Ivona. Android. Free. Need to replace that built in Android voice with something more human? Try Ivona, an Android Text-To-Speech replacement that’s currently in beta. Ivona can read aloud directions while driving with Google Navigation, e-books with apps like Book Speech and ReadBoox, SMS messages for safe driving with Handcent SMS, Drive Carefully, etc., system menus with Spiel, and other speech-enabled applications. When beta testing ends, the developer may add some limitations, but right now every voice enabled app can work with Ivona. The voices sound pretty amazing - I opted for Amy the British female voice for my Android phone and it is pretty convincing.
Color Uncovered. iPad. Free. I love Color! And so do the fine folks at Exploratorium. They have created this free and very cool interactive book featuring awesome illusions, articles, and videos on the subject of color. How is Monet like a honeybee? What color is a whisper? Why is it so hard to find your car in a lamp-lit parking lot? Color Uncovered features a wide spectrum of cool color-related topics to explore. Learn why friends shouldn’t let men buy bananas. Try your own color experiments on the iPad using simple items you have at home: a CD case, a drop of water, and a piece of paper. Discover how the iPad and other devices create color. Find out what causes afterimages—and more. Lots of fun and definitely informative.
TweetSpeaker. iPhone. $.99. More voice-enabled fun, this time via an iPhone app that reads aloud your tweets so you eyes and hands can pay attention to more important tasks. In essence, TweetSpeaker creates a podcast of your Twitter stream, allowing you to set it and forget it and listen to the 140 character nuggets. The interface is quite pretty, and the app hasTweet Marker support, adjustable reading speed, and Airplay functionality. The modern way to get up to speed on your Twitter!
Dragon Go! iPhone & iPad & Android. Voice control apps are all the rage, with the massive press around Siri on the iPhone 4S. But Dragon has been making excellent voice control apps for what seems like ages. With the very recent release of the Android version of the popular Dragon Go!, it may be time to take another look at the option. Simple speak your question and Dragon Go! will direct you to the most popular or relevant mobile site at which your answer can be found. The Carousel feature allows you to swipe across comparable sites to get related information. Share results with a pop up bar that offers access to email and social sites. The app requires wifi or 3G edge connectivity, iOS 4 or later, or Android 2.1 or later - Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) is coming. Try it, you will like it.
Encyclopaedia Brittanica. iPhone / iPad. $1.99 / month. Back in the day, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica filled shelves and volumes and cost thousands of dollars. Now, it fills an iPhone app and costs $1.99. The app includes over 80,000 articles written by experts and thoroughly fact-checked. Contributors include over 100 Nobel Laureates plus subject gurus like Bill Clinton, Tony Hawk, and Desmond Tutu. Access to the articles requires a monthly subscription auto-charged to your iTunes account. If you have need for handy expert resources on a variety of topics, the $1.99 may be a value proposition. At least until you get through the college years.
*View:
Photographs, diagrams, and charts help bring each topic to life.
*Make Connections:
“LinkMap” lets you explore each article with a dynamic view of related topics.
*Personalize:
“My Britannica” keeps track of your favorite articles and more.
CardFlick. iPhone. Free. Need a fancy and free means of sharing a business card? If you aren’t inextricably tied to print media, check out this electronic option. CardFlick allows you to choose a sharp theme, change your info at any time, email new cards to anyone, even if they don’t have the app, flick you card to users nearby, keep contacts synced via the cloud, and employ privacy controls to set who can see your email and phone number. This is so handy and it’s free! No more paper!
Card.io. iPhone & Android. Free app, $.15 per scan. Another mobile payment option besides Square and Google Wallet, Card.io works for both iPhone and Android devices. No need for separate devices, though - Card.io works by taking a picture of your credit card. The app reads the information and transmits for payment. While Card.io does “read” your data, it does not save card numbers or payment information. All server communication is protected with SSL encryption, and servers are hosted in secure facilities. No contracts, set up fees, or requirement that the app be tied to a certain merchant account or payment gateway. Sounds simple? It is. Card.io has released its SDK to developers to enable them to leverage this very cool and simple payment method. Smartphone as wallet? All signs point to yes.
Lemon. iPhone & iPad, Android, Blackberry. Free and Premium. If you want to get a handle on your receipts and expenses, look no further than Lemon. Easily scan paper receipts and Lemon will turn the images into useful information that’s taggable and searchable. Help you get organized and identify your expenses. Set up your free account on Lemon.com with your dedicated Lemon email address to which you can email receipts. Then download the mobile app for your platform and get going snapping images and sending to Lemon for your database. You can give the Lemon address directly to merchants so your receipts go straight into your organization system. As a side benefit, you get a marked reduction in spam in your main inbox. Visualize your data in graphs to help you understand your finances. Free gives you lots of functionality, first tier premium gives you no ads, the ability to create and export reports, and multiple users per account, and second tier premium gives you the ability to capture purchase details, including line items and tips. It’s a very slick way to keep track of your finances.
Photomuse. iPhone, iPad 11, Touch. $1.99. Sure there are tons of note taking apps out there, but Photomuse nicely caters to us visual organizers with a heavy focus on images. Snap a photo, add a note, and save it into a collection. Later, you can easily find your photo-notes by scrolling through the collections. Share photos and notes by email or Facebook. Very simple and elegant - perfect for getting ideas for your home improvement project, to enhance your garden or for other research that would benefit from images.
Vocre. iPhone, iPad. Free (with per translation fee after 20). Every time I turn around, it seems, translation apps get even slicker and more Star Trek-like. Vocre is no exception. With Vocre, simply speak in your own language, and then hear the playback of your statement in another language of your choosing. Designed to enable conversations, you select the gender and language of you and your speaking partner, turn the phone upside down, say your piece, and Vocre should recognize what you said. If the text on the screen looks right, then flip the phone on its side and Vocre will speak out your words in your partner’s language. Slight annoyances include a noticeable delay and a great deal of phone flipping, but the results are pretty amazing. Imagine your phone unlocking the key to the language in a foreign country. Next step: strange new worlds.
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Great apps for bodies in motion!
