Tag Archives: app

iOnRoad Turns Your Old Car into a High-Tech Safety Machine

February 24, 2012Android, ces, Information, Special MediaAndroid, app, driving, iOnRoadAlan

The slogan “Turn your smartphone into a personal driving assisstant” should give you a quick overview of exactly what iOnRoad is all about. The smartphone app works in conjunction with the camera in your phone to watch what is going on in front of you and warn you of things like if you are getting too close to another vehicle or of lane drift.

The app is built to work in all light conditions, including at night, and gives audio alerts when it detects any dangers. iOnRoad claims the app uses 30 percent less battery power than your mapping app. The iOnRoad app is currently free, but will be $9.99 soon. You can find it in the Android Market, but it will be coming to iPhone later as well. There are a lot more cool little features to this, but you will have to watch the video below to learn about them. You can find out more at iOnRoad.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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RHP Multimedia MirrorCase for Sneaky Snaps

February 16, 2012Apple, application, ces, Gadgets, Interview, iPhone, smartphone, Special Media, tabletapp, Apple, camera, ces, covert, iPhone, photography, RHP Multimedia, SpyAndrew

RHP Multimedia MirrorCase After years in surveillance industry, RHP Multimedia have gone out on their own with MirrorCase, an iPhone case for taking sneaky photos. Andy and Courtney take a peek with John Palmeri.

Taking a photograph with a smartphone (or any camera for that matter) is somewhat obvious and there are times when you’d like to be a little more discrete. The MirrorCase is an iPhone case with an angled mirror which allows a photo or video to be taken when the iPhone is held horizontally. A free camera app is included which has a “boss” mode, showing a fake app screen with a flick of the finger.

The MirrorCase is on pre-order at the moment for $80, with deliveries expected before the summer. An iPad version is in development.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDR News and RV News Net.

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Second Line App for Smartphones from Line2

February 14, 2012Android, Apple, application, ces, google, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, ipod, mobile, smartphone, Special Media, tablet, voip, wifiAndroid, app, Apple, ces, google, IOS, iPhone, iPod Touch, Line2, smartphone, Tablet, telephone, voip, wi-fiAndrew

Line2 Phone If you’ve ever wanted a second line on your smartphone but don’t have a dual SIM phone (and let’s be honest, who does?), you’ll be interested in this app from Line2. Andy and Don get a demo from Peter on what the app offers.

The Line2 app provides a second line by using a VoIP connection over 3G or wi-fi. All the features of a telephony service are present with a phone number, voicemail, text messaging, call-forwarding and so on. There’s also HD audio if you are calling another Line2 user.

Being a data service and able to use wi-fi means that it’s possible to send and receive calls where there’s no mobile phone signal but there is a wireless connection. SIM-less devices such as iPod Touches or wi-fi-only tablets can become phones too.

Available for both iPhone and Android, monthly subscriptions start at $9.95 a month.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News and RV News Net, and Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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PrivacyStar Blocks Unwanted Smartphone Calls

February 6, 2012Android, Apple, application, blackberry, ces, google, Interview, iPhone, RIM, smartphone, Special MediaAndroid, app, Apple, Blackberry, ces, google, iPhone, Privacy, PrivacyStar, RIM, smartphone, SMS, text messagesAndrew

As on-line marketers transfer their cold-calling attention away from land-lines to cell and mobile phones, their calls are becoming increasingly an annoyance when you are out-and-about. PrivacyStar offers a multilayered solution for Android and Blackberry to cut unwanted calls. Andy finds out more.

PrivacyStar is a smartphone app to block unwanted calls and SMS texts. At its simplest, user-specified phone numbers can be blocked to prevent calls or texts coming through and bothering you. The app also features SmartBlocking which blocks the top 25 numbers blocked by other users in the past week, so if there’s a major calling campaign on, those numbers pretty quickly get blocked.

Other features include CallerID lookup, where if the phone doesn’t know who is calling, the app consults with an on-line directory and displays the caller. For really persistent callers, complaints can be filed directly with the FTC.

