What is iTunes U?

iTunes U is one of the many components that Apple added to their education initiative last fall. iTunes U allows you to not only watch lectures from acclaimed universities worldwide, you can also follow along by being provided the course’s syllabus, assignments, and more. That means, the only difference between you and the students learning is person is that they are actually physically there to ask questions directly to the professor. It depends on the university how detailed the materials are, however, Stanford’s lectures are quite detailed and identical to the courses in person. This, in the end, allows anyone from the curious high school student senior, to senior citizens to learn more about subjects they are interested in.

Necessary Materials

Technically, you only need an iOS device and Mac to take full advantage of iTunes U. However, to get the full college experience, there are a couple of other materials you should take advantage of. First, like any student, you should have a set notebook and writing utensil. This will make the classes feel more established for you, instead of just self-study by watching a couple of videos. This will allow you to keep track of what you are learning, have materials to look back on when studying, and more. Additionally, some courses, especially the more technological ones, may require additional software to download. Stanford’s Programming Methodology, an introduction to Computer Science, for example requires you to download their programming software Eclipse. This should be something to consider when you sign up. Additionally, some may also recommend you to purchase books, because they may be repeatedly referred to in the lessons. If you are serious about your studies on iTunes U, you may want to look into purchasing these books or checking them out at your local library. Amazon’s used marketplace also has very inexpensive books on sale as well.

Who’s Teaching?

iTunes U features close to 200 well known schools from across the world. However, only a few are very well known and distinguished. Some of the best colleges featured on iTunes U are the ones that have made an effort for including iTunes U in with the class. Stanford, the university I used during my review of iTunes U, had some professors that acknowledged the distant learners when recording the lectures, knowing that they have special circumstances that may prevent them from seeking a course teacher etc. This made them feel more included. Along with Stanford’s well planning for iTunes U, many other universities including Massachusetts Institute for Technology, University of California at Berkeley, and even Yale. It is essential to check out each of the courses that these universities offer because you’d be surprised what you can learn, from Autism Theory and Technology to a course on Death.

Finding and Preparing For Courses

Finding the courses you want to learn is easy to do. The best way to do this is by searching on an iOS device. iTunes U for iOS has a more organized UI that makes searching easier to do. To search for courses on your iOS device, click Browse to search by school. If you want to search according to subject, click Featured, then Categories. To search on Mac, activate the iTunes for Mac application, then go to iTunes Store, and click iTunes U. Once you find the course you want to learn, you can begin learning right away by clicking “Subscribe Free”. From there, You can click on a video to begin a lecture, check out documents to get a background on what is ahead of you, and check out the assignments after your first lecture.

Applying iTunes U To Your Real Life

So how can iTunes U help in your real life? After all, you can’t earn a degree for learning on iTunes U. This means that your learning on iTunes U is a personal experience, where you must find the courage within yourself to keep learning. You must also choose interesting subjects that you will want to go back to again and again. Additionally, iTunes U can be beneficial for many individuals, from a range of topics. From personal experience, I know of one high school student who checked out a Calculus course on iTunes U before having to learn it their junior year in school. iTunes U allowed him to know the basics and to accelerate in their classes that year. What can you take away from iTunes U? Let us know in the comments below!

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The Interface

One reason Gmail is my email of choice when handling business is because of the well organized labeling features. Sparrow, as a Gmail application, works well with incorporating the labeling into the application, something that many email applications don’t offer. The interface of Sparrow is very reminiscent of Facebook, a bit too much. This isn’t necessary a bad thing and actually seems perfect for navigating the various inboxes, folders, and labels that make up my Gmail account. To access the various pages, click the top left tab. This brings you to where you can access your Inbox, Starred, Sent, Draft, Trash, and Spam emails. You also have a section for all of your personal labels below these pages.Clicking the profile button at the top left brings you to the accounts section. In the end, the interface is simple and offers a lot of space to work with.

The Userability

I mentioned before about Sparrow’s accounts page. The application also has a feature allowing you to view all of your accounts in one area, all unified. This is perfect for the Gmail/Outlook users out there who want to get everything complete, replied, and checked in record time. I have three Gmail accounts I check daily, making unified inbox a feature I adore. Now, let’s take a look at the most important part of Sparrow – messaging. You have an email message and you want to respond in some way. Sparrow understands that responding doesn’t always equal a reply. Sparrow for that reason has accumulated all response features into one area, accessed by swiping on an individual message from the right to left. There, you can reply, star, mark as spam, move to a new folder, or just simply delete. Sparrow utilizes threaded messaging, allowing for easier retrieval of a message.

Some Essential Features

One thing I like about Sparrow is the personality added to emails. The threaded messaging shows that each message in a conversation has its own importance. The photos added to contacts (from Facebook integration) makes it easier to refer back to an email message in a more visually attractive manner. Sparrow allows you to also use your iCloud and AIM mail as well. However, there are a couple of things that Sparrow doesn’t do or support that can be the deciding factor on whether or not Sparrow is right for you.

What Sparrow is Lacking

I’ve been dreading getting to this point, but I have to show you what Sparrow can’t do. First off, Sparrow lacks the ability to connect to Yahoo or MSN emails. I use Yahoo for personal emailing, so if I am willing to go all in with Sparrow, it will be a solely business application for me. This can also leave behind a lot of users who do use these services. I believe Sparrow will soon come to a point when they can support these clients. For now, that will not be the case.

Secondly, and most importantly, Sparrow doesn’t support push notifications. If you aren’t familiar with push, this is when your mail is automatically notified to you as they come (not just when you launch the app). This lack of push is a big disadvantage for users, like myself, who must reply to emails as soon as they come. This lack can be okay for individuals without unlimited or with very small data packages, where push notifications will drastically eat at their monthly allowance. However, business users will hurt the most. If you feel this is a deal breaker, don’t keep Sparrow off your list for long. I can expect this, along with support for POP to be in an upcoming update within the coming months. It’s too big of a feature to ignore.

Conclusion

To conclude, Sparrow is one of my favorite mail applications across the board. The Gmail focused application seems to work well for me, being that Gmail is my client of choice for work. The Mac application has been a favorite of mine since the start. With the iPhone version, I wasn’t disappointed too much. However, there are a couple of things that prevented me from wanting to use it much past the reviewing period. First, no push notifications is something I can’t live without. Secondly, while I can live without mixing my business IMAP email and personal POP email, not having it as an available feature isn’t good. This also can prevent myself and other individuals from having Sparrow as being their dedicated mail application. The $2.99 price tag seems appealing to me, despite others seeing this as a bad price for that it lacks. I must agree, $2.99 is good for what Sparrow could or is going to be, but not completely what it is now.

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1. Nike Training Club

Fancy a personal trainer without the costly hiring cost and one that can fit itself to match your schedule? Nike Training Club is just like your personal trainer and it provides you with a quality workout experience. Nike Training Club allows you to be ready at any time for a workout, from early in the morning or late in the evening. Full workouts are also very time friendly, with most lasting a little under 45 minutes to an hour, meaning that it doesn’t take out much time from your day. You have the ability to set your weight goal, making it easy to have workouts that are geared toward the goal. Along with voice instructions, you can also enjoy some of your iTunes favorites. Did I mention, you get all of this plus tips and workouts from acclaimed and famous celebrity trainers all for free! Yes, this is definitely worth the download!

2. Gym Goal Plus

GymGoal Plus is a favorite for many individuals searching for a weight loss application. GymGoal Plus offers visual ways of showing how to do workouts, how to track your weight loss goal, and more. GymGoal Plus is a rather complicated app, but once you know what GymGoal Plus does and how it does that, the whole process will be a breeze. GymGoal Pro helps you get through these workouts with animations that show you how to do each one, step by step. GymGoal Plus allows you to center your workouts based on your target areas. You want to get into swimsuit shape, work on weight loss. You want to gain muscle to show off on the beach, work on muscle building. You can schedule when you want to work out, allowing you to fit it into your schedule, instead of vice versa. You have logs, allowing you to track your progress and music with your iTunes integration allows for a good workout. All of this comes at an agreeable price of $4.99.

3. My Workouts

This application may be simple, but it definitely is worth the 25cents. My Workouts is simply your digital log, allowing you to record how many repetitions and weight. This application also has a time slot for recording how long you worked out and a spot for calories burned. It doesn’t feature a ton of options or features, but it gets the job done and save you the trouble to manage a physical log book. In the end of the log, you can add notes to yourself, allowing you to add to your improvements and change your mistakes. This is a digital take on the fitness log.

