Communication / Information Apps

This week's theme is Communication / Information apps.

Push - available only for iOS this app allows you to select keywords and phrases from a multitude of news sources. It alerts you when a news story, blog post, website feature, etc. mentions your keywords / phrases. You can delete them if you are not interested.

Drop - available for both Android and iOS the app alerts you to news stories using keywords and phrases you determine. It has less sources than Push but it has a better interface.

Skype Qik - made with mobile in mind, Skype which is now owned by Microsoft has come up with a compact version that focuses on sending video messages to a person or group of people. Instead of the full blown Skype you just send and receive video messages instead of conversing in real time. The app can import your Skype contacts and it has an extremely slick, easy to use, mobile friendly design.

Wut - one of the new popular apps with young adult social media crowd, the app is a group chat / text where users are anonymous, it will only show the last 40 messages and then they are disappear (I believe they actually overwrite the data to try to make it secure)

Sobrr – a social media app where you are anonymous, you post pictures and comment on others pictures. You can set up a chat if you find someone you like. Everything you post or chat deletes within 24 hours. It is popular in Europe and in some big cities. It’s like Instagram and Chat Roulette had a mobile app baby

Snowball – Android only it combines all of the most popular messaging apps into one platform: Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google Hangouts, Twitter, LINE, WeChat, SMS (texting), and Slack. It has a really nice interface and it comes from a group that spun off from Google.

Talko - this app is meant for those who still like to use their phone to talk. From former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie, this app allows you to talk up to 4 people at once like a conference call but you can also send pictures and video. You can also choose to select one person from the group and speak only to them. The app also notifies you if the person you are speaking to is walking or driving so you can decide if you should wait to talk again later or make your discussion brief. The app's focus is on voice so they are focused on making calls extremely clear.

Google Now - more than just a search app, this app competes directly with Siri and Cortana to take the position of virtual assistant on every device. You can tell it where you work, live, travel and it will tell you how long it will take to travel there with current traffic conditions. It knows your calendar so it can tell you when you need to leave. You can program your favorite sports teams and it will tell you the scores. Weather, reservations, public transit, tickets (movies, events, flights), time, and so much more. You can set place reminders so it will tell you to remember something when you get there. It will tell you where you parked.

Google Hangouts – Easy to use, gives you free person-to-person calls, 12 people can video chat at once, allows for instant messaging

Viber – You can send text messages or make phone calls using your tablet, phone, or computer, free!

TextSecure – encrypted text messages makes sure things stay private, both sender and receiver have to use the app for it to be secure.