All posts tagged software

Thanks to Gas Cubby from App Cubby

by Dave Caolo on May 17, 2013 in Software, Sponsors, Travel with No comments

Big thanks to Gas Cubby for being this week’s sponsor. This handy app records milage for you, which is fantastic if you’re often taking business trips. I used to use a notebook for this, but I’d either misplace it or forget to transfer a certain trip to my spreadsheet. Not any more, as Gas Cubby lets me export directly to an Excel-friendly format via email.

The app also records your service history and even offers service reminders reminders, which is great. You know those plastic clings that the mechanic puts on your windshield? The ones that always fall off? Forget about them. I won’t forget to get that 7,500 mile checkup done when Gas Cubby reminds me.

The app’s search feature is also well-implemented and there’s ample support for international units, like MPG (Canada), MPG (UK), MPG (Imperial), L/100km, gal/100mi (US), gal/100mi (Imperial), km/L, km/gal (US), km/gal (Imperial), and mi/L, for all of you folks who drive on the wrong side of the road.

Do you like charts and graphs? I know you do. Tilt your iPhone to the landscape orientation and view data on your vehicle’s average MPG, typical gas price you pay, automotive expenses and service expenses. Nice!

Gas Cubby has been in my travel folder for years. It’s fast, good-looking and, most importantly, useful. Go and grab Gas Cubby now.

!Emergency! for iPhone: when trouble strikes abroad

by Dave Caolo on May 14, 2013 in Links, Software, Travel with No comments

Johnny Jet’s travel app of the week is !Emergency! ($0.99). As Johnny notes, not everyone realizes that “911″ isn’t the emergency call number in many countries outside of the US. !Emergency! lists them all, and puts them just a tap away. Not only that, it can automatically detect the country you’re in, so you don’t have to spend precious time searching when something is really wrong. That’s a pretty handy app.

Travel app tweaks reduce frustration

by Dave Caolo on May 14, 2013 in Links, Software, Travel with No comments

Gadling has a nice list of iPhone travel apps that have recently had small updates with big results, including TripIt’s new GroundLink feature. It lets you coordinate ground transportation from your phone, and will even let your transportation know if your flight is delayed. Pretty cool.

There’s more at Gadling so go check it out.

Gas Cubby from App Cubby

by Dave Caolo on May 13, 2013 in Articles, Links, Software, Sponsors, Travel with No comments

Huge thanks to Gas Cubby for being this week’s sponsor. David Barnard and his crew build iOS apps that I’ve been using for years, including Gas Cubby.

Gas Cubby is a fantastic companion to anyone who often travels by car. It records milage for you, which is fantastic if you’re often taking business trips. I used to use a notebook for this, but I’d either misplace it or forget to transfer a certain trip to my spreadsheet. Not any more, as Gas Cubby lets me export directly to an Excel-friendly format via email.

Gas Cubby has been in my travel folder for years. It’s fast, good-looking and, most importantly, useful. Go and grab Gas Cubby now.

Travel tip: create, send postcards with your iPhone or iPad

by Dave Caolo on May 6, 2013 in Software, Travel with No comments

Who doesn’t like getting postcards? It’s fun to buy them, too. Turning that rickety, squeaking metal turnstile in some far-away destination. When you’re in the middle of nowhere, a post office can be hard to find. Or, the mail delivery can be unreliable, as my wife and I found out when we beat some postcards home that we had sent from rural Italy. Fortunately, it’s easy and inexpensive to create real-world, paper post cards with your iPhone and send them to family and friends. Here are two apps that do just that, each with its own pros and cons.

Cards (Free)

Apple’s Cards app for iPhone is a great place to start. It lets your create a nice-looking letterpress greeting card that will ship anywhere in the world ($2,99 within the US, $4.99 internationally). I’ve sent a few cards with this app and can vouch for how good they look. It’s very easy to work with, even on the iPhone’s tiny screen.

Pros:

Universal, so it looks great on both the iPhone and iPad
At least one postcard-style theme included
You can customize the picture
Write your own greeting

Cons:

Option for three photos per card is restricted to holiday-themed cards
Keyboard commandeers much of the screen while entering text

Felt (Free)

Felt is an iPad-only app that helps you make and send paper cards to friends and family. It’s very good looking and mimics your own own handwriting on the printed card and envelope. Plus, the iPad’s larger screen makes it very easy to write, which can be done with stylus or your finger. This one is iPad-only, but it looks great.

Pros:

Your own handwriting
Great-looking results
Beautiful UI makes it easy to use

Cons:

iPad only
Photo not customizable
No real postcard-style theme
Writing legibly will be difficult or impossible without a stylus.

There are apps to create virtual post card, and they can be fun. But I still like getting a paper one in the mail that I can stick to the ‘fridge. It’s just nicer. I’m old fashioned that way.

Rego for iPhone stores your favorite places

by Dave Caolo on May 6, 2013 in Articles, Links, Software, Sponsors, Travel with No comments

Big thanks to Rego for iPhone (free for the first 10 places, $2.99 for unlimited use) for sponsoring the site this week. I’ve been using Rego since launch day and it’s earned a spot on my iPhone’s home screen. It lets me create a record of my favorite places, both those I have seen and those I hope to visit someday. With a few taps I can mark it on a map, write some notes, take photos and add useful, searchable categories.

