Tag Archives: Applications

How to Make Money On TikTok in 2024

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 2 billion downloads and 1 billion monthly active users. If you are a content creator, influencer, or entrepreneur, you might be wondering how you can monetize your TikTok account and earn money from your videos. In this blog post, we will share some tips and strategies on how to make money on TikTok in 2024.

There are several ways to make money on TikTok, depending on your goals, niche, and audience. Here are some of the most common and effective methods:

TikTok Creator Fund:

The TikTok Creator Fund is a program that allows eligible creators to earn money from their videos on the platform. The fund was launched in July 2020 with an initial $200 million and has since grown to over $1 billion. The fund aims to support diverse and creative content on TikTok and reward the creators for their efforts and engagement. To apply for the fund, creators need to meet certain criteria, such as having at least 10,000 followers, 10,000 video views in the last 30 days, and being 18 years or older. The amount of money that creators can earn from the fund depends on various factors, such as the number of views, the level of engagement, and the quality of the content.

UPDATE: TikTok is ending its $2 billion creator fund

Sponsored posts:

This is when a brand pays you to promote their product or service in your TikTok video. You can charge a fee based on your number of followers, views, engagement, and niche. To find sponsors, you can either reach out to them directly or join an influencer marketing platform that connects you with relevant brands.

Affiliate marketing:

TikTok affiliate marketing is a strategy that involves promoting products or services on TikTok and earning commissions for each sale or action. TikTok affiliate marketing can be a lucrative way to monetize your TikTok account, but it requires some planning and creativity. Here are some tips on how to get started with TikTok affiliate marketing:

  • Choose a niche that matches your TikTok content and audience. You want to promote products or services that are relevant and useful to your followers, and that align with your personal brand and style.
  • Find affiliate programs or networks that offer products or services in your niche. You can use platforms like ShareASale, ClickBank, or Amazon Associates to find affiliate offers, or you can reach out to brands directly and ask if they have an affiliate program.
  • Create engaging and authentic TikTok videos that showcase the benefits and features of the products or services you are promoting. You can use hashtags, captions, stickers, filters, and music to make your videos more appealing and catchy.
  • Include a clear call to action in your videos, such as “Swipe up to buy”, “Click the link in my bio”, or “Use my code for a discount”. You want to make it easy for your viewers to take the next step and purchase the product or service you are recommending.
  • Track and optimize your performance. You can use analytics tools like Google Analytics, Bitly, or TikTok’s own dashboard to measure your traffic, conversions, and commissions. You can also test different products, offers, videos, and strategies to see what works best for your TikTok affiliate marketing campaign.
Tiktok Live Shopping

Live streaming:

TikTok Live Streaming is a feature that allows users to broadcast live videos to their followers and interact with them in real time. Live streaming can be used for various purposes, such as showcasing talents, sharing opinions, hosting events, or promoting products. To start a live stream, users need to have at least 1,000 followers, comply with the community guidelines and terms of service and be at least 16 years old. Live streaming can help users grow their audience, earn gifts from fans, and monetize their content.

Managing multiple social media platforms can be time-consuming and overwhelming. That’s why you need a social media management tool that can help you plan, create, publish, monitor, and analyze your social media content. Whether you are a small business owner, a marketer, or an influencer, you will find a tool that suits your needs and budget. Read more: https://technologer.net/best-social-media-management-tools

Selling Merchandise:

This is when you sell your own products or services to your followers, such as clothing, accessories, ebooks, courses, coaching, etc. You can create your own online store or use a third-party platform like Shopify or Teespring. You can also use TikTok’s Shop Now feature, which allows you to link your products directly from your video.

Some of the benefits of selling TikTok merchandise are:

  • It can increase brand awareness and loyalty among your followers.
  • It can help you express your personality and style through your products.
  • It can provide a source of passive income that does not depend on views or likes.
  • It can give you an opportunity to collaborate with other creators or brands.

If you are interested in selling TikTok merchandise, you will need to consider some factors such as:

  • What kind of products do you want to sell and how do they relate to your content?
  • How will you design, produce, and ship your products?
  • How will you promote your products and drive traffic to your store?
  • How will you handle customer service and feedback?

Selling TikTok merchandise can be a rewarding and fun way to grow your online presence and business. However, it also requires planning, research, and dedication. You should always follow the TikTok community guidelines and respect the intellectual property rights of others when creating and selling your merchandise.

Donations:

This is when you ask your followers to support your content creation by sending you money via PayPal, Venmo, Patreon, or other platforms. You can also use TikTok’s Donation Stickers feature, which lets you add a sticker to your video that prompts viewers to donate to a charity of your choice.

Users can buy virtual coins with real money and use them to send gifts to their favorite creators or to support various campaigns. TikTok then converts the gifts into diamonds, which can be exchanged for cash by the creators or donated to charities. This way, TikTok enables its users to show appreciation and support for the content they enjoy or the causes they care about.

Tiktok Donations

Ads:

This is when you earn money from displaying ads on your TikTok videos. You can join TikTok’s Creator Fund, which pays you based on the number of views and engagement of your videos. To be eligible for the Creator Fund, you need to have at least 10,000 followers, 10,000 views in the last 30 days, and be at least 18 years old. You can also use other ad networks like Google Adsense or Mediavine to monetize your TikTok website or blog.

These are some of the best ways to make money on TikTok in 2024. However, before you start monetizing your account, you need to focus on creating high-quality content that attracts and engages your target audience. You also need to follow the TikTok community guidelines and terms of service, and avoid any content that is illegal, harmful, hateful, or misleading. By doing so, you can build a loyal fan base and a profitable business on TikTok.

Offering consulting or coaching services:

If you have expertise in a particular area, you can offer consulting or coaching services to your followers. For example, if you’re a fitness expert, you could offer personal training sessions.

No matter which method you choose, the key to making money on TikTok is to create engaging and popular content. Your videos should be well-edited, informative, and entertaining. You should also be consistent with posting new videos.

Here are some additional tips for making money on TikTok:

  • Identify your niche: What are you passionate about? What do you know a lot about? Once you know your niche, you can start creating content that is relevant to your target audience.
  • Use trending hashtags: Trending hashtags are a great way to get your videos seen by more people. When you use trending hashtags, your videos will show up in the search results for those hashtags.
  • Collaborate with other creators: Collaborating with other creators is a great way to cross-promote your content and reach a new audience.
  • Promote your TikTok account on other social media platforms: Share your TikTok videos on your other social media accounts, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This will help you to reach a wider audience.

Making money on TikTok takes time and effort, but it is possible. By following the tips above, you can increase your chances of success.

How to Grow Your Instagram Followers (Ultimate Guide)

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 1.5 billion monthly active users. If you want to grow your brand, business, or personal profile on Instagram, you need to have a solid strategy and follow some best practices. In this blog post, we will share with you some tips and tricks on how to grow your Instagram and followers in 2023.

Optimize your profile

Your profile is the first thing that potential followers see when they visit your page. Make sure you have a clear and catchy bio, a high-quality profile picture, and a link to your website or other social media accounts. You can also use keywords and hashtags that are relevant to your niche and audience.

Create engaging content

Content is king on Instagram, and you need to post consistently and creatively to attract and retain followers. You can use different types of content, such as photos, videos, reels, stories, and live streams, to showcase your personality, products, services, or values. You can also use captions, stickers, filters, and emojis to add some fun and flair to your posts.

Use hashtags and geotags

Hashtags and geotags are powerful tools to increase your reach and visibility on Instagram. Hashtags are words or phrases that start with a # sign and describe the topic or theme of your post. Geotags are locations that you can add to your post to show where you are or where you took the photo or video. You can use up to 30 hashtags and one geotag per post, and you should choose them wisely based on your niche, audience, and goals, preferably 2-4 general hashtags like # trending, viral, reels and reelsfeed alongside some targeted and more specific ones.

Interact with your audience

One of the best ways to grow your Instagram and followers is to engage with your existing and potential followers. You can do this by liking, commenting, sharing, and saving their posts, as well as replying to their messages and comments. You can also ask questions, create polls, quizzes, or challenges, or host giveaways or contests to encourage more interaction and feedback.

Collaborate with others

Another effective strategy to grow your Instagram and followers is to collaborate with other influencers, brands, or users in your niche or industry. You can do this by tagging them in your posts, mentioning them in your stories, or featuring them in your IGTV or live streams. You can also do shoutouts, takeovers, or cross-promotions to expose your account to their followers and vice versa.

