried. It walks you through the creation of an animated cartoon, adding movable characters to the scene you create. In the process, it teaches kids how to compose a story: the set-up, conflict, a challenge, a climax and finally a resolution to the drama.
Monster Hunt – This is a good memory game for adults and kids.. Four great-looking monsters flash for an instant on a grid and disappear. You tap the squares where you think they were. Then it’s on to five monsters, six, etc. We got up to 10 before defeat.
Let’s color gives you scenes to color. Clicking “go” makes them come alive, with stuff spraying out of an elephant’s trunk, trains chugging with passengers, and so on.
Alien Assignment for iPad 2 and up (or iPod Touch) requires a device with a camera. Children go on a scavenger hunt, taking pictures of the things they need, such as “something to clean with” or “something to use in the rain.” The story line is you’re helping an alien family who crash-landed on Earth.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach

article : Sleep Phones

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 22:12:33 -0600

We like to listen to Nature sounds from a box as we go to sleep. A “sleep phone” from SleepPhones.com, is a kind of headset for people who want to listen to something without disturbing their partner and without uncomfortable ear buds.

Described as “pajamas for the ears,” Sleep Phones are basically a headphone wrapped in fleece. Currently, they connect to your phone with a wire, but a wireless version is coming out in April. We saw them for $30 at discounters.

by: Bob and Joy Schwabach