4. Fitness for iPad

Fitness for iPad teaches you various exercise techniques through video and other multimedia. Fitness for iPad allows you to tailor which videos to watch based on your specific goal. This is all possible in the part of the application known as Fast Mode. Along with working out, you can relax with the application’s very own magazine featuring exercise tips and healthy lifestyle ideas. Fitness for iPad understands that we all may want to have a day to enjoy some of our guilty pleasures in fast food, Fitness offers you calorie counts for various fast food dishes as well as other foods to allow you to count calories and make wise eating choices. Fitness for iPad is available for the regular price of $3.99 with price specials throughout the year that make it cost only $0.99. You can also choose for subscriptions and individual work outs for an affordable price.

5. WeightBot

Weightbot is a strictly weight recording application, allowing you to keep up with your weight over a calendar month, along with your BMI. You can enter your weight each day, allowing you to know how much you’ve gained or loss based on your workouts and healthy eating. This is a great way of choosing workouts that work great for you and ones you should let go. You can add goals based on a date and/or weight. In addition, you can look at the greater scale of your improvement with the ability to view a graph showing your progress over time. You can also see how close or far you are to your goal.

6. Calorie Counter For iPad

Aside from exercise, a great way to lose weight or even to have a good lifestyle is to eat healthy. Calorie Counter allows you to do this with their iPad application. Calorie Counter allows you to find great, low calorie food at restaurants and in grocery stores. At a grocery store, you can scan the barcode for easy information retrieval. When you eat a meal or snack, you can track your caloric intake, allowing you to know what to cut back on. You can keep a food diary for adding notes to yourself, and a calendar is there to track your progress. In addition to calories, Calorie Counter allows you to keep track of weight and exercise. Calorie Counter is available for free on the Apple App Store.

What other apps do you use to manage your weight loss plans and workout?

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1. iXpense Lite

iXpense Lite is one of the best available apps for the iPhone if you are looking forward to saving some money and keeping a record of your receipts and expenses on-the-go.

iXpense Lite allows users to store up to 100 expense records, which can easily be created in a touch on-the-go.

You can also notify iXpense Lite to remind you of your upcoming bills so you pay them on the date and never have to worry about giving the penalty for late payment. The user can also store receipts by either manually entering the data, or by capturing a photo of the receipt.

One of the best features of the app is the expense summary that can be created to show your monthly average expense, average expense per day and top expense of the month.

Multi-currency support makes it easier for users to keep records in their local currency. All of this personal data can be password protected for privacy.

iXpense Lite

2. Spending

Spending uses an easy-to use, user-friendly interface for data logging all your expense records that can be made easily in a few taps.

Just use the “Add Income” and “Add Expense” button to add your income earned or expense to your daily report. At the end of the month, you can get a summary of your past expenses and income earned to know just how much you spend and how much you earned and how much you were left with.

Spending also has an auto-generating recurring expense and income entries (such as electricity bills, rent, etc). The app also supports multiple currencies.

Spending

3. Expensify

Expensify is rated as one of the best apps available if you are looking for a FREE expense management app for the iPhone.

Expensify makes the whole process of expense management a piece of cake by allowing the users to sync the app with their credit cards and bank accounts, after which the app will automatically track purchases as they happen – and automatically track expenses.

For any other purchase, you can use the in-built function in Expensify to take a snapshot of the receipt after which the app will automatically act as a receipt scanner.

A manual system is also present inside the app to add any other expenses for which are not tracked or do not come with a receipt of sale/purchase.

The expense report can be emailed to the user if he/she wants by providing an e-mail address.

Expensify

4. Pocket Expense Lite

Pocket Expense Lite is a great free and easy to use finance and expense tracking app available for the iPhone. You can easily enter your accounts inside the Pocket Expense Lite and keep a track on the accounts, and even get a statistic report for daily/weekly/monthly or yearly expense report.

Let Pocket Expense Lite know when you have to pay your bills and the app will automatically remind you. It also comes with an auto-generating ability for recurring bills and payments.

The password protection feature allows users to password protect their data and even allows them to backup their data and restore the data over WiFi.

Pocket Expense Lite

5. Fresh Xpense Capture

Fresh Xpense Capture is an app that allows users to quickly capture expenses and photos of receipts and send them to your account on Xpenser.com

All of this can be done offline and does not even require an active Internet connection, as you can easily capture expenses, receipts and mileage anytime using your iPhone.

You can use the online Xpenser.com website to manage your expense PDF report.

Fresh Xpense Capture

These five apps available for the iPhone will help you massively as you keep a track of your expense and try and save more money. In addition, as the apps are on the iPhone you can enter the data on the go and never worry about loosing your receipts.

Image credit: Budgeting Your Money by Big Stock Photo

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Sure, you can put a lock on on your device, but if you do end up loaning it out for someone to make a quick call or watch a quick video, the device is already opened up, meaning they could be privy to everything on your device. This app helps keep keep the most private things private.

This app opens up to a picture of a lock on a safe, because that’s exactly what it is. It’s a safe for your most private items on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. While it looks like a folder on your device, it’s really an app hiding all these secret items. When you first open the app it allows you to set a secret code, one you will use every other time you open the app.

Among the internal apps that this app holds is a photo locker. Sometimes there are pictures you just don’t want everyone privy to. You can add photos to this app from your regular photo albums, or can take photos from within the app and have them stored here, in multiple different photo albums if you wish. It’s important to mention that if the photo was originally stored in your normal photo album, it will be in your photo stream, and while you can delete it from your camera roll, it will stay in your photo stream. However, if you snap the photo from within this app, it won’t appear in your photo stream or the camera roll, and will only be stored within this app.

Notes can be kept just as private. While this operates much like the Notes app, it’s information you can jot down and keep private, seen only by your own eyes. While you can transfer this information using a simple copy and paste, you can  also head to the settings in the app and export it into File Sharing in iTunes. Documents can be imported this same way as well.

Yet perhaps the most useful internal app with My Secret App is the browser. You can set it to behave like either Safari or Firefox, as well as utilize different search engines. It opens in tabs, and can keep bookmarks and a history. But you’re the only one that will ever know. Your browsed sites will stay hidden safely within this app, as well as anything you download.

There is no need to worry about someone trying secretly to unlock this app. You’ll have a record every time someone tries to break in. With each attempt to open the app, whether successful or unsuccessful, you can set it to snap a picture of whoever is trying to open it using the front end camera. Along with the picture will be a map of where this person was located when they tried opening your private information. It’s something that can definitiely make you breathe much easier.

That’s what this app is designed to do, make you breathe much easier. It’s doubtful someone will figure out a four-digit code to enter the app, but if they do, you will know. The only secrets this app keeps are yours.

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Strong Kids is an app that teaches much the same things that we teach our students in class.  It promotes self-assertion and confidence more than anything else. Predators look for an easy mark; they want their job to be easy, and don’t want to get caught. They want victims who are ignorant, unsure, and untrained. This app promotes prevention and self-assertion first, then also includes some basic self-defense moves against common attacks on children, such as being pinned against a wall and a wrist grab. It should be noted that I couldn’t get the sound on the videos to work on my iPad, but I could get it to work on my iPhone.

Offenders HD is a mapped listing of all sexual offenders that are near your current location. Using GPS, the app locates you, then shows you the locaiton of all the registered sex offenders in your area, as well as the location of police stations and hospitals. Tapping on the pin gives you the offender’s information, including age, description, address, and their crime, which includes the age range of their victim. When I tried this app out, I was shocked to find I had a sex offender living two blocks from my home.

iHound will help you track an iPhone or iTouch, and if you know where your child’s phone or Touch is, then most likely you’ll know where your child is. After seetting up an account, the app will get a lock on the location of the device. You can have it check in with the service from the device, or can also have it set up so that the device checks in with you when it leaves a certain designated area. Not only can it help you find your child, it can help you find the device if your child loses it. You can send alerts to the device that will either send an emergency message to you child, or send a message to a thief to let them know you are aware that they have just stolen your iPhone or iTouch.