Managing multiple social media platforms can be time-consuming and overwhelming. That’s why you need a social media management tool that can help you plan, create, publish, monitor, and analyze your social media content. Whether you are a small business owner, a marketer, or an influencer, you will find a tool that suits your needs and budget. Read more: https://technologer.net/best-social-media-management-tools

Instagram features

How to create engaging content?

Engaging content is content that captures the attention and interest of your audience, and makes them want to interact with you and your brand. Engaging content can help you grow your Instagram and followers, as well as increase your brand awareness, loyalty, and conversions. But how do you create engaging content? Here are some tips and tricks to help you out.

  • Know your audience: The first step to creating engaging content is to know who you are creating it for. You need to understand your target audience, their needs, preferences, pain points, and goals. You can use tools like Instagram Insights, surveys, or polls to get more insights into your audience’s demographics, behaviors, and interests.
  • Define your goals: The second step to creating engaging content is to define what you want to achieve with it. You need to have a clear and specific goal for each piece of content, such as increasing your reach, engagement, followers, sales, or traffic. You also need to have a way to measure your results, such as using analytics, tracking codes, or feedback forms.
  • Choose the right format: The third step to creating engaging content is to choose the right format for your message and goal. Instagram offers a variety of formats for you to choose from, such as photos, videos, reels, stories, IGTV, and live streams. You should experiment with different formats and see what works best for your audience and niche.
  • Be creative and original: The fourth step to creating engaging content is to be creative and original. You need to stand out from the crowd and offer something unique and valuable to your audience. You can do this by using your own voice, style, and personality, as well as adding some humor, emotion, or storytelling to your content.
  • Add value and call to action: The fifth step to creating engaging content is to add value and call to action to your content. You need to provide useful information, tips, advice, or solutions to your audience’s problems or needs. You also need to encourage them to take action after consuming your content, such as liking, commenting, sharing, saving, following, or visiting your website.

Some examples of call to action are:

  • “Tap the link in bio for more details”
  • “Swipe up to shop now”
  • “Tag a friend who needs this”
  • “Share your thoughts in the comments”
  • “Follow us for more tips”
Instagram analytics

How to check Instagram analytics?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 2 billion monthly active users. If you are a business owner, influencer, or content creator, you might want to know how your posts and stories are performing on Instagram. That’s where Instagram analytics come in handy.

Instagram analytics are the data and insights that show you how your audience is engaging with your content, what kind of content they like, and how you can improve your Instagram strategy. In this blog post, we will show you how to check Instagram analytics in 2023, using the latest features and tools available on the platform.

Step 1: Switch to a professional account

To access Instagram analytics, you need to have a professional account. This can be either a business account or a creator account, depending on your goals and needs. A business account is suitable for brands, organizations, and online shops, while a creator account is designed for influencers, artists, and public figures.

To switch to a professional account, go to your profile and tap on the menu icon in the top right corner. Then, tap on Settings > Account > Switch to Professional Account. You will be asked to choose between a business account or a creator account, and then to select a category for your profile. You will also need to connect your Instagram account to a Facebook page if you haven’t done so already.

Step 2: Go to the Insights tab

Once you have a professional account, you can access Instagram analytics by going to the Insights tab on your profile. Here, you will see an overview of your account performance, including your reach, impressions, profile visits, website clicks, email clicks, and call clicks. You can also see how many followers you gained or lost in the past week, and what are the top locations, age ranges, genders, and active times of your audience.

Step 3: Explore the Content, Activity, and Audience sections

The Insights tab has three main sections: Content, Activity, and Audience. Each section provides you with different metrics and insights about your Instagram posts and stories.

  • Content: This section shows you how your posts and stories are performing in terms of engagement, reach, impressions, saves, shares, comments, and likes. You can filter by time period (7 days or 30 days), content type (photos, videos, carousel posts, stories), or interaction type (likes, comments, etc.). You can also tap on each post or story to see more detailed analytics.
  • Activity: This section shows you how your account is driving traffic and actions on Instagram. You can see how many people visited your profile, clicked on your website link, called you, emailed you, or got directions to your location. You can also see how many people discovered your account through different sources, such as hashtags, explore page, home feed, or other accounts.
  • Audience: This section shows you who your followers are and how they interact with your content. You can see the demographics of your audience, such as their location, age range, gender, and language. You can also see when they are most active on Instagram by day and by hour. You can use this information to optimize your posting schedule and target your content to the right audience.
Instagram Reels

Step 4: Use additional tools and features

Besides the Insights tab on your profile, there are some other tools and features that can help you check Instagram analytics in 2023. Some of them are:

  • Reels Insights: Reels are short-form videos that you can create and share on Instagram. To see how your reels are performing, go to the Reels tab on your profile and tap on the menu icon on each reel. You will see metrics such as plays, likes, comments, saves, shares, and reach.
  • Live Insights: Live is a feature that allows you to broadcast live video to your followers. To see how your live videos are performing, go to the Live tab on your profile and tap on the menu icon on each live video. You will see metrics such as viewership peak, comments, shares,
    and reach.
  • Guides Insights: Guides are a feature that allows you to curate and share collections of posts,
    products, or places on Instagram. To see how your guides are performing, go to the Guides tab on your profile and tap on the menu icon on each guide. You will see metrics such as views,
    saves, and shares.
  • Shopping Insights: Shopping is a feature that allows you to sell products directly on Instagram.
    To see how your shopping posts and stories are performing, go to the Shop tab on your profile and tap on the menu icon on each post or story. You will see metrics such as product views,
    product clicks, and product purchases.

Conclusion

Instagram analytics are essential for understanding your audience and improving your Instagram strategy. By using the tools and features mentioned above, you can check Instagram and optimize your content for maximum engagement and growth. Happy Instagramming!

How Augmented Reality Is Being Used in Home Decor

Augmented reality or AR is growing at a compound annual growth of 24.4% and is predicted to be worth $950 million by the end of next year. This technology may seem futuristic, but in reality it’s being used in a variety of different markets. From construction to maintenance, AR is able to solve problems and make processes faster and easier. 

One unlikely candidate for this type of technology is the home decor and renovation sector. While a home remodel might not strike you as a space to integrate digital content with the real world, there are many innovative apps that are doing just that. 

Augmented reality apps allow you to do a variety of things, from see how furniture will look in your apartment to test out paint colors to measure the room and create a floorplan. These AR apps make the process quick, easy and attainable to anyone not just contractors and interior designers. 

 

How Do These AR Apps Work in Your Home?

Each app has a different set of directions based on its intent, but in general they can be figured out in a few steps. First you’ll be selecting the feature you want. This could be a new sink for the kitchen or a rug for the living room. Some apps allow you to choose specific products you can buy and others give you generic items to test out.

Once the product is chosen, you’ll scan the room with the camera on your phone. This will give the AR software an idea of the original space. Often times the app will direct you to scan the floor so it can gauge the depth of the room. 

When the room is scanned, you’ll be able to view how your feature looks in the home. You can adjust its size and position to how you would normally have it and see if it will fit in the space. 

animation of augmented reality in home decor

 

7 AR Apps You Can Try in Your Home

Not all AR apps are the same. They each have a different specialty. To help you decide which is best for your home, ApartmentGuide has a list of seven augmented reality apps for the home

Build.com

This is an app made for remodeling the home. It specializes in home appliances and allows you to experiment with different finishes and styles. 

magicplan

This AR app will help you measure how many square feet you have in your home. This is helpful when renovating or viewing a new home. It will create a floorplan so that you know exactly how much space you have to work with.

Graham & Brown

This company lets you visualize a new paint color or wallpaper on your wall without sampling it yourself. This app will also estimate how much wallpaper or paint you’ll need to complete the projects which save you money and time. 

ColorSnap

ColorSnap is perfect for those painting a room. It allows you to conceptualize a color palette and will also suggest complementary colors to try. 

DecorMatters

This app is made for redecorating your space. It allows you to view home furniture, decorations and art from popular stores like IKEA, Target, Overstock, WestElm, Crate&Barrel, Living Spaces and Ashley. 

roOomy

If you want to stage a room, roOomy allows you to create a custom design. This app is targeted towary homebuyers, renters and real estate agents.

Housecraft

This app allows you to see furniture in a space, but only provides generic furniture. This works well for people who don’t want to be pressured into purchasing anything right away. 

8 Apps to Make Moving Abroad Easier

When you move to a new country, it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed by your ever-growing to-do list. This list includes a curated list of eight handy apps designed to help you learn the language, get around, stay safe and make friends in your new home.

Apps can be a great way to build up your language skills by helping you develop vocabulary, grammar and conversational abilities. Offering nearly 150 languages, Tandem is a great option for intermediate-level speakers who want to practice talking with native speakers in a judgement-free environment.