The app is currently only available for Android and Blackberry, an iPhone version will be released before the summer. The app is free for a week and then $2.99 per month after that.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News and RV News Net.

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iOnRoad Warns Drivers of Danger

February 6, 2012Android, Apple, application, ces, google, GPS, Interview, iPhone, Special Media, Transportation, travel accessoriesAndroid, app, Apple iPhone, automobile, camera, car, ces, google, GPS, iOnRoad, safety, travelAndrew

As well as being a really bad pun, iOnRoad is an augmented reality app that helps car drivers become safer drivers. Courtney gets into the fast lane to find out more about this app which was awarded a CES Innovation Honoree prize.

Available for Android smartphones now and the iPhone soon, the app uses the smartphone’s camera, GPS and accelerometer to provide warnings and guidance to car drivers as they drive. By looking at the white lines, the car in front and correlating data from the GPS and accelerometer, the app can warn about lane departures, tailgating and speeding. The iOnRoad includes a couple of other features, including reading text messages and a car locator.

Obviously the phone has to be mounted on the dash with a view to the front of the car, but you can test the app using the video here. The app is currently free with a charge of $9.99 to be introduced in the future.

Interview by Courtney Wallin of SDR News.

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PaySaber Point-of-Sale Terminal for iPhone

February 1, 2012Apple, application, ces, iOS, iPhone, ipod, scanner, smartphone, Special Mediaapp, Apple, ces, credit card, IOS, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mastercard, PaySaber, Point of Sale, pos, retail, Shopping, VisaAndrew

POS PaySaber Andy chats to Matt from PaySaber at CES’s Showstoppers about their iPhone-based point-of-sale (POS) solutions.

The PaySaber is a portable handheld POS terminal sled that incorporates a barcode reader, card swipe and thermal printer into the unit. An iPhone or iPod Touch slots into the PaySaber to provide the screen and the wireless communication for the transaction.

The flexibility provided by the iPhone allows credit processing in the normal way, but gives additional benefits such as emailed receipts. From the moment the card is swiped, the whole transaction is encrypted and secure, so the credit card information is never transmitted in cleartext. As you’d expect from any POS system, PaySaber can be configured to interface with inventory systems to automatically deduct items from stock as a sale is completed.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News and RV News Net.

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Remote Monitoring/Home Automation

January 22, 2012Accessory, Android, application, google, iOS, mobile, SoftwareAndroid, app, control, IOS, monitor, monitoring, Nest, remote, smartphonetomwiles

For several years, there has been a small but dedicated group of people experimenting in the world of what has been dubbed home automation. Until now, this field has been fragmented with clunky, often expensive products that don’t integrate well and often make the consumer jump through multiple hoops to even get them to work.

In a recent article I talked about installing a Nest remote-controlled thermostat in my house. The Nest thermostat has so far proven to MORE than live up to the promises made by its manufacturer. The Nest thermostat was remarkably easy to install and makes it amazingly easy to remotely monitor and control my home heating/air conditioning system via iOS or my Android smartphone. Once installed, the Nest simply works. The Nest is worth every penny of its $249 dollar price tag.

Now that I’ve lived with the Nest a while, I’m more excited than ever about the possibilities of remote monitoring, remote control, and home automation.

What I want next is a remote camera system that works with the absolute ease of the Nest thermostat and Nest app combination. The ideal remote camera system would offer at least 4 network-connected weatherproof cameras along with a controller/app system that could be set up with the no-muss, no-fuss ease that the Nest thermostat offers. I want to be able to open an app on an iOS or Android device/smartphone and have my remote camera views simply show up, perhaps with the ability to pan, zoom and tilt individual cameras if I wished right from within the app. Furthermore I don’t want to have to worry about firewalls or port-forwarding to try to get past my home router or ISP firewall

I would also like to be able to use my iOS device or Android smartphone to be able to remotely monitor my refrigerator.

Now that most of us are equipped with smartphones, I see a huge opportunity for a company or companies to step into the home automation/remote monitoring arena and fill the void. The standard to meet revolves around ease-of-use.