Not only is it important to keep your child safe on the streets, it’s also important to keep your child safe when they’re using their device. The K9 Browser will only navigate to sites that are approved for viewing by children. If in their browsing, they navigate to an unsafe website, this Safari-like app will will deny the site, yet will also allow a parent to override the setting for that particular website, if they wish. There are instructions included on how to disable Safari so that your child can only reach the Internet via this app.

It should be noted that using this browser will work when navigating to unsafe sites, but if you allow your child on a site such as Facebook, it won’t protect them from people they know. Just as sexual attacks are 80% of the time done by people a child knows, when they are being cyber-bullied, it’s by someone on their “friends” list on Facebook. Parents should know their child’s sign-in information for Facebook so that they can keep track of who they are friending and what is being said by and to them, and if the child doesn’t want to part with that information, then it might be best to not allow them to have an account.

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The Hardware

To begin, you must obviously have an iPad to turn an iPad into a MacBook. At the moment, iPad 2 devices cost $499 for the entry model. This is close to being on-par with the average Windows PC that is available, while still being a little more than the average entry level netbooks on the market nowadays. This will give you a WiFi version. For 3G, you will have to cough up $629 for this model. Now, what if $499 is too much of a cost for you? No worries, you still have some options.

A great option to look into is Apple’s refurbished service. Many consumers cringe at the sight of the word, refurbished, but it is really not as bad as you may think. Refurbished, for those who don’t know, simply is when a gadget is returned to Apple and prepared for resell. This can range on the best side as a consumer wanting a different color iPad, and on the worst side, it being an iPad with a glitch that was fixed like new by Apple.

It’s important to remember that you aren’t really sacrificing anything with such a purchase. For $419 currently for a regular $499 iPad with WiFi and 16GB, you are saving some money. In addition, Apple has the previous model, the iPad, that garners even more deals. In addition, it’s important to remember that the iPad 3 is expected to at least be announced in the coming month. With reports of the possibility that Apple will keep the iPad 2 on the market at a lower price, you can find yourself with a better deal if you wait a bit longer.

The Cases: ZaggMate and ZaggFolio

The most important aspect of using your iPad as a Mac is to have the right casing. At the moment, the best company providing the most authentic iPad keyboard casing is Zagg. They have two models, the ZaggMate for the iPad 1 and the ZaggFolio for the iPad 2. Both models use Bluetooth to connect your iPad with the keyboard. The iPad itself is supported on a built-in stand, offering a laptop-feel angle. The case also has iPad specific keys and access to iPad controls like silence and volume rocker. If the $99 price tag is a little much for you, Apple also offers bluetooth keyboards for $49.99. These are the same keyboards used for iMacs, offering the exact feel as a desktop. However, you must purchase a case separately, which in the end will equal out the price.

The Applications

In addition to the hardware, you must also have the software for your iPad to match. The exact software you would need differs. Here is a nice list of almost every application on my Mac right now that has an iPad equivalent. I found a match for just about each application.

Skype for iPad

This is the obvious replacement of my Skype for Mac. All of the key features are still present with the iPad version. All you have to do is sign in with your Skype account and you can get a call started in no time. Individuals with the iPad 2 will be able to have a video conference with the iPad version of this application as well. You can hold calls with both other Skype for iPad users and Skype for Mac users (and Windows). If you want to make it into a mobile phone, a feature your laptop can’t do out of the box, then you can pay a bit more and enable landline calling with Skype. This is a Skype for Mac feature as well.

iMovie for iPad

I’m a bit surprised at how many people don’t know about iMovie for iOS, but it does exist. iMovie for iOS offers many of the same features that is on the Mac. All you have to do is drag and drop media into the timeline, tap and drag to extend or shorten clips. With an addition of photos and music, you can create a great project right on your iPad. Want to narrate a funny event? No problem, just tap to record audio, and then add it into your project. Once done, you can export your high definition project to YouTube and various other social networking websites.

Pages for iPad

Pages for iPad allows you to create beautiful documents for print and sharing on your iPad. Apple offer you with various beautiful templates to create a unique document. You can add text, change color, and even add some photos to brighten up the document. Interrupted while making your creation? No problem, iCloud will save everything you were doing and will allow you to continue when you can. You can also create charts within the application, allowing you to show the data in your paper in a much better way. Once done, you can export you document to various word processing programs, even including Word, or you can make it available online for viewing. At $9.99, this is a much economical option compared to Microsoft Office for Mac.

Keynote for iPad

Keynote is Pages for iPad’s friendly cousin. Where Pages excels in documents, Keynote impresses with slideshows and power points. You can create amazing presentations right from your iPad with Keynote for iPad. Just like with Pages, Keynote allows you to use various templates, add images and text, and even add other types of media into your project. You can have your project on an automatic loop or have it manually change slides. Your presentation can be exported afterwards to Powerpoint, as a PDF, and more. If you want a desktop quality presentation on your iPad, Keynote is for you.

Internet Service

The subject that differs the iPad from a laptop is the subject of Internet. The iPad has the option out of the box to either have a WiFi or 3G option. A majority of modern laptops only have the option of WiFi. Unless you have a data card, this is usually the only option you are presented with when on your laptop.

Some Advantages and Drawbacks

There are many advantages and disadvantages to having an iPad as a Mac alternative. Let’s begin with the drawbacks. One drawback is that if you do get the WiFi only version, which is more affordable in the short term, you don’t have the option to use a data card later on. This hinders use when away from a network. Individuals who do choose to go the 3G route may have the freedom of 3G, however Verizon charges are quite hefty and AT&T doesn’t offer many options for heavy data users like myself. Lastly, you don’t have much growth potential with an iPad. For example, if you want to add more programs, you have to be mindful of your current storage. Also, you can’t just plug in your USB drive and have it working in iPad.

These disadvantages make it ideal for the basic users, not so much for an advanced user. However, the advantages are that you save money in the short term and sometimes in the long term. If you want to forgo spending close to a grand on a laptop, this is a great alternative. In addition, some Internet companies that are out there can be a little more expensive than the 3G options for iPad, allowing you to cut the Internet bill. These advantages lead to this being a great money saving option.

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1. Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com is one of the best available Dictionary apps for the iPhone, and costs nothing. Dictionary.com is the iPhone version of the popular online dictionary website that goes by the same name.

Dictionary.com has a huge word bank of over 2,000,000 words, which includes definitions, antonyms and synonyms – yes, a Thesaurus is also included in the app to ensure that you do not need separate apps for both.

The app also provides the users with an option to pronounce the words to get the best way to say it. A Word of the Day feature shows you interesting words every day.

Another amazing feature is the option to speak the word after which the app will process it and search for it. Finally yet importantly, the app also works offline when looking up for words.

Dictionary.com

2. Dictionary!

Dictionary! is yet another free and portable dictionary app available for the iPhone. Just like the above app, the Dictionary! App has a word bank of over 200,000 definitions and supports an in-built Thesaurus.

The app works both offline or online, and unlike the above app follows a more “straight-to-the-point” view; where you search for the word and you are shown a definition for that word.

You can also copy the definitions to the clipboard or search for that term over at Wiktionary if you do not find the one at Dictionary! sufficient.

Dictionary!

3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Merriam-Webster Dictionary is an iPhone version of the online, helpful dictionary website by the same name. As with the above given apps, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides a platform for a colossal word bank and also provides the user with the option to mark certain definitions as “favorite” and also provides phonetics and audio playback of the word.

The app also gives the users with sample sentences in order to make the definition more clear to the user and make the definition make more sense.

Just as with the Dictionary.com app, Merriam-Webster Dictionary app also gives the user with a “Daily Word” and a voice search feature to search for words easily by just saying the word.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

4. WordWeb Dictionary

The WordWeb Dictionary is an easy, fast and portable dictionary that every iPhone user can take advantage of with over 280,000 words, phrases, 70,000 usage samples, and 85,000-text pronunciation at the users’ advantage – the user can handle any difficult word easily.

The app also gives the users the feature to filter search by nouns, verb, adjective and adverbs. Apart from this, the app also works perfectly offline.

An interesting feature is the ability to cross-reference definitions to both Chambers and old Oxford dictionary apps from WordWeb.

WordWeb Dictionary

These four dictionary apps for the iPhone make it easy for any user to carry a portable and extensive dictionary with them easily – no need to carry out hard-copy dictionaries. Choose which ever suits your needs best and share with us any other app you think should be in the list.