Mobile apps can be a real lifesaver when it comes to navigating around your new hometown. Handy alternatives to Google Maps include Waze and Moovit. If you intend to use public transport a lot, then Moovit: Public Transit is an absolute must-have as it uses real-time information to help you plan your bus, subway, rail or bike trip in many locations throughout the world.

In addition to knowing your way around, it’s also very important to know how to look out for yourself. Help yourself stay safe and alert by downloading a personal safety app. One of our favourites is TripWhistle which enables users to quickly contact local emergency service phone numbers anywhere in the world. 

For many expats, the most difficult part of moving abroad is making new friends. Fortunately, there are plenty of apps designed to connect you with people in your area. One of the most popular is Meetup, which allows you to form groups and plan fun outings with people in your area who share similar interests.

If you would like to learn more about the best apps for travelling and/or moving abroad, take a look at this super informative infographic guide from the team at Hansen & Company.

Read the infographic below to learn more.

 

8 Great Home Improvement Apps to Help You Do it Yourself

Taking on a home improvement project whatever the size is exciting but it can also be daunting, require research and/or hard work to get it completed. Sometimes depending on the size of the work, you might have to engage the services of contractors so it’s more work to source reliable people for that. Research is where everything starts when it comes to the project so that’s your first step. The guys at Senator Windows have put together this infographic which outlines some useful apps that you can download to your phone or tablet which might help you along the way of your home improvement project. Check it out below!

 

WhatsApp on Mac or Windows: Another Milestone Achieved

WhatsApp is a free to use, cross-platform instant messaging application for the smartphones introduced in 2009 by former employees of Yahoo. It is used to make voice calls, sending text messages, video calls and sharing images, videos, audio files, voice notes, phone contacts, gif files and user location to other users by using the internet on your smartphone. You can either use it for personal chats or sharing media and apps with your loved ones, or it can also be used for business purposes.

 

Key features of WhatsApp:

  • Simple Messaging: You can chat or send messages for free to anyone in your contact list located anywhere in the world for free and avoid SMS charges.
  • Voice and Video calls: By using WhatsApp, you can make video calls to your family and friends for free even if they are located in other countries.
  • Share photos and videos: You can capture beautiful and memorable moments in your phone and share them with your loved ones instantly with the help of WhatsApp.
  • Group Chats: You can make various groups including your favorite people, maximum 50 people in one group to chat with them. This feature is very profitable for business as many people join different groups and share their products.
  • Secure Environment: WhatsApp uses end to end encryption, which makes it safe to chat and share stuff on WhatsApp because that message will stay between only you and the person you are talking to. Even WhatsApp can’t read or listen to your conversations.

WhatsApp now available for PC and Mac

For any business, handling it on the Mobile phone can be inconvenient at times, especially for the people who work on their computers at the same time as well. So, WhatsApp has launched a desktop version of WhatsApp for your Mac or Windows PC. So, Windows users should not get upset about the fact that they don’t have to use WhatsApp only on the small screen of their phones only, but now, they can use their Qwerty PC Keyboard and the big screen for using WhatsApp.

How to Download and Use WhatsApp on your Mac or Windows PC:

The Supported versions of WhatsApp on Pc are:

  • Windows 8 and Higher (32-bit version)
  • Windows 8 and Higher (64-bit version)
  • MAC OS X 10.9 and higher

There are few easy steps you need to follow to get WhatsApp working on your MAC or windows PC. Let us discuss them now:

  • Open https://www.whatsapp.com/download/ from your Pc webpage and download Desktop version of WhatsApp.
  • Install WhatsApp on your Pc once the download is finished.
  • Open WhatsApp so that you can scan the QR code from your phone to get both the devices connected.
  • Open WhatsApp in your phone and click on the settings icon under WhatsApp Web to scan the QR code on Desktop version.
  • Once both the devices are connected, you are good to use WhatsApp on your PC.

Users must keep in mind while using WhatsApp on their PC that your phone should always be on and connected to Wi-Fi as well.

WhatsApp has been the favorite of everyone for a while now, and the company is always trying to make its feature list and usability better to make it more loved by users. And, by launching the desktop version of it, the company has put another milestone in its long run. This Step will sure be going to keep WhatsApp as number one app and the most loved one for a long time now.

 

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Author Bio: Pankaj Jangir is a Website Designer and Developer. He makes websites from where users can download their own videos and photos from FB.

Native Vs Hybrid – Demystifying the Technology Dilemma

 

All businesses face a common dilemma while deciding on mobile app development: should they choose native apps or hybrid apps. If you too are undecided about your choice, here are tips to help you decide what suits your needs best- Native Mobile Application Development or Hybrid App development.  First, you need to understand the difference between the two types of apps, unravel the mystery that surrounds these two names.

The two principle technologies used for app development are the Android and the iOS. Both these systems work with the latest hand held devices that now dominate this world. The app you develop needs to work across all platforms to meet this shift in focus. Multi-platform apps development is challenging, and at the same time it brings opportunities to develop more and more creative and impressive products.

A native app is defined as smart phone or tablet application that is developed for specific and fixed operating systems.  Such native apps have numerous advantages. They are fast and refined apps that promise great performance.  This makes these apps very suited to permanent or long term functions such as games. Users find these native apps familiar and easy to use as they are accustomed to navigate similar apps. The ability these apps have of working along with other functionalities of on the device is an added advantage. These apps are readily accessible to a target audience. What is even more interesting and advantageous is that these apps do not depend on the internet to be accessed.

On the other hand, hybrid apps are those that built on the native apps or depend on them. They are not device specific and can be distributed across platforms very fast without the need to develop them separately for the two OS. These apps are developed using cross compatible technology and ride piggy back on native apps. This makes developing such apps fast and easy. However, you will need a developer familiar with web programming to develop a hybrid app.  The cost of developing hybrid apps is considerably lower since they are not built from scratch. It also requires a single language for coding it.

Now take a look at the limitations of native and hybrid apps. As far as native apps are concerned, the limitations include high cost and the need of various expert developers with specific skills to complete the task. As for hybrid apps, they cannot provide the ease of handling and familiarity that native apps provide users. This drawback impacts the number of users interested in using them. Hybrid apps lack some of the features available exclusively to native apps. Hybrids as fall short in efficiency and they have higher chance of rejection at app stores in case of mistakes.

Select native or hybrid apps depending on your requirements and future plans for your app. Native mobile application development is appropriate for future functionalities; hybrid for more basic apps.

 

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Author Bio: EliteMobApp.com is a USA based leading mobile app development company offering native and hybrid mobile applications at affordable rates.

 

Top Trends to Watch Out For in Mobile Application Development in 2017

 

ComScore report says that the number of mobile users surpassed the number of desktop users’ way back in 2014. Gartner predicts that by 2017, more than 268 billion downloads will generate $77 billion worth of revenue. The ever increasing numbers of smartphones all over the world has also led to a surge in the number of app that people download and use. Currently, Google Play houses over 2.2 million apps while the Apple Store has around 2 million apps .

As times change and technology evolves, mobile apps evolve too. Today, apps are not solely built for smartphones alone – wearables, connected homes, smart cars and other IoT enabled devices are also a part of the mix. 2017 presents a huge opportunity for businesses to develop innovative apps and see their business grow.

Here are some of the key mobile application development trends to look out for in 2017:

Location based services

Location based services (LBS) will continue to evolve as the facilities such as GPS becomes more and more available on all the mobile devices. There are a number of places where LBS can be implemented and put to good use, such as indoor mapping, location-specific payment portal, retail offers, security features, navigation, travel and tourism and more. The Beacon technology is also becoming increasingly popular in these cases.

Augmented reality integration

Integration of Augmented reality into utility apps will be another major development in 2017. Initially these kinds of apps were viewed as too gimmicky or promotional. But today, AR tools can be used to make apps more useful and productive. For example, recognition of words and phrases can be made use of in messenger apps. If someone sends a video etc. The actionable item should pop up automatically. Other options include social media syncing, location tracking, product links etc.

Android instant apps

The Instant Apps feature was recently announced by Google. It enables the Android apps run instantly. These apps need not be downloaded and then used. You can run them just with a single tap. The run as you need concept is certainly something to watch out for in 2017.

Embedded AI

To explain this, imagine, looking at a picture that changes dynamically as your mood changes. Enabling machine learning and AI into their apps is quite an interesting feature that app developers are looking forward to.