Rego is like a contacts app, but for locations. It has become the place where I store the places I care about. But Rego is more than storage. Before your trip begins, create a new collection and add all the places you want to visit — either by positioning pins on a map, or by searching on names or addresses. Rego searches Apple and Foursquare location databases, and your Contacts. Plan your itinerary by re-centering the map on any pin. For example, set your hotel as the “Active Location” and watch all your places sort by distance to that pin.

While traveling, use Rego to visit the places you planned, and add new places you discover along the way. Rego uses the iPhone’s GPS, so you don’t need Internet coverage to capture new places. Also, in most cases, your maps will have been cached during your planning, so they’ll still be available when you’re in the middle of nowhere.

Rego is private by default, but you can selectively choose to share places. This creates a web page for your place on the Rego server, that you can show the world. Other Rego users can directly add that place to their Rego, by visiting the page. I actually like keeping it private, as I use Rego is my personal travel log and wish list.

Don’t take my word for it, Apple loved Rego so much they featured it in the New & Noteworthy list on the App Store home page in 127 countries, and gave it a big banner in the Travel section. It’s truly one of my favorite travel apps.

Here’s how you can sponsor the site. It’s a great month those with travel apps.

The iPhone Traveler Pt. 2 – Back up, pack and get tickets

by Dave Caolo on May 2, 2013 in Articles, iPhone Travel, Travel with 1 Comment

A good vacation, like so many other things in life, will be more successful with ample planning. Your iPhone is more than up to the task! In this section, I’ll explain how to back up important information before you leave (and retrieve it if disaster strikes), pack your things in an orderly way and finally find tickets for a plane, a train and a hotel.

Why use an iPhone for these tasks? There are several reasons. My favorite is the wealth of beautiful, useful and convenient apps that are available. The travel industry has embraced Apple’s pocket-sized computer and we, the travelers, benefit. It’s so very easy to find a hotel, flight or bus when it’s convenient for us. Don’t want to pay a lot? Finding bargains with an app is easy, too. Plus, dedicated apps are so much easier to use than starting from scratch with Google.

Also, skipping email and printed tickets means less “stuff” to carry, loose and accidentally rip or destroy. There’s no fishing for “which pocket or case did I put that in” when the answer is, “It’s just here on my phone.” It’s a tremendous convenience. So, let’s get started by performing a good, reliable backup.

Continue reading →

easyJet for iPhone offers mobile boarding passes, Passbook support

by Dave Caolo on May 1, 2013 in Links, Software, Travel with 1 Comment

The UK’s discount airline easyJet has added support for Apple’s Passbook and mobile boarding passes to its free iPhone app, easyJet Mobile. This update is a part of the airline’s larger initiative to replace all in-person check-in options with online methods.

For now, six airports — Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nice, London Stansted and Southend — are taking part in a trial. If all goes well, you can expect additional airports to accept iPhone-based checkins from easyJet.

I’ve used the United iPhone app (free) several times to board in Boston’s Logan airport as well as Orlando and Tampa. Pulling out an iPhone is much faster that using a paper boarding pass, not to mention it eliminates one more thing to tear or lose.

I hope this goes well for easyJet and its customers. If you’re in the UK and you’ve tried it, let me know how it goes. Digital boarding passes and check-in is a real time-saver.

Smart pajamas read to your kids at night

by Dave Caolo on April 23, 2013 in Links with No comments

CNET on Smart PJs, “The world’s first and only interactive pajamas”:

“Smart PJs, called the world’s ‘first and only interactive pajamas,’ require downloading a free app for iOS or Android and scanning one of dozens of codes from the Smart PJs with a smartphone or tablet. The device then reads aloud a story, sings a lullaby, or broadcasts pictures of animals or other bedtime-appropriate cuteness.”

Horrible. Awful. Why read to your children when you can toss an iDevice at them? In fact, you don’t even have to pick out the story anymore. Jr’s PJs will do that for you! There’s more:

“‘Now your child will be excited to go to bed,’ says a promotional video for the product.”

Yeah, nothing helps a toddler fall asleep faster than excitement. Sign me up.

App of the Week: Notabli

by Dave Caolo on April 15, 2013 in App Of The Week, Articles with No comments

Notabli is a fantastic little iPhone app (free) that lets you share you favorite moments with your kids safely, securely and privately. Think of it as an invite-only social network that lets you show off your kids. I use it with my sisters and parents, all who live hundreds of miles away from my family. Here’s how it works.

Begin by adding information on your kid(s), like name, nickname, birthdate and gender. Select a cute cover photo to represent him or her. A tight shot of Jr’s smiling face is best, as the icon will be small. Next, get adding some moments.

Notabli lets you add photos (shot with the app for pulled from your Camera Roll), video, audio entries to text. Entries can be viewed by child or in a single stream. Those who have been authorized to participate can leave comments or mark certain moments as favorites.

Parents get special privileges, in that up to two parents can contribue moments to a child’s pool, and across devices. For example, my wife is out with the kids as I type this and has added a few photos of our kids having a nice time. I see them on my iPhone, and my sisters and parents see them on their iPads. It’s more fun than email, safer than public posting like Facebook and it looks really good.

The settings give you the option to copy photos to your Camer Roll and upload over cellular. You can connect to Facebook and Twitter if you like, but that’s totally optional (I haven’t). Finally, optional notifications can be enabled for new moments, comments or “hearts,” which indicate a post that has been marked as a favorite.

I don’t use Notibli as a photo album, but it’s great for sharing photos of the school play or the pinewood derby with those who can’t be there. Email works too, yes, but Notabli looks much better and even my parents (sorry, mom and dad) have no trouble using it. It’s a great little app.

You’ll find other featured apps here.