Image credit: greeblie

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There are even several choices for different search engine apps. Which one you use depends a lot on what features you’re looking for, as well as which one you usually prefer when searching. Most of them are free, as you shouldn’t have to pay for searching, but there’s one that costs just a little. Depending on your usage, it could be worth it.

I’m doing a search here for news about Apple. I tried first using the search tool within the Safari browser in iOS. I have a lot of choices, certainly more than I had with the first Safari browser in the original iOS. Across the top in the black bar, I can search for News, Images, Maps, Shopping, etc… and I can sign in to my Google account for more options. In a list to the right, it shows related searches. If I click on the wrench, it gives me time options, as well as other interesting choices, such as reading level, translation, verbatim, etc. Additionally, in the Settings app, you can choose whether to search with Google, Bing, or Yahoo! There are ample amount of options here.

Google App

The Google App works much the same way as Google in Safari, but it provides you a few more options. If I just go to a regular search, it gives me the same search list, as well as the related searches to the right, and a few to the top. Clicking on the arrow in the upper left takes me to additional options that include a voice search. If you don’t have a newer iPhone or are using an iPad, and don’t have the use of Siri, you can search with voice here. It’s nice for when you’re tied up doing something else, yet you still have to use your eyes to navigate to the right spot here. Additionally, you can check in with the library of other Google apps. When you return to your search, it gives you the additional options you have with Google in Safari. Tapping a search option opens it in a separate tab. Gestures allows you to have the viewing window side by side with your search results.

Bing App

You just can’t get more attractive than the Bing App. The one optimized for the iPad is even more so. It has large images opened up in the middle, and you can swipe to different images if you prefer. You can click on an info icon in the bottom right for more information of what you’re looking at, and can click on certain pieces of the image to get more information about that section of the image. It’s not all about that though. There is also a search for voice option, and an attractive listing at the bottom of local weather, maps, searching trends, news, movies, and finance. Tapping those takes you to more options. And of course, there’s a search function in the top left that gives you standard search options.

Yahoo App

About the only reason to use the Yahoo! App would be if you are used to searching with Yahoo! online and are on your iPhone. It’s not optimized at all for the iPad. It does offer you great local suggestions. If you’re looking for a restaurant, movie, or coffee shop close by, it’ll give you those options on a map. It also shows you the current search trends, allows you to search by voice, and of course offers the same standard search options along the top there.

Ask App

Like Bing, the Ask App isn’t optimized for the iPad, and is only useful if you’re on an iPhone. It offers more choices if you sign up for a free account. The app shows you what is currently being searched for by others using Ask. It can search normally on the web and can also search for answers from people, just like ask.com does. If you look for specific answers, you need to either create an account or sign in with Facebook. It should be noted that if you ask something previously asked, it will show up in a web search, just as with any other search app. If you have many pointed questions you are looking to have answered, it might be useful.

BingYaMaGoggle! App

The BingYaMaGoggle! App combines all of the search functions in one place for you. There are other apps that do the same, but they aren’t as easy to use and as attractive. If you do a lot of searching and hate switching back and forth between search engines looking for the right answer, it’s worth the $1.99 price tag. It searches Bing, Yahoo!, Google, AOL, and Ask.com. At any time you can have it open the choices in Safari. My only question is where they get the “Ma” in the title.

Which is your favorite method to perform a search in iOS?

Image credit: Danard Vincente

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Forecast’s Design

The Forecast application is built on top of the Foursquare application, so you will find many elements, such as the location page and the color scheme, very similar to Foursquare. To log into a location, simply click the orange “Forecast” button at the center. You can also check out the activity from the individuals you follow by clicking the “Activity” button on the left. The profile button is to the right of the “Forecast” button. The front page automatically shows the forecasts that you make. You can also click the “Check-In” page to show the confirmed Forecasts. The top right button allows you to add a friend or invite someone to Forecast.

How to Begin

To begin, simply click the “Sign in with Foursquare” button. After signing in, you are brought to the homepage. From there, you can check in by clicking Forecast. By clicking Forecast, you are sent to your most commonly checked in location, perfect for places that you frequent most often. If the location isn’t on the page, you can go to where it says “Search places” to find the location you are currently at. Once you find and select the location you want to check into, you can click “I’m Here Now” to check right in.

If you want it to forecast your next checked in location, then use the turn wheel to find the date and time you will be there and click the big orange button to forecast. If you want more information on the location, including a map, click the “i” right next to the location in the list.

The Features

Forecast revolves mainly around remembering to check into the location that you are planning on checking into in the future. This means that Forecast doesn’t do this automatically. There are many features in Forecast that help you to remember this, while still being logical in knowing that you may not always be there. Plans change, times move up or behind an hour. Forecast understands this and has a push notification feature that allows you to always remember your plans.

Once your forecast is scheduled, you will receive a notification once your scheduled time has come to remind you to check in. From that page, you can either check in or change the time and date. Another feature related to push notifications is the ability to see when your friends schedule a check in, great for scheduling meet-ups in the future. Once you see their scheduled check-in, you can also mark that you will be going to, like a digital RSVP service.

The Possibilities

The great thing about Forecast is that there are many possibilities with Forecast. When you look at it at face value, you can see it as a great way of not forgetting to check into your next location. Especially when I’m out with friends for the night, I may find myself enjoying my time so much, that checking in would be an after thought. However, I really am into Foursquare and building up my points. This application will definitely come in handy allowing me to continue to increase my points.

However, when stretching the idea a bit, we can see Forecast as a great addition to an informal event. Want to celebrate a new business deal or an upcoming celebration? If you have enough friends on Forecast, you can make a forecast and they will be notified by push notifications, almost guaranteeing a response. This takes out having to call each and every one of them, or even having to text. The possibilities of Forecast are endless. The service is free, and with a growing number of people switching to iPhone, you can find yourself with even more options. If you find a great use of Forecast, let us know in the comments.

The Conclusion

To conclude, Forecast is the perfect way of planning your check-ins for the future. In addition, as we see, Forecast is a great way to get a group of friends to have a night out in a short period of time. There are many times when i have to text friends to schedule a dinner or an evening out. Could Forecast be a great replacement of this? We must wait and see. The iPhone-only focus at the moment can hinder it’s growth.

In addition, Forecast seems too much like Foursquare to be an app of its own. Foursquare should look into partnering with Forecast and having a “schedule a check-in” feature implemented for the Foursquare application. Sort of like how we saw with the Starbucks application and the dedicated Starbucks mobile payment application. Forecast has the potential, we just need more users.

Forecast (iTunes link)

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Note: This does not mean that you do not need visit the doctor – if you feel sick, please visit the doctor.

1. iTriage

The iTriage app is a great application for people who want to check the symptoms for specific problems, diseases, etc. The app can be said to be a “combination” of many important health apps in one. The app not only allows users to find the problem by searching through the symptoms involved but also allows users to find medication, procedures and store medical data in the app – including stuff like “Health Record”, “My Insurance”, “My Appointments” and much more.

You can even make quick and easy appointments into nearby local clinics and hospitals through the app in case of an emergency or so.

iTriage

2. WebMD Mobile

WebMD Mobile can be said to be a “doctor at home” and is one of the most professional apps out there, by the finest doctors.

WebMD Mobile provides the user mobile access to 24/7 information regarding health such as – WebMD Sympton Checker, Drugs & Treatment, First-Aid Information and Local Health Listing.

The Drug & Treatment list is an extensive list of drugs, with information regarding what they are most commonly used for along with their side effects, warnings and more.

While you may check what thing, you are going through by using the Symptom Checker, do not rely on just the WebMD Mobile – visit the doctor if things are serious.

WebMD Mobile

3. Workout Trainer

The Workout Trainer is one of the best available apps on the App Store that can be your personal trainer when in need to keep you in a healthy state.

You do not need to waste time or money to go to the gym everyday, while rather just spend some time with your personal trainer on Workout Trainer that provides over 1,000 free workouts to try out.

Using the app is easy. Simply put the headphones on and follow the audio instructions to perform the accurate workout. You can even play your favorite music while you work out right from within the application.

Workout Trainer

4. Strava Cycling

If you are ready to burn some calories the easy and quick way – grab your bicycle, fire up the Strava Cycling app and venture out into the open.