IoT app integrations

The IoT is rapidly seeping into our lives and more and more smart and connected devices are emerging every day. For developers, this involves the use of mobile platforms and enterprise backend infrastructures that can communicate and share data with a diverse set of devices The key here is data analysis and the data itself that must be stored and accessed efficiently.

Application security

Application security is another major factor that developers will work on in 2017. With the ever-increasing connected devices and the sensitivity of the data that is shared, security becomes a priority for mobile application development.

Above all, providing users with a superior user experience will always be the prime focus of mobile application development – always.

 

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Author Bio: EliteMobApp.com is a USA based leading Mobile application development company which offer all type of native, hybrid and cross platform mobile apps development.

Best DIY Tools For Creating Apps

 

Creating a mobile app has never been easier. You don’t have to wait for months and spend a ton of cash on developers to have your app made just the way you wanted. This is especially important for those on a tight budget, as developers often charge by the hour and costs can pile up faster than you’d imagine. Fortunately, nowadays you can make a professional-looking app without actually having any coding experience yourself, thanks to various mobile app makers available online.

Now, you might be wondering what exactly are mobile app makers? To put it simply, they represent online platforms who offer development services for making mobile apps. What makes them special is the fact that they are designed to be used by individuals who have absolutely no prior coding experience. They are packed full with all the standard features a mobile app might need, such as:

  • Location-based services
  • Social network services
  • Push notifications
  • Specific seller-oriented features
  • Multiple paying options
  • Diverse templates
  • Rich customization options

What sets mobile app makers apart from the traditional app development practices is the cost efficiency. Most start-ups find it difficult to invest hundreds and even thousands of dollars into app development. This may even deter some entrepreneurs from making the experience mobile in the first place, which may save some money in the beginning, but ultimately, limit the business in the long run. This is why mobile app makers are an excellent choice for those on a tight budget. Although they could never replace seasoned developers, I tried to pick out the top six mobile app makers available at the time of writing this article.

1.      AppInstitute

AppInstitute has won quite a few startup awards and is currently the main mobile app maker in the United Kingdom. It’s the number one choice for local businesses due to its excellent e-commerce features, coupled with customizable menus, catalogs and an easy to use content manager. It also has rich booking options, which aren’t restricted only on managing appointments, but also provides the user with video events and other engaging content. The price varies depending on whether you’re looking for a monthly or a yearly subscription, with the starting package costing $8.00 per month, or $6.00 when billed annually.

appinstitute

2.      Como DIY

This app maker boosts its success with over 1 million apps powered by its platform and clients such as Coca-Cola, Burger King, and even BMW. Flashy names aside, this company provides a long list of features, including appointment scheduling, e-commerce integration, event planning and management, user reviews and even a loyalty card feature. That’s why Como is the preferred app maker of choice for restaurants, galleries, and other event-oriented establishments. There are seven available templates which can further be combined with six navigation styles. Payment plans only include a monthly, yearly or a bi-yearly subscriptions which cost $57, $48 and $41 respectfully.

como-diy

3.      GoodBarber

GoodBarber is a platform which offers the most advanced app making features available for both Android and IOS. Users can control every single detail of their app and for those who don’t, there are numerous templates available coupled with over 350 gorgeous icons and little over 600 different Google Fonts. What makes it unique is the instant visual feedback users experience when adjusting the parameters. Although it does not have an integrated online store, users do have the option of adding Shopify, Amazon or Etsy. The pricing starts at $16 for the standard package, $32 for the full and $48 for the advanced plan.

goodbarber

4.      ShoutEm

This app maker presents itself as a very refined and elegant product. It features a complete content managing system, resourceful tools for engagement and different monetization options. What makes ShoutEm great is the seamless integration with the existing sources such as Foursquare, WordPress, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and even Soundcloud. It also supports mobile advertising, which allows the user to regain some of the finances spent on ShoutEm. It’s not the cheapest provider available, with the price starting at $19.90 a month for the Basic plan. If you wish to publish directly to the Android or Apple stores, then you need to get the Advanced, $49.00 per month plan.

shoutem

5.      AppMachine

This easy-to-use platform aims to automate the building process by importing everything the app might use from sites such as Facebook and Twitter and even your RSS feeds. The creators had the idea to use the various aspects of the platform as it were made of Lego bricks, which directly translates into the app making experience. Using the drag-and-drop interface, users move and organize the features as building blocks. These include anything ranging from pictures, videos to online stores and links to social networks. Users have a complete control of the layout with customizable icons, colors, fonts and navigation paths. Currently, they are offering a $49 Plus and a $69 Pro plan. Fortunately, there are two bundles available, one at $99 per month and the other at $300.

appmachine

6.      Appery.io

The last contender on our list is Appery.io, a leading cloud-based platform for the fast development of mobile apps. The fact that it’s cloud-based means that nothing needs to be downloaded or installed in order to make the app. Not only that but most app makers which are focused only on iOS and Android devices, Appery.io users can also make apps for Windows Phones. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to use even for the most inexperienced users. That said, Appery.io boasts a massive catalog of plugins available for both the inexperienced and advances users and it supports creating custom plugins and sharing them with the community. You can use the platform for free or pay $180 for the premium service.

appery

In Conclusion

As you can see, making a mobile app without any programming experience is possible. The platforms are all graphic in design, some using the drag-and-drop interface while the others use simple check-box type, on-off switches. Most of them are pretty straight-forward to use and if you have any issues, the app makers offer video and graphic tutorials and excellent customer support. You don’t need to worry about hiring expensive programmers in order to have a professional-looking app that reflects your business.

 

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john

By John Stone

Author bio: John Stone is a business consultant and web entrepreneur.  Through years of experience, he became a devout believer in the notion that form should always follow function and that developing the ability to think outside of the box is a prerequisite of being a successful entrepreneur. He currently advises companies about Web Design in Sydney. You can get in touch with him on Twitter.

 

10 Apps to Help with Home Renovation

 

Thinking of doing some home renovation soon? Well check out this infographic from HalfPrice before you do. It contains some great apps that will make whatever home renovation you’re doing a little bit easier. Many of them are free as well so you can download them to see if they can help you.

We understand how much work is involved in a home renovation project and often the thought of a long project can put you off even beginning. Maybe you’re thinking of renovating a room but you’re not sure if it will look good when you’re done. Why not check out Houzz for some inspiration? You can look at other designs in peoples’ homes and maybe it will give you the inspiration you need to get going. We hope you find something useful in the infographic.

10 Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Have

 

Business ownership is no walk in the park. You have to manage every single aspect of the company, from finance to human resources and project management. It entails a massive amount of responsibility and requires vast amounts of time, as well as an ability to cope with several competing tasks simultaneously.

If you’re running a small business, it is a good idea to draw upon all the help you can get, and one way of doing this is to stock up your smartphone with a series of excellent apps that should be part of every business owner’s collection. There are apps to help with employee communication, project management, time management, task organisation and payroll, to name just a few aspects of running a business. Some of the best apps we’ve come across include My Minutes, which keeps track of your progress for certain tasks and also allows you to set minimum and maximum time constraints; as well as IFTTT, which enables you to use one app to automatically program activity in another. How’s that for killing two birds with one stone?

This infographic from All Finance Tax profiles 10 apps that will certainly provide great benefit to anyone who owns a small business. Check out the full list below.

10 Disaster Apps That Could Save Your Life

 

As a society, we are becoming more and more dependent on our smartphones with each passing day. With millions of apps being created and downloaded every year, our app expectations have also increased.

Whether it’s a social media app or messaging app, these apps allow us to contact our friends and family more rapidly than ever before. Although most apps we download are for work or for fun, lifesaving apps are becoming progressively more popular.

With the vast amount of calamities that take place worldwide, from mass shootings to natural disasters, it’s important that fast and effective methods of communication technologies are developed. Luckily, in 2016, app developers are creating specialised apps to meet our needs.

Communication apps have improved both our personal and family safety. These inspired apps help us in the event of an emergency. Some can even track natural disasters before they occur. For example, ‘’Disaster Alert’’ – which was designed by the Pacific Disaster Centre – gives mobile access to multi-hazard monitoring of (and early warning for) active hazards worldwide.

‘’Life360’’ allows you and your chosen contacts to create a private network. In the event of an emergency, one tap of a button will notify your friends/family of your current location and inform them if you are safe. For all the details, let’s check out this infographic from Nature’s Water which outlines 10 of the top disaster apps. Let’s take a look!

 

This is How Uber Exactly Works & More Interesting Stuff!

 

You don’t call a cab anymore, you call an Uber. The taxi giant has taken the world by storm since its inception in 2009. Started as just another start-up, Uber has now become a synonym for taxi or cabs across the globe.

