Author Archive

Everyone wants to have a good time on New Year’s Eve – which is why it’s so hard to have one. But fear not, help is at hand. And guess what… it’s Android shaped.

Here’s how to deploy your Android smarpthone so that you instantly transform yourself from stressed out party-pooper to the life and soul. read more

AroundMe allows you to your Android phone’s innate self-awareness to find your nearest cashpoint, taxi or cinema.

On launch AroundMe figures out where you are by GPS and wi-fi information. You’re presented with a list of 14 point-of-interest categories from Banks to Taxis and Theatres. Actually, that’s Theaters because the app is written in American. This doesn’t matter hugely except you have to remember to look for Gas – not petrol – stations and there’s no point in searching for cinemas, it’s Movie Theatres you need (and curiously they spelt theatres right this time).

Touch the section and you’re presented with a list of car parks, pubs or restaurants nearby. There’s a map to show the first items on the list. One further touch on a listing gives you the phone number and offers map location and directions.
read more

Time is short at this time of year so every ounce of technological help you can snag to give your social life a bigger bang for less effort must be warmly embraced. Do you have time to call all your friends to discuss a venue for festive drinks? Well, if you do, maybe you don’t have enough friends.

For the social butterflies among us, however, handheld networking software is definitely Santa’s little helper. Your Android phone packs plenty of tricks that will see you safely through these revelries, even if you are too busy during the working day to get engrossed in the inevitable Facebook frenzy as friends debate the forthcoming night’s shenanigans. read more

RAC Traffic springs into life by showing a map of your local area or another that you specify. This map contains coloured dots that indicate traffic delays. Yellow is a minor delay, orange is worse, and red is super bad.

Touch a dot and the app then displays a description of the incident, detailing delay lengths and average traffic-speed.

If you pay 68p for the Plus version, this provides a tool for planning a route that aims to take delays and incidents into account. read more

At the most basic level, this app aims to keep you up-to-date with live flight-information.

Type in your airline and flight number and it will confirm which terminal the plane is to leave from, if it’s on time, and whether it’s likely to be leaving at all. You can also view your flight or in-air timings and even details of seating arrangements for your exact plane.

Flight Track is a well-designed app that smoothes out some of the wrinkles of air travel as effectively as a G&T often does once you are finally aboard. It strikes a fine balance between offering powerful features for sniffing out genuinely useful information yet also being easily accessible to all.
read more