The Strava Cycling app keeps a detailed record of the distance travelled, the pace at which you are going and also the calories being burned.

Not only that, but the app provides a free map of all your rides so you also know which path burns the most calories and which one made you burn the least and so.

You can then share your stats with other people around the world and be competitive about it. Not only do you compete, but also stay fit in the process.

Strava Cycling

5. DailyBurn

This is probably the best apps available on the iTunes App Store available to help you maintain a perfect balanced diet and keep a track of what you eat and how much you eat.

One of the best things about the app is the Food database provided in it, which contains a list of over 350,000 foods with actual pictures, full nutrition and food analysis information.

Track your die in terms of fiber, sodium, carbs, proteins and more. The user also has the option to follow certified trainers around the world in order to get professional advice and training tips.

DailyBurn

These are some of the best five apps available on the iTunes App Store which every health conscious iPhone user should have – as said before time and time again, if you feel anything is wrong do not rely on any app but rather pay the doctor a visit.

What other apps do you use to keep fit and stay healthy?

Image credit: Running. Woman Cross country trail runner running on the mountain by Big Stock Photo

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Know The Forecast

The winter season can be pretty predictable in weather patterns. You can bet it’ll either be cold and snowing or just cold that day. However, this winter season has brought many cities in a whirlwind. Some cities are even having warm and cold weather days in the same forecast. This makes it more crucial than ever to know how the weather looks for the coming week.

1. Swackett for iPhone

The weather report may help you to know what the weather is in numbers, but you want to know how this applies to you personally. For example, 55 degrees fahrenheit may be cold to some but just right for others. Swackett helps with this dilemma by allowing you to choose what is considered cold or hot to you and formulating a recommended wardrobe for that day. Is it a pants and long sleeves day or can you bring our the shorts? Swackett is there to tell you that, and more, along with your basic weather report with temperatures.

Swackett for iPhone (iTunes link)

2. Weather+

Some weather report applications give you the hard facts but don’t appeal to you visually, while others may give you all the graphics and action without a usable weather report. Weather+ gives you a beautiful UI along with a powerful weather reporting system. The application gives you the weather report for your chosen city, with amazing graphics, all in the form of a widget similar to that on Android.

Weather+

3. The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted networks offering weather reports and news 24/7. The application is no different. The Weather Channel application allows you to see todays, this hour’s, and this week’s report through reports, graphics, and radars. You can track stores, receive and share breaking news through social networking websites, and post your own weather reports through the application as well.

The Weather Channel

Take a Trip

Whether you’re trying to escape the snow or hit the slopes, winter is a very popular travel time all season. From visiting relatives to relaxing, you may find yourself taking a quick weekend trip while the weather is still cold. There are tons of helpful applications in helping you to get from point-A to point-B.

1. Flight Track Pro

We are a big fan of Flight Track Pro, and other blogs have deemed it a top travel application for the previous year. This application allows you to transfer information to your calendars, share your travel updates, and more. Flight Track Pro allows you to look at maps, see where your plan is, and get updates on delays for your flight. The application covers thousands of airports, allowing you to quickly change flights if needed.

Flight Track Pro

2. Tripit

Tripit allows you to keep all of your trip information well organized in one area. The application takes all of the confirmation email information, and applies it into the application as usable information. You can also share the information with your friends online.

Tripit

3. Lifttopia

What better way to enjoy the season than by having a weekend ski trip with friends or family? However, for some, after paying for lift fees, equipment, and lodging, this weekend trip can be a bit more expensive than you expect. Liftopia allows you to get the best in skiing deals. In addition, Liftopia is a great skiing essential due to the ability to find out weather reports and resort directions. Allow Liftopia to make your skiing trip fun and affordable.

Lifttopia

Get Well Soon

The weather has gotten to you and you’re now sick. While it’s proven that the weather doesn’t have a direct cause of a common cold, there is no doubt that this season unfortunately leaves you sick once or twice before its end.

1. WebMD

You feel under the weather, but not exactly sure what it could be? WebMD for iPhone helps out with this horrible situation. The application contains everything on the website, including the famous symptom checker. Simply enter what’s making you feel bad and the application will give you a list of possible reasons. Received a prescription but what to confirm all the information about it? The application also has a pill identification tool. Rule of thumb: always seek a doctor if symptoms become serious.

WebMD

2. FluTracker

Not only are you the only one in the house not feeling well, but everyone else is sick as well. This may make you suspect that the flu is rampant in your state. FluTracker allows you to see the activity in your state. You can see if the flu is anything from as little as no activity to widespread flu activity in your state. This can allow you to take precautions if you’re not sick, and to know you’re not alone once you get sick.

FluTracker

3. Medscape

This application that is all about medical facts. Medscape gives you the latest in medical news. It also allows you to identify, price, and find out the interaction of thousands of prescribed drugs. Medscape also allows you to identify diseases and conditions and diseases based on symptoms. The application also provides the prescribed way to treat these conditions. As always, seek a professional opinion when things become serious.

Medscape

What application do you think will help you get through this season the best? Let us know in the comments below.

Image credit: dobak

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Tylt for iOS

Tylt is being created as a new name for all of your charging needs. The fairly new company under the direction of Technocel. The Tylt chargers allow you to charge multiple devices, even the non iDevice ones, all at the same time. In addition to chargers, they also have a new concept to the charger cable. Tylt has designed charger cables that are flat and resemble an unwinded fruit roll-up snack. They call it The Ribbon and it’s created to allow for more space and to prevent pesky tangled chargers. Along with chargers, they have nice cases and a cool car USB port that uses your car lighter. They are dual, meaning you can charge your iPhone and iPad while on a road trip. Mass production for these products should begin soon, so be on the look out.

Mophie: Outdoor Edition

Mophie is a favorite for mobile battery iPhone cases. If you aren’t familiar with the company, Mophie battery cases allow you to charge the iPhone with it’s case on, once you unplug the case, the iPhone is continually provided with some juice, stopping a situation of being stranded without cell phone power. The Mophie Juice Pack Outdoor Edition provides you with the same concept, along with protection, all in a lightweight product. One thing that sets this product apart is the ability to use it as a GPS receiver. All you need is the specialty app to get started. The app is available now, but as of January 16th, the cases have been so popular that they’ve been on backorder, so stay tuned to their site to see when it’s available. Click here to download it today.

LaunchPort for iPad

The Launchport allows you to place your iPad on the receiver to charge it. The receiver can be placed anywhere, allowing for convenient charging. The receiver also acts as a stand, making it a great addition to your nightstand. The receiver is known as the Station and the case used to receive the Station is known as a PowerShuttle. There are two Station options, a Base Station and Wall Station. As the name shows, Base Station is more for tabletops and Wall Stations allow you to charge on the wall. Stretching your mind a little, you’ll notice the amazing possibilities of the Wall Station, including the ability to share short messages with family, making it a great message board for the house. The Shuttles are available for $149, The Stations are available for $199.

Xybotyx for iPhone

No, the title above was spelled correctly. The Xybotyx, one of the most… creative company names we’ve seen, is bringing out a concept of iPhone robots. The robot takes advantage of the capabilities already in the iPhone, allowing it to learn new commands as it goes. However, as of now, the public doesn’t know what the robot will do. We feel the possibilities will be endless, and at a price of only $111.11, we are very interested in what this robot actually can do at such a low price. The base model is known as the Xybot (Zie-Bot) 1. Another model, known as the Xybotyx (Zie-bot-ex) is expected to come out soon.

Just Air for iPad

JustAir is a product that protects your iPad with, well just air. The case uses air filled bubbles in the case that surrounds your iPad with protection. The company’s original concept was protection of laptops, a concept they continue to do, but the center of attention at CES was their iPad models. Another appealing feature of this product is it’s extremely low price. For only $29.99 plus shipping, this case offers a new meaning to iPad protection. Want to protect your laptop as well? The company has 10 inch notebook protection for the same price, 13 inch laptop JustAir cases are available for $5 more, and the 15 inch models are available for $39.95. Each of these models are available on the website today.

Cocoon Cases

Cocoon is a company that specializes in bags and cases for your laptops, phones, and cameras. The item front and center at CES for the company was their Grid-it! model. These mega-cases allow you to fit almost your whole life in a case. With their low-end model being $9.99 and their higher end for $49.99, Cocoon offers protection at an affordable cost. The higher end model, the Grid-It! Bundle offer you with a place for everything. Their press photo showed a place for a desktop microphone, tons of cords, cell phones, gaming hardware, and a stores worth of chewing gum. If you want a “grid-system” that can hold everything, Cocoon’s Grid-It is for you.