However, the fascinating part is that it doesn’t even own any taxis that run on the streets under its name.

Uber is basically a mobile application that connects passengers with drivers for here. Let’s try to find out how the app works

  • Requesting a cab: A passenger installs the Uber app on his smartphone and can request for a cab at any time through this app. A passenger has the option to either ride instantly or to schedule the ride for later.
  • Matching: As soon as the passenger makes the request, a notification is sent to a driver who is free and is in the near vicinity. The driver has the option to accept or reject the ride. If the driver accepts the ride, Uber sends the passenger’s details to the driver and the driver’s details to the passenger. The driver then reaches the location of the passenger, picks him up and drops him off at his destination. If, on the other hand, the driver rejects the ride then the notification is sent to another driver who is also in the nearby area.
  • Ride & Tracking: Customers/Passengers can track the cab when it is on its way to pick them up and the ETA is also showed to the passengers on the app screen. The meter starts as soon as the passenger sits in the cab and can be tracked by the passenger as well.
  • Payment: Once the ride gets over, the passenger makes the payment in cash or via online wallets, whichever he prefers.
  • Rating: After the ride, the passenger has the option of rating a driver. Ratings allow other people to know and trust the driver before booking a cab.

To know more about Uber, check out the fun facts filled infographic developed by Unboxing Deals below.

Uber Story

 

 

Best Apps for Students – Infographic

 

Studying and revising can be a chore. Working towards achieving a qualification is the focus for many and it can be difficult to stay focussed. Keeping on top of assignments and study is challenging and it certainly requires an element of determination, concentration and perseverance.

It is important to find what works best for you in terms of study. Some people find they work best alone in a quiet room while others need to work in groups. Sometimes it’s healthy to get a mix of both. Studying in groups can be useful if for example, you are struggling on some aspect of a course and require some guidance from others. They can learn from you as you discuss the topic and you expand your knowledge and understanding of the subject.

In order to keep stress at bay when studying, it’s important to eat a balanced diet. Try not to fall into the trap of eating easy to prepare junk food because your body will need all the nutrients in order to ensure your study is good. Being organised in all aspects of your student life is really important and will stand to you in the long run. Panic studying never works well so try to plan out your study times well in advance of exams or final assignments.

Make good use of your lecturers and tutors and ask for their assistance if you are finding a particular subject difficult. Expressing interest will show your enthusiasm and dedication and they will admire this and will be willing to offer your help for those tough areas.

This infographic from Study Medicine Europe is a handy guide for students of apps that they can download to their phone or tablet that will assist in making their studying and revision work more efficient. Check it out below.

The-Ultimate-Student-App-Guide

The Future is Now – Phone Tracking Technology

 

A couple years back, the best way to track a mobile device was through the usage of phone towers. Truly, phone companies can without much of a stretch find the area of a phone device by decoding information longs got after the target make calls. Beside this, the organizations can likewise track the area of a phone when the cell phone remains on and continues sending radio signs. In any case, when the phone device is off, it is near difficult tracking it.

Cell phone tracking has turned into an ordinary event. In any case, everybody who uses a mobile phone is being or can be tracked. Numerous late studies uncover disturbing proposals about how mobile phone behavior is being used, not to just track individuals but rather keep an eye on regular life.

We all actually need the most recent technology in telephones. Cell phones, every Android phone including the iPhone, incorporate incalculable measures of applications and uses, from playing music, watching movies, taking photos, playing games and more. However when you buy a cell phone, you are outfitting yourself with presumably one of the most complex tracking devices around.

Today, phone tracker software is no more a thing that amazes individuals. Everybody, in this very moment, knows about the way that cell phones can be tracked. To let you know reality, whether you like it or aversion it, everybody who possesses a cell phone is being spied and tracked. As per various studies directed recently, more individuals tend to keep an eye on somebody. As such, they attempt to track their area notwithstanding their online exercises without their authorization.

Regardless of what mobile device you claim, it is fit for sending and accepting radio signs at whatever point you make calls, send text messages or surf the web. Presently, envision that your phone is armed with a satellite GPS tracking device too. Practically all most recent phone devices accompany GPS phone tracking component. Every day, many people get caught on account of the GPS in their devices.

Another disturbing truth is that, researchers have contrived an approach to track human behavior in points of interest, in a trial crossing maybe over two years. The researchers claim to foresee future conduct of individuals through cell phones. Clearly, mobile devices organizations are presently foreseeing if a client is going to change to another service supplier through this innovation.

The researchers were not just ready to distinguish general changes in the changes of individuals, there were additionally fit for deciding data as to the wellbeing of the mobile device client before he could even thought about it himself. This gives us a thought of what the eventual future of phone tracking will resemble. And this will happen with the assistance of the helpful device you can put in your pocket and convey wherever you need to. Give us a chance to figure out what specialists need to say in regards to it.

As indicated by specialists, as innovation gains progress, cell phone tracking innovation with likewise keep on creating. This innovation is helping us from multiple points of view:

  • It is offering folks some assistance with keeping tabs on their insidious children;
  • It is tracking so as to offer cops some assistance with catching criminals by tracking their mobile devices;
  • It is offering husbands or wives some assistance on finding out if they are cheating;
  • It is helping insight organizations in tracking terrorist and so on.

Along these lines, with the help of this innovation, it is trusted that we will have the capacity to cope with the bad guys in a better way.

 

10 Best Construction and Building Mobile Apps [Infographic]

Do you have any plans to develop a new apartment or renovate your old house with new exciting design?

It’s 2015, and technology in the building & construction industry is becoming more and more influential. This is because there are apps becoming available that make things so much easier for builders. The current batch of building apps have the potential to greatly improve efficiency and also improve safety on a building site. There is much less chance of making a mistake when using these highly rated building apps.

Some of these building apps charge a fee but just looking at the reviews it seems they are well worth the small investment. There are also many free building apps that are really simple to use and would be handy for anyone involved in any type of construction.

So If you are looking for a handy dandy set of tools to help you out with a new home design, just take a look at this cool list of practical and useful apps.

Infographic is courtesy of Calgary Window & Door Guys 

Here’s How Mobile Apps Are Changing The World [infographic]

Smart phones are the latest buzz in the cell phone world. Scores of companies are churning apps by the hour and this infographic shows just what is happening in the world of mobile apps – popular apps, top categories, app stores etc. It has everything there is to know about mobile apps in a jiffy!

Apple’s App Store is leading the group with roughly 900,00 apps, to date (updated from wwdc2013 event), and 50 billion total downloads during a period of 5 years, or so. Android is right after, with about 800,000+ apps at the Google Play store, while the rest of the list is far behind, with Windows Phone Store featuring 145,000 apps, and Samsung Apps with only 13,000 apps at the moment. Check out the table to learn more about the numbers and info.

How Mobile Apps Have Changed the World

This infographic is courtesy of  Top Apps and Designed by Graphs.net

Image source: Lifehacker

8 Instagram Web Services That Can Help You Manage and Organize Your Photos

Instagram, the most popular photo-sharing service these days, has officially hit 80 million users who have uploaded more than 4 billion photos, since its launch  in October 2010. Acquired by Facebook for a staggering $1 billion, the San Francisco-based startup behind  the popular mobile photo application, was initially built for iPhone, and got extended to Android users in April of 2012.

Regardless of their popularity, If there’s one thing missing from Instagram, is a simple and intuitive web-based user interface. And while the company appears to be committed to find a decent solution for the average user, more and more third-party companies are jumping on the Instagram bandwagon.

To remedy this problem, we have gathered a list of eight Instagram web services to help you manage, sort, organize, and share your digital images, as the photo space heat up. Check it out after the break.

 

Continue reading 8 Instagram Web Services That Can Help You Manage and Organize Your Photos

The Apps That Make The BlackBerry Bold 9790 Best For Business

BlackBerry has built its reputation on its relationship with the business world. More than any other smartphone, BlackBerry’s long association with the corporate market has provided a good base for its success. The success of iOS and the growth of Android in 2011 has undoubtedly left manufacturer RIM in a weaker position in the UK, having been pushed into third place. However, the release of the new Bold range in 2011, with the Bold 9790 at the centre of the campaign, and the release of the new operating system, BB7, means BlackBerry is taking on its competitors and reinforcing its position in the business world.

The Bold 9790 includes many of the same features that have made BlackBerry a popular business brand, including the ability to set up different email accounts and instant messages, to multitask and browse the web while working on other platforms. It also includes some new features, like the ability to separate a personal and business profile within the one device. There are also different apps that can be downloaded to further utilize and maximise the ability of the Bold 9790 to meet the needs of the business community. Here are the top five.

