Emerging Technologies

Opera Open VPN – Available for Apple mobile devices and soon to be available for the desk top web browser Opera has created a free VPN. If you are unfamiliar a VPN is a Virtual Private Network which allows a user to connect to a computer network to either have access to network assets (files or computing resources) or mask their online activities and location. There are a wide variety of reasons to use a VPN but the main use that concerns most people is protecting their personal information while on an open / unsecured Wi-Fi connection such as our Library Free network or hotspots at businesses. I have used it for two weeks and have found it to be quick, gives you the option of which country you would like your location to be connected in, and it blocks some ads and cookies. Opera is continuing to work on it to make it faster and more secure. Right now it is a very nice free VPN option for mobile devices.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/opera-vpn-free-unlimited-ad/id1080756781?mt=8

Opera Browser – Available for Android, Apple devices, Linux, and Windows devices this web browser uses several techniques to reduce load time and power usage while surfing the web. If you make a change to the setting you can take advantage of built in ad blocking. Users that download the “Surf Easy” extension can use Opera’s free VPN. In my use of both the mobile and desktop versions I have found decreased RAM usage, faster load time, and less battery usage compared to Chrome or Firefox. http://www.opera.com/

Aioply Vision – an app created for the blind and visually impaired that says what items are in real time or what color it sees in real time. It doesn’t know everything it sees but users can tell it what it is pointed at helping it learn. http://www.aipoly.com/

Hound – You may be familiar with Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or Ok Google’s digital assistants. This one is faster and does a lot more. For instance you can say, “Find Asian restaurants near me”, you can then say “exclude Korean and Chinese”, and then say “open after 9pm”. Each time it remembers your previous statements and continues to give you results. It does a good job of looking back in time or ahead at weather information, like asking, “What’s the chance of rain next Tuesday in Potland Oregon”. It does a bunch of things, available for Android and iOS http://www.soundhound.com/hound

New York Times article about Windows 10 upgrade problems, why they happen and how to avoid them http://goo.gl/Z9VPcB

IFTTT Recipes and Do Button – If This Then That has a lot of new recipes that can automate tasks between apps and home automation equipment. The Do app has some new recipes that you can tap on a button and it can do things like send preset e-mail, open a door lock, change thermostat, or turn on lights (of course this all depends on the equipment you have).

Fast.com – a webpage created by Netflix that quickly measures your internet connection speed

This week was Google’s Developer Conference, Google IO, they released information about new products, updates, features. You can read about them here: http://goo.gl/Ha4zop

Wired Magazine had a very thorough article about virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in which it featured one of the most promising and mysterious companies Magic Leap. Funded at 1.4 billion dollars it has the backing of some of the biggest names in technology. It’s a long article but if nothing else, skip down to the video of what it looks like looking through Magic Leap glasses http://www.wired.com/2016/04/magic-leap-vr/

Plant Identification Apps

Recommended:

Leafsnap (Free) iOS and Android – Developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute the app allows users to identify trees in the United States and Canada by taking a picture of a leaf. There is another app Leafsnap UK for trees in the United Kingdom. Both apps have great high resolution pictures that users can browser the leaf, branch, flowers, and fruits of trees. There is a game that helps users build-up their knowledge of trees based on leaves, flowers, or fruits. The down side is that while the database is extensive it does not have every tree in Canada and the United States as I found out while trying to identify some trees. Also the fact that it is only trees limits the app’s use.

http://leafsnap.com/

myGardenAnswers (Free) iOS and Android. Not one of the strongest apps in the identification game but you can search the name of a plant or tree and see pictures and descriptions. If you have a flowering plant you can take a picture and the app will try to identify it. The app has an option to do a Google image search using the picture you have taken.  If you have a non-flowering plant or you are not satisfied with any of the other options, the app offers expert identification services for a fee.