Lifeproof for iPhone

Take your newly, $200 iPhone 4S, and surf, or take a shower, or maybe even go for a run. You probably wouldn’t even consider doing any of this activities with your iPhone 4s in toe, even with a quality case. But Lifeproof for iPhone allows you to do all of these activities with an ease of mind. Lifeproof for iPhone offers protection from shock, water, sand, and more without it being bulky and compromising design. With Lifeproof’s Swimming Headphone Adapter, you have the ability to have a fun jam session with your waterproof headphones, while swimming or surfing. Lifeproof for iPhone allows you to live life without your iPhone holding you back.

Powerbag

Lastly, we’ll take a look at a product I can’t wait to try out myself. At first glance, it seemed like a regular bag that offers compartments for all of your gadgets. But once you take a look at the name, you know it’s full value. The Powerbag allows you to charge your gadgets with your backpack while on the go. From backpacks, to messenger bags, to briefcases, the backpacks take advantage of a rechargeable battery pack in the bag that allows you to just hook up and go. The bag is also water resistant, allowing you to use the bag to its fullest without worry. I must say, I am definitely going to look into one. For a base price of $139  to higher models asking for $179, they are a bit expensive but well worth it.

Image credit: Big Stock Photo

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I wasn’t even looking for such an app, but now having it, I can’t imagine being without it. Voxer doesn’t just work on iOS devices; it also works on Androids, meaning you aren’t as limited. My son started using it on his Android phone, and with him leaving to go back to college, we started using Voxer as a way to keep in touch. I like it much better than texting him from my iPhone.

On startup of the Voxer app, you can either create an account, or have it connect through Facebook. Initially I created an account, then decided I wanted to connect through Facebook. While that feature is there to allow you more messaging opportunities with Facbook friends, I like it because it connected me to my profile on Facebook and picked up my profile picture. It even changed my profile picture within my Voxer conversation when I changed it on Facebook.

With the Voxer app, you can invite your friends to join, and can do so by combing through your contacts. If you connect it with Facebook, you can also invite your friends from Facebook. You can even invite a whole group to join one conversation. There is also an option to include your phone number, and although it says it won’t be published, I tried this option, and had an unknown person trying to chat with me. I deleted my phone number from my profile and no longer have unknown people trying to contact me.

Voxer compares the audio options of the app to a walkie talkie, and that’s exactly how it operates. Using the Hold and Talk button imitates the use of a walkie talkie. As I speak into it, the person or people on the other end of the conversation can hear me in real time. Yet, unlike a walkie talkie, if they aren’t there to receive the conversaton, my words aren’t lost. It stays there as a message for them, and when they return to their phone, they can hear what I said.

Yet, you’re not limited to just speaking. You can also text within the same conversation. It’s not always appropriate to be publicizing a conversation you’re having. I was in contact with my son through Voxer throughout the day while he was traveling back to college via train and car. He wasn’t always in a place where he would want others to hear what I was saying. Yet, when he called to check in and I was shopping, it was great to be able to shop and talk to him, instead of having to stop and text him.

Just like with texting, you can also send and receive photos. Again, you can mix and match between sending photos, speaking, and texting, all within the same conversation.

Voxer also tracks your location. This became invaluable to me with my son traveling to and within another state. Once his train arrived, his ride wasn’t there to greet him, and he couldn’t get ahold of the driver. He was in a city that was foreign to him, and through the location on the Voxer message, I was able to see where he was. He could do the same with his Android, but as a worried mom, I wanted that assurance. There were a few times on the train where I couldn’t see his location, but that was most likely when he was traveling outside of a GPS range.

Voxer keeps a running log of all your conversations. Once you message with that person again, it picks up where you left off, just like when you text normally. Even though my son is now safely returned to his college, I prefer to keep messaging him with Voxer. I was surprised to find that even though my iPad isn’t connected to a phone service, and isn’t on a 3G plan, that I can still message on that. I’m able to message both through my iPhone and my iPad through either 3G or WiFi.

There are only a few negatives using Voxer. One of those is that the texting doesn’t work in landscape mode on my iPhone. If I’m texting more than a few words, it’s a slight pain to have to type it all on the iPhone in portrait mode. The other negative is the most obvious. People who aren’t using an iOS or Android device won’t be able to converse with you. This means you’ll still have to use your standard messaging with them.

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I’ve downloaded countless number of calendar apps, but they never seem to do everything I want, or at the very least do it better than the Calendar app that’s included with iOS. I do a lot of scheduling due to a writing gig I have that details what’s on TV every night. That requires me to keep track of what’s on every night, the series premieres, season finales, etc. I need a system I can reference and change easily and often. I have found that Calvetica will do that for me.

Like most calendar apps, Calvetica syncs up automatically with the native Calendar app, and does this without any work on your part. Upon opening the app, after giving you the option to read the FAQs, it gives you a showing of the current month, with the current day’s events highlighted in a two-column view. Many of the other Calendar apps have added abilities that just seem to make the apps more confusing. Calvetica doesn’t. It just gives you the basics that you need, just like the Helvetica typeface it’s based on. This makes it very functional, yet easy enough to get up and running very quickly.

Calvetica supports multiple calendar views. It shows a whole month in one view, with a day’s events laid out in a second column to the right, and also supports a weekly view that makes it much easier to see it all laid out visually.

Creating a new event is easy enough. Instead of scrolling through months, days, and hours to get the right time and day for the start and end of the event, it’s simply a matter of tapping individual choices. Once again, it’s a very visual process, exactly how it should be with an iPhone, iPad, or iTouch.

While adding the event, you can also choose the repeat frequency and any attendee you want to invite to the event. You can then get Calvetica to notify the attendee a notice by email or phone call.

Tasks are just as easy to add in. By clicking a button in the menu bar, you can switch to the task menu. Adding in the tasks goes very much the same way as adding in an event. If you click “Add” at the end it just adds the one event. If you click “Add +”, you can add multiple events without having to bring up the dialogue box again and again. There is no place to add in a Stepping Away From iOS Calendar Options With Calveticadate through this, but if you click on the date you want to add the task, it will be added to that date. The tasks can be displayed in a week menu in the sidebar or by day. After the task is completed, just click the checkmark to the side of it in the sidebar, or drag the bar in the editing dialogue box. To delete the task, slide your finger across and press delete, or use the editing dialogue box.

The settings menu has many options that can be changed to suit your needs, including changing defaults and alarms. Alarms can be set for your events to work along with the alarms from Apple. The people at Calvetica have thoughtfully engineered this so that their alarms go off about fifteen seconds after Apple’s. There is also a way to set a snooze. Additionally, the alarm sounds are meant to be louder and sometimes even longer than the Apple alarms to allow you to differentiate between the two.

Signing up for a “Pocket Lint” account will keep all your data synced with their site, so that if your device goes down and you lose your data, you can get your Calvetica info back. They only need your email and a password.

Signing up for a Pocket Lint account also helps keep your data synched throughout your devices. I added Calvetica to my iPhone, and it automatically came up with all the same events. The display is a little more compact, but works just the same. Because of its compactness, examining your events by month can’t be read, although you can see that there is data there. You will have to read your events in the display at the bottom.

However, my events didn’t sync up. I tried everything to figure out why this wasn’t working. I read through the FAQ, the Known Bugs, checked all the settings in both the Settings app and Calvetica on both the iPad and iPhone, Googled my issue, checked the developer’s website, etc., and still my events I set up on the iPad wouldn’t appear on the iPhone. What I eventually realized is that Pocket Lint set me up with two task groups called “My Tasks”. Changing from one to the other did nothing. I found a setting in the Settings menu of Calvetica that allows for the management of task groups. Once I added a new task group and assigned my tasks to the new group, they synced.

Once everything was set up in the Settings of Calvetica on both the iPhone and iPad, it worked exactly as it should, giving me alerts where and when I wanted them through the Notifications.

While it may seem like this is a lot to go through, it isn’t more so than any other calendar app that does this much. It’s the easiest-to-understand display and also has all those functions attached to it. The good thing is that it syncs automatically with the native Calendar app so you don’t have to switch away from the default. Rather than an alternative, I would think it more of a complement to the default Calendar app.