Social Media networks like Twitter are becoming increasingly important for businesses as they allow people to share their commercial knowledge and connect their brand with consumers. Apps like UberSocial are ideal for BlackBerry as they allow users to manage multiple accounts and tweet easily on the move using the devices QWERTY keyboard.

Dropbox is a feature many will use day to day in work, allowing them to share documents and material remotely. BlackBerry App world has a version of the software that allows users to share and read documents on their drop box on their device.

Battery Booster is ideal for those who need their BlackBerry from the beginning to the end of the working day and might not have access to a charger. The app stops different applications which are draining the battery to ensure optimum performance and saving battery life for those apps you need most.

BlackBerry Traffic provides an up to date service which can be vital to make sure you get to meetings and appointments on time. The app gives information about roads that are closed and plans routes, gives an idea of traffic congestions and provides an estimated time of arrival making it easier to plan a journey.

The business day can be a busy one and often it is difficult to keep up to date with what is happening in the world. BlackBerry News is an app providing an RSS feed of the latest news headlines, allowing users to scroll through and get an update on developments. Easily to scroll through and read it makes it easier to catch up on the train or over lunch.

Apple and Android have both been making inroads into the business market over the last twelve months. RIM has seen its BlackBerry phone deals fall below a 20% share in the UK smartphone market. Their new launch of the Bold range, in particular the 9790 and the new OS7 is designed to catch up with its competitors and provide a new and improved platforms for the business market. These apps are designed for BlackBerry to make the working day a little bit easier.

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This Article was written by Simon Drew from Best Mobile Contracts

Google’s Android Honeycomb OS and Android Market Website Officially Announced

Looking back on early January 2011, we catch a glimpse of an awesome experience of the Android 3.0 video teasers. Looking forward to what’s ahead of this year let us capture a vision of the great Honeycomb OS which will inevitably make Android the dominant Smartphone and Tablet platform of the future. The rapid ascent of Android has prompted Google to go ahead and announce the official release of its latest creation, made by Palm’s former UI designer, Matias Duarte, and best known as the Android Honeycomb – Google’s answer to many of tablet -based OS out there. And while there wasn’t much news about it, it is still worth watching – especially for those that widgets, finger gestures, or 3D rendering matters spark their interest. The one thing however, that caught most people’s eyes was Google’s Android Market which has finally turned official, as a web client, and gone live couple of hours ago with a very neat and simple Market catalog to browse (more than 50,000 apps inside) with both free and paid Android applications preloaded on board. Move forward after the break to catch up with Google’s full event.

Continue reading Google’s Android Honeycomb OS and Android Market Website Officially Announced

11 Most Awesome iPad Apps That Will Make You Feel Like a DJ

Since its launch two months ago, Apple’s iPad sales has already reached over one million units (in the US alone), with users downloading over 12 million apps from the App Store and over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore. As of today, there are almost 200,000 apps available on iTunes for all Apple devices, while more than 10,000 apps of them were written or redesigned for the iPad platform itself. Steve Jobs says “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers…” – and he does, as Apple already announced its next stage of global roll out, which is allegedly slated to start on May 28. In this post, we have rounded up 11 great (free/cheap) iPad music apps that will let you feel like a pro DJ when using. You can scratch, create loops, remix your audio files, insert samples, play, produce and record your very own audio stuff on-the-go.  Check out each app, download it and you’ll be off and running with some great DJ tools in no time. Considering some of this apps can cost dozens, if not hundreds of dollars in desktop/laptops markets, paying a few bucks is a sound investment, in our humble opinion.

Continue reading 11 Most Awesome iPad Apps That Will Make You Feel Like a DJ

Dell’s 7-Inch Looking Glass Tablet Unveiled, Coming Up In November With Tegra 2 Inside

Well, hello there…what do we have in here, a new tablet from Dell? I mean don’t get us wrong here, it’s not that we haven’t heard anything about it before, but this time it gets a lot more juicy details to share. First and foremost is the name – Looking Glass – which its creator apparently chose because of the glossy 7-inch display the tablet boasts. Screen resolution, BTW, is at 800×480 pixels only, which is kind of surprising, considering that Dell’s 5-inch Streak technically packs the same numbers. Still, you can’t go wrong when it comes to an android 2.1 machine, powered by Nvidia’s powerful Tegra 2 processor, can you? And if that wasn’t enough, how about 4GB of RAM, paired with a 1.3mp camera, an optional ATSC/DVB-T TV tuner, and 4GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via an SDHC slot, that Dell plans to include inside – pretty cool, isn’t it? Unfortunately it is not due out until November of this year, so right now, you’ll have to settle with the line of specs, after the break.

[via engadget]

Continue reading Dell’s 7-Inch Looking Glass Tablet Unveiled, Coming Up In November With Tegra 2 Inside

Pasen MID5 Android Machine Makes It Out

Pasen has been known for years for its average line of PMP products, but now, as it looks, the company has finally managed to somehow move on the  right direction with its latest and hopefully greatest MID5 android tablet – is that a tablet? Anyway, this 5-inch MID/Slate Android device boasts a 800 x 480 LTPS LCD display, along WiFi, micro SDHC slot, USB hub, Rockchip RK2808 processor, a built-in speaker and HDMI output, supporting 720p H.264 video files, as well as other common formats like AVI, MOV, DIVX, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, VCD, DVD, RM, or RMVB and audio codecs such as MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, or OGG. Battery wise, you get to play up to 10 hours of music tracks or about 4.5 hours of video playback, so wouldn’t you want one, after all?

[Pasen]

iPad App Store Screenshots Unveiled

Feel you’re running out of patient to get your new lavish iPad device? Already searching for content to fill it with? In that case, prepare to spend big bucks on this track, because according to these Apple iPad App Store screenshots that recently emerged, they won’t come cheap. In fact, only 8 applications out of the leaked images are free, while others will cost from few greenish dollars and up to $49.99(!) when it comes to OmniGraffle – at least there’s more functionality there, and apparently those apps would likely fetch a lot more money for developers rather than iPhone’s apps. One more detailed image after the break, to serve your appetite.

Update1: Checkout the cool video after the break and watch the iPad App Store browsing experience for yourselves.

Update2: Now it’s official, iPad apps cost a lot more than iPhone and iPod touch apps. In fact, for some of them you’ll have to pay more than double in order to enjoy the experience of a larger screen – but that wouldn’t probably stop Apple’s fanboys from getting one – would it? According to the good guys at The Consumerist who dug up this issue thoroughly, the price differences between equivalent applications on both devices is ridiculously bigger when you come to get’em for your soon-to-be-available Apple tablet compared to the ones you’d get for the cellphone machine. How big, you’re asking? $4.99 Flight Control HD vs. $0.99 Flight Control or $2.99 Flick Fishing HD against $0.99 Flick Fishing, etc. Overall, you’d have to pay $53 for iPad apps compared to JUST $27 on an iPhone or iPod Touch for the same list exactly. Checkout the comparing table right after the break.

Update3: And looks like the iPad apps are finally live at the Apple app store [iTunes Link], with 1,000 of them, already available for download/purchase, and many others which are yet to come. Prepare to open your wallets, it ain’t gonna be cheap, you know.

[via App Annie]

Continue reading iPad App Store Screenshots Unveiled

Archos 7 Home Tablet Introduced, Running Android Platform and ARM 9 CPU Onboard

We’ve already seen a glimpse from Archos’ 7-inch Android-powered tablet one month ago, but now things turn to be official at CeBIT 2010, with the French debuting their 600MHz ARM 9 Home Tablet machine, aiming the low cost market with attractive and very affordable prices – €149 in Europe and only $179 Stateside. And despite that unconvincing HD friendly resistive touchscreen, we can find a lot of reason for you to buy it. First and foremost, it’s cheap, second, it comes with WiFi so you can easily surf the net without the need for other device, third, it looks great at 12mm thin and weighs only 350g and fourth, it has 2GB of storage capacity inside and a microSD card extension slot. No, it doesn’t include an integrated accelerometer inside so you won;t be able to see your photos in landscape mode or read your favorite eBook vertically, but still, for that pricing level it sure worth a try, especially when it comes to the battery that delivers seven hours of video or 44 hours of audio playback. Checkout the hands-on video right after the break.

Update1: And just when things are getting busy within the tablet realm, the Android-powered Archos 7 8GB tablet device appears online in couple of places, available for a pre-order (and as an iPad alternative) for merely €200 ($270) on the German Amazon or at €180 ($240) on Redcoon’s website.