http://www.gardenanswers.com/

Garden Compass (Free) iOS and Android. The app has a lot of interesting features for those who like to garden: articles, tips, care calendar, community, cooking in the garden, and much more. The identification portion of the app gives users three expert identifications free each month. Additional identifications are available for a fee. I tried it and the expert would tell me what they thought it was and asked for additional pictures or information to try to get an exact name of the plant. The app has a very friendly and easy to use interface with high quality graphics. I really like the “How to Use the App” videos to help users get everything they can out of the app.

https://www.gardencompass.com/ 

Do Not Recommend:

LikeThat Garden (Free) Android only – This app was promising but in the end extremely disappointing. It is very simple, you take a picture and the app is supposed to identify the plant or tree. The camera portion looked distorted and was hard to use. The graphics were poor. Several times the app could not bring up matches and when it did many did not produce a correct match. The app crashed multiple times.

Coloring apps

There has been an increasing interest in adult coloring, coloring for mindfulness, mandalas, zentangles, and related activities. It can very simple or get very complicated. I learned this when I received some special coloring pages for Christmas and none of the markers or pencils worked on the glossy pages. App makers have decided to try to get in on the action and make coloring available on mobile devices. Most apps are free but they charge for additional coloring pages, color palettes, and filters. I tried each of these apps and thought I'd give a "highly recommended", "recommended", "not recommended".

Highly Recommended

Pigment (Free) iOS only. This app impressed me the most. You can color with pencil, marker, or paint. You can control how much area it fills in and how large a pen, marker, or brush stroke. While coloring you can choose an area to confine your color to or you can draw outside the lines. If you have a newer iPhone / iPad the pressure sensitive screen allows for different saturations of color. The app allows you to save or share, as all the ones I tested do. The pictures that they give and color palettes to choose from are generous. There are only pop-up ads to buy premium features when you want to save or share. You can subscribe to get a new coloring book added monthly and all the premium features. The images used for coloring are vector images which means no matter how much you zoom in or zoom out there is no pixelation, everything looks smooth. This was the best app by far. Subscription prices vary. http://pigmentapp.co/

Colorfy (Free) iOS, Amazon, and Android. A lot of reviews and coloring app users rave about this app. The first thing that disappointed me was that the images are raster images meaning that they getting blocky and distort when you zoom in to fill in small areas. There are less color palette choices. I liked to see the library of other coloring / art people had created. The app allows you to convert pictures that you take into coloring pages. They do have an interesting selection of coloring pages. They have about as many pop-ups trying to sell their $2.99 a week subscription. http://colorfy.net/

Coloring (Free) Android only. There are some really beautiful coloring pages. It has some helpful settings options like left handed, blending colors, soft lines, and giant pencil. The feature that I really liked had to do with creating your own custom colors and then having an eye dropper to duplicate that color you created and used later. Like most coloring apps you just fill the black spots with color and you don't color like it in. There were no ads and I did not encounter any annoying pop-ups trying to sell me premium features. If you wanted additional coloring pages, you pay for them which seems fair. https://goo.gl/qKo0Ve

Recommended

Colorme (Free) iOS and Android. Extremely easy to color and the pictures don't take long to finish. There were an abundant selection of coloring pages and colors. Lots of ads. Apple: https://goo.gl/YJW7qf Android:https://goo.gl/UxdFQj 

Colorfly (Free) iOS and Android.  The app seems like a lesser quality version of Colorfy but with some added coloring pages, colors, and a ton of ads. There are a lot of addons that cost between $1.99 - $9.99. Apple: https://goo.gl/XFlBSn Android: https://goo.gl/rBvBHK

Recolor (Free) iOS and Android. One of the features that was different about this coloring app was if you tapped on an area to add color but you decide you've made a mistake you can tap a second time and it will undo it. There are a lot of cool filters once you are done coloring like water color, crayon, pencil, but also video filters that add movement to the drawing. Apple: https://goo.gl/1gKLzt Android: https://goo.gl/V0nkak