Which Calendar app do you use?

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If you are looking out for a good weather application for your iPhone, here are five choices you must check out!

1. The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel application has been available for the iPhone for a long time, and is probably the most used third-party application due to its accurate weather predictions and solid, useful features.

Apart from the usual weather report and predictions, the weather channel application also provides the user with an interactive map with animated weather radar showing the user how the weather is moving, giving the user the ability to make a prediction of his own too.

You can also view an hourly, or 10-day weather forecast and view videos of breaking news and weather coverage – a great feature for people who want to watch the weather coverage and not just see it.

The Weather Channel

2. AccuWeather

AccuWeather provides one of the most reliable and accurate weather forecast available on the Internet, and so, the application does its best to give you that data on your phone.

Just like The Weather Channel app, AccuWeather provides the user with a full-animated radar map with weather forecast, video coverage of weather and even an interactive Google Map on which you may place your contacts and see what weather they are going through – a nifty feature I must say!

Detailed forecasts can be checked from within the app, which include detail such as the wind speed, the UV forecast and other health and lifestyle forecasts.

AccuWeather

3. AeroWeather Lite

This application is best suited for anyone who is travelling or is wishing to travel. The AeroWeather Lite application gives the user a complete, detailed forecast of the weather including information like sunrise/sunset, daylight saving times, and wind speed and directions.

Another great feature is that unlike other apps, the AeroWeather Lite shows you the predictions and weather report from more than just one nearby station and shows you as many as it can, giving you the upper-hand of forecasting how the weather is most likely to be – whether best to travel, or not.

AeroWeather Lite

4. WeatherBug

WeatherBug is an application for iPhone, and iPad that provides the user with more than just their average weather forecast and details.

The WeatherBug application is fitted with an interactive map and a Doppler radar that allows user to put a pin anywere on the map to view the weather of that specific point.

Another nifty feature found in WeatherBug is the Weather Cam that allows users to view images from more than 2,000 weather stations across the U.S – giving you a hint as to how the weather it (great if you are going to travel to that area).

WeatherBug

5. Thermo

Thermo is one of the best weather applications available for the iPhone – not because it has many features, because it does not.

The application, unlike others, provides the user with one of the simplest user-interface by just providing the user with a beautifully designed thermometer, which shows the user the current temperate.

The user can also shift between Fahrenheit and Celsius and even refresh the thermometer by simply tapping the thermometer.

Thermo

There you have it folks. These five great weather applications will keep you up-to date with the weather situation wherever you are, and whenever you want, and features that help you in more than just one-way.

Image credit: Big Stock Photo

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1. Locavore

The Locavore application is an ultimate application for the new years. Not only does it promote healthy eating, but you are also helping the environment and saving money. Locavore, which means someone who eats locally grown foods, encourages healthy eating and decrease carbon footprint due to the fact that the food you’re eating travels less distances, promoting a better environment. You are also helping out local businesses, a great way to boost your local economy.

Locavore (iTunes link)

2. Nike Training Club

A big resolution on the list of many individuals is a healthier 2011. This can be in the form of exercise for some people. However, without the added encouragement, it can be a lot harder to get the motivation to exercise continually. Nike Training Club is your free personal trainer in your iPhone. The application offers easy to learn routines, tips from celebrity trainers, and step by step exercises based on your weight loss goal. Nike Training Club shows you that you don’t need to spend a much to lose a lot.

Nike Training Club (iTunes link)

3. Fooducate

When resolving to eat healthier for 2012, you may choose to eat out less or cook healthier, but where does eating healthier begin? Eating healthier begins when shopping at the grocery store. There are so many products labeled healthy, whole grain, and organic, but what do these terms really mean? Fooducate is your personal Dietitian in your pocket. Simply scan the barcode of an item in the grocery store. Fooducate will then give you a letter grade, calories per serving, warnings, and even better alternatives. This application makes healthy eating not only easier, but also fun.

Fooducate (iTunes link)

4. Lose It!

Any iPhone user losing weight should not only know about Lose It!, but to also make the application their best friend. Lose It! for iPhone is not just a weight loss log, but a lifestyle log as well. The application has a food log feature that allows you to know what foods affect your caloric budget the most and how much exercise helps decrease your intake. The application also encourages more activity by providing badges for good, healthy activities and eating. To prevent falling off the wagon, Lose It! reminds you when to log in your meals or activities. Lose It! allows you to share your progress through social networking websites and even view reports online. Lose It! makes a healthy lifestyle easier to obtain.

Lose It! (iTunes link)

5. Learn a Language with Michel Thomas

A commonly broken resolution for New Year is learning something new. One of the most common things to learn for the year is a new language. Nothing impresses the significant other more than ordering in French at the hottest French restaurant in town. Learn a Language with Michel Thomas is a great application for staying committed to language learning. Michel Thomas, an acclaimed linguist, helps you to learn a language the natural way, not through repetition and memorization. The current languages available are French, Spanish, German, and Italian. While the application is free to download, you must pay per lesson, allowing you to learn at your own pace.

Learn a Language with Michel Thomas (iTunes link)

6. Quitter

Quitting an addiction is not only an amazing resolution, but also a lifesaving one. Quitter for iPhone helps you to quit an addiction through motivation. Quitter offers motivation by showing how far you’ve gone and how much money you’ve saved from not indulging in your addiction. Quitter can help any addiction, from smoking to candy. To track how much you’ve saved and for how long, simply enter when you began your resolution, how many units of the addiction you used a day, and how much it costs per unit. Quitter helps you to see the benefits of quitting.

Quitter (iTunes link)
NewYears_Mint

7. Catalista

Most New Year’s resolutions are about helping us and having a better year for ourselves. However, the best resolution is one that can help other individuals. Catalista is the application that helps you to become a good Samaritan for the 2012 year. The application helps you find great non-profits near you to volunteer your time. Catalista bases your recommendations on what you enjoy doing, when you’re available, and where you are. You can also pass the gift on by sharing an opportunity on Facebook or through email. Catalista helps you to help others throughout the year.

Catalista (iTunes link)

8. Mint

With the current economic condition of the country, getting a better handle on your finances is the best resolution for many people. Mint for iPhone does this by asking you to add your financial information, including credit card information and bank accounts. The application automatically pushes information from these accounts and tracks your spending. But that’s not the best of the application.

Mint also bases what is left in your account to create a budget for you. You can also get reminders for paying bills, and track cash spending through manual additions.

Mint (iTunes link)

Which apps do you use to keep your New Year’s resolution in check?

Image credit: Big Stock Photo

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Best of Social Networking

1. Instagram

Instagram brings creativity to any iPhone user and any iPhone photo. With just a pick of a filter, you can turn a mundane photo into something akin to artwork. The social media integration also allows other individuals to appreciate your photos.

2. Facebook

Facebook for iPhone wasn’t the best application out there in its early days. However, the later part of 2011 was great for the application. The new interface makes the application a lot cleaner, and the sidebar provides for quicker access to profiles.

3. Google+

The Google+ application took a while in 2011 to reach iOS users. The Android users beat iPhone users to the punch on this one. But for many users, it was worth the wait. The Google+ application offers the full site in an iPhone friendly interface. I personally only have to go on the desktop when uploading large files.

4. Twitter

Twitter for iPhone wasn’t its best in its early users, but the social media website seemed to have hit a growth spurt during the later part of 2011. The new application now has a revamped interface known as Twitter Fly. The interface offers a simpler, better organized Twitter experience.

Best of Photography

1. Camera+

The native iPhone camera application is seen as too basic for many individual’s taste. Aside from some light editing, including enhancement, cropping, and redeye editing, you don’t have much to work with. Camera+ offers great editing features, filters, borders, and more. It’s the only camera application I need.

2. iMovie

If you have an iPhone 4S, then you most likely haven’t been taking as much advantage of the 1080p lying in your pocket than you should. The iMovie application brings on board video editing, allowing you to share amazing video to YouTube and social networking websites in a snap.

3. Postagram

Postagram offers a great complement to our other favorite application for 2011, Instagram. Postagram allows you to physically enjoy some of your Instagram photos for only 99 cents each. The photos, printed on high quality paper, are a perfect vacation memento or a wonderful, personal holiday gift.

4. Adobe Photoshop Express

This free application offers great minor tweaks and improvements to already great photos. In other words, it may not be the application for the heavy photographer, but the average iPhone user will greatly appreciate it. Features like cropping and black and white offers the final touch to great photos.

Best of Games

1. Angry Birds

This two year old iPhone application has morphed into an App Store classic. This is why the whole Angry Birds series (Classic, Seasons, Rio etc), as one of the best iPhone game apps. It’s the game that some newly popular games base off of.

2. Temple Run

Temple Run is the highly addictive game that I thought was a great hit from the start. The objective is to go through an obstacle course, jumping over road cracks and more. Temple Run is now one of the top games on the app store, so if you haven’t heard of it, you don’t know what you’re missing out on!

3. Charadium

The loners in your life would find some company with the Charadium application. This game allows you to guess the word based on the drawn image of others you play with online. When the word is guessed, you get a point. It’s a great time passer.

4. Doodle Jump

Doodle Jump’s main objective is to draw the course that your character takes as it passes by various other hurtles. This is all while trying not to miss your step and fall to your death. Doodle Jump also has support for online multiplayer.

Best of Travel

1. FlightTrack Pro

This is one of my favorite travel applications out there. FlightTrack Pro offers a great hub for all of your travel information for your next trip. You have the ability to get any updates on your next flight, have airline emails forwarded here, and know when there are delays through push notifications.

2. Packing Pro

Who ever enjoys packing must not be avid travellers, because packing is one of the most put off activities in the whole travel trip. Have you ever considered having a packing assistant? Packing Pro is that application. The application gives you sample lists for what to pack, based on your upcoming trip so you can never forget anything.

3. UberCab

When you are leaving dinner with friends or arriving in your vacation spot, have you ever wanted to say “Let me call my driver”? UberCab allows you to do this. The application allows you to call a personal driver who can bring you from point A to point B in style at affordable prices.

4. TripColor

Capture your travel memories with Trip Color. The simple application allows you to share travel photos, text, and more by using templates made according to your travel theme. This keeps family and friends in the loop, without it being stressful.

Best of Productivity

1. Dropbox

Dropbox allows you to have your online life, in the cloud. Simply upload files onto the application, and they are easily accessable on the Dropbox website on your desktop. This is the top, free, iCloud alternative for any user.

2. Vlingo

For the iPhone 4 and 3GS users out there without Siri, this is the next best thing for getting stuff done through the voice. Vlingo allows you to send text and email messages, use maps, update your status, call, and do web searches with your voice. Is it better than Siri? Some may say no, but it’s the best alternative out there.

3. Remember the Milk

This is one of my favorite to-do applications available on the app store. It focuses on the content, not just the design, providing you with a productive application. In addition, with a small work around, you can even hook it up with Siri!

4. eTodo

What Remember the Milk lacks in design is what eTodo makes up for. The application categories your tasks into three easy to understand categories, providing you with the ability to know what to focus on.

Best of 2011…

Flipboard for iPhone

Flipboard is the chosen best application for 2011. The application just became available for iPhone a few weeks ago, but it’s a hit in our books. The application allows you to consume everything important to you online, in just one application. Your Twitter feed, Instagram, and favorite news sources are all available in one area. The interface uses the photos from these posts, providing for a classic magazine look. Best of all, this application is free!

Is your favorite apps in the list around? If not, share with us in the comments.

Image credit: BigStockPhoto

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The app works with your actual usage on your iOS device, not with the usage from the phone service. It keeps track and updates your usage every ten minutes. When I opened the app for the first time, it started not with how much I have already used this month, but at zero, and assumed my monthly bill started on the first of the month.

For reviewing purposes for this article, I reset the billing date to the day I downloaded the app, and kept the  daily allowances at the preset amount, but could easily reset them to match the allowances of any data plan. Additionally, you can set the thresholds of the alerts it will send you when you’re getting close to you limit. It’s preset with 50%, 70%, 90%, and 100%, but can be changed to any percentages. Additionally, you can set it to sound an alarm when you hit those amounts.

I used my phone minimally throughout the next day. Early the next day I read an email and sent a text message, and checked to see how I was doing with my date. I only used one percent, so was still far from any worry zone.

Now it was time to see if I could do some damage to the amount of data usage percentage. I did a little of everything, other than watching videos or using the GPS, which I knew would really suck up the data. I checked my email and Facebook, used the map to plot out where I’m going over the weekend, updated my music playlists, updated three apps, downloaded a few magazine apps and a magazine preview to Newsstand, and played my favorite game a handful of times. It was less than an hour of usage.

You can see on the screencap that I used much more data. Clicking the arrow on the amount for the day sent me to a link to see exactly how much was spent in both 3G and Wifi. I’m definitely over that 10 MB daily limit and am very grateful I have an unlimited data plan.

Clicking on the arrow next to the total amount for separate days will give you an exact amount of data that is used every step of the way. It’s almost a little frightening watching it laid out this way, and that’s from someone on an unlimited data plan.

Clicking the symbol in the upper right of the screen shows you the geotagging, where you were when you were using the data during the day. This map plotted out my house, as well as several individual spots several blocks away. I never left the comfort of my own home, so I’m not sure how it gathered that.

This is definitely a helpful app for anyone trying to keep a damper on their data usage to save them from paying an overage. For anyone who has kids with an iOS device, it’s even more helpful. While they obviously won’t be too concerned  how much data they’re using, that information can be made available to you if you can get their device away from them long enough to check.

DataMan Pro (iTunes link)

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Just like how Pandora made it easy to listen to hours of music by learning what you personally like to listen to, and building stations around that, Alfred does that with local businesses, eating establishments mostly. It learns where you like to go and makes suggestions around that.

Right out of the starting gate, Alfred begins “teaching”. It’s not teaching you, though; you’re teaching the app about you, your likes and dislikes. You can choose to teach it later, but then you will be missing out on the personal recommendations.

Alfred begins “teaching” itself about your habits by asking you questions. While Pandora builds your personal library with just one song, and gets more exact as you build more searches on different songs, Alfred does its work by asking you where you like to go. It asks you where you like to go for breakfast, dinner, a quick lunch, a drink after work etc.

Based on that one place you like to go, Alfred makes several different suggestions for lunch, dinner, coffee, etc. You can then check off the places that you do like, very much the same way like you like or dislike the the song suggestions on Pandora. Each additional business that you like helps the app make better suggestions for you the next time.

An app like this is only made better by connecting to Facebook. If you select your friends that you enjoy going out with, it will pick up their suggestions as well and improve its suggestions for you. You can also have it connect through Facebook and ask your friends what they think about some of your choices. Both of these steps can be skipped if you don’t want Alfred to bother your friends at all.

After you get done “teaching” Alfred, you can either review your places, like or dislike the current place you’re at, or find a new place. The latter choice is asking Alfred to make suggestions of where it thinks you would like to go for breakfast or for drinks after work.

Alfred presents you with a pictorial list of choices, ones that are both places that you’ve already mentioned you enjoy and places it thinks you should try. It tells you a percentage of people who like this establishment, a general price range, and the distance you need to travel. In the upper right corner is a map option, and using this plots out all the choices on a map. If you want to narrow your choices down, you can tap Filter, and narrow down the list by price, distance, cuisine, and options such as being kid-friendly or having free WiFi, etc.

If the pictures of the food in the listings aren’t enticing enough, you can tap it to get even more information. The contact information, menu, and photos are included here. Additionally, if Alfred found any comments in its search, it adds them here. The menus are added via the establishment’s website, and surprisingly there aren’t that many included. I suspect that will improve the more others use Alfred.

I found that some of my favorite places to go weren’t included here in Alfred. All of the major establishments were, but a new restaurant wasn’t included, and neither was a local bar and grill. With the bar and grill, it’s mostly what I would consider a “hole in the wall”, meaning just a small local establishment. However, I find those places sometimes have the best food and generally aren’t that crowded. For those instances, Alfred includes an option to suggest a place to them. It’s hidden in what looks like an icon to turn sound on and off, but is really an icon for “sounding off.”

Critics are right, that Alfred is Pandora for the real world. However, what would improve it would be to not just include restaurants, bars, and coffeehouses, but all local businesses. It would be great if it would also suggest a movie theater, book store, mall, mechanic, etc.

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