Update2: Looks like the Archos 7 Home Tablet is now finally available to order on Amazon for $199.99, with an official release date – yet to be determined (probably towards the end of April).

Update3: Unfortunately, the Archos 7 won’t be available in the market until early June of this year. That said, according to the French corp, those who pre-ordered the 7-inch, Android 1.6 tablet may get their piece of craft somewhere towards the end of May. Full PR after the break.

[via UMPC Portal]

Continue reading Archos 7 Home Tablet Introduced, Running Android Platform and ARM 9 CPU Onboard

ASUS Eee PC 1201PN Gets Nvidia’s ION 2 and Atom N450 Treatment

Asus has already proved it can go hand-to-hand with tech pace and bring up-to-date laptops that match the latest criteria one by one. And that is probably the reason the company has just released the Eee PC 1201PN, a Pine Trail netbook powered by Nvidia’s ION 2 graphics that suppose to replace the 6 months old 1201N which had the same looks, only with ION’s first chipset edition and a previous Atom N330 CPU version. The new one, which was spotted at the Taiwanese booth in CeBIT, packs a 12.1-inch 1366×768 LED display, along that Atom N450 Pine Trail processor, and NVIDIA’s Ion 2 for the graphics tone. Other than that, the 1201PN offers basic specs like 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi connection, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and 6 cell battery with working hours “TBD”. Stay tuned for more to come, meanwhile checkout Joanna’s hands-on video after the break.

Update: And looks like the 12.1-inch ASUS Eee PC 1201PN, powered by ION 2 chipset, is now available on Amazon for a starting price of $484, which seems pretty impressive if we take into consideration that really amazing lineup, which includes a Intel Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 201M for the graphics.

[via engadget]

Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 1201PN Gets Nvidia’s ION 2 and Atom N450 Treatment

21 Amazingly Free iPhone and iPod Touch Games

Mobile gaming is still in primeval stages – that’s unquestionable – but the foreseeable future is likely to be promising. In a rapidly growing market with over 20,000 iPhone and iPod Touch games available on Apple’s App Store, it’s not that hard guessing this is just a matter of time until portable games will start dominating our very own smartphones while overpowering desktop platforms. Especially now, when Cupertino teams up with more developing companies and Redmond that finally joins the party with Windows Phone 7 Series which suppose to integrate Xbox Live architecture in Microsoft’s coming machines. Still, it would probably take some time until substantial changes will eventually become real  – a year or two in our humble opinion. Anyway, ’till then, if you already play games on iPhones or iPod touch players, but  feel short in cash to start funding all those neat apps that show up in big numbers, every day and after, here’s a list of twenty one games, free of charge, for you to download. Please feel free to add your favorite “cost-nothing” apps, down in the commenting section.

Continue reading 21 Amazingly Free iPhone and iPod Touch Games

RAmos’ New T13FHD And T17FHD Touchscreen PMPs To Support Full HD Content

Chinese company RAMos has launch a new PMP lineup which includes the T17FHD and T13FHD models, both to handle 1080p videos adequately. Make no mistake, these are not MIDs or tablets, just media players with a built-in HDMI port and touchscreen display on top. Starting with the T13FHD, made of zinc alloy magnesium, you get  a 4.3-inch display along a USB host, TV output and a headphone jack, positioned to the left, while the second, T17FHD, literally sports the same screen size with 800 × 480 resolution, but also packs 16GB of flash storage, a microSD card slot, ebook reader compatibility and wide range of formats support, including H.264, MPEG1/2/4 decoding, MKV, RMVB, AVI, MOV, MPG, MPEG, DAT, MOV, MP4, MP3、WMA、WAV、RM、OGG、and JPG、BMP、PNG、GIF image files. No word about price or availability at this point.

[via imp3]

Google Nexus One Update Is Over-the-air, Brings Google Goggles, Maps And Multitouch Capabilities Into The Phone

[tweetmeme]

The mystery behind Nexus One’s multitouch disparity between Europe and the US is finally about to end, as Google reports in its blog, suggesting imminent roll out of a software update, specifically tailored for the Nexus One and which apparently boasts some major add-ons inside, amongst you’ll find Google Goggle app that lets you take pictures through the integrated webcam and then generate search results about them, improved version of Google Maps with a special night mode and useful suggestions, general fix of 3G connectivity and last but probably the most important one, multitouch support, that would likely offer “a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications”. In case you were wondering about the timing of this update, here’s Google official statement, given to ReadWriteWeb:

Looking around the mobile industry, from Apple to Palm to HTC and Motorola – it’s clear that pinch-to-zoom technology has become a standard and popular way for users to interact with their mobile phones. Likewise, Android users can now truly benefit from this capability with the availability of Android 2.1, which powers a new class of devices with larger touchscreens and more interactive features. Unlike past devices, these phones have the processing power to deliver pinch-to-zoom, while still providing a great user experience. Based on these new capabilities and numerous requests from Android users, we decided to provide pinch-to-zoom capabilities with this new over-the-air software update for Nexus One devices.

Update: We’ve added a video that shows Nexus One new features in action, check it out after the break.

[Google]

Continue reading Google Nexus One Update Is Over-the-air, Brings Google Goggles, Maps And Multitouch Capabilities Into The Phone

iPhone OS 3.1.3 Goes Live

Apple just issued iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.1.3, available on your iTunes right away, offering bug fixes to some of the few problems users were moaning about like improved battery level indicator, or third-party applications that failed to launch in some of the occasions. Other issues this update resolves include a Japanese Kana keyboard fix and security breaches related to CoreAudio, ImageIO, Recovery Mode and WebKit.

Update: And those of you, Mac OS X users, who’ve been patiently waiting for a hack ‘n crack to go out, it appears like Dev-Team‘s new Pwnage jailbreaking tool is now officially up and ready to grab. As usual, proceed with caution.

iPhone Firmware 2.2 Is Now Officially Available, Introducing Google Street View And Some Other Tweaks

Apple has finally released firmware update 2.2, available for downloading via your iTunes software, right away. The new 246MB update brings some neat stuff to your iphone/ipod devices, including Google Street View, over-the-air podcast downloads (which lets you listen to podcast, either through wifi connection or 3G network), public transit and walking directions, more stabilized Safari browser and even the ability to share your location via email. In addition, you get some Bug fixes, together with toggling auto-text correction function, better sound quality in Visual Voicemail messages and a new App rating feature, that allows you to rank any Apple’s App Store application, once you delete it.  Stay tuned !

iHologram Brings 3D Spectrum To Your iPhone

This awesome application from David O’Reilly brings staggering 3D animation to your iPhone, thanks to the anamorphosis painting technic that has been used since the 15th century, and now combined with the iphone’s accelerometer and gyroscopes, to create an amazing 3D visual illusion in a constant viewing angle of 35 to 45 degrees, when the real drawings are actually in 2D. Check out the video, featuring a nice tangible 3D character walking along the screen path, almost jumping out of the phone.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/x_u9paWQJbs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
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[via PMPToday]

iPhone Camera Gets More Improvements With Snapture 2.0

It’s been four months since Snapture released their first revolutionary iPhone camera application with the abilities to capture up to three frames in a row, take self photos, take photos in different sizes, get a digital zoom, toggle Auto rotation and more. Now we hear that Snapture steps up with the new Snapture 2.0 version, adding features like self timer, 4 color modes, a clean UI, and multi-touch gesture zoom, all for free, in case you have a jailbroken device. You can also go Premium for $7.99 and get free-ads application with the ability to view, enlarge and delete recent pictures directly on the viewfinder, thanks to the QuickView system. Checkout the video after the break.