Mandala (Free) Android only. This app has a lot of fans and there are a lot of positive reviews. There is a limited assortment of coloring pages that are all in the same theme and I felt that the color selection was constrained. There is a banner ad at the bottom but not much else trying to sell users. Very basic and maybe good for children or adults that want something really basic. https://goo.gl/rfDnJc

Adult Coloring (Free) Android only. Good selection of coloring pages and colors, there are additional ones that can be purchased. Not a lot of ads. Nice filters that can be added after you are done. An easy to use app. https://goo.gl/QwIhrH 

Not Recommended

1000 Dot to Dot (Free) iOS only. This app was recommended in one of the articles that I read. I tried it on two separate days and ran into a lot of problems. It really isn't a coloring app but dot to dot and each is about 1000 dots. If coloring is supposed to destress and be calming, this is the opposite and made me want to throw my phone across the room.

Adult Coloring Book (.99) iOS only. Another app recommended in an article, it doesn't work well and uses "adult" sophomoric humor that I thought was dumb instead of funny (and trust me I laugh at some dumb things). Besides that there isn't a good selection of colors or pictures.

Apps That Pay You

There are a bunch of apps that will pay you to do certain things: scan barcodes, check-in at stores, take photographs, eat healthy, etc. I downloaded a few and tried them out so you can find out if they are worth your time or not. There are some more apps in this category that I have not gotten around to trying so I may do another round of these in the future.

Foap (Free) Android and iOS. Take pictures and make money by selling them as stock photos to companies. You make $5 each time they sell one of your photos. There are also campaigns where they direct you to take pictures of certain scenes or products. The campaign winners can win between $100 - $1000, depending on the campaign. There is a nice  community of people that are taking pictures all over the world. I have had the app two weeks and it has been fun but I've made no money. https://www.foap.com/

Pact (Free) Android and iOS. If you are a healthy or fitness minded person this one is easy money but you have to be committed. You sign up for a "Pact" there are three to choose from I will visit the gym or workout for 30 minutes a day, five days this week; I will eat five vegetables or fruit in a week; I will track my calories five days a week using the MyFitnessPal app. The app helps you track your exercise, vegetables / fruit, and calorie counting. There is a downside if you do not follow through you are fined $5 per action you failed to do. There are ways to put a "pause"on your "Pact" but I believe you have to do it at the beginning of the week. If you complete all your "Pact" actions you can expect to make between $1.70 and $2.50 a week. I have had it for over a year and have made about $80 total and never paid a penalty. http://www.pactapp.com/

iBotta – (Free) Android and iOS. Receive rebates on things you buy at grocery stores, mass merchandise stores like Target, liquor stores, convenience stores, and movie theaters. Now they have team bonuses for reaching certain rebate levels with friends. When paired with coupons or store specials you can save a bunch of money on a single item. The rebates are paid by Paypal or Venmo gift cardhttps://ibotta.com/

Checkout 51 – (Free) Android and iOS. Very similar to iBotta but it has different rebates, each week the app includes some generic items like milk or bananas that you can get a rebate on. They also have an incentive that each user that uploads a receipt is placed in a weekly drawing for a gift card. I have used this app but have not found much to get a rebate on. http://app.lk/AaP

Mobee (Free) Android and iOS. Users get points for taking pictures and filling out surveys at restaurants and stores that they go to. There are a list of places on the app, when they want you to go there, and the number of points that it is worth. It makes me think of "secret shoppers" if you ever worked in retail. Where people come in with a list of questions or items to check that a company or owner wants. Basically this app makes anyone with a smartphone and sometime on their hands a secret shopper. It takes a lot of pints to earn rewards, but if you are out and going to those places anyway it might help you earn something nice.
http://www.mobeeapp.com/