[Snapture]

Continue reading iPhone Camera Gets More Improvements With Snapture 2.0

Apple App Store Goes Live

I bet you all been waiting for the official Apple App Store to make a debut and today it is finally available in both iPhone 2.0 and iTunes, running smooth, offering many applications to download, some are free some are priced. Among the assortment you can find applications like:

  • eBay – cool application that lets you use the service from your iPhone device, search items, watch favorite stuff, place a bid and follow auctions, all for free.
  • Loopt – a nice location-based application that lets you discover who’s hanging within your location range (don’t try to hide with this service ON).
  • TypePad – one of the most popular blogging services, now available from your iPhone, allowing users to upload real time photos, straight from their handset, directly to their blogs.
  • Associated Press – another free application, allowing users to upload their media stuff to AP service and contribute to the content.
  • Band – a cool feature, developed by an independent insurance developer, allowing users to create their own music and play it from their own iPhone device, with the ability to choose from a various of instruments.
  • MLB.com – a nice application, designated for baseball fans, allowing them to receive real time results and watch highlighted moments.
  • MySpace – iPhone app that allows you to manage their MySpace social network account, including add friends, exchange messages, upload photos,and more, all for free.
  • Kyte Mobile Producer – a great application that lets you upload images you take with your iphone, directly to your Kyte account or the available channels, including blogs, social networks (Facebook, MySpace) etc. You can make slides, conduct polls and add captions.
  • AIM – Finally an instant-messaging application on your iphone, lets you interact with your friends and chat online via Wi-Fi. In additio, you can mark contacts as your favorites and can even send away messages.
  • Twitterrific – The official twitter client to send your messages via twitter.
  • Facebook – Manage your Facebook account from your iphone device. The application lets you view messages, search friends and even chat with them whenever you want.
  • Pandora – The cool online radio service comes to your iphone, allowing you to play your favorite music while recommending similar bands and artists.
  • Remote Control – Lets you control your iTunes or your Apple TV with your iphone device. You can play, pause, skip, and even search in libraries.

Some additional Apple App lists:

Engadget – preliminary list.

Gizmodo – variety of applications list.

TechCrunch –  Great applications list (with video).

Apple-App-Store-2

Continue reading Apple App Store Goes Live

Sirius Satellite Radio Comes To Your iPhone

If you’re a proud owner of a jailbroken iphone device and want to take your favorite radio stations everywhere you go, uSirius will make it possible, free of charge for three days before registration. To start streaming, just find yourself a Wifi hotspot, log into the Installer.app, download the application, install it and get your tunes on the go.

iphone-usirius

 [via gizmodo]

iDial Brings The Rotary Dial To The iPhone

iDial recalls long forgotten events, as this new application lets you dial from your touchscreen iphone device like old time telephone, swiveling the dial rotor and hearing the same tunes. I can’t be sure how useful it is, but there’s no doubt the guys have shown great originality with this one. Check out the blurry video after the break.

iphone-idial

[via gizmodo]

Continue reading iDial Brings The Rotary Dial To The iPhone

69 Twitter Web Services You Should Know

[tweetmeme]

twitter-bird

Twitter is probably one of the most rapid growing tools to communicate and stay connected with your family, friends, co-workers or anyone else you wish to follow. It has changed the way we use the internet and turned the form of blogging into micro-blogging, allowing users to write brief text updates and publish them to the masses. To those of you who make their first steps with tweeter or those who already been using it for a while and look for services to enhance their usage, here’s a list of 69 web-based services you should know.

Update1: Twitter is growing fast, along with the new services which surface up on daily basis. And while starting with only 69 links, our list already crossed the 160 line, and counting.

Update2: Newcomers, please checkout our Twitter tips in here.

Continue reading 69 Twitter Web Services You Should Know

iPhone Gets Surveillance Capabilities With Lextech App.

Lextech has developed a cool surveillance application for the iphone, allowing users to control their camera positioning via the intuitive multi-touch interface, by dragging the fingers on the screen and moving the camera around. In addition, users can zoom in and out by simply pinching the picture, exactly the way they zoom other images with the finger gestures. This means, no more endless hours, spent sitting in front of monitors, following the action. Instead, you can carry your handset and track things down through the Lextech app, wherever you go. Checkout the video demos after the break.

iphone-surveillance[via gizmodo]

Continue reading iPhone Gets Surveillance Capabilities With Lextech App.

Snapture Will Greatly Improve Your iPhone Camera

Snapture is a cool freebie application (for jailbroken devices) that makes your iphone camera much better, adding tons of features and adjustments, once the software is installed. To do so, just go to the utilities section in the InstallerApp and add the Snapture with a simple click. This independent development solution provides digital functions that were absent from the original firmware, including the following:

  • Digital Zoom: up to x3.
  • Burst Mode: capture up to three frames in a row.
  • Easy Self Photo: take pictures by tapping anywhere on the screen, instead of the little button provided on the application standard.
  • Multiple Image Sizes: take photos in three different sizes: Large (1600×1200), Medium (1280×960) and Small (960×720).
  • Silence Mode: take photos without disturbing anyone by turning off audible feedback.
  • Color Modes: take pictures in greyscale or full colors modes.
  • Toggle Auto Rotation: when taking pictures.

iphone-snapture

[snapture via gizmodo]

iPhone & iPod Touch Get New 3D Games

If you enjoy playing games on your iPhone or iPod Touch units, this is your moment, as both devices get 2 new 3D interface games, enabling landscape or portrait playing mode. iPac3D and Yeti3D bring old PC games experience to your jailbroken handset, providing hours of playable adventures with built-in virtual keys or by swiveling accelerometers. The iPac3D is a three-dimensional Pac-Man and the Yeti3D is more or less a Doom game. To add them to your devices, just follow the instructions: goto Installer > Sources > Add http://www.marcogiorgini.com/iPhone/plist.xml

Update: You can find more new games in here.

iphone-3d-games

[via gmp3]

Sony PS3 Might Get Messaging Capabilities

This mysterious teaser snappily appeared on PS3 official site for a very short time, alluding messaging capabilities support for the game console. If this info is real, and we assume it is, PS3 users finally get voice and video chat services, allowing them to connect with their friends whenever they pop up online or during a game. The sneaky image reads “Talk to others during game play, say hello anytime you’re online, or have a video chat with an Eye camera; USB Camera or headset.” Hopefully, Sony is going to embed the messaging services in the next firmware update, so here’s a very good reason to anticipate the next version.

 PS3-messaging

[via slashgear]

iPhone Gets A virtual Piano After the Guitar

I like the idea of a virtual orchestra inside the iPhone, allowing you to demonstrate your musical skills in front of the inebriate guests of the local bar. First, it was the virtual guitar, now it’s the virtual piano and i hope we’ll get the trumpet, next. With iAno, you can start practicing your fingers all the way up to the stages of Carnegie Hall, as a pianist. To do so, you will need a jailbroken iphone/ipod touch and some talent. Looks groovy.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ycIjt-ykWRo" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

iPhone 1.1.2/1.1.3 OTB Version Finally Gets Software Unlock

Fresh OTB iPhones are breakable, as the awaited 1.1.3 software unlock is finally here and available for download, thanks to Mr. GEOrge HOTz (Please pay attention to the risks involved in breaking your device). I wonder if this mouse-cat game between Apple and the hackers will continue or the unlocked iphone version will be released as rumored.

phone-jailbreaked

[via engadget]

GeoHot’s instructions after the break.

Continue reading iPhone 1.1.2/1.1.3 OTB Version Finally Gets Software Unlock

PSP Firmware Update 3.90 Features Skype

As mentioned earlier, Sony announced the availability of Skype on PSP and despite a small delay, it is here, included in the latest firmware update 3.90 . For the time being, it is only available through network update for PSP-2000 models, but the new firmware expands the Playstation Network support to all models – Rock on.

Update: The M33 team has released a custom version of the 3.90 firmware update, available through Network Update.

psp-skype-390-update

[via gizmodo]

iPhone 1.1.3 Gets Jailbreak Version

A team of hackers has just revealed a jailbreak for the latest iPhone edition 1.1.3. The jailbreak is available for Mac or PC users with previous 1.1.2 or 1.1.1 jailbroken versions. We’re not sure this one is working with the iPod Touch, but it does work with the iPhone. More instructions here.

Update: please pay attention to the Statement Of Risk, as it says: “As all upgrades are risky, this one is doubly so. You may have to restore your phone using iTunes and start again if it fails. Make sure to back up first”.

iphone-1-1-3-ibrickr

[via gmp3]

iPhone Gets Voice Dialing Application

We’ve expected this one to show up, Makayama, a Netherlands based company, introduced a VOICE DIAL application for the iPhone. This application allows you to record voice samples for any contact in your address book and dial up your numbers, hands free, in all languages. You can even surf to your favorite websites by assigning voice tags to your Safari bookmarks. In order to add this app, you need a Jailbroken iPhone, then go to Installer > Sources > Add http://tinyurl.com/2t8cax. The Voice Dial is available for a free trial or a full release purchase, for $27.95.

iphone-voicedial

[via i4u]

PocketGuitar For iPhone and iPod touch

PocketGuitar is a virtual guitar for iPhone and iPod touch devices. This cool new feature allows you to play and strum like Hendrix or Slash, and bring your favorite cords into the touchscreen. In order to install this application you have to go to Installer > Sources > Add http://podmap.net/apps. You will find the PocketGuitar app, under the Toys section. Rock n’ Roll !!

PocketGuitar

[via gizmodo]