Shopkicks (Free) Android and iOS. You get points, called kicks, every time you go to a retailer. Scan products on the shelves or buy something you get more kicks. These kicks can be redeemed for gift cards. So even if you aren’t shopping or buying and just tagging along you could earn some free stuff. http://app.shopkick.com/wr2/4ZYPFFW-4ZYX536

Receipt Hog (Free) Android and iOS. Whenever you go shopping you save your receipt and take a picture of it using the app. They assign you a point value for each receipt you upload. Receipts from certain places and items are worth more points. It takes a lot of points / time to get enough points for gift cards but if you don't mind and you are shopping anyways, you may be able to score some free stuff. http://receipthog.com/

Google Opinion Rewards (Free) Android only. Answer some surveys from Google and earn credit toward Google Play Store purchases. Once you download the app you answer a quick survey to see if you qualify. After that it offers you surveys based on location, how often you answer, and other data points. I don't use an Android device often but some friends of mine have raved about how easy it was for them to earn credits for their Google account.  https://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/google_opinion_rewards

Meditation Apps

Buddhify [4.99 iOS, 2.99 Android] The app has 80 custom guided meditations; tracks 14 activities that affect mindfulness; has a meditation timer; a check-in timer allows Think you to reflect on what you are doing; great statistics tools that create charts and graphs. The interface is bright, colorful, and easy to use.

Insight Timer [Free. iOS and Android] - This app provides several guided meditations by Eckhart Tolle and others, there are 600 total but many of them are available as in-app purchases. The app provides a Tibetan singing bowl sound, you can choose from 8 different ones, to end your session, which you can set to desired length. There are 1,000 discussion groups and 2,000 local meet-up groups to discuss meditation and related topics.

Meditation Timer Free [Free. iOS only] Very nice user interface that is easy to use. Users choose the length of time that they want to meditate, set reminders, choose a background image, and access statistics.

Mindfulness [2.99 iOS, 1.99 Android] With a wide array of features such as guided meditation, silent meditation, reminders, statistics, mindfulness notifications, and more the app is highly rated by purchasers. The app has a simple easy to use interface.

Mindfulness Training App [Free. iOS only] A great app for those that are new to meditation it has lessons from some of the most respected names in meditation and mindfulness. Users familiar with the practices and terminology of meditation will enjoy the discussions on the science of mindfulness. The only disappointing part is that the first two lessons are free but users must purchase packs afterward.

Omvana [Free. iOS and  Android] Simple interface with a huge library of guided meditations, many of which require purchase, that cover a large spectrum of mindfulness topics. The app integrates with Apple watch and the iOS Health kit. Users can record their mood and find the meditation that is right for them. Users can also select background music and track progress. One of the most popular and highest rated meditation apps available.

Relax Melodies [Free. iOS , Android, Windows, Amazon] The app provides a variety of sounds that users can choose from or even mix; sounds include white noise or zen sounds. Using binaural beats the sounds are supposed to be proven to help users relax and fall asleep in 20 minutes.

Stop, Breathe & Think [Free. iOS and Android] Nice collection of basic meditation exercises with a variety of lengths. The app asks a series of questions to get a comprehensive picture and then suggest a selection of meditation practices to help you. For a small fee users can download a pack of meditations narrated by KD Lang.

Take A Break [Free. iOS, Android, Amazon] Beautiful backgrounds, calming music, nature sounds and a custom time that allows users to select between 7 and 13 minutes. For the times you just want a short relaxation period instead of focused meditation.

Honorable mentions that you might want to check out: Calm, Headspace, Mindbody Connect, and Smiling Mind

Apps for Entreprenuers

Fuze: The Small Meeting Multi-Tool

Fuze allows you to set up quick videos. Users can host and manage up to three participants, 12 video feeds and 1GB of cloud storage. The best part is that it allows content sharing, you can send and received PowerPoint presentations, Word docs, PDFs and high-

resolution images from the app itself. There are some really cool features such as smart white board that allows users to write on pictures and videos to better communicate their ideas. You can record your meetings and share them later.

If you need to scale, check out Fuze Premium, which can support up to 250 participants and has enterprise management features. The app is free and is available for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, and Android.

For more information check out: https://www.fuze.com

Flyp: Multiple numbers or Multiple Countries

Flyp allows you to get multiple numbers for your phone. You can make calls or send texts to the U.S. and 15 other countries where Flyp is available (more countries added soon), all within one app.

It works over cellular channels, so it turns all your calls into local calls, covered by your current service plan. It does not incur data charges.

This app is a great help if you have clients across the world, and you need something more reliable and professional than VoIP solutions and at a good price.

Users get one phone number for free and then each additional line is $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Available for iPhone and Android. More information available at: http://getflyp.com/

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flyp.android
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id940678351


City Maps 2Go Offline Maps: Traveling Without a Data Plan

One of the issues with foreign travel is expensive or nonexistent data, with this app you can download maps of the cities you plan to visit and it will incorporate your GPS to help you get around.

It can still help you find the bars, monuments, restaurants with out needing to connect to Wi-Fi or cellular data.

Only a few maps are available on the free version, so you may have to pony up for the map you need with the premium app.

iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/city-maps-2go-pro-offline/id327783342?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.android.citymaps2go&hl=en

Duolingo: Learn Foreign Languages

Do you have clients, customers, or friends that speak Spanish? Chinese? Japanese? Dutch?

The app allows you to learn languages in a game style fashion that makes it fun. The app will remind

you to practice and if you have friends that use the app you can have some friendly competition.

The website has some additional tools and a section where users can read and translate articles to hone their skills.

Learn more or sign up at: https://www.duolingo.com/
iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for/id570060128?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo&hl=en


OFFTIME: Eliminate the distractions

There are times that we need to focus and eliminate all the distractions that our smart phones provide.
OFFTIME allows you to block your calls, texts and notifications, send auto-replies and restrict access
to distracting apps.

The app also tracks phone usage, app usage, and other smartphone activity, but you have to keep the

app running which may decrease battery life.

Some people need the monitoring and assistance to focus, some may just be curious about their phone usage.

Unfortunately for iPhone the app costs $2.99, it is free for Android but only certain features work to

unlock all the features there is a charge.

Learn more: http://offtime.co/
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/offtime-light-track-how-much/id974022309?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.offtime.kit

Three Apps to Help You Get Organized

Subject: Three Apps to Help You get Organized

Organizing Photos with Google Photos
You know all those photos you have taking up room on your phone. Do you really need to hang on to the picture of the dog in his Halloween costume from last year? I know he looks super cute but you don’t need to carry it around with you. Download Google Photo it has unlimited storage as long as your choose “high quality” instead of “high definition”. It allows you to organize your photos in a bunch of different ways, it can also create videos from your pictures called “stories” and its “assistant” can create stylized versions of your photos. Since it is Google you can access your photos on virtually any device.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos-store-search/id962194608?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&hl=en

Organizing Your Thoughts with Evernote
Do you have documents that you start typing on your work computer, but you would like to keep working on using your tablet, phone, or personal laptop? Evernote is a great multiplatform app / website that will allow you to type a document, add pictures or sound, doodle or draw diagrams, and so much more. It is available online and as an app on pretty much every device. It also has companion apps and web browser plugins to help you add additional functionality.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&hl=en


Organizing Your Files with Google Drive
Do you work on files with a group of people? Would you like to share a form or file with others but don’t want them to edit or copy it? Would you like a way to easily store e-mail attachments? You can do all of this and much more with Google Drive which is available online and as an app on almost every device. Users can create permissions on files allowing everything from view only to full access. Collaborative files and folders will show you version control which means when others made changes and what those changes were. Google has integrated Google Drive with Gmail and other products so you can easily attach, access, share between apps / programs almost seamlessly.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive-free-online-storage/id507874739?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